Shooting without hearing protection

[350skylark]

Are my ears over sensitive or what? How do some people shoot without hearing protection, someone was trying to say when its outside because its a big open space its not that loud but i shot one round of 45 without and my ears were ringing for a good 5 minutes, and for that matter how did cowboys deal with it?

[MalC]

My ear protection slipped out at the indoor range about a month ago and my right ear has been ringing ever since... it's startin to drive me nuts

Forget cowboys, what about active duty military?

[Sgt. J Beezy]

Huh...

What u say???


Get Some!!!

[350skylark]

Forget cowboys, what about active duty military?

I only said cowboys because im pretty sure they didnt have plugs to wear.. but i guess military would have much time to put them in. nor want to to be able to hear people

[JackRydden224]

It's not just you. When I was new at this I moved one side of my hearing protection to make some adjustments and that was a big mistake. You can get away with it a bit if you are shooting pistols in a wide open area but if you are indoors you definitely want protection.

[Stewdabaker23]

Anybody who doesn't wear ear protection while shooting is an idiot.

[RileyBean]

If hearing aids have become a fashion statement, I say go for it.

If it's life and death, of course screw hearing protection - but just for fun or qualifying, I would NEVER go without.

Indoors I also only wear muffs (a rangemaster once told me that when shooting indoors, plugs still let sound in behind your ear that can do damage - total FUD? maybe. But I don't want to find out the hard way).

Once it goes you may never get it back.

[SuperSet]

Tinnitus is the #1 service-related disability, according to the VA. It's no joke, man. I have some and have to sleep with a fan on at night to drown out some of the high pitched whining.

[odysseus]

With rifles, it damn hurts without. Had a guy shooting 7mm next to me once out in the open and I accidentally lifted my hearing on my stock as I rustled around moving my head in position, while he just rang one out. Ouch.

[RangerJoe]

I have a friend that never shoots with any hearing protection. He says all you have to do is shoot with your mouth open and it won't do any damage. I don't believe him.

We were shooting my Ruger Alaskan .454 out in the desert one time, I realized after he started shooting he wasn't wearing any protection. WTF, it was hurting my ears and I had one a set of good ear muffs. And trust me, you can FEEL that gun going off!

Anyone know anything about this?

[myk]

Anybody who doesn't wear ear protection while shooting is an idiot.

Agreed. I was at American Shooting and I wanted to see what my M4 sounded like "for real" and slipped my muffs off to the side when no one was looking. The next few shots hurt my ears and I'm pretty sure I lost some of my hearing; wear your hearing protection at all times...

[Manolito]

I can tell you opening your mouth does nothing to protect your hearing. Small hairs are what pick up the vibrations of sound once you damage these hairs they never come back. When I was in the military no hearing protection was even available. Today I wear hearing aids. Also read up on Bone conduction hearing loss. Even if you wear plugs and electronic ears exposure to noises greater than 120DB can damage your hearing. Hearing protection is a lot more valuable when fitted by a hearing professional. Not all ears are the same size.

I have to have a tv or radio on at night to drown out the constant hum that can drive you crazy.

Some day people will realize sound supressors are a viable device to protect hearing. No way would osha allow people to not use sound dampening devices if it was for guns.

[Merc1138]

I have a friend that never shoots with any hearing protection. He says all you have to do is shoot with your mouth open and it won't do any damage. I don't believe him.

We were shooting my Ruger Alaskan .454 out in the desert one time, I realized after he started shooting he wasn't wearing any protection. WTF, it was hurting my ears and I had one a set of good ear muffs. And trust me, you can FEEL that gun going off!

Anyone know anything about this?

He's wrong and probably already screwed up his hearing too bad to notice.

[SgtDinosaur]

Yeah, I have a little tinnitus from doing that. My hearing is probably not 100% either, but I can hear just fine. Definitely need hearing protection when shooting. Actually I think some live rock bands I heard 40 years ago may have done some of the damage. I remember my ears hurting and ringing when Crazy Horse played at my high school.

[paul0660]

Tinnitus is the #1 service-related disability, according to the VA. It's no joke, man. I have some and have to sleep with a fan on at night to drown out some of the high pitched whining.

stop reading Calguns in bed.