Shooting without hearing protection

[Federal]

I do it all the time when I forget to put my plugs in, and after the first round its like "oh sh*t".. oops

[Bizcuits]

Adrenaline does amazing things, you'll find that those loud noises of gun shots won't matter at all if bullets start flying your way. It's one of those details you don't really need to worry about.

[Nor Cal Shooter]

Adrenalin won't stop hearing loss, you may not notice it till later,my son knows the effects first hand from tours of Irag, he wears protection at the range now as do I ,I wear hearing aids full time and I still miss 30% of conversations,actually goi g monday to get a new set of hearing aids hoping the new ones will help more.

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[CGT80]

I can assure you those that "shoot all the time w/o ears" and hear just fine, don't hear just fine.

I always use protection, but at age 43 I have some tinnitus and recently learned I have some frequency deafness (lots of loud music in the younger years). I was laying in bed one early night and was hearing some piece of equipment running. Don't remember what it was, but it was a mid-range frequency around 400hz or thereabouts. I asked my wife why she thought it was going on-and-off and she told me it was running constantly. I didn't realize when I was laying on one side I could hear it, but when I switched to the other I couldn't hear it at all. It was just that particular pitch.

I'll bet those manly men that are just "used to it" would be surprised what was revealed in a formal hearing test.

One of the smart posts, among a bunch of stupid ones.

You don't realize that your hearing is decreasing at first. Those that stated what frequency you could hear or not hear, only told half the story.

A hearing test is done at certain frequencies and at certain decibel levels. If I shake a 223 round with h335 in it next to my left ear, I don't really hear it. Next to my right ear, and I can hear it. The thing is, I CAN hear that frequency in my left ear, but NOT at that low of a decibel level. If it was above 35 db or the equivalent of a whisper, I would hear it, but not as well as other frequencies.

Because of this combo, louder sounds will register, but certain parts of sounds will be softer. My hearing has a dip at 3khz. By 5-6khz, it is back to 0db, which means I hear normally at low frequencies and high frequencies, and it tapers down to 3k and then back up to 4 and 5 khz.

I have always been careful around guns. I have never forgotten to use ear plugs. I don't even know how that is possible for so many people to forget. I have fired a 10/22 a few times without protection. I fired a 9mm carbine without ears once because someone said it wasn't that loud. Two shots and I went and got ear pro. They were a dumb ***.

Yes it is cumulative. I have been in the pit and front row a few times for Sammy Hagar concerts, as well as on stage, and have had seats further towards the back. 3 nights in a row at a Red Rocker concert would be hell on the ears. Ear pro wasn't so common for power tools or yard tools when I started to do yard work in the early 90's. At the age of 14, I got into doing construction work with my uncle. All of the not so loud sounds add up after a while. My first truck was old and beat up, and the AC didn't work. Even as a kid, when my dad drove that truck, we just rolled the windows down on the freeway.

With all of the abuse to my ears, I figured I would eventually need hearing aids as I got older. I figured it would be par for the course in my 50's to 60's. Well, I will be 34 this month, and hearing aids could probably help. It is said that most people put off hearing aids as long as possible. Some people claim the brain forgets how to use the info it doesn't get any longer from the ears, and aids at a later age will sometimes not help as much as if they had been used earlier. I haven't tried any yet.

With some people, it isn't bad to carry on a conversation, but with others it sucks. My mom is the worst as the pitch of her voice is probably where my loss is, and she talks low and likes to mumble to herself as she thinks anyway. When she talks, she sometimes starts out pronouncing words and then gets quieter or kind of mumbles. Of course she likes to talk with her hand on her face or while walking away from a person or when I have some other noise going on next to me and she is a distance away. All of that makes it harder to hear, when your hearing isn't perfect. My dad's hearing is worse than mine, I think. Some days he talks loud and others, he is very quiet. I don't know if it is his hearing fluctuating, or if it is based on his mood. It can vary throughout a day too. He knows what it is like to not hear well, but I have heard that the way a person perceives their voice can change.

Protect your ears and always use ear pro. Electronic muffs are great. I use foam plugs under the muffs as well.

[ja308]

IIRC we shot lots of mortars and 155s w/o hearing protection. The effects could show up some day,but so far I haven't noticed hearing loss.

