There is a shotgun shell that contains no lead shot that is used to simulate a hunter shooting at ducks and such...... so that the retriever gets used to the sound.
These shells are called "poppers" (blanks) and are louder than just taking the shot out of a regular shell, leaving the primer.......
These poppers are about $6.50 to $15.00 USD per box of 25.

What would any of you do if you wanted to try to make an electronic shotgun simulator...?
How well could I approximate the sound of a shotgun......?
A 12 gauge shotgun is approx. 150 decibels.
D.

 

If you consider the situation, I think you're better off staying with:
1) A tested and proven solution...
2) Using purpose-built supplies that...
3) Simulates every detail of the real deal (flash, point source, smoke, resonating tube, high pulse energy at the right profile and so on, and...
4) Is highly portable due to the high energy density of the explosive chemicals

If you want to save money, get into reloading. I believe any electronic solution will take a lot of work and ultimately cost more anyway.

 

When I was training my short hair I just used trap loads I had reloaded myself. If I was going to do what you are thinking about I would just record the blast with a good microphone then figure out a play back system that would be powerful enough to simulate the actual thing.

 

popping a small ballon inside a similar shaped tube could work. To get the volume try a thicker latex like fingertips of gloves. use compressed air of course. that is what i would try(if forced to not use the real thing)

 

thinking about the prep and set up tasks it seems more work than it is worth

 

When I was training my short hair I just used trap loads I had reloaded myself. If I was going to do what you are thinking about I would just record the blast with a good microphone then figure out a play back system that would be powerful enough to simulate the actual thing.

That would be my thinking. While I am not a shotgun type the dog should be familiar with and comfortable with everything involved in the bird hunting process, seeing the gun raised and the subsequent bang all a part of it. Trap loads are relatively inexpensive by the case and rolling your own is always an option. Even recording some bangs I would think it would be difficult to actually reproduce them true to what the shotgun blast sounds like.

Just My Take....
Ron

 

In boot camp (the new, kinder, gentler Navy), they had shooting simulators that were a plastic mockup of a gun, with an invisible laser emitted from the barrel & detected on the target. When you pulled the trigger, a solenoid fired and a blast of air came out of the barrel to simulate recoil.

It was pathetic; some contractor got rich off selling a super sleek "concept" to the Navy. The mockup pistol felt nothing like shooting a real gun. The trigger moved like 1.5" with no resistance and never fired in the same spot twice. It was twice as heavy as the real thing, or more, with the hose and control cable coming out if. It just felt so silly; about the same as playing 1985 Duck Hunt on NES, only minus the animation, and replace the gun sound with the sound of a lowrider bouncing on air shocks. It was less accurate than Duck Hunt. I've been shooting since I was 7 years old and I'm naturally a good shot; I can go a year without shooting, and then go with a range rental clunker and shoot good groups. But those boot camp simulators always showed me performing about the same as the guy next to me who never fired a real gun.

There's no substitute for the real thing. The only person or animal who will ever be even remotely impressed with your electronic simulation is someone who has never seen an actual gun fire in real life. A dog experiencing that Navy simulator might learn the ropes with the plastic pop gun, but when making the transition to the real world, might make absolutely no connection between the real world and what it was trained to do; the experiences are that different.

That being said, if you insist, I cannot think of a better solution than the compressed air & laser solution. However, I would opt for the pressurized air canisters used for paintball and BB guns, and wireless electronics. No cables or hoses to the gun. Get some loudspeakers to play a gun sound as close as possible to the gun, if not ON the gun somehow. <--- I don't know anything about training dogs, but I assume this last point is very important. It seems to me, that it would seem to a dog, that sound coming from the gun, and sound coming from a speaker 10ft away from the gun, are two totally different cues, and wouldn't connect the same response to the event.

 

The real trick is with the dog, got this out of a book named "Gun Dog". Had my wife playing fetch and just generally having a good time with my short hair when she was still a puppy. I walked off quite a distance and started firing the shotgun. Each time I fired a round I walk closer to where the wife was playing with the dog. Pretty soon we were both playing with her and she wasn't even noticing the shotgun blasts. The best bird dog or retriever in the world ain't worth a hoot if it's scared of the gun.

I'm lucky in that I can shoot in my back yard but this could be done anyplace you can shoot. You could even take the dog to a trap or skeet range and let other people burn shot gun shells, just make it fun for the dog even throw in a few treats for good measure.

 

Remember the old acetlene ( carbide + water ) or propane cannon?

 

Hello,

How about carbide shooting?
It is done in holland round new years eve.

Bertus

 

The dog won't come back.

 

Thanks to all....prob. not practical.
Many thanks for the replies.
D