Anyone build a sound reducing box to shoot out of?

[RCB]

I've been thinking of building a one person box to help reduce overall noise while target shooting. While suppressors for every weapon I own would be cool, it's not financially or physically practical. I love loading up the family along with friends and their kids to go out on our land to do some shooting. We usually have food, grill out, etc.. however, some of the rifles and even some pistols can be quite loud, even from 100 feet away. So I had thought of building a box with three sides and acoustic tiles to try and direct sounds away from the food/recreational area. Anyone done anything like that? If so, did it help at all or was it just a waste of material? I've even wondered if a simple freestanding wall between the firing line and the recreational area would make a difference.

 

[Squid556]

Cool idea really. Havent thought about it in a while. Last design I saw somebody do looked something like this.

I've gotten tires before for free just by asking a local tire shop. Could get some large truck tires to give the best field of view. Build a simple frame to keep it stable.

Place I shoot a lot has the range covered by a carport which greatly increases sound. Acousitc panels on the top and sides of that would be a pretty good solution there I'd think. Depends on your range layout.

 

[mike4]

Simple freestanding wall will be largely useless; and what sound energy it does redirect will be reflected right back at your shooters. And as soon as it overtops the wall it will go back to radiating outward to where well before 100 feet away the remaining wave will cover from ground level to eardrum level back at your picnic area. Sound waves are not blocked in a direct line like light waves, they spread out again at the edge of barriers more like water waves.

Sounds waves will also reflect back off flat building walls at the same angle without a lot of energy loss esp. sheet metal buildings, and radiate back out in all directions where they bounce off tree trunks. You are on the right track with the original thought of energy absorbing material, although materials that are going to survive outdoors are going to be more limited. The closer to the source the better. The tire idea does not look bad. Not so great for practical pistol shooting, but good for rifle target shooting if you can extend the muzzle inside the tires.

If you created a little 3 sided, or better yet, 3 sided with a roof shooting house I'm just brainstorming here for cheaper materials to dampen sound. If you used treated plywood (or untreated and put something like vinyl siding around the outside with a shingled roof) you could try gluing a layer of outdoor carpeting to all the inside surfaces, then screw a number of 3" stand-offs to the surface to suspend a second layer of rubber backed outdoor carpeting suspended away from each wall. Although uglier, I might put the rubber side outward to absorb less lead dust, then again using something like light gray carpet, fuzzy side out would provide better daylight inside the house. Maybe better to just start with the single layer directly attached to plywood and see if the effect is adequate 100 feet away, before trying the second layer plus air gap idea.

Two other related tips. I'd focus on 22LR when you want to tone things down now that we can find ammo to buy again. If you do look into suppressors at all (I mean for decibel data, rather than to purchase), you will see how much lower the unsuppressed sound energy levels are for 22LR versus any centerfire pistol caliber, and centerfire rifle calibers are way worse. Second point, once you do hear a suppressed 22LR or 9mm you will realize how much additional noise is produced by the crack of a supersonic round in flight. So any sound dampening using tires, etc. will do nothing to reduce that noise. I've found CCI Standard Velocity 22LR to reliabily cycle in 10/22s and remain subsonic out of their 16" barrels. Of course it's easily subsonic out of shorter handgun barrels.

 

[woodsie57]

Simple freestanding wall will be largely useless; and what sound energy it does redirect will be reflected right back at your shooters. And as soon as it overtops the wall it will go back to radiating outward to where well before 100 feet away the remaining wave will cover from ground level to eardrum level back at your picnic area. Sound waves are not blocked in a direct line like light waves, they spread out again at the edge of barriers more like water waves.

Sounds waves will also reflect back off flat building walls at the same angle without a lot of energy loss esp. sheet metal buildings, and radiate back out in all directions where they bounce off tree trunks. You are on the right track with the original thought of energy absorbing material, although materials that are going to survive outdoors are going to be more limited. The closer to the source the better. The tire idea does not look bad. Not so great for practical pistol shooting, but good for rifle target shooting if you can extend the muzzle inside the tires.

If you created a little 3 sided, or better yet, 3 sided with a roof shooting house I'm just brainstorming here for cheaper materials to dampen sound. If you used treated plywood (or untreated and put something like vinyl siding around the outside with a shingled roof) you could try gluing a layer of outdoor carpeting to all the inside surfaces, then screw a number of 3" stand-offs to the surface to suspend a second layer of rubber backed outdoor carpeting suspended away from each wall. Although uglier, I might put the rubber side outward to absorb less lead dust, then again using something like light gray carpet, fuzzy side out would provide better daylight inside the house. Maybe better to just start with the single layer directly attached to plywood and see if the effect is adequate 100 feet away, before trying the second layer plus air gap idea.

