Powders

Nobleman

Well-Known Member
Regardless of Calibre is there a difference is Noise/Muzzle Report between fast burning and slow burning powders for the same bullet ?
 
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. To push a bullet forwards needs an action the recoil felt is the opposite reaction. This will be attenuated by the weight of the gun etc. for the same bullet weight then the speed of the forward action will be directly proportional to the speed of the backward reaction. Fast powder=fast push forwards and backwards. Whilst the actual recoil if measured may be roughly the same the perceived recoil will be different. The faster powder producing a punchier recoil.

hope this makes sense.

BE
 
I would expect so. A powder that isn't fully consumed within the barrel would have more energy to creat noise once the bullet has exited.

I have no evidence or references to back this up though.
 
Barrel length probably has more influence on this than burning speed of powder. What makes this say this is that the muzzle blast from the Russian Mosin carbine is impressive as is the fireball at the muzzle especially when compared to the rifle with the longer barrel.
 
so you conflate inertia and momentum with noise?


Noise will be a function of muzzle pressure which will relate to 'how much burnt' in the barrel so fast powders that burn in a short distance will have less pressure at the muzzle = quieter.
Stuff that is still burning when bullet leaves the muzzle = louder.
 
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so you conflate inertia and momentum with noise?


Noise will be a function of muzzle pressure which will relate to 'how much burnt' in the barrel so fast powders that burn in a short distance will have less pressure at the muzzle = quieter.
Stuff that is still burning when bullet leaves the muzzle = louder.

Ok excellent that sounds feasible and would explain why two identical Rifles with the the same mod and shooting the same bullet within a few fps of each other sounded so different the other day.

Cheers.
 
I would say from personal experience that the faster powders sound much higher in pitch/frequency than slower powders

its sounds like a crack rather than a boom! (technical terms)
 
I would say from personal experience that the faster powders sound much higher in pitch/frequency than slower powders

its sounds like a crack rather than a boom! (technical terms)
+ 1, faster powders in general feel a bit more snappy to me (also technical terms)
 
Slower burning powders, when used in the proper cartridge, are effective by performing more work on the bullet by means of more pressure throughout the bullet travel down the bore. More pressure at the muzzle exit usually means there was higher pressure behind the bullet there. That also means the gas velocity will be higher - maybe 4,500 fps vs 3,600 fps for the same cartridge. A larger diameter bullet requires less pressure to be accelerated to the same velocity as a smaller diameter bullet of the same weight.

The sudden expansion of that gas plume is what produces the "bang", just like lightning produces thunder. The bullet itself is also producing a shock wave, if it it traveling faster than the speed of sound. You can hear the noticeable difference between a .22-250 at 3,600 fps and an 8x57 at 2,600 fps, due both to the gas velocity as well as the bullet velocity.
 
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