What does it sound like to get shot at?

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Andrew Wiggin

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I placed a camera about 30 feet to the side of some water jug targets at 150 yards and shot at them with unsuppressed and suppressed .223 and .22lr. This allows you to hear the difference in time when various components of the sound of a gunshot arrive at the target. The 3,000 fps muzzle velocity of the .223 is nearly three times the speed of sound so you hear a ballistic crack and the sound of the bullet impact roughly simultaneously, then you hear the sound of the shot a moment later. When the silencer is attached, you can still hear the sound of the shot, just barely, but it is very difficult to detect. The reverse is true for the .22lr. Although the bullet starts out with a muzzle velocity just below the speed of sound, it slows down quite a bit on the way, arriving at about 850 fps. The speed of sound is about 1,100 fps at sea level. This means that the sound of the shot precedes the bullet at the target by a fraction of a second. You hear the shot, then the bullet passing through the air, then the impact. With the silencer attached, you still hear the shot, but very faintly.
 
Depends on distance you can hear the crack somewhat before the report of the gun that fired it. I've definitely been shot at from a distance and its a surreal experience.

The sonic cracks are somewhat puzzling at first, until your mind wraps around what's going on.
 
Yeah, I'm not proud. I am a little surprised by how much POI shift there was without the can attached, but I should have predicted it.
 
After over 45 years, I can still remember the sounds. It was the sound of the bullet hitting metal which was in most cases a D-7 dozier of our jungle clearing unit. In a few cases, it was rounds hitting trucks or APC's. You heard this smack sound of the bullet against steel, and then you heard the sound of the bang or the shot of firearm(s). It was less horrific than the sound of an improvised explosive device hit by a D-7. This seldom did little harm other than a heavy ringing in the ears.

On one specific occasion, I think I heard a whistle without an actual sound other than like a centralized breeze (can't swear to it since it may of been my vivid imagination), and then the cracking sound of a firearm in the distance. We knew we were receiving sniper fire when a round hit the door of a 10 Ton Tractor (truck).
 
Mental priorities !!!????

I've been shot four times and don't remember the sound but do remember the burn. Nothing lethal, just some blood. On other occasions, I have heard the cracks and rifled slugs have a totally different sound. In all cases, don't think I recall hearing the firearm itself.. ..... :confused:

Be Safe !!!
 
I have never been in combat, but I have read some interesting details. One widely reported comment from soldiers is that you do not hear the gunshot of the bullet that hits you. You might think that statement would not be true for low velocity bullets, but I think that statement was reported by soldiers all the way back to the civil war, when bullets were slow. Maybe if a bullet hits you, your body's pain system overloads in a way that wipes out memory of a gun shot sound a split second before. I am speculating about that.

Another detail is that there are some documentary film clips from WW2 in which they seem to have captured the sound of rifle or machine gun bullets from some distance hitting people. The sound that I remember from those film clips is difficult to describe, but it is kind of a squirting sound as a rifle bullet goes through a body.

I hesitate to mention these items, I waiverd for several minutes before hitting the submit reply button.
 
I have heard bullets hit animals, but has to be at the proper distance. Too far you can't hear it, too close and it's covered by sound of the rifle.

It's kinda like a "thap" sound.,. Not a thud but not a slap... More of a mix.
 
I've been shot four times and don't remember the sound but do remember the burn.
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You must live a charmed life.;)

I laid in a ditch with the target behind it and let my buddy shoot the target with a 375 winchester round. I heard the bullet hit the paper then heard the report. The range was about 175 yards. The sound was like a PLAP...BOOM.

We did set up fairly close once to bow hunt and he shot a deer that was unseen by me and I have to tell you arrows make a heck of a noise when heard from the side. No wonder deer are sometimes able to jump an arrow.

The best way I can describe the sound is if you take one of the plastic grocery bags and sling it as fast as you can around your head it has a sound similar to that.
 
The one that missed my head sounded like ZZZIIIPPP CRACK. Never heard the one that hit me in the leg. Guess I was kind of busy sitting down quickly.
 
I suggest finding a high power rifle match and volunteering to work the targets.
At many ranges they have places behind cover (the stuff that actually stops bullets) and you can hear the rounds going down range over head.
 
I heard many shots and NEVER heard one go by me. Although I don't doubt I was a potential target in and around Saigon, handgun and rifle shots were "relatively" rare in the city. (I hate the sounds in an in-door hand-gun range.)
 
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Andrew: I have been shot at a few times, and at a distance and it always sounded like a Crack & then a Thump to me. The Crack was when the bullet went by you and the Thump was the report of the rifle firing. After awhile it got to where you would hear the Crack and then you could point to the thump. And then you could fire on that position yourself or call for the Mortars or the Artillery. And they usually did a much better job. If you were fired on at close range all I ever heard was the muzzle blast of the rifle. And then there was the AK-47, you could hear that damn thing ((( Hacking ))) in the middle of a Red leg Prep or an Ark light. I still to this day, just hate to hear a AK-47 fired any where close to me.
ken
 
I remember hearing bullets zipping by at 100 yards from the rifles. I was in the pit setting up the steel targets. The rifle range was right next door.
 
If they miss you, they go "snap". If they hit you they sound like a hand slapping meat.

If you hear the report before the snap, you are defying the laws of physics and might as well fly away home. The snap is the sonic shock wave (sonic boom) of the bullet as it passes you. In order to make that sound, it has to be going faster than sound, which is why the boom comes after the snap.
 
I agree about the "snap". My description would be a sound that is a combination of a snap and a pop sound, not a real loud sound but very sharp. Not like any sound I have ever heard.

I heard the sounds when working near the end of a 200-yard handgun silhouette range. The "pits" were (was) a bunker in the side berm about 195 yards from the firing line. The sound of the muzzle report could barely be heard, so the sound of the bullet was quite clear. I would estimate the bullets were 10 to 20 feet from my ears.
 
You'll hear a crack, like someone cracking a whip, and then the report of the rifle. I was running a range in 29 palms and we had snipers supporting us. I remember hearing them fire the Barrett over our heads and it sounded almost like a whip cracking followed immediately by someone hitting a drum.
 
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