TargetTalk

I am considering the purchase of a PCP pistol as a move up from my HW75.

I was close to buying an LP2 until I ran across this thread:

http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread.php ... arge-noise

The upshot of which is that the LP2 is very loud. I shoot in my garage, with the garage door raised a foot for ventilation, so I need something reasonably quiet for my own comfort and to avoid complaints from the neighbors.

So... compared to an HW75, how loud are the current crop of PCP pistols? Next on my list are the FWB P11 and the FWB P11 Piccolo.

Thanks very much,
Greg

I suspect that "very loud" is in reference to air pistols only, there are none that cause even discomfort if shot without earplugs. Similarly, your neighbors would never hear (inside their own homes/on their own property) you shooting any AP.

I have an LP10 (that someone called loud in that same thread) and shoot in an uninsulated, cinder block wall and metal roof shop (lots of hard surfaces for sound to bounce off) without issue. Sounds the same there as it does at the Training Center, CMP in Anniston or any other range I've had the fortune of visiting. Add earplugs, and it sounds Exactly the same.

PCPs ARE louder than SSP. If you don't want the noise but want the updates, look for one of the last SSP pistols (FWB 103, there's a Walther and Pardini too)

Some of the members use the club's LP2 compact, and it is by far the loudest pistol, compared to LP10s 50s MG1, FWB C25 CO2.

If you want a quiet upgrade, go with the suggestions above for a SSP.

I really like the Pardini K58 for its great trigger, excellent ergonomics, good power, and low price (if you can find a used one). Use light pellets and it will really cut clean holes in your target.

The FWB103 (and 100 and 102--basically the same) is at least as good as the Pardini and with more power.

They are both quiet and cheaper due to not needing an air supply.

A box of rags as a pellet trap will greatly reduce noise.

I suspect for your purposes they will prove far superior than other options.

I have a duct seal pellet trap, so that side of the equation is quiet.

I am using Kruger targets, so even at 370fps the pellets cut a nice round hole.

Thanks for the advice,
Greg

If you are shooting LP10 in the garage, I would not be too concerned about the noise level outside.

It might sound loud to you, but to people outside of garage is the negligible.

It probably has 100 dB where you hear it, but 80 dB is tolerable, 60 dB is barely noticeable.

Sound intensity drops proportional to radius square. At 10 ft, 20 ft, 30 ft, 40 ft, sound drops proportionally. I doubt the sound at your neighbors distance is that noticeable, especially if you are shooting in the garage.

But the reverberation in the garage will definitely sound loud to you.

Perception of what is 'loud' is a very relative, slippery definition. When I was shooting a nasty old springer pistol last winter, just getting started with AP, my downstairs neighbour was not aware of shooting happening upstairs. When I bought a Baikal 46m in April he asked me after a few days if I had bought "some kind of pneumatic tool or something" as he'd definitely started noticing my shooting. It hasn't been a problem for him - he's a very tolerant guy who makes his own share of noise anyway - but the SSP is definitely noticeable through our shared floor/ceiling, which it tiled on my side and double-drywalled on his.

When I shoot at the club range I definitely notice the much louder bark, or snap sound of the PCP pistols, whether Morini or Steyr or Pardini. It's enough to bug me a bit, but not painful even if right beside me. By comparison, my very approximate personal interpretation of the difference is that my 46m is about half as loud, or half as intense a sound compared to those pistols. When someone (not very often, fortunately) shoots a cheap CO2 pistol, those tend to be another notch up in volume, though not double the noise of the PCPs.

I've got a db meter application on my Android phone now, and have measured (however inaccurately, not sure) my own pistol as being about 76db a foot to one side of the muzzle. Haven't checked at the club yet, but this week I'll try to remember running that and checking relative noise of other members' pistols and my own in that large, echoing room, where mine sounds significantly quieter than it does in the small hallway I shoot in at home.

Greg
I almost always shoot my AP and AR with either ear plugs or muffs.
While the sound is quite tolerable w/o hearing protection, it affects my concentration. Muffling it w plugs or muffs makes it a non-issue.

I am older (70) and shoot my LP 10 and LP 50 in enclosed spaces. One place is in my home in Florida inside the house; the other is in an enclosed firing point about 9 x 10 in North Carolina where my in-laws have a guest house.

Perhaps my age is a contributing factor, since I know that my hearing above 10 kHz is gone. None-the-less, my comment is "What noise?"

I do shoot with ear protection from time to time to get used to what I would do in competition... I find the minimal sound of other shooters on the line to be a distraction.

I have some air rifles (PCP) that, even with bloop tubes, are significantly loud, essentially as loud as a .22 cal rifle using Eley target ammo. I would not think about shooting them in a very close proximity residential area. They are, by the way, AirForce rifles in .22 and .25 designed for removing pests, such as rats and other vermin. Interestingly, the accuracy and effectiveness extend well past 50 yards.

I also have an AirForce 10 meter rifle that is not near as loud, but a bit louder that the LPs.