Have you ever fired your SD gun without ear protection?

[Mexistrat]

I haven't. Growing up I shot .22lr on a regular basis outdoors, and we never wore ear protection. I am not a hunter, but I have hunted. In those cases I was not wearing ear protection, and I don't recall it being a big deal in the wide open spaces.

I shudder to think what it would be like to light off a .357 magnum (which had been my SD gun, but is not anymore) without ear protection, especially indoors. Even worse, seated in a car at night, or some other realistic if not unlikely self-defense scenario. The concussion and accompanying fireball would be overwhelming to say the least. Do those of you who carry big caliber handguns take that into consideration?

 

[Peak53]

Dead or deaf seems to be the common choice. That said, I am belatedly scrupulously careful about noisy stuff, especially firearms. After a lot of unprotected shooting when I was young, followed by a lifetime of power tools, chainsaws, motorcycles, rock concerts and other sundry stuff I am feeling the effects. In fact, now I have to wear protection to use the lawn mower or even the vacuum cleaner, or else suffer ringing ears and sort of a dizzy disorientation for hours. As far as firing a gun when hunting, just because you don't suffer any discomfort amid the excitement, doesn't mean the damage hasn't occurred. Every loud noise causes a bit of cumulative damage. I do hunt big game and consider that one or two unprotected shots in a season to be part of the cost of the enjoyment of the activity. Its no joke folks, protect yourself when you can and live with it when you can't.

 

[jimintheburg]

shooting c/c gun w/o "ear " protection

I carry either a LC9s or G-19. I have shot both w/o wearing my "ears " and I can tolerate it. I mainly shoot .45 auto & 10 mm and would not fire either of those w/o protection.
Recently, my wife expressed an interest in obtaining a c/c license and I bought a lcr .22 lr . I shot it w/o protection and could not believe how loud it was, almost as loud as either of my 9 mm.

 

[hobby-gunsmith]

ear protection

Ear protection is a must whenever you can and save those precious ear drums. Along side your defensive gun, in the home, you should have a set of ear protectors for you and your spouse. Back, in the late sixties and seventies, most of the shooters did not think about protecting the ears. We inserted expended brass casings in our ears and that was our protection. Well, that was a long time ago and I am now suffering from high frequency loss of hearing which I do wear hearing aids. Also, I wear ear protectors using outdoor equipment and working in the garage using speed drills, sanders or bench presses. I try to save whatever hearing remaining in those worn out drums. However, you ask what about if the need arises when you need to defend yourself and do not have the resources to protect your ears, well I would take the chance of hearing loss rather than succumb to death or the loss of life to my loved ones. What it boils down to is to protect your ears when you can and hopefully the day will never come when you may need to protect you or a loved one without the protection of those protectors.

 

[ronnie gore]

ear plugs

i can say that if you have to use your gun for protection, you will not hear the gun very much. i once shot an armed robber 7 times with a colt light weight commander from inside my police detective car as he was just outside my driver's side door with a 12ga sawed off pump. i never noticed the shots.

 

[Mexistrat]

Interesting, thanks for the thoughts and experiences.

Of course now I always use ear protection when shooting, but I have never thought I'd have time to deal with it should a situation arise.

I play guitar and jam with friends infrequently. I always wear ear protection then. Most of the younger musicians I know now have always worn ear protection. They must have learned it from their hard of hearing elders.

 

[bigggbbruce]

Call me crazy, but if you put ear protection in/on it's a premeditated shooting.

 

[Arik]

Yes. It rings a bit and then goes away.

I have fired 9, 38, 357, 44mag, 7.62x39, 7.62x54, 50AE, 7.62x25, 12G .... all without hearing protection. It's laud and a little ringing. On the bigger calibers there is some dumbing down of sound (only way I can describe it). I didn't do it repeatedly or in the same day

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[Neumann]

Once, a .45 Commander, outdoors, in ignorance. My ears rang for a week. I'm not concerned about a true SD event, but I'm never going to shoot even a .22 without ears for fun or practice. It's not worth it. I can't even imagine shooting a .357, which makes orange doughnuts in the air three feet from the muzzle, without hearing protection.

