I was out shooting prairie dogs on public land, and there were other shooters on a nearby town. On a couple of occasions, I could actually hear bullets cutting through the air.
How close do bullets have to be for you to hear them?

I know that you have to wear ear plugs when pulling targets for the 600 yd line,,the bullets give a pretty good "crack" as they pass over head,,3-4' over your head in that situation.Clay

Slancey: Yikes!
If the bullets were "whizzing" past you then that indicates to me the bullets had made contact with the ground or a Varmint and were tumbling. Probably sub-sonic, if no distinct "crack" accompanied the whizzing!
In either case the bullets travelling "past" you were the main exhibit in an UNSAFE situation!
I would have attempted to solve the situation immediately if possible - by communicating with the other shooters or just leaving the country.
I always make certain the other members of my party know which direction I am going Varminting! I also make sure they DO NOT shoot toward my half of the world! And in turn I only shoot in the exact opposite direction my partner(s) is (are) at!
With the high number of bullets that are sent down range while Varminting - if bullets are whizzing or "cracking" past, then you must take protective action. More bullets are coming and you are most likely FAR from medical attention.
Bad mix this.
More specifically now to your "distance" inquiry. I have heard bullets whizzing "away" when my partners are 400 yards distant themselves and their bullets headed away from me. So I am guessing on a calm day a centerfire bullet can be heard "moving" from 500 - 700 yards away.
It would be tough to give an exact answer to your question - one variable would be the actual physical size (length) of the "whizzing" bullets. Long 30 caliber bullets whiz louder than short 22 caliber bullets. Maybe even for a longer amount of time?
So one could most likely hear the longer bullets from a further distance than say a 40 gr. 22 caliber bullet.
Anyway I am glad you are safe now.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

There was definitely no crack sound. My guess is that they were .22 caliber centerfire.
I'm not actually sure they were passing that close by. Maybe parallel to me at some distance like 200-300 yards. Maybe closer though.

In my instance you hear the "whang" of the bullet hitting the side of the Humvee before you hear the pop of the AK. Other than that the gunner drops down in the hatch swearing as we usually push on thru unable to return fire. The smart insurgents don't use tracer rounds.

What do you mean, "unable to return fire"? Is that because of "orders" or because its impossible to determine where the fire is coming from? Just curious. Smoke them diaperheads!

If it comes close enough, "you won't hear it!!!"

22 Long rifle bullets will riccochet pretty badly.. when out shooting ground squirrels if guys are shooting 10/22s, I can hear bullets whizzing by or overhead at times, yet they are shooting in the opposite directions it appears...

Of course they could just be people who know seafire doesn't care for the 17 HMR and they are just shooting at him when he isn't looking...

Slancey,

Several years ago I responded to a call of possible shots being fired in a residential neighborhood. I soon came under fire from a subject firing several rounds from a 30-06 at me from a distance of about 40 yards. As to the actual noise made by the bullets, I could clearly hear them "sizzle" as they passed overhead. We later determined the path of the fired rounds and estimated they passed about 4 feet overhead. I'll forever remember how distinct the "sizzle" sound was, as compared to, say, a "whine". I don't know if the actual sound produced is more caliber-specific, velocity-specific, or proximity specific, as this has been my only such experience. Hope this is of help to you.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by slancey:
I was out shooting prairie dogs on public land, and there were other shooters on a nearby town. On a couple of occasions, I could actually hear bullets cutting through the air.
How close do bullets have to be for you to hear them?

That would depend whether or not the bullet was over mach one when it entered your ear canal or not. Seriously, there are a lot of careless shooters out there with no forthought as to where the bullet goes after it leaves the barrel
I try to get out of the area when they show up.

quote:

Originally posted by Joe Young:
That would depend whether or not the bullet was over mach one when it entered your ear canal or not. Seriously, there are a lot of careless shooters out there with no forthought as to where the bullet goes after it leaves the barrel
I try to get out of the area when they show up.

It also depends on the original direction of fire. At times it sounds like the bullets are going directly over your head when that is not the case. You can't tell anything from the sound and you certainly can't see a flying bullet. A bullet only deflects so many degrees and loses so much energy after striking an object that the sound means nothing. You would need to be hearing it in stereo to even begin to get an idea of it's path and direction much less its proximity to you. What sounds like it just missed you by inches could in fact be a hundred yards away. I live next door to an active range and my house is due East of the 200 yard impact area. All shooting is done from South to North. At times you can sit on my patio and it sounds as though the bullets are passing directly overhead and not by very far. The way the range is situated that is physically impossible. My next door neighbor is sure that her life is in danger regardless of what facts are presented to her. I know it is unnerving to hear a "near miss" but unless you are pretty much in the direct line of fire it didn't happen. Bullets don't turn corners nor do they ricochet at 90 degrees to the original flight path. More often than not people have a knee jerk reaction and shit a squealin worm over nothing.
And no it wouldn't make any difference whether or not the bullet was sub-sonic or not when it entered your ear canal. You ain't gonna hear it!

Since the other guns were at least 600 yards away, and were never aimed in my direction, I think it's safe to say the sounds I heard were of bullets that didn't get closer than a couple hundred yards. But that's still too close for comfort.

At the rifle range I frequent there is an 'any gun, any target' pit about 300 yards down the line from the rifle range. It is a 50 yard long pit. I frequently hear the pistol rounds buzzing out of the back of the pit and downrange. I would guess that on a calm day one could hear it at double that distance...and on a windy day it would be hard to pick out from the wind noise.

On the flip side a guy I USED to hunt with would shoot at deer close enough to my blind that I would hear the bullet impact, the riiiiip of the bullet, and THEN the rifle report. I don't hunt around him any more! I've actually heard that other places too on those very calm winter mornings where all sounds seem amplified...they could be a loooong ways away and still sound like they are just across the fence.

Soooo, I can also say from experience that a ricochet makes a VERY different noise than a bullet in stable flight. Are you hearing ricochets or misses?

quote:

Originally posted by Jim White:

quote:

Originally posted by Joe Young:
That would depend whether or not the bullet was over mach one when it entered your ear canal or not. Seriously, there are a lot of careless shooters out there with no forthought as to where the bullet goes after it leaves the barrel
I try to get out of the area when they show up.

It also depends on the original direction of fire. At times it sounds like the bullets are going directly over your head when that is not the case. You can't tell anything from the sound and you certainly can't see a flying bullet. A bullet only deflects so many degrees and loses so much energy after striking an object that the sound means nothing. You would need to be hearing it in stereo to even begin to get an idea of it's path and direction much less its proximity to you. What sounds like it just missed you by inches could in fact be a hundred yards away. I live next door to an active range and my house is due East of the 200 yard impact area. All shooting is done from South to North. At times you can sit on my patio and it sounds as though the bullets are passing directly overhead and not by very far. The way the range is situated that is physically impossible. My next door neighbor is sure that her life is in danger regardless of what facts are presented to her. I know it is unnerving to hear a "near miss" but unless you are pretty much in the direct line of fire it didn't happen. Bullets don't turn corners nor do they ricochet at 90 degrees to the original flight path. More often than not people have a knee jerk reaction and shit a squealin worm over nothing.
And no it wouldn't make any difference whether or not the bullet was sub-sonic or not when it entered your ear canal. You ain't gonna hear it!

Jim,

Would that be a Weimaraner under that baseball cap in your picture????

I think I've heard the "hiss" of a bullet in stable flight and the "whine" of a ricochet. I think these were ricochets. Probably bullets glancing off the ground or weeds. There were hundreds of rounds fired that day. I might have heard 2 or 3 bullets.