How to Calculate the Muzzle Flash Distance

While it is not a skill you will need every day, if you are in the woods hunting, participating in a historical reenactment or surrounding a fugitive, you might have occasion to wonder the distance of a muzzle flash. If you are, in the best Boy Scout tradition, prepared, it is easy to calculate the distance of a muzzle flash.

Things You'll Need

  • Stopwatch
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Instructions

    • 1

      Hold a stopwatch in your hand. Spot the flash of the muzzle.

    • 2

      Click to start the stopwatch at the instant you see the flash.

    • 3

      Click to stop the stopwatch the instant you hear the sound of the gun.

    • 4

      Multiply the number of seconds that passed by 1150, which is about how many feet sound travels in a second. The result tells you how far away the flash was.