 

[shell627]

Call me crazy, but if you put ear protection in/on it's a premeditated shooting.

If you pick up your weapon.When you hear your door kicked in is that a premeditated shooting?

 

[bigwheelzip]

I've replaced the .357's with 9's for HD handgun duty. I do prefer the power of the .357, and keep a .357 lever action rifle loaded for HD along with a 12ga. The longer barrel of the rifle substantially quiets the round.

 

[Smoke]

I make a point of getting in on every hearing protection thread I find because I made the mistake of not protecting my hearing and lost most of it.

I was an artilleryman in the Army for several years and afterwards worked as a sheet metal fabricator/ machinist. I started my manufacturing career operating a Strippit 1250 CNC Turret Press and made a point of using hearing protection then but it was too late.

I am 50 years old, I can’t use a telephone without head phones, I have to use the closed captions when I watch TV (or turn it up so loud the neighbors can hear it), my wife has given up on asking me “Did you hear that?”, I’ve lost a lot of the enjoyment of music (MP3 head phones will damage your hearing too BTW) and I have to lip read my grandkids

My point is, once your hearing is gone, it’s gone and by the time you realize I know exactly what I'm talking about it will be too late for you too.

Wear your hearing protection Wear your hearing protection Wear your hearing protection Wear your hearing protection Wear your hearing protection

 

[fdw]

I had a ND in my den with my SP 101 loaded with Corbon DPX +p 38s. I was surprised at how mild it was. The sound that is, not my wife when I told her...

 

[Smoke]

i can say that if you have to use your gun for protection, you will not hear the gun very much. i once shot an armed robber 7 times with a colt light weight commander from inside my police detective car as he was just outside my driver's side door with a 12ga sawed off pump. i never noticed the shots.

Auditory exclusion does not mean that your hearing won't be irreparably damaged by the exposure. It's just means you won't notice it in the moment

 

[Cal44]

I was about 8 years old when my dad first showed me how to shoot.

This was in the 50's when no one knew about ear protection.

I shot his 7.7 mm Japanese army rifle that he brought back from WWII. No problem.

I also shot his M-1 carbine many times. No problem.

And my 22lr bolt action Remington. No problem.

Then he let me shoot his 45 acp 1911 also brought back from the war. Problem.

One shot with that 45 was enough. I never shot another 1911 until I got my own when I was 46.

My ears rang for over a week.

Probably did some damage to my 8 year old ears, but still have about 80% or normal hearing and don't where hearing aids at age 66.

Dave

 

[bigggbbruce]

If you pick up your weapon.When you hear your door kicked in is that a premeditated shooting?

Hang on bro, let me put my ear protection in before I shoot you.

 

[UNCLE PAULY]

Two weeks ago I was at my gun club and the only one at the outdoor pistol range.
Twice I forgot to put my ear protection back on and fired my S&W 649 loaded with 357 mag loads.
That's a 2" barrel and it was quite load! Can not imagine shooting in the house or car.

 

[hexnut]

I have fired an M14, AR15, M60 machine gun, Colt 45, M79 grenade launcher, been under a 90mm cannon being fired, had several bombs go off in my vicinity without hearing protection while in Vietnam. I have some hearing loss and ringing in both ears 24/7. Sounds like an old dial tone on a telephone. I am used to it by now. I do draw a small disability from Uncle Sam for it. I use hearing protection when I fire a gun now.

 

[Whitwabit]

yes but not in many years .. I do remember not being able to hear after shooting qualifying in the military many many years ago and not being able to hear for an hour or more afterwards !!

But shooting my guns I always wear hearing protection and most of the time I double up .. ear plugs and ear muffs ..

Having worked in a machine shop for 30+ years I tend to want to keep all the hearing ability I have left ..

 

[DocB]

I've never used ear protection and was carrying and shooting at the age of 14. My hearing is still really good. At or below the 38 Special/380 range, I still don't. When I shoot the "big" guns these days I tend to stick a cigarette filter in each ear. The only caliber I've ever had a great dislike for is the 45 Auto. My ears don't do 45 Auto so I quite simply don't shoot them.