Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 30-30 vs 44-40 vs 357 noise

Close in hunting, medium game, with carbines. I know the 30-30 rules that particular list for power and versatility. But how about noise?

My guess is 30-30 has the most blast, then 357 full power carbine,....then original factory 44-40 power out of a lever gun would have to be less than either?

Any noticeably less effect between them for the purpose of not deafening my hunting dogs? or do they all rank as 'real loud'?

Variables of course, but the 44-40 is by far quieter.

Low pressure cartridge (44WCF) vs two relatively high pressure loads, the lower pressure load will be quieter than the others.

Thats sort of what I figured. I havent heard one but trying to draw parallels- the closest I can think of would be 410 shotgun loads?...though it does burn more powder than a modest 44-40 load.

A 44-40 isn't that loud.

The first time Mooseboy ever shot a deer, it was with my Marlin 336. He was shooting out the front window of plywood box blind (a real box, too! It was a packing crate) I was trying to spot him out the right side window. The shot was heavily angled to my side. In those days, Mooseboy was quick to excite and not as amenable to instruction. I had just said something like, "Okay get your gun off safe--"

BLAM!

It felt like the world had caved in. I had planned on drawing back a bit before he shot, but I caught the blast with the side of my head through just a thin wall of plywood. My head was about 18 inches away from the muzzle.

Don't ever think "It's just a 30-30."

One other related thing: I shoot a 44 Mag load that uses H110. Out of my Ruger Super Blackhawk it is a "Muffs-n-plugs" situation. The first time I set one off at the range, the Safety Office ran over; he thought I'd blown up the gun. Out of a Ruger carbine, it's quite reasonable. The same is true with my 357 Mag deer load. Out of my old-model Blackhawk, YIKES!!! Out of the Marlin 1894 carbine, it's much quieter.

Thanks Rockinbbar, good news. Leaves me with only 9mm carbine as my only compartive left . But I know its going to be a different type of noise anyway. I might try and get down to the local cowboy action range and have a listen if anyone is running factory power.

No I agree with that totally. The effect on hunting dogs similar if the angle or range is too close, also using shorter than 20" 30-30, its no joke.

Cowboy loads are limited to velocity, so they are about what factory loads are.

Out of a 24" barrel 44-40 rifle I had, using 200gr lead cast bullets with 7.3 grains of Unique, my 44-40 was maybe a tad louder than a 22 magnum.

To protect your dog’s hearing, would it be worth going through the time and trouble to use a suppressor/silencer?

Sometime it seems like half the rifles in the store have threaded muzzles now. I have a friend who has a number of suppressors and swears by ‘em.

it sure would be but not legal where I am unfortunately.

My first center fire rifle was given to me by a friend of my mother, it was a Winchester long barreled 44-40 on it's last legs, to say it was used is a understatement, he also gave me 3 boxes Win Yellow box ammo don't remember what gr.

Loaded this thing up, I think it held some were between 12 and 15 rnds in the tube, and it was all I could to shoulder it, it weighed a ton, soon learned to only put 3 or4 rnds in the tube and it was manageable, killed Mule deer and Elk like lighting if you could get close enough, to hit them with a rock. Rio7

Are we talking with ear muffs on, or what the neighbor's hear when we shoot a deer in our suburban back yard?

Muzzle blast is just muzzle pressure, i.e. the pressure released to the atmosphere as the bullet leaves the bore. Higher pressure rounds with slower burning powders will maintain higher pressure inside the bore and have a louder muzzle blast. Shorter barrels will release that pressure to the atmosphere when the pressure is higher.

So just pick the round with the lowest maximum pressure and shoot it in the longest barrel reasonable for the task, and if you handload use the quickest burning powder suitable for the task. Veral Smith wrote about this, if you want the lowest muzzle blast in a handgun get a large bore and shoot a heavy bullet paired with a fast powder.


I have a sort of pet theory that bore diameter also changes the pitch, with smaller bores having a higher pitch than larger bores. Given same pressures folks notice that the .357 has a very loud crack! whereas the .44 Magnum is more of a hollow boom. They're still both "really loud" (scientific term) at full power but the pitch makes the former seem more painful to the ears. The .30 Carbine in those Ruger revolvers has a notoriously painful muzzle blast.

Again, just a pet theory so I don't know if bore diameter is really the culprit or not, but most people do notice a difference in the quality of the sound.



A generic example of fast vs. slow burning powders. The fast powder builds up a higher pressure than the slower powder but it drops more quickly so at the muzzle the slower powder has maintained a higher muzzle pressure than the faster powder.

Very interesting fellas. So I guess if someone were to load their 44-40 carbine below the speed of sound for close in shots it would be even less blasty. less powder, less muzzle pressure and no crack.


As mentioned, mostly dogs ears. But also general sound carrying , to anyone who hears it.

In my experience a 357 out of a rifle isn't loud enough I'd even put muffs on.

When I load a 357 with rifle-specific loads using a compressed charge of slow-burning powder under a 158gr bullet going 1900+ fps, it sounds remarkably similar to a 30-30 with same bullet weight. It sure sounds like a "real" rifle to me.

Congratulations I suppose?

I love my 1894c. One of the handiest and funnest guns I own. I just don’t think it’s loud.

The 44-40 loaded with modern mousefarts, cowboy loads or even super-x loads, are far quieter than normal loads that produce 1,300fps and using mid-range rifle powders like Reloder 7, 2400 and IMR-4227. Replicating Winchester factory High Velocity loads with IMR-4227 used in strong action rifles like the Model 92' will ring your ears like the 30-30. Actually, the HV 44-40 will out perform the 30-30 at 100 yards or less.

So basically yes...the 44-40 is quieter with modern factory loads. Factory normal loads went ka-put after 1976. HV loads ran from 1903 to 1945