You really have to have someone you trust shoot your airgun while you are downrange in a protected area (behind a tree or something). This will give you a better understanding of how loud the gun really is. 3db registers as twice the sound energy and roughly 25% louder to our ears. So a small increase in the number can mean a pretty big difference in what you hear.I just bought a IA with extra (red) baffles, wish they'd had white, then I'd have gone Red, White and Blue...running a Maverick .22 Compact 100psi 2nd, according to my iPhone app, it's 107/109 which is 12 -9 higher than my Zbroia .22 Moderator....BUT....the IA is better for the accuracy so.....do I worry abou the neighbors and possibly the LEOS of just say phooey on it. I'm behind a fence and lots of high dense bushes.
Yes, I'm aware of the math, as a 'test' there is a street on the other side of my fence and bushes, along the long side of my range, people walk there, I've been shooting and nary a comment, don't really want to push it too much though. I really don't like companies that blow smoke and don't give any real numbers like, we are using this gun, it's xxx db unmoderated, with our moderator it's XXX db. YMMV with your gun. I'm thinking of trying a Silent Thunder Sarissa. To your first point, yes, I'm going to have a friend do it or one of my grandkids, pretty sure they don't want me too gone.You really have to have someone you trust shoot your airgun while you are downrange in a protected area (behind a tree or something). This will give you a better understanding of how loud the gun really is. 3db registers as twice the sound energy and roughly 25% louder to our ears. So a small increase in the number can mean a pretty big difference in what you hear.