Loudest pellet gun, most quiet?

[His lordship.]

I have had springers, pump ups, and CO-2 pistols and rifles, in .177 and .22 cal.  I often have avoided the .177 in a rifle as I thought the higher velocity would cause a louder cracking sound due to breaking the sound barrier.  Shot my Benjamin 392 with only 4 pumps today on pest control and was surprised at the loud crack it made.  I also have a RWS 52 springer in .22, usually when I shoot it the spring flying forward inside the receiver is what I hear.  I have never owned one of the modern PCP rifles, so not sure on how loud they are.  I thought that rifles would be more quiet over pellet handguns, but my Benjamin multi-pump pistol has a loud crack on only 4 pumps as well.
 
What has been your experience in the loudest and the most quiet in pellet guns?
 
Thanks. 

[Empty Quiver]

I believe it is the release of pressure that causes the noise, be it gun powder or compressed air. Then you have the mechanical noise related to a springer gun. I think you can simply look at the advertised FPS and get a pretty good idea of the noise. Add if springer type, subtract if it has an integral suppressor (lead dust trap ).


Many have reported that a .22 shooting CB caps is quieter than a high performance air rifle.

[shooter6br]

WellI have the same problem My Benjamin 397 at 3 pumps is great for 10 meter targets Still noise level is a bit high for my suburban location.( I shoot metal plates so the plates add to the noise) It is rated "medium"  My Daisy 747 pistol is rated "low"  It shoots at 360 fps. I find Pyrimid Airgun site has noise ratings. Th RWS  R7 is rated "low" but does about 550fps tops. "Springers are the loudess on average. Make a suppressor might help  subsonic pellet guns( less tham 850fps)

[Bob J]

I have a gamo whisper that shoots a 22 pellet....  Does the job and is pretty darn quiet.....

[keith44]

I have a gamo whisper that shoots a 22 pellet....  Does the job and is pretty darn quiet.....

My father-in-laws whisper is one of the loudest air rifles I have ever heard. 
 
Sub-sonic pellet flight is one way of keeping things quiet(ish) in my experience a heavier than standard pellet launched at 800 to 950 fps will be the quietest available and still have enough power to hunt with.  Pellet impact will still disturb live targets.

[Bitterroot Bob]

Then there is the diesel phenomena.
When there is too much oil in a freshly maintained gun, the compressed air meeting a fuel supply can detonate the oil. Ever see smoke coming from the barrel? Diesel! That'll make a littel noise, too.
 
Bitterroot

[ironglow]

      Although I am not too concerned with the amount of noise, since I usually use a regular rifle anyway...I do understand that 'dieseling' can be harmful to an air rifle...correct ?

[Bitterroot Bob]

Howdy,
That's what they say. The heat and pressures created by dieseling is more than the mechanisms were built to handle, which is why oil must be used sparingly.
 
Bitterroot

[His lordship.]

I have had 2 pellet guns in the past that always put out some smoke, I shot them in my house and you could see them puff smoke and smell it, everytime.  They were the Walther P-88 CO-2 pistol, and a Chinese side springer rifle, both of these were in .177 caliber.
 
I always thought it was the oil coating on the pellet, my other pellet guns don't smoke, but I mostly shoot them in .22 pellet.

[keith44]

dieseling ONLY occurs in spring powered rifles and pistols.  In "adult" air weapons this is how those velocities can be achieved.  Too much dieseling will destroy the piston and spring in short order.  A controlled dieseling is what you are after, use only a high quality high temp moly grease on the piston skirt, and spring, but use it sparingly.  Do not ever use any lube that causes smoke to blow out of the muzzle, or breech when opened.  Too much dieseling, too much smoke, and you get too much pressure,and an inconsistent velocity.  This is part of why some spring powered weapons seem inaccurate.

[bckskin2]

My 10/22 with Remington CBEEs is quiter than my Sheridan Blue Streak, But more powerful. That old 'dan about = a Super Colibri from my Duramatic!

[Victor3]

 In my experience, a springer designed (or tuned) to give optimal muzzle energy for its barrel length has always produced less report than a pneumatic or Co2 gun producing similar muzzle energy.

