Is a 44 Magnum louder than a 357 Magnum?

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Gunner1873

Inactive
I ask this question due to the other very informative thread asking if the 357 magnum is too loud.

I have never shot a 357 magnum. I have shot a 44 magnum but this was a Dessert Eagle in the range. With ear protection it didn't seem too loud.

I have been in the range before with people next to me firing snub 357 magnums that seems crazy loud. Like it somewhat scared me or made me jittery to be next to them. I mean I would anticipate their next shot. And this is with a nice range with closed off firing lanes and excellent ear protection.

I personally have fired MANY rounds with a 9mm, 45, shotgun, 308 Rifle, AK-47, 22 LR in the woods with NO EAR PROTECTION and it wasn't that bad at all.

22 LR - nothing, doesn't even bother my ears.

shotgun - with bird shot not very loud. a bassy sound so it doesn't bother my ears much at all. With a slug it's much louder but still the sound it BASS, not high pitch so it's not too bad.

45 ACP - it's not so loud. Way louder than a 22 but nothing that would cause ear damage. even shooting hundreds of rounds as I did. Yes it is stupid to shoot without ear protection but I did it and no problem at all.

9mm - Louder than the 45. I don't like to shoot it without ear protection because it has a high pitch sound. Still doesn't hurt my ears and I don't think it's causing hearing damage but it's definitely louder than a 45 and the sound is more annoying.

308 Rifle - No very loud at all. Doesn't really hurt my ears much. Much less noise than a 45 even. The difference is I can hear the bullet echo off into the distance after shooting.

AK-47 - Only fired a few rounds with it. Didn't bother my ears much. I was standing next to my friend when he unloaded a 100 round drum into some targets and it didn't bother me much. No ear protection.

Of course any of these guns would be MUCH MUCH louder indoors but it never occurred to me that they can be so loud as to cause permanent hearing loss with one shot. This is something I would like to avoid.

I sort of ruled out the possibility of purchasing a 357 magnum even though it is a very versatile round that is very inexpensive to shoot and could get me starting into reloading. Because I don't want to have something around that if I ever have to shoot indoors, It would cripple me for life. Not if there are better options out there and there are.

But I am currently considering purchasing a S&W 44 Magnum. Now I imagine this gun may make a more powerful BANG than a 357 mag but maybe because the caliber is so much higher, it wouldn't be so high pitch and maybe not as bad for your hearing?

Anyone here have the experience to compare the noise levels of a 357 mag vs a 44 mag?

The 357 mag is too loud for me, does this mean the 44 mag is too loud also by default?
 
I haven't tried either of them without hearing protection to judge how much pain they cause (and don't intend to) but I would say that the .357 magnum probably has higher frequency components and therefore may be more damaging by a slight margin. I haven't seen a chart that includes .44mag, but the one at this site lists .357 mag as louder than .41 mag (and louder than just about anything else too).

http://www.freehearingtest.com/hia_gunfirenoise.shtml

Don't forget, a .357 mag revolver can shoot .38 specials which are lower pressure and less damaging to hearing, so don't rule it out. A .357 magnum is a very versatile gun/cartridge. Of course, a .44 mag can also shoot a .44 special, which is also lower pressure and a very effective HD round.
 
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I'm not sure, I've never put a decibel meter to them.

I can tell you, from firing both the .357 and .44 Mag without hearing protection, that the .44 is loud. With full power loads from a four inch barrel, it would be hard to tell the difference, in my opinion.

Also, hi-powered rifles like the .308 you mentioned are louder than a .357. They just don't hurt your ears as bad, because the barrel is longer, so its noise is farther away from you ears.
 
Hello Nate,

Did you notice a difference in the sounds of the 44 and 357? I understand they were equally loud but was one higher pitch than the other, what if any were the differences you noticed?
 
The .357 makes a sharper higher pitched noise, but as far as hurting your ears, to me anyway, the .44 hurts as bad.

I notice on the link spacecoast provided that the .41 Magnum is just almost the same decibels, so I imagine the .44 Magnum is too.
 
The biggest factor that seems to be overlooked so far is barrel length. A full house .357 load out of a 2.5" barrel is going to be very loud. Compare that to a .44 load out of a 6" or greater barrel you'll be running a close race.

Now add some kind of barrel porting into the mix and you've got an even bigger shooter-perceived boom! And environment will also play a major factor. Indoor shooting ranges will sound a louder than shooting outdoors.

