Shooting indoors...Will it blind and deafen you???

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Brian Williams

Brian Williams

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We all have seen the threads or posts to the effect; Don't get a (insert favorite hellendamnation cartridge) if you have to fire it off inside your house it will blind and deafen you....
I would like only those who have actually fired off a handgun inside to tell us what it was like,
Were you blinded by the flash?
Were your ears ringing if you did not have ear protection?
Are you deaf now?
Could you continue to shoot if you had to?
etc

I am not proposing that we go without ear and eye protection.
What I am looking to dispel are the Myths spread by those high and mighty Internet Gods and Goddesses who say such drivel and nonsense.
 
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I've both fired a handgun indoors and been in proximity to another doing the same. (Separate instances; no ear-pro.) The reports seemed very loud. Nobody was blinded. Nobody deafened, though several ears were left ringing for a little while. My best guess is that repeated exposure would likely damage hearing.
 
there is no question, you have done damage to your hearing.( and will do more with every shot)
Yep, but what is your experience...?/?bw
 
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I've done it by accident.

My reaction? OH S---! I forgot my hearing protection!

I wasn't deaf, but it hurt. I wasn't blinded either. I've shot in poorly-lit indoor ranges a lot, too dark to see the sights well enough, and the flash has not been a real issue with anything from cowboy-load .38s to full-house .44s.

Honestly, I think the most significant factor, tactically, is the surprise -- it's LOUD.

Even a .22 Short is really loud from a revolver, in a living room with a laminate floor...:D Won't do THAT again without hearing protection...

Now long-term is a different story. I know some incredible older shooters (who have done well at Camp Perry, in the Olympics, etc.) that trained with the FBI, local police and sheriffs departments, and the military, back when hearing protection was not a concern. Most of them can't hear a damn thing any more -- gotta yell at them to get their attention even thought they're not THAT old -- but they can still shoot well.

Whatever their differences in shooting style and technique, their universal advice to me, when coaching me with a pistol, is WEAR HEARING PROTECTION, and not just plugs, full earmuffs, when shooting indoors.

Just wanted to be sure that I'm not in any way advocating shooting any caliber, in any gun, indoors without "ears", if you can help it.

(Okay, maybe a bolt-action Flaubert, but that's another story that won't be told here...)
 
The closest I've come to firing a revolver indoors was a Ruger Single Six 5.5" with a .22 magnum from inside of a car. It was during the daytime, so I was not blinded, but my ears did ring for the rest of the day. It's something I won't do again!

I keep a pair of Surefire earpros on the nightstand, the ones the soldiers use. You can hear things like normal conversation, but it blocks out loud noises. Someday I'll upgrade to some electronic ones.
 
I have fired a .45 ACP indoors, and although it did not leave me permanently deaf, it did significantly impair my hearing for at least an hour or so.
 
I have worked with explosives and live fire during training drills where one time (just for more a realistic approach to said training) we didn't go with ear pro. We had communication units in but they did not provide much hearing protection, maybe a couple decibels but that is all.

It was five of us and we used the Beretta M9, Colt M4's and a Mossberg 590's and the report for all was pretty damn loud. If I recal correctly the 'room' we cleared was 20x30 or so. We weren't deafened but did have a small ringing in all of our ears when the breach drill was complete. Did we do damage to our ears? Yes. Did we learn how loud it was? Yes. Flash was pretty bad but not as bad as the flashbangs which lit up the room but they had enough report and muzzle flash to cause a little issue with night vision (not the uber cool technology but your natural night vision).

It did NOT blind me and I am not deaf now. I would say on a percentage scale that my vision was 40% less strong for a minute or two and my hearing was 20% reduced with a ringing. Now, I am not completely sure on JUST the handgun because of the other firearms involved but MY weapon was the handgun and I can only comment on it and it's effects on me. I can tell you for sure that the M4's were LOUD! IMO louder than the shotgun with the breacher rounds in it.

The total rounds shot off in the room from all of us was less than 20 rounds IIRC so I am not sure on extended exposure to live fire within the confines of a space and what effects it would have on natural hearing and vision. I am sure it can be pretty much a exponential downward sprial for both hearing and vision if say someone went in FA on something like an M14 SBR or similar.

Damian
 
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BTW I think that a revolver is about the worst (for the shooter), even a .22 like outerlimit and I shot. The sound comes from the cylinder gap on both sides, as well as the muzzle.

I can't shoot a .22LR revolver outdoors without at least wearing plugs. A semiauto pistol is a lot quieter to the shooter, and with something like my 24" lever-action .22LR, I hear the mainspring louder than the report from the shot (outdoors). The muzzle is far from the ears, and the sound goes sideways and forward, not back.

