The good measureemnt microphones have specs on the maximum SPL that they can purvey linearly. Half inch random incidence mics are up to anout 160 dB. Quarter inch mics go even higher.
My one excursion theerin was using a half inch mich recording a .22 caliber pistol discharged in the adjacent room in a residence. I think I measured about 140 dB. But I did not see it on the meter directly. Rather, I recorded the SLM (B&K 2203) AC output onto tape. Then I viewed the palyback audio on an oscilliscope (his was a LONG time ago). I used a pistonphone (124 dB RMS) signal recorded on the same tape and gain settings as a calibration.
The devil is in the details. The question becomes whether the pulse peak has been clipped somewhere in the elctronics chain, and also whether the microphone is operating within its linear transducer range. Condenser mic diaphragms can deflect too close to the backing plate, or too far away, Dynamic mic coils can deflect too far awry in the magnetic field just like loudspeakers. The only way to be sure that things are linear is th reduce the pressure pulse by a factor of two (-6.0 dB) or ten (-20.0 dB) and reckon whether the purveyed signal had the same differential.
Angelo Campanella