Thread: 16" vs 22" barrel noise level

It's not just the length of the barrel - a point that a lot of people miss. If you shoot and there is a bank to one side of you, you will experience more sound pressure than if it is entirely open terrain. If there is a lot of bush in front of you the same - and lot of sound energy reflects back to you so your ears experience more sound pressure. Effectively, an unsuppressed rifle will damage your hearing and you will experience more hearing damage in tighter country than open terrain such as shooting off a ridgeline into a gully vs shooting along a bank or in thick bush. Even shooting with a suppressor in tight country might mean you have enough energy reflected back at you to damage your ears and give you a good ear ringing.