How close to hear a bullet?

S

steelbird

New member
Recently my father was talking about a situation where he was in a wooded area, during deer season in Pennslyvania, and heard a crack, followed by a whiz - the sound of a bullet nearby. Got us wondering how close does one have to be in order to hear that sound - obviously, too close for comfort, but neither one of us knew the answer to that one. Would there be a difference based on air/weather conditions, type of bullet, etc?
 
Depends.
It could be moving supersonically and put out a reasonable '!crack!' that can be heard 20yrds away.

Or it could be sub-sonic and not even be noticed until it !whumps! into a target.

It could have even have struck a small branch and be aerodynamically unstable and whizzing through the air as it passes.
 
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Not sure on a measured distance but twice I have had bullets fly close to me . The first time they went just over my head and what I heard was more of a twing sound kind of like a ricochet . The next time they went into a dirt bank behind me and all I heard was the thump of them hitting the dirt never heard the bullet travel . The second time was very close .
 
Not that hard to experience something similar. Go to a range for long range shooting competition. Many ranges have protected areas where the crew working the targets have rounds going overhead.
 
We were likely 5-10 yards from the line of fire when a (xxxxxxxxx) at a range started shooting before everyone was back putting up targets.

The "wwwhhizzzzzzzz" is pretty distinctive as the rounds pass overhead / nearby and you can judge the distance from the Doppler change and loudness.

"Don't be there".
 
I've shot once on a two-level range. The design was such that one could go downrange on one range safely while the other range was in use even though there was no berm between them. It offered the unusual opportunity to hear bullets passing in fairly close proximity. They make a good deal of noise.

In a relatively quiet environment I would imagine one could hear the sound from quite a distance. And I would imagine that no matter how far away it was it would sound like it was WAY too close.
 
Only experienced it once, but that was enough. I heard and felt a small "zip" go by my head........don't recall ever hearing the gunshot at all. I was moving at the "zip" so I probably just didn't notice the sound.
 
I've heard them go by my ear really close.
I've heard them 6 to 10 feet away.

Never heard them further out than that.

It's a real wake up call to know somebody is shooting at YOU.

AFS
 
Only experienced it once, but that was enough. I heard and felt a small "zip" go by my head...
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My experience was very similar to jonnyc's... I was about 18, hunting deer in a far corner of the farm where I grew up along the canadian border. Heard a "zzziiippp" quite loudly, and I hit the dirt because I knew what it was. Heard a distant shot as I went down, it came from a ridge to the west. The shooter never knew I was there, I imagine.

Pretty unnerving, actually. A year or two later an acquaintance was killed by a negligent hunter who fired before confirming his target, and I gave up hunting for a long time.
 
I go to a range that due to proper use of burms you can end up downrange of the handgun and short range(100 yards) rifle range when walking down to the long range targets. Some rounds make it over the burms either buy richochet or very bad aim. ? It is perfectly safe due to the burms being over 20 ft tall. Even walking down to the long range targets you are waling next to the shots being fired even though you are separated buy 20ft of dirt. This way you can heat the bullet as they travel. They are a lot louder than you would think. They seem awfully close even though they can be 50 yards away. Oddly the loudest seem to be the muzzle loaders. Probably the large bullet makes the most noise.
 
One day at deer hunting in a rifle county...it made me hit the forest floor belly first, after hearing the --- snap-snap --- of two bullets passing close-by over my head.

Google: snaping bullets

"If it sounds like angry bees, it's tumbling and pretty close.
If you hear the snap, it's still supersonic an stabilized an pretty close.

Either way, it's pretty close."
 
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Many ranges have protected areas where the crew working the targets have rounds going overhead.
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I actually got to experience this not too long ago. One of the ranges my NG unit uses has maybe a 15 foot drop off at the end where the target controls are. While one group of guys are shooting, another will be operating the targets. I was a little surprised at just how loud the sonic boom from 5.56 bullets are when flying overhead. Sounds sort of like a .22lr, except a lot louder. Even when targets 50m down the line from me were being shot, it was still quite loud, so you don't have to be that close to hear a bullet so long as it's still supersonic.
 
Pulled some duty working in the "target butts" on GI ranges. You know the ones you see in the movies? Target gets shot, then pulled down (out of sight), then raised back up, and a pole with a disc on the end is held up over the bullet strike (or waves across the target if you miss completely - look up "Maggie's drawers ;)), Did that. Bullets 6-8feet overhead. You hear them very clearly.

Kind of like rice Krispies. Snap, crackle pop. the crackle of distant rifle fire, the snap of the bullet as it goes by, the pop when it hits the (paper) target...

Also trained under live fire, machine gun fire at waist height, crawling underneath...and had the dubious pleasure of actually being under fire a time or two in my life.

The muzzle blast is a distant boom, arriving well after the rifle bullet. The crack can be heard for a long way too. If you hear a snap, or a pop, a thwip or a zip, its danger close (feet). If it sounds like a bumblebee the size of your hand, you are in a place you need to be gone from, RFN!!!! (inches)

Artillery is even more fun sounds. Quite distinctive. Been there, done that, too. had nervous 4th of July for several years after. Military service is such an educational opportunity is so many ways....:rolleyes:
 
I've had one impact a tree just a few feet from me and one hit my car. The tree impact was a whiz-thwack! The car, I was driving, and sounded like a sledge-hammer hitting it. Both were nearly shorts-changers, once I realized what they were.
 
I was downrange once and had a couple ricochets fly over. It was not a fun experience. To answer your question I heard the typical ricochet sounds, but with the Doppler Effect when the bullet was coming my direction then going away.
 
44 AMP I can guess where you were or at least the branch of service. I have the same experience. You should also hear 20MM nice and loud. Don't think I want to hear it from the ground (business end).:eek:
 
Never been shot at but I do work the 300 and 500 yard targets for the range I am a member of.
I would recommend it to any one that has never been close to a bullet and would like too safely.
Its amazing the noise that a 30-06 makes when the bullet zips by 8 feet above your head.
Its as loud as shooting a 22 out of a Ruger Mk11.
Also the time from the crack of the bullet to hearing the gun fire.:)
 
I would imagine, besides caliber and speed of bullet, that surrounding environment, weather conditions (which affect sound and how it carries),
would be factors.
 
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