Measuring Bullet Velocity with a PC Soundcard

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.