Measuring Bullet Velocity with a PC Soundcard

TL;DR

This paper presents a straightforward technique using a PC soundcard and microphone to accurately measure bullet velocity by analyzing the time difference between muzzle blast and target impact sound.

Contribution

It introduces a simple, cost-effective method for measuring projectile velocity using common audio hardware and sound analysis techniques.

Findings

Accurately measures bullet velocity within 50-100 yards.

Applicable to paintball velocity measurement.

Uses basic sound recording and timing analysis.

Abstract

This article describes a simple method for using a PC soundcard to accurately measure bullet velocity. The method involves placing the microphone within a foot of the muzzle and firing at a steel target between 50 and 100 yards away. The time of flight for the bullet is simply the recorded time between muzzle blast and sound of the bullet hitting the target minus the time it takes the sound to return from the target to the microphone. The average bullet velocity is simply the distance from the muzzle to the target divided by the time of flight of the bullet. This method can also be applied to measurement of paintball velocities.