.38 Special
Member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2006
- Messages
- 7,386
Hearing clinic guy here again...
There is no centerfire round that is "safe" to use without protection. Yes, some are louder than others, but that's kind of like saying you'd rather be shot in the head with a .308 than a .30-'06.
There is no way to completely protect yourself from noise-induced loss at an indoor range, short of wearing a full-face helmet which covers your entire skull.
Outdoors, plugs and muffs - worn correctly, of course - are adequate against any small arms fire I am aware of, as long as the muzzle isn't right next to your face. I have not tested this (or seen it tested) in places with a roof, and can only say that I agree with everyone else's observation that such places can still be pretty loud.
Noise does not have to be painfully loud, nor cause immediate buzzing/ringing/etc. in the ears, in order for it to be dangerous.
Opening the mouth doesn't help, unfortunately. Opening the Eustachian tubes probably does not either - it might help avoid eardrum rupture in extreme overpressure situations like cannon fire, but the eardrum is rarely the cause of noise-induced loss - and anyway, opening (and keeping open, in particular) the tubes takes more than just an open mouth. Most people are able to do it using the jaw muscles to open the jaw and pull it backwards, toward the throat. The feeling is a bit like yawning, and when done properly there will be an odd hollow sound in the ears, and the sound of your own breathing will be loud to you. Now imagine trying to maintain that feeling while shooting.
For the OP, I would recommend choosing a gun for reasons other than volume, and then practicing outdoors with muffs and plugs. That is almost guaranteed to preserve your hearing.
There is no centerfire round that is "safe" to use without protection. Yes, some are louder than others, but that's kind of like saying you'd rather be shot in the head with a .308 than a .30-'06.
There is no way to completely protect yourself from noise-induced loss at an indoor range, short of wearing a full-face helmet which covers your entire skull.
Outdoors, plugs and muffs - worn correctly, of course - are adequate against any small arms fire I am aware of, as long as the muzzle isn't right next to your face. I have not tested this (or seen it tested) in places with a roof, and can only say that I agree with everyone else's observation that such places can still be pretty loud.
Noise does not have to be painfully loud, nor cause immediate buzzing/ringing/etc. in the ears, in order for it to be dangerous.
Opening the mouth doesn't help, unfortunately. Opening the Eustachian tubes probably does not either - it might help avoid eardrum rupture in extreme overpressure situations like cannon fire, but the eardrum is rarely the cause of noise-induced loss - and anyway, opening (and keeping open, in particular) the tubes takes more than just an open mouth. Most people are able to do it using the jaw muscles to open the jaw and pull it backwards, toward the throat. The feeling is a bit like yawning, and when done properly there will be an odd hollow sound in the ears, and the sound of your own breathing will be loud to you. Now imagine trying to maintain that feeling while shooting.
For the OP, I would recommend choosing a gun for reasons other than volume, and then practicing outdoors with muffs and plugs. That is almost guaranteed to preserve your hearing.