General Question

elbanditoroso's avatar

In the old West, from what distance could a gunshot be heard?

Asked by elbanditoroso (33511points) October 13th, 2019

I was watching an old Western cowboy movie last night. There was some shooting, of course – presumably a Colt .45 – or whatever was used back then.

Out there in the western desert scrub – from how far away could a gunshot be heard?

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7 Answers

kritiper's avatar

! ½ miles maybe. That scrub deadens a lot of sound in a hurry.

SQUEEKY2's avatar

It would totally depend on the landscape.

Yellowdog's avatar

In the woods, in the hollows, you’d hear a wide echo that would be hard to pinpoint. Out in the open, it would be a lot more direct, faint, and echo much less if at all. But for an open landscape in the west, @kritiper is fairly accurate I’d say.

SQUEEKY2's avatar

Isn’t that kinda like what I said???^^

LuckyGuy's avatar

Around here, if it is early in the morning without much activity, we can hear gunshots from the nearby wildlife management area up to 2 miles away. Those are mostly shotgun blasts from duck hunters. I imagine the sound from an old cowboy revolver would not go that far.
@kritiper nailed it.

kritiper's avatar

@SQUEEKY2 Yeah, that’s what you said. But the OP was quite specific on his terrain.

Pinguidchance's avatar

At 10 paces, you’d feel it before you heard it.

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