Has anyone ever shot a .460 S&W mag w/o ear protection?

[Deathompson]

I bought the 460ES with the 460 S&W mag in a 2 3/4 inch revolver. Recoil is not that much, in fact shooting my 15 ounce Taurus is more painful as far a recoil but.... The muzzle blast is tremendous making it not a really a pleasant gun to shoot... I was shooting it the other day with my son and we questioned what king of damage might be done if you actually had to try a shoot something without the benefit of ear protection. Has anyone here ever shot one without earplugs/muffs?

 

[mike56]

Damn, I was next to one at the range, and didn't like it much WITH ear protection.

 

[Revolver King]

Huh! what did you say? Can't hear you. No just kidding. and I don't want to either.

 

[duckloads]

When I shot my 460XVR for the first time, My only hearing protection was foam ear plugs. I shot it eight times and wanted no more.

I bought some Cauldwell noise cancelling ear muffs. They were only $23, and they work fine. They seem to go thru batteries to keep working well. I should probably also wear ear plugs aloong with the muffs.

Imagine yourself sitting in your car in an open parking lot. Now, imagine the parking lot being struck by lightning 20 feet from your car. You have just imagined the muzzle blast and cuncussion from shooting the S&W 460 magnum.

 

[DonD]

I think muffs and plugs are a must with these guns. I use a 31db set of ear muffs and some 25+db plugs with my .500 Mag. They do the trick but I wouldn't want any less protection.

I think that any single, full power shot out of these guns damages your ears and each successive shot causes cumulative damage. Don

 

[Gunned-up]

Had a guy at the range crank one off with out warning. I was wearing electronic ear muffs (good ones, Pro Ears). I was really glad I had them on. Still made me flinch. O.K scarded the crap out of me LOL. I couldn't imagine not having them on.

 

[shawn mccarver]

Originally posted by Deathompson:
I bought the 460ES with the 460 S&W mag in a 2 3/4 inch revolver. Recoil is not that much, in fact shooting my 15 ounce Taurus is more painful as far a recoil but.... The muzzle blast is tremendous makhng it nmt a really a pleasant gun to shoot... I was shooting it the other day with my son and we questioned what king of damage might be done if you actually had to try a shoot something without the benefit of ear protection. Has anyone here ever shot one without earplugs/muffs?

NO. Hey, just for grins, you could try gouging your eyes out just to see what happens!

 

[ENH]

Damage would most differently occur in the 4K to 6K Hz range. This is in the area of high frequency consonants that give speech intelligibility. There would also be a strong possiblity of tinnitus.

 

[1130cc]

I never shot a 460 without hearing aid but I have shot my 500 without hearing aid. Not a big deal but then I was the number one man on a 155 howitzer when I was 19 so I'm pretty used to loud bangs.

Plus I did so much damage to my ears early on that I have no high frequency hearing left but it was a small price to pay, that just means I can't hear high pitch squeaky woman's voices.

 

[DILLIGAS]

Huh, what did you say,

 

[tonysoprano150]

Well, I've never shot a .460 without hearing protection, but I have shot a .44 Magnum (with 1800 fps 180 gr JHP handloads) without ear protection while hunting and I have deeply regretted it. My ears ring for about 2 days, which indicates there is a strong likelihood for moderate to severe chronic hearing loss. Please by all means wear some sort of hearing protection at all times when firing handguns whether it be ear plugs/muffs or some device such as Walker's Game Ear.

 

[mzimmers]

I've had what I'd expect would be a similar experience. A couple of years ago, I squeezed off a round from my snub .454 Casull, then realized I'd forgotten my muffs. I'd used an SPL meter on this gun before, and it is just about 132dB.

I had reduced hearing and major ringing in my ears for the rest of the day, plus a headache. And when I swallowed, I felt squishing in my jaw area. Miraculously, the next day, my hearing seemed pretty much back to normal.

I don't think I'll make this mistake again.

 

[TwoGunsStanding]

Laugh about this, but the 460 and 500 ES survival kit (bear guns) come with foam earplugs in the kit. I guess you put them in quickly before you shoot the bear.....

 

[SEG]

Can't say that I have, but I did go quail hunting with a cousin when I was about 14. I got in front of him ( young & dumb). Don't remember much after seeing the quail come up out of the corn. So now I can't hear out of right ear and he never ate corn on cob again.

 

[millbilly]

I have shot my 460 with out ear protection.....It hurt me and killed the 10 pointer at 175 yards....I was walking out of the timber and had no time for plugs....my ears rang.......I would do it again under those conditions.......for a 12 pointer......

 

[Eugene]

Originally posted by tonysoprano150:
Well, I've never shot a .460 without hearing protection, but I have shot a .44 Magnum (with 1800 fps 180 gr JHP handloads) without ear protection while hunting and I have deeply regretted it. My ears ring for about 2 days, which indicates there is a strong likelihood for moderate to severe chronic hearing loss. Please by all means wear some sort of hearing protection at all times when firing handguns whether it be ear plugs/muffs or some device such as Walker's Game Ear.

Me Too,

Did the same with a 8.3/8" model 29 loaded with frame stretching 180gr handloads, my ears rang so loud for two days I could not hear normal conversation, I could not hear the wind noise on my road bike for about two weeks, and now have constant ringing in my ears and around 15% (tested) hearing loss.

Not all the loss is from the 44 mag, but the high pitch constant ringing is, it has never gone away and that was 15 years ago.

DONT DO IT.

 

[Karnivore]

I had posted this recently under a thread called "Your most memorable shot with a S&W"

My most memorable shot with a S&W was three years ago when I was hunting deer and hog from a condo stand in south Georgia. I had my new .460 S&W, scoped PC gun as my weapon of choice. I had only shot it at the range with very good results and was very confident in my ability to hit my target.

Late in the afternoon a 200-pound, blue Russian razorback stepped out and I zeroed in on him and touched off a round. He went down hard but got up and took off. I, on the other hand was stunned, when I was sighting in I had earmuffs on. When I touched off the .460 in the condo stand, I did not. My ears rang, my vision went cloudy and I started a splitting headache that lasted all night. My guide tracked the hog and found him about a hundred yards away. That evening my hunting buddies kept screwing with me with the constant "CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW???"

I sure learned my lesson the hard way and it certainly was my memorable shot with a S&W.

Here is the beast:

 

[duckloads]

By accident. Yes. It hurts. Bad. Look up duckloads for the story.

 

[fisherdude]

Ok, I'll admit how stupid I am, I've done it twice. Once at the range (accidently), once at a deer (accidently again). Both with my ported XVR, got my full undivided attention equally both times. Warning! dont be stupid even once!

 

[Redhawk1]

No I would never do it, I where Walkers ear muffs any time I am hunting with a hand gun. Now if I had to in self defense, I would not even think twice about it.