Gunshot suppressors and sound level meters dBZ Peak performance tests

摘要

The art and the science of manufacturing effective small-arm gunshot suppressors (i.e. silencers) has progressed rapidly in recent years due in large part to a national upsurge to legalize civilian ownership of silencers for recreational, hunting and competitive shooting applications. This paper will describe a unique study that was conducted in late-2018 in which several dozen production and prototype silencers were independently tested using four different sound level meters to simultaneously measure dBZ Peak in accordance with test standard MIL-STD 1474D. Fourteen large bore (.300 BLK) and twelve small bore (.22 LR) silencers were tested and rank-ordered for effectiveness using a Bruel & Kjaer 2209, a Larson Davis LxT, a Svantek 971 and a Casella CEL 593 sound level meter. The results demonstrated that the more effective silencers could reduce gunshot sound levels by as much as 35 dBZ Peak. The phenomenon referred to as "first shot pop", in which the silencer is typically not as effective for the first shot through it, was also explored and quantified in this study. Lastly, the results of the four sound meters were compared to one another to evaluate how similarly they were able to measure dB Peak levels.