Two other related tips. I'd focus on 22LR when you want to tone things down now that we can find ammo to buy again. If you do look into suppressors at all (I mean for decibel data, rather than to purchase), you will see how much lower the unsuppressed sound energy levels are for 22LR versus any centerfire pistol caliber, and centerfire rifle calibers are way worse. Second point, once you do hear a suppressed 22LR or 9mm you will realize how much additional noise is produced by the crack of a supersonic round in flight. So any sound dampening using tires, etc. will do nothing to reduce that noise. I've found CCI Standard Velocity 22LR to reliabily cycle in 10/22s and remain subsonic out of their 16" barrels. Of course it's easily subsonic out of shorter handgun barrels.

Used a rolled up 6x8 area rug - made a big difference!

 

[Leo]

There is something to the direction of the sound pressure. One of my O/U shotguns is magna ported. It is louder to shoot, people standing next to me complain it is loud, but I have let someone else shoot a round of trap with it and not noticed any volume difference from 50 feet behind. Muzzle brakes are similar.

To avoid stray shots,leaving the property, one gun club installed galvanized culvert pipes to shoot through. They were really loud for the shooter, but way quieter up buy the clubhouse about 150 yards away.

 

[Lodge]

Look into the way recording studios deal with sound dampening/absorption.
The decibel level of firearms is far louder than what a studio would be dealing with but the principles are the same.
Mitigation of the HF is the easiest to accomplish.
No parallel surfaces. Absorptive material to "capture" HF sound waves. Dead air space (multiple "false" walls) to slow down the transmission.
As already mentioned, whatever you do will only be effective at the immediate source.
Once the sound leaves that boundary it will expand.
Major sound level (100 db +) reduction is an expensive proposition.

 

[model1994]

my future range will be essentially a sinkhole on my property. i have begun my experiment in sound-lessening by planting multiple, alternating rows of spruce (won’t self prune) trees around the border/hillside. similar to a living privacy barrier but spread out slightly more intending to be, hopefully, more sound suppressive for the adjacent entertainment area.

if that don’t really work it at least it’ll look pretty and be good wildlife habitat lol

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Like the boxes at Crane during like the Mk18 or SCAR testing? Sure, smart idea.

I am unaware if USN has any specs but can find out.

 

[ImNoTech]

I’ve wanted to do this at my aunts house. Make a soundproof shooting box that you could also hunt out of. We thought if using tires filled with sand and foam and many ideas thrown around. You want the sound to be absorbed so those foam things in studios is the best imo. Here’s a good link with lots of info for shooting ranges could use this info to help build your own.
PDF BC wildlife outdoor shooting soundproofing

 

[RCB]

Like the boxes at Crane during like the Mk18 or SCAR testing? Sure, smart idea.

I am unaware if USN has any specs but can find out.

I'd be curious to know what their setup is like (assuming it's kosher to disclose).

 

[indyartisan]

We used Auralex products in Studio and Home Theater builds.

Auralex Acoustics | Studiofoam, Panels, Bass Traps

Auralex Acoustics is the industry leader in acoustical treatment products, including Studiofoam, bass traps, diffusors, panels, sound barriers, construction materials, & more.

auralex.com

Probably cost prohibitive for your application but it may give you some ideas.

 

[Lodge]

Auralex and/or other foamy treatments are actually designed to reduce reflections i.e. sound bouncing off hard surfaces.
That typically only affects the mid to high frequencies and doesn't lower volume.
Low end absorption is exceptionally more challenging to control. Usually mass is the answer- multiple walls, lead sheets, concrete, earth.

 

[Lodge]

my future range will be essentially a sinkhole on my property. i have begun my experiment in sound-lessening by planting multiple, alternating rows of spruce (won’t self prune) trees around the border/hillside. similar to a living privacy barrier but spread out slightly more intending to be, hopefully, more sound suppressive for the adjacent entertainment area.

if that don’t really work it at least it’ll look pretty and be good wildlife habitat lol

I think that's the best approach.

 

[indyartisan]

 

[Lodge]

Another thought to consider is by building a "shed", be it three sided, open overhead or three sided with a roof, the SPL and concussion of a firearm enclosed will be tremendous. Ear pro probably won't help much, as far as your enjoyment of shooting. Look at the specs for most ear pro... -22db sound reduction to maybe up to -32db reduction. Silencers run about the same, even less. Point being, with a shed type set up, you've just contained the initial (loudest) impulse in a "room" you happen to be sitting in and, with an open side the sound will still escape to areas you're wanting to mitigate.

 

[Lodge]

View attachment 276572

Expensive proposition for a shooting booth