LOUDEST HAND GUN

My Pasadena Automag in .44 is pretty loud, but the .357AMP barrel takes the cake.
 
Loudest I'v shot

Of all of the "Eargersplitten Loudengaboomers" that I have in my collection, my S&W Mod. 57 .41 Mag. with hot reloads. The reaction from the range officer, inside the second floor brick offices at the Columbus Police Pistol Range, in OH, years ago, was as follows, when the second floor window flew open, he shouted "What in the Hexx are you shooting on this range?" The .41 Mag, makes my .44Mag seem soft spoken by comparison. The next would be a T/C contender with a .357 Max. rifle bbl. I also have an unused, T/C super 14" pistol barreled Contender in .45/70, that needs to be tried, but hasn't been yet. The jury is still out.
Chubbo
 
Never shot a Blackhawk .30...Can't say...

Several here are right about some very loud ones I am familiar with.

I once fired my S&W .500 Mag. by mistake without ear protection. That was defiantly an experience I don't want to repeat again. That mistake took several days to get my hearing back.

Yeah....22 mags are noisy...M48's and Ruger convertible sixes.

M19 2.5" with .357 mag is very loud but my M29's... 2.5" and 3" ported have a crack/boom above normal range, compared to my other 44's. Everyone does testify to those ported short barrel .44's being abusive. Glad to have protection on when they're fired.

I've got a Desert Eagle .44 waiting to be tried out.
 
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My old 4" 22 Jet. Sorry I traded it but it was by far the loudest, or I should say painfully noisy gun I have ever fired or witnessed.
 
I had a TC in .45-70 with 10 inch barrel. The loudest and the most recoil I've ever dealt with.
 
A while back I had a TC Contender in 7-30 Waters, 10 inch with a brake. That was a loud son of a gun. 2nd place would have to be a 4" 686 slinging 180 grain XTPs with 12.5 of 2400. I didn't think it was that loud, but it drew a crowd at an indoor range.

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I take it none of you shoot USPSA matches? A 9Major or a 38 Super Comp with a compensator is really loud. I know a number of RO's who won't run an Open division shooter due to the noise. I have to adjust the sensitivity of my shot timer because it will pick up the echo as another shot.

Taking it one step further. In the late '80's, back when the power factor was still 175, I ran the chronograph stage at an Area 5 match during the short time period the 9x25 Dillon was at the height of it popularity. Designed by Randy Shelley of Dillon and popularized by Rob Leatham, it was simply the 10mm case necked down to 9mm, and held twice the amount of powder the .38 Super did.

The tremendous amount of gas developed, when pushed through the mulitple chamber compensators in use, would result in no muzzle lift what-so-ever. Some of the unlimited guns so chambered actually dipped slightly when fired. The draw back was incredible noise and blast. It was so much louder, you could easily differentiate the sound signature of the Dillon round even when it was being fired two or three stages away.

My task at that match was to weigh bullets from every competitor and record velocities from the dual chronographs for every shot fired. To see the readout screens on the two chronos, I sat elevated behind the shooter looking over his head. That put me in a perfect position to experience the full effect of those compensated pistols. The .38 Supers were loud even with plugs and muffs, but those 9x25 Dillons would nearly knock me backwards.

After a full weekend and nearly 200 shooters, I went home a bit shell shocked and had a headache for two days. Thankfully, the 9x25 fell from favor rather quickly, disappearing entirely once the power factor was reduced.

Roe
 
Gentlemen I own and shoot a Ruger Blackhawk in 30 carbine. It is very loud. But my pistol that is the loudest is my Rock River 223 AR pistol with a 7 1/2 in barrel. Muzzle blast is terrible. A close second to the AR pistol is my AK 47 pistol in 7.62 X 39. I wear plugs and muffs with all 3 handguns.
 
A 4 inch 357 Magnum, specifically my model 620. Actually managed to make a 500 Magnum shooter in the next lane ask me that the heck I was shooting.

As for how I did that, it was my Holy Muzzle Blast Batman load. That is a 125 grain Hornady XTP loaded with 21.7 grains of H110. Per reports from others in the indoor range the muzzle flash was about half the length of the range (50 foot indoor range). From my perspective all I could see was the blast ring from the B/C gap and it totally obscured whatever was going on downrange. Only fired 5 rounds because I was concerned about the flame cutting that might be going on. Note, I have now relegated that particular load and any load featuring H110 for use in one of my 357 Magnum rifles. Because chronograph testing about a month later with a 158 grain/H110 load revealed that all the drama only yielded 50 fps. more than a much less dramatic load featuring Accurate #9 with the same bullet.
 
I shot an AR-15 with a 10" barrel. That was enough for me to know I did not want one of them.

Muzzle blast from firing full-powered ammo in a Mauser rifle with a 16" barrel was brutal.

I had a 300 Weatherby rifle that I sold after one season of hunting because of the horrible muzzle blast, and went back to the 30-06.

Does anyone have any empirical data to show if there is much of a difference between the 357, 41, and 44 Magnum revolvers fired in similar barrel lengths? I think they are about the same (since they operate at similar pressures), but that is probably very subjective.

