Sound deadening shooting box?

AbitNutz

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 19, 2021
376
448
SW Ohio
I'm trying to come up with ideas to deaden the sound of my test shots in my basement range. I'm thinking of constructing a really basic box. Something along the lines of an OSB box 24" by 48" and lined with insulation. Maybe the end closed down to 18"x18". Essentially, you put your firearm into it, sight down it to your target, and the insulated box deadens the blast. Or at least that's the idea. It certainly wouldn't silence things but I think it might muffle 22LR-? to a fair degree. Not every gun is suitable for a suppressor and this is just an idea that I thought might help lower the noise a bit.
Has anyone else thought of or tried something like this? Or is this just a waste of time?
 
I'm trying to come up with ideas to deaden the sound of my test shots in my basement range. I'm thinking of constructing a really basic box. Something along the lines of an OSB box 24" by 48" and lined with insulation. Maybe the end closed down to 18"x18". Essentially, you put your firearm into it, sight down it to your target, and the insulated box deadens the blast. Or at least that's the idea. It certainly wouldn't silence things but I think it might muffle 22LR-? to a fair degree. Not every gun is suitable for a suppressor and this is just an idea that I thought might help lower the noise a bit.
Has anyone else thought of or tried something like this? Or is this just a waste of time?
A range I used to go to uses something like that. Originally, they used egg crate foam but it led to the range burning down after sparks from a muzzleloader ignited the foam. Years of shooting had led to it becoming sort filled with unburned blackpowder or something.

They still use the same design without the foam. They had a sort of paper insulation in them but the muzzle blasts made short work of that. Now all the boxes do is transmit the blast into the concrete floors. Pretty sure it'd be less obnoxious there without any boxes at all.

Hope this helps.
 
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The thicker the insulation, the longer the tube, smaller the "hole", the better.
Then you got to think of a backstop. Something where the lead won't splatter. A bullet trap would work..
 
The word you are looking for is:

Schallschutztunnel​


The Swiss have figured out how to shoot their rifles, without unduly annoying their neighbors:


 
I was looking into an outdoor version of that a couple of years ago. There is still a thread around.

I decided my neighbors can fuck off.
I was here decades before they built their little mansions.

Sirhr
Me and my neighbor came to an agreement.
Make as much noise as you want , I won't say shit to you if you dont say shit to me.
I like to shoot , and they like to play loud music.
I actually encourage them to make as much noise as they want because then they can't bitch.
Sometimes you have to give in order to get .
 
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Thats an excellent idea.

Look on Google for Acoustical insulation stores near me' like this one. In Virginia I bought 2" thick compressed fiberglass insulation in 4'x10' sheets for about $120 per sheet. Probably more today but one sheet should do all you need with left overs for friends. I used it for sound damping in an audio system, works well and should be mostly fireproof.

Fiber-Glass-Wool-Insulation-Batts-in-Nairobi-Kenya-Insultion-World-Kenya-Limited-2.jpg


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I stacked 6 used tires (15" wheel diameter stuffed with sound insulation) side-by-side and capped both ends with 1/2" plywood with a 4" hole shaped like an upside-down skeleton keyhole for shooting .308 with a scope. It was quiet enough that my wife 75 yards away in the house never could tell if it was me or the neighbor 700yd away.

Failing a box set-up, have you thought about subsonic ammo for your 22LR? It's almost churchmouse quiet.
 
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I was thinking of doing something such as this:

55gal drum

Sound deadening foam from Amazon (think the stuff they have in recording studios

Three bags of play sand from home depot

Steel plate

Basically stuffing the drum full of foam and leaving an opening large enough for my suppressor and magnetospeed to fit in and then using the play sand as a backstop with the steel plate as back up. This would be for my garage as I live in a neighborhood in town but don’t want to drive to the range just to shoot 10 rounds to get speeds. I don’t know if it’s worth the hassle however.
 
I found a place selling those blue plastic 55 gallon barrels for 10 bucks. I'm going to pick one up. Amazon sells 1-foot square sound-deadening tiles pretty cheap. I will buy some of those and glue them inside it and see how that works. This will be a lot easier and cheaper than constructing something...thanks, guys.