Now, per TeamPrecisionIT, when you're NOT the shooter and NEXT TO the gun, it's even louder (especially something at Mach 3 like a 5.56).
 
Avoiding a double post : see post#15 in thread 'what to load my 357 for home defense'

Brian Williams (Mod) said:
I would like only those who have actually fired off a handgun inside to tell us what it was like
Click to expand...

From personal experience as well as that of colleagues.
 
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The question was did it make me deaf, I am sure it hurt my hearing and never said otherwise, but it did not make any of us deaf (right then and there). I'm sure doing it long-term or with a major influx of loud noise it could make you deaf on the spot, but that one drill did not.

Damian
 
I negligently fired a .45ACP round into my friend's apartment floor once (230gr. golden saber) with 2 other people present. Nobody lost their hearing, in fact it became so quiet inside that we cold hear traffic driving by outside.

I have also fired about 10 .22lr from the open bedroom doors to a tree outside. It was loud and I wouldn't make a habit of it, but didn't experience any temporary hearing loss.

I've done several night fire and low light training courses now (indoors and outside) and I do not believe that muzzle flash from .45CP nor 12ga blinded me, in fact we were supposed to try and use the "flash" to sight our targets. One drill involved our trainer shining his Surefire into our eyes to blind us, after which we were to find targets and engage. In this situation, the muzzle flashes were actually helpful.
 
Vern, I don't doubt that those of us who have shot indoors or for any amount of time without ear protection have some or a bunch of hearing loss. I had shot many bricks of 22lr in high school stupidly without hearing protection and I am paying for it today.
I have shot 357 mag (14gr of 2400 with a 125gr jhp) and a +p 9mm both out of revolvers inside and I know that my ears rang only for a short while and those in the room with the 357 all said that their ears did not ring.
 
My indoor gun. Browning HiPower 9mm, 147 JHP, AAC Scorpion suppressor. Taking the bite out of indoor shooting.......
DSC05246.jpg
[/IMG]
 
I'm actually kind of surprised by my lack of hearing damage considering that I used to blast loud music all the time by headphone or loudspeakers/concerts and often did not use hearing protection around firearms. I can always hear high pitched sounds that other people cannot hear and I get woken up easily by noises.

Ringingin the ears for any time at all after exposure to noise is a sign of permanent damage.
Click to expand...

I can't even imagine the amount of times I've experienced ringing of the ears, but I don't feel my hearing is any worse than it ever was. Yet, I'm sure that's hard to gauge since it happens over years.
 
Nice pic and nice equipment but it is not what I am looking for. Do you have experience shooting a gun indoors and did the flash/blast cause you a problem, loss of night vision, ringing in your ears?
 
Most indoor ranges have two doors between the shooting range and store area, so that one remains closed as the other opens, to cut down on noise.

The tendancy of most inexperienced shooters is to open the first door and stand in the hallway while they don their ear and eye protection.

From time to time, someone on the range side will open that door while guns are being fired. Judging by the reactions of those who don't have ear protection on, it ain't no fun. They do not appear to have immediately evident permanent damage though.
 
Stop that or you'll go blind!

:neener:





I shoot at an indoor range and can tell you that hearing loss is possible, not only from firing in doors without proper hearing protection, but also when shooting outdoors.

Blindness is a different matter. It's a myth much like the one your mother told you when you reached puberty!
:D
 
Several times. Ears ring...it's not as pleasant as a foot massage, but not a big deal. I still hear things that I should not be able to as an adult(frequencies audible to children and teens). So, I guess I must have had dog ears prior.
 
.45 ACP inside.

Flash...Not noticed.

Hurt....not really.....Hearing....yes, it was impaired, but not that bad....kind of like being in a well. Adrenaline rush? Yes sir.

The calibers that "crack" vs "boom" have been worse outside. Haven't experienced those inside.

I grew up shooting guns outside with out hearing protection. Maybe that is why I devoloped a like for guns that went "boom" instead of those with the painful "crack".
 
First, if I have to fire indoors in self defense, hearing loss and temporary loss of night vision will be the LAST things on my mind.

Second, If I have to fire indoors in self defense so often that I notice permanent hearing loss, I need to move.

A real self defense situation is not the time to worry about hearing protection.

As to the OP's question, I accidently fired three quick rounds from a .45 at an indoor range, with muffs parked above my ears. It took three rounds for me to notice my mistake. My ears were ringing, but my hearing appeared to be back to normal in 10 or 15 minutes. I'm sure that event added to the incremental damage done by gunshots, concerts, loud engines and headphones I have inflicted on my ears