I shoot outdoor almost exclusively. That being said, I load my .357 hot enough that I feel a concussion wave hit me in the face when I shoot it. My old man has several .44 mags and none of them do that. Loudness is really a subjective matter.
 
Just my perception, but the 357 seems to be a sharper report, generally speaking. Maybe not louder, though.
 
The 357 is generally more of a high crack and the 44 a bigger boom.

Higher crack vs more concussion.

Pick your poison, they are both loud, but each in a different way.

The 44mag gets more attention at the range tho....
 
According to the aforementioned chart, the 357 measures 164.3 decibals. The 41 mag measures 163.2 decibals. The 44 mag is 164 dB.

I don't think the naked ear can perceive a difference in the above noise levels. Especially since the hearing is instantly damaged if unprotected.
 
All firearms are loud enough to damage the human ear. The difference between how "loud" they measure on a meter is pointless because they're ALL in such a high decibel range that hearing protection is necessary if you value your hearing and do not want to listen to your ears ring for the rest of your life. If you're on an indoor range you are also experiencing the pressure wave off of these guns. You feel it in your chest and diaphragm. I don't understand this sudden interest in relative "loudness" of different calibers. They're are no "quiet" ones. They're all excruciatingly "loud". You must use hearing protection all of the time around firearms or machinery or jet engines. Even if high noise levels don't "bother" you and you think you can just put up with the noise you are permanently damaging your eardrums. Once damaged they cannot be fixed and will not ever come back. I say this after working for over 20 years on military and civilian flight lines and watching lots of people lose their hearing over time. They all thought that although it was loud it didn't "bother" them and ignored supervisors when they were told to use protection. Once you get above 90 decibels it doesn't matter how loud it measures or it "seems to be", the human ear cannot distinguish between 120 decibels and 160 decibels. The human ear is an extremely sensitive organ. Overload it and it will break.
 
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I did it and no problem at all.
Click to expand...

You should have said, "I did it with no problems yet." All of those guns are loud enough to cause hearing damage and already likely have.

If I were you, I'd buy a .357 or a .44, whatever you like the best along with a good pair of ear muffs. A good set of muffs will pretty much render your question meaningless. You'll also thank yourself in a few years so don't screw around with your hearing. Just because you can hear now doesn't mean you will always be able to do so.

Personally, I think the .357 is a better option as you can also shoot the milder .38s.
 
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db Environmental noise
0 Threshold of hearing
10 Normal breathing
20 Rusting leaves
30 Whisper at 30 feet
40 Quiet street
50 Interior home noise
60 Conversation
70 Crowded restaurant
75 Kitchen appliances
80 City traffic
85 Hearing damage possible
90 Lawn mower
100 Chain shaw
120 Threshold of pain
120 Siren
134 .22 LR rifle
140 Jet engine at take-off
150 .410 shotgun
152 .22 LR pistol
153 20 gauge shotgun
155 .223 rifle
155 .25 pistol
156 12 gauge shotgun
156 .30-.30 rifle
156 .308 rifle
156 .44 Special revolver
157 .22 Magnum pistol
157 .45 ACP pistol
158 .380 ACP pistol
158 .38 Special revolver
159 .30-06
160 9mm Para pistol
163 .41 Magnum revolver
164 .357 Magnum revolver
164 .44 Magnum revolver

http://www.m1911.org/loudness.htm
 
I know exactly what you are talking about. The 357 is much more obnoxious than a 44 Mag. The 357 is more higher pitched crack. The 44 Mag going off is a dull boom. I don't care which is louder to a decibel meter, the 44 is perceived to be more friendly to me. Perhaps this is why I own several 44's and not one 357?
 
I have never shot a 357 magnum. I have shot a 44 magnum but this was a Dessert Eagle in the range. With ear protection it didn't seem too loud.
Click to expand...

The Dessert Eagle is a semi-auto and isn't as loud as a revolver because there is no cylinder gap. My semi-auto .22 pistol is much less obnoxious than my .22 revolvers are, though I still wear hearing protection for both.

Which is louder depends a lot on exactly which gun it is fired from. Taking it to extremes, you could compare a snub nosed .357 revolver to a Marlin lever action rifle chambered in .44 Magnum, which is about like shooting a .410 shotgun, both in recoil and sound.
 
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