Anybody Ever Fire a .357 in Self Defense?

[fredj338]

I HAVE FIRED COUNTLESS ROUNDS OF .308, .223, AND .45ACP OUTSIDE W/O EAR PROTECTION IN THE MILITARY. BESIDES 12 AND 20 GA SHOTGUN, .50 BLACKPOWDER RIFLE. AND .22LR, I HAVE ALSO SHOT 4 ROUNDS OF .357 WHILE HUNTING AND ONE ROUND EACH OF .44 SPL, 45 ACP, AND .22 MAG IN HOUSES W/O MUFFS. I DON'T KNOW IF IT WAS ADRENALINE, BUT AT THE TIME, I DID NOT NOTICE THE NOISE OR RECOIL. ALL OF THIS WAS OVER 20 YEARS AGO. I AM 73 YEARS OLD NOW, AND I AM JUST STARTING TO EXPERIENCE TINNITUS. WHETHER OR NOT IT IS DUE TO MY EXPOSURE TO GUNFIRE OR INCOMING ROCKET AND MORTAR FIRE IN VIETNAM, OR JUST PLAIN OLD AGE IS QUESTIONABLE………..

Hearing damage is cumulative. When you reach your 50-60, the resulting permanent damage will become evident, as you are now exp. Tinnitus isn't an old age issue, it's a hearing damage issue.
Any caliber round fired indoors is going to cause hearing damage/loss, it's unavoidable. The high pitched 357mag or 357sig, even +p 9mm is abit worse than say 45acp, but it's all bad.

 

[claudel]

In some places in Europe sound suppressors are mandatory safety equipment. In America they require fingerprints and a $200 Federal tax and up to a year wait.

The reason silencers/suppressors on firearms came under the NFA in 1934 was to keep them out of the hands of poachers. It was the Depression and poor county folks were hungry. The public today understands that silencers are only used by spies and assassins. Thank you, Hollywood.

If stupidity ever takes a break in DC, this dangerous prohibition should be repealed.

 

[gaucho1]

I HAVE FIRED COUNTLESS ROUNDS OF .308, .223, AND .45ACP OUTSIDE W/O EAR PROTECTION IN THE MILITARY. BESIDES 12 AND 20 GA SHOTGUN, .50 BLACKPOWDER RIFLE. AND .22LR, I HAVE ALSO SHOT 4 ROUNDS OF .357 WHILE HUNTING AND ONE ROUND EACH OF .44 SPL, 45 ACP, AND .22 MAG IN HOUSES W/O MUFFS. I DON'T KNOW IF IT WAS ADRENALINE, BUT AT THE TIME, I DID NOT NOTICE THE NOISE OR RECOIL. ALL OF THIS WAS OVER 20 YEARS AGO. I AM 73 YEARS OLD NOW, AND I AM JUST STARTING TO EXPERIENCE TINNITUS. WHETHER OR NOT IT IS DUE TO MY EXPOSURE TO GUNFIRE OR INCOMING ROCKET AND MORTAR FIRE IN VIETNAM, OR JUST PLAIN OLD AGE IS QUESTIONABLE………..

Is that why you are internet YELLING?....just teasing..

Happy New Year

 

[nebmike]

Without a doubt, the two loudest handguns I've ever shot have been a .357mag and a .30 Carbine, with the later seeming substantially worse. I had a friend fire a .44mag about a foot from my right ear while hunting one time, and while that was miserable, I still think the .357 and .30 are worse.

I've debated with myself quite a bit over home defense caliber/ammo for this very reason. Turning on any gun in a narrow hallway is a whole different experience than shooting one outdoors. Not every encounter is accompanied by auditory exclusion, so I wouldn't count on that to help lessen the affects of a closed-space discharge. I've settled on .45acp for a home defense handgun caliber, and I've taken the muzzle brake off of the AR I have designated for the same purpose. If you want a good time, set off a rifle with a muzzle brake in a narrow hallway. NOT!

 

[jmace57]

Realize that EVERY time your ears rang from a loud noise, you have damaged your hearing. Fireworks, rock music, power tools...anything. I am 58 and have found this out the hard way.

 

[Big Cholla]

I have told this story before, but it is in direct answer to the OP question. I was about 20 y.o. My cousin and I kept horses in a public corral near Las Vegas. We supplemented the feed bill by roping young burros (under 1 y.o.)from the Nevada, California and Arizona deserts and selling them as pets. The going selling price was $25 to $35 each. They gentled down very quickly. A gentleman approached us one weekend and asked if we were up to capturing him a nice young Jack Burro. We asked what was he paying. He said, "$300". He wanted to raise mules and needed the Burro sire. We thought it over and agreed to bring him one to the corral and then it would be his problem to control the Jack. We knew where a fair sized herd was across Hoover Dam in Arizona that had a couple of young Jacks hanging around the outside of the herd. My cousin was the 'heeler' as he was the best roper. I was the 'header'. We headed out and as a last minute thought, I put my Ruger Blackhawk .357M in my left saddlebag. We found the herd and ran them into a blind canyon. The young Jack was more afraid of the herd's senior Jack than he was of us so we got a run on him fairly quickly. He was probably a year and a half old and in the peak of condition. I rushed him and got my rope on his head. My cousin came in and cast his rope at the heels. He got one heel. We started stretching out the Jack to cut off his wind and take him to the ground. We had hobbles and a wooden stick to wire in his jaws to take the 'bite' out of him. Just about the time the Jack was about to fall to the ground, my cousin's saddle horn pulled out. The Jack was immediately back in the fight. He came for me and my horse. I was riding a big half Morgan, half Quarterhorse that hated burros. My horse reared to meet the challenge. I grabbed for the Ruger and fell off my horse. The Ruger went flying and I scrambled after it. My horse and the Burro hit and got a couple of licks in on each other and then the Jack Burro saw me on the ground and headed for me. My cousin couldn't do much more than throw rock if he dismounted. I was just picking up the Ruger. I started shooting when the Jack was about 50 ft. away and got three shots off by the time he piled up at my feet. I put one more into his head to make sure he was going to stay down. I never heard a shot. I was a little hard of hearing for an hour or so. We got our ropes back and left him there for the coyotes. On the way home my cousin asked me if I wanted to try for the other young Jack. I told him, "Not for $600." For what its worth, all this was perfectly legal in 1960. Back then Nevada cowboys commonly carried rifles for one thing; to shoot feral horses and burros. ........... Big Cholla