No Im not suggesting people shoot w/o eye and ear protection.

[Khromo]

One day when I used to have a job, I had to fire the gun I was carrying at the time (a S&W Model 66 with a 2 1/2" barrel, loaded with .357 Magnum 125 grain jacketed hollow points) indoors, in the dark, with no eye or ear protection. I wasn't the only one shooting at the time.

HOLY %$^&(*&%#%^ %^&^$#@%^!!!

I'm sure the adrenaline dump helped, but it still felt like white-hot icepicks getting hammered through my ear canals into my brain.

Indoors, in the dark.

One thing years of shooting guns and LISTENING TO LOUD MUSIC has taught me is you don't want to be anything like hard of hearing. If you were blind, or had a broken leg or some other handicap, people would be nice to you, and try to help you out. When you're half deaf, and constantly asking people to repeat themselves, they treat you like you are stupid, a stupid, annoying nuisance. They will get angry and impatient with you right away.

http://www.brownells.com/shooting-accessories/ear-eye-protection/ear-plugs/custom-molded-ear-plugs-prod27163.aspx

http://www.brownells.com/shooting-accessories/ear-eye-protection/ear-muffs/ultra-pro-nrr-30-prod68758.aspx

Double up. And watch out for the .357 with the short barrel. Watch out for that one!

[JDay]

There may be a cure for tinnitus.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/269207.php

[TurboChrisB]

I have some pretty good hearing loss. Lots of shooting when I was young and lots of loud car stereos. The abuse you do to your ears often doesn't really present itself until years or even decades later. I'm 51 and first noticed it 10 plus years ago. If I'm walking with people and they talk to me and aren't facing me I can't hear them. It sucks. I'd venture I've lost 20 to 30% of my total hearing. I can still hear a phone ringing 3 rooms away with the door closed....but can't hear the person across from me if I'm in a loud restaurant.

With that said...I shot thousands of rounds sans protection. If someone wants to pop off a few to see what it's like....try it. It'll only show you why protection is important. It WON'T cause noticeable, permanent hearing loss.

[CGT80]

If someone wants to pop off a few to see what it's like....try it. It'll only show you why protection is important. It WON'T cause noticeable, permanent hearing loss.

IF you are shooting smaller calibers and are lucky.


I have heard stories of a single shot from a large rifle causing a person to go deaf in the ear that was toward the rifle. I think one of those was something like a 338 rifle. The odds are probably small that this would happen, but anything is possible. The whole cumulative thing could make a difference between a young person doing a few shots vs. someone who already has done a fair bit of damage to their ears.

There is no way the poster above me could guaranty that it won't cause any noticeable damage. I didn't notice any damage within the days after taking a shot without ear pro, but who is to say it didn't show up later? Are you willing to take that gamble? I no longer am willing.

No one mentioned hyperacusis to go with the tinnitus and hearing damage. Hyperacusis is sensitivity to sound that other would not be bothered by. Hearing damage can lead to hyperacusis. Bowls and plates clanging together hurts my ears, or my brain tells me it hurts my ears. This can be caused by having less range of hearing between quiet sounds and louder sounds. AR 15 brakes are a killer, so I double up and have to stay back a bit from those shooters. It isn't as bad when I shoot my own AR 15, as I don't get the side blast. I have always been more sensitive to sounds like metal clanging, than others, so part of it may be just who I am, but I can not take the noise I used to. The ears are very complex organs, there are a number of symptoms that people can develop when they are damaged. Some drugs and chemicals are ototoxic and when exposed to those, it is possible to be more susceptible to hearing damage.

[mosinnagantm9130]

My M44 usually convinces people hearing protection is the way to go.

[Phouty]

How many here are geezers? Meaning you started shooting back in the 50's, 60's and 70's. Nobody used ears and eyes. I started shooting trap back in the early 70's at a gun club. No one used ears or eyes. We just didn't know any better. My ears would ring for a couple of days after shooting. I was the first one to start wearing ears at the club.

So if you were shooting in those days, when did you start wearing ears and eyes?

Same thing here. Started shooting in the 70's. I put the rubber bullets foam plugs for the first time in my ears probably 20 years later or so.
Old geezer, but I can still hear ya....hmm...what did you say?