[darkgael]

Loudest. Not quite a pellet gun.....certainly an air rifle though. I have a Sam Yang PCP that shoots 200 grain .457 slugs. It sounds like a gun, a firearm, when it is shot. Very loud.
Pete

[jlwilliams]

Talon SS and the Benjamin Marauder are inted\grally suppressed PCP air guns and both are quiet like a mouse fart.  I had a marauder and I loved it.  Accurate, powerful, just a joy to shoot.  Sold it for financial reasons and it hurt to let it go.
 
  Low end springers tend to make more noise that they need to.  Just loud actions.  Better ones built with better tollerances and sometimes built with buffers and/ dampners inside them can sound much better.
 
  If you want to plink pests without alarming the neighbors you can plan your shots accordingly.  Open a window and don't stick the muzzle out.  Shoot from a few feet inside.  It will sound ridiculously loud inside but the sound won't carry much outside. 
 
  Or you can buy a Marauder.

[ironglow]

Talon SS and the Benjamin Marauder are inted\grally suppressed PCP air guns and both are quiet like a mouse fart.  I had a marauder and I loved it.  Accurate, powerful, just a joy to shoot.  Sold it for financial reasons and it hurt to let it go.
 
  Low end springers tend to make more noise that they need to.  Just loud actions.  Better ones built with better tollerances and sometimes built with buffers and/ dampners inside them can sound much better.
 
  If you want to plink pests without alarming the neighbors you can plan your shots accordingly.  Open a window and don't stick the muzzle out.  Shoot from a few feet inside.  It will sound ridiculously loud inside but the sound won't carry much outside. 
 
  Or you can buy a Marauder.

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  jlwilliams;
   I'm sure you thought of it, and I have done the same thing my self...
   ...But being a hunter-safety instructor, I feel compelled to remind anyone contemplating shooting out of a window, to be SURE nobody will be likely to walk by the window.  They can go from "out of sight" to.. "in the sights", in the time it takes to squeeze the trigger.  If possible, shoot from a 2nd story window.  That way, anyone in line would be further away and in a much larger sight picture.

[jlwilliams]

Talon SS and the Benjamin Marauder are inted\grally suppressed PCP air guns and both are quiet like a mouse fart.  I had a marauder and I loved it.  Accurate, powerful, just a joy to shoot.  Sold it for financial reasons and it hurt to let it go.
 
  Low end springers tend to make more noise that they need to.  Just loud actions.  Better ones built with better tollerances and sometimes built with buffers and/ dampners inside them can sound much better.
 
  If you want to plink pests without alarming the neighbors you can plan your shots accordingly.  Open a window and don't stick the muzzle out.  Shoot from a few feet inside.  It will sound ridiculously loud inside but the sound won't carry much outside. 
 
  Or you can buy a Marauder.

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  jlwilliams;
   I'm sure you thought of it, and I have done the same thing my self...
   ...But being a hunter-safety instructor, I feel compelled to remind anyone contemplating shooting out of a window, to be SURE nobody will be likely to walk by the window.  They can go from "out of sight" to.. "in the sights", in the time it takes to squeeze the trigger.  If possible, shoot from a 2nd story window.  That way, anyone in line would be further away and in a much larger sight picture.

  Thanks for posting that.  Myself, I shoot outside and it's not a problem.  When I lived in a different place I did use a second story window for my vermining perch for that reason.

[White Foxx]

 



The Crosman Marauder is one oft the quietest air rifles that I have had.  The fully shrouded barrel is the reason for this, of course.  However, when pushed to full power, especially in the larger calibers it will make some noise.  One of the loudest was the Career 707’s these were called Korean cannons because of their high power, shooting a 30 grain pellet over 1000 FPS.  All the non monorated PCP guns are loud, and have a sharp crack to them when fired.   The bigger PCP guns are even louder, as in wearing ear plugs loud.  All the rest are in between.


White Foxx

[Dand]

For some very good info on pellet rifle noise, go to the Straight Shooters website.  For many of the guns they sell, they have measured the noise level at muzzle, and several distances away and post it for comparison.  However, they don't sell or test the lower end guns. Their line of guns has diminished some in the last couple years and they may not post tests for stuff they no longer sell.


Try this:  http://www.straightshooters.com/documents/decibelrating.html