I do not understand the appeal of the 460 or 500 magnums.
 
460 XVR

SW 460 Magnum, short barrel.

I was going to vote for my 460 XVR, but mine is an 8 in. bbl. A 4 in. is too brutal to contemplate. The combination of high operating pressure and muzzle brake generate a shock wave impact on the shooter's chest. It would perform CPR. A 4 in. is inconceivable.
 
I once thought my 2.5" M-19 or 6.5" M29 with full power loads were loud, until I got into long range pistol, or as some call it, metal silhouette competition. Only iron sights were allowed; you shot steel animal silhouettes at 50, 100, 150 and 200 yds and had to knock them down to score.
Standing off to the side of the active line, you could hear the report of the various guns and calibers. It was obvious the 357's were louder than the 45's, the 44 mags were louder than the 357's, then the Ruger 30 carbines, then the Thompson Contenders in 30-30, but the king of the hill were the Remington XP-100's in full length .308. Every now and then, shooting prone, I'd find myself next to a shooter with one of those hand cannons. There was plenty of time to shoot each round, 25 seconds IIRC, and I quickly learned to wait until the shooter with the cannon fired, then I'd settle down, aim and fire. The noise and blast were overwhelming; it was so powerful out of that short barrel that the front foot or two of the guy's (sometimes gal's) shooting mat would lift up, coil back in an S shape about a foot off the ground like a cobra, then slap down, raising a cloud of dust that rolled over my position.
Funny thing was, actually shooting the thing was more pleasant than shooting my M-29. After the matches, we'd have a fun shoot, and I tried one a few times. You shot them from a Creedmore position, so the muzzle was a long way out from your ears. The grip was under the front of the bolt, not behind the gun. The result was the gun rolled up from your elbow in recoil, finishing with the barrel pointing up at about 45-50 degrees from the horizontal, whereas my M-29 drove the gun mostly straight through my wrist and elbow to my shoulder. My hand and wrist always ached after about 80 rounds of match and fun runs with the M-29. The other neat thing about the 30-30's and 308's was the sighting; I adjusted my M-29 aim with range and tried to hit high on the animal silhouette to knock them down, actually raising the rear sight to max for the 200 yd rams. With the 308, I was looking through a peep sight, and the aperture was so small, I saw only black when on target. I could not tell where I was on the target. The guys who owned the guns told me not to worry; if you see black, pull the trigger, it will go down no matter where you hit it. That was fun, an I began to understand how some of them would knock down 40 out of 40 targets in a match. I usually shot in the 20's, with a best of 28 out of 40. I was good at bulls eye, but silhouette was a humbling experience. My hand and wrist began to hurt more and more and I gave it up and sold the M-29 to a friend who just had to have a Dirty Harry gun.
 
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If you've ever shot a S&W 460 Magnum with a 200gr bullet under a substantial amount of H110, you'll never complain about a 30 Carbine Blackhawk again.


I've shot the Blackhawk in .30 carbine, while wearing hearing protection of course. I did not perceive it to be any louder than the .357 Magnum and not as loud as the .41 and .44 Magnums. The freedom Arms .454 with 4 3/4" barrel using factory 300 grain ammo (1585 FPS in my gun) seems much louder to me.

Whoever created the .50 BMG handgun might very well hold the record for loud.......
 
I was just getting ready to type the .460 with those 200gr Hornady rounds...holy guacamole... if you're mouth isn't closed, it forces air out your cheeks.

If you've ever shot a S&W 460 Magnum with a 200gr bullet under a substantial amount of H110, you'll never complain about a 30 Carbine Blackhawk again.
 
I have shot or heard most handguns.

The loudest I've ever heard was my 629 6.5" Classic with the factory compensator on top of the bbl. It looked like a slot in a toaster.

When shooting it in an enclosed booth it rattled the ceiling and both walls.

It was the only time a range master tapped on my shoulder. He yelled, no 50 cal allowed and pointed to a sign on the wall. I told him it was a 44 Mag, he said no. I showed him the box of ammo. He said shhotit today but never bring it back. I had shot it at the Busch range many times and brought it back later.

It also had the full underlug bbl.

I found a 4" 629 that is much quieter and is lighter to pack.
I traded the big boomer off. I was not asked about the noise nor offered any advice past always wear ear pugs.

I had a safe full of Weatherbys once upon a time. One was the light 300 mag. 26" bbl with a factory recoil compensator. It did not weigh 7.5 lbs scoped.
It recoiled like a 270. A friend bought it new.
He hated the compensator and tried to hunt elk without it. He said he did not flinch but in front of several folks he missed a huge bull at 25' more than once before it trotted off.

I had it for several years. Killed some deer. Light, accurate and fast.

When hunting I never noticed the recoil.

I put a VX 3 2.5x8 Leupold on it. Took it to the range to zero it in. It too shook the walls, mine and for several booths down. Folks came up to watch me shoot it, when we went to change targets they asked what kind of cannon it was, 460 mag???? It was noisy. I had the compensator screwed on for less recoil when sighting in.


I would hate to be between 2 guys firing these at a running deer.
 
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