I can't blame the deafness in my left ear because of shooting this 357 mag without hearing protection because I continued to shoot all sorts of firearms without until 1962 when I was introduced to hearing protection.

 

[oldguyshoot]

...and I've taken the muzzle brake off of the AR I have designated for the same purpose. If you want a good time, set off a rifle with a muzzle brake in a narrow hallway. NOT!

You did replace the muzzle brake with a flash hider and not leave it bare, right??? That'd be one heck of a fireball in the hall

 

[nebmike]

You did replace the muzzle brake with a flash hider and not leave it bare, right??? That'd be one heck of a fireball in the hall

You are correct, kind sir.

 

[Golphin]

Back when I was younger we never even considered ear protection. I shot many 357 and 12 gauge shot gun. Shot at Dove by the box and never had any ear protection. Of course I can't hear **** now but that only hurts if a train is coming, but is a plus when I piss off the wife.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

I've been shooting since I was 13. Mostly 22's & a 16 gauge. Then in the service we fired M-1 Grands, 30 carbines & 45 ACP. All without ear plugs. I've done a lot of shooting since then but use protection except when deer hunting.Now I have tininitus real bad, ears ring all the time. But at age 83 I don't really mind any more. I have no wife.

 

[rwsmith]

That's a self defense mechanism.....

I was on a team where I was the only male with a number women who were in charge. Many of the military veterans we were serving had a hard time hearing the women so they asked me to be the spokesman for the team.
One of the women was a doc and she told me the problem was that men who were around noise like gun fire, artillery or heavy equipment would lose their hearing in the typical ranges of women's voices. I think she had it figured right.

The older men get the more they can't hear women's voices.

 

[OFT II]

The older men get the more they can't hear women's voices.

I believe that it's an acquired immunity.

 

[KJS]

This would be an argument for .45ACP -- as much momentum as a .357 Mag and it's won't destroy your hearing as much.

 

[ben_g1]

When I was younger,,,,

I fire a 357 in a very small basement room once. In an abandoned house. No hearing protection, it was a very serious self defense situation.

I didn't hear a thing, must have either been scared you know what, or had that auditory exclusions that has been talked about.

And still to this day have never seen a bigger,more aggressive, nastier rat than that one .

 

[Jaymo]

^ If it was one of those big Wharf/Norway rats, I can believe it.
Those things are big enough to stand up and do unspeakable things to a turkey.

I had an ND in a closed room once. It was a Ruger Speed Six 4" .357 Mag.
The ammo was some full powered Remington 125 grain HP. It was the old scalloped jacket load. Don't know if the current load is as hot is it was then, but it most certainly WAS as bad as most people say it is.
Couldn't hear anything for a short bit. Then everything sounded distant, more so than ringing.
My ears usually only ring after nookie.
I shot one round of .44 Spl outdoors without ears. It was about like a .45 ACP.
7.62x25 Tokarev is friggin' loud, too.
I've noticed that the higher pressure a cartridge is, the more unpleasant the report is. Possible exception for shotguns, though.
Black powder pistols/revolvers/rifles/shotguns don't bother my ears at all, outdoors. They are more of a boom than the sharp, ear-violating blast of smokeless loads.
I have a .45 cal precharged pneumatic air rifle that sounds like a small tire blowout indooors. Outdoors it's just a big slobbery sounding "Sspppprroooonnnggg". Think, Barney Frank saying SPRONG.

My Marlin .444P is extremely loud.

 

[Yarddog1]

Had an ND with a Speer GoldDot from my 4" HP. It was in a 14x20 ft room. I rememberwatching the hammer fall, seeing the flash at the cyclinder gap, but no muzzle blast. I do not remember hearing any sound at all. Definite hearing loss immediately after, couldn't hear the TV. No hearing loss after a nights sleep.

 

[ohlins8990]

Just reading all of this is making my ears hurt.

Worst to date was a ND of a 12g flare gun. Felt deaf for about a day.

 

[Symmetry]

The decibel level of a firearm blast is effected by a number of factors, but the primary contributor to a loud blast is barrel length. Longer barrels allow for more of the powder charge to be burned inside the barrel, versus outside the barrel. With a shorter barrel, more of the powder charge ends up burning outside of the barrel resulting in a larger explosion at the muzzle. Combine that with physically being closer to the muzzle on a shorter barrel, and the blast becomes worse.

Then of course, other factors that make the blast worse is the velocity of the bullet, the pressure level of the cartridge, the quantity of powder charge, muzzle compensators, or other barrel breaks such as the gap between the cylinder and barrel on a revolver.