[Doxon]

Misc info on weapon sound pressure.

The Carl Gustav 8.4cm recoilless rifle now be procured by the Marines has a big back-blast through the typical venturi used by these kinds of weapons. In training, (Sweden at least) they are limited to the number of rounds they can fire. I do not know if this for merely hearing loss, or if there are concussive effects.

Also, while "small arms" do not typically have concussive effects, I have stood behind a.50 Barrett rifle discharge and there was a noticable shock wave in the air. I didn't feel it in my head, but my intestines were not happy. If you were in the front hemisphere of the muzzle blast it would be far worse.

Muzzle brakes on rifles usually make the blast wave propagate more to the side. A high caliber rifle with a muzzle brake could easily hit 160db. Maybe a .50 cal could go higher. So now you are even punishing your friends, not just folks downrange.

[japhyr]

I live in a small town with a gun dealer who is not particularly thoughtful about others. One year he had a truck-mounted cannon made for the fourth of july parade, and he fired it off numerous times throughout the parade. Everyone who didn't already have their ears covered, including so many young kids, doubled over each time it went off. He just laughed at everyone, even with kids crying on both sides of the street. People were talking in person and online about how their ears rang for days afterward.

[Semaphor]

And that’s not a crime?

[japhyr]

I have no idea; it's certainly not one that's seen any prosecution.

[mrob]

The only people who could do anything about it probably have age-related hearing loss and don't see it as a problem. Same reason nobody does anything about extremely loud motorcyclists.

[MarkMarine]

I fired a 50 as part of my job for years, it is nothing like the effects of being near arty being fired. I can't speak to being in an IED blast, but I can speak to being concussed. Yes, the 50 is loud. With hearing protection, I never felt an effect. Whacking my head playing hockey, a motorcycle crash, being knocked out fighting... all of these felt like something. So did being near arty.

One of the things that is becoming apparent in football CTE is that damage is not limited to the big hits, the chronic effects of smaller hits are causing damage.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/20/sports/football/cte-study...

[xkqd]

My money is on the breaching charges that these high speed folks use. Particularly in conjunction with the thousands and thousands of reps that folks put in practicing breaching. It's enough force to rip a reinforced door clean off the frame. Grenades are a close second but I don't think they train into the thousands with actual field grenades.

Maybe an instructor sure, but we're talking about SF here.

I don't doubt that artillery will also do this kind of damage, so I'd be curious about what the brains of field artillery folks look like.

[15155]

CG rounds are limited due to the concussive effects without question.