The sound of gunfire

[Mahatatain]

When you can hear "gunfire in the distance" how far is that likely to be at maximum?

Obviously it will be louder closer to you but if you're approaching a battle at what distance are you likely to hear it, assuming that it only involves small arms, machineguns and grenade launchers?

Thanks for any guidance please can give me.

[dragoon500ly]

just some rough ideas...

Artillery can be heard as a distant rumble at about 20 miles or such, can easily be mistaken for thunder except for the regular pace of the firing.

Small arms can generally be heard at about 2-3 miles. You can almost always tell when a unit was on the firing range for example.

Of course wind and wind direction play major roles as well as terrain, even trees can block the sound of firing at a distance.

This will sound odd, but when tanks move you normally feel the vibes long before you hear the engines, and if the tank is fitted with a turbine, then the squealing of the tracks can be heard at about 300-400 meters. If the tank is fitted with a diesel engine, the key indicator for movement was to watch for the dark puffs of exhaust as the tank moved uphill, depending on the optics being used this could be spotted as much as a kilometer (using binos) or 2-3 kilometers (gunsights flipped to x10).

hope this helps!

[Targan]

This topic has come up before (and it is a worthy topic for discussion). I will have to have a look through the old threads.

[Adm.Lee]

Wasn't there a chart in Merc or SO for this? I think it was for silenced/suppressed shots vs. "natural" ones. If I get a chance, I'll look for it.

[Mahatatain]

Thanks for the info. Very interesting!

I will have a search through the old threads as well.

[helbent4]

Andy,

Something to keep in mind is what is firing, and the volume of fire.

In GURPS High-Tech the rule of thumb is a man can hear a .38 pistol shot 2 blocks away 50% of the time. This seems a little low, but perhaps that's the chance to recognise and identify a single shot, figure its range or direction. Kind of like you might not need to make a roll to see a mountain but would need one to identify specific or useful features.

If an entire unit is putting out a volume of fire and/or are using MGs, then yes, I think at you should allow an Observation/Hearing check from several kilometres away. Failure might indicate you hear gunfire but can't identify the weapons/range/direction.

Tony

[kcdusk]

Originally Posted by Adm.Lee

Wasn't there a chart in Merc or SO for this? I think it was for silenced/suppressed shots vs. "natural" ones. If I get a chance, I'll look for it.

Exactly what i thought ...

here tis

[pmulcahy11b]

That's the one I couldn't find a few days ago. Where was it? I think in Merc 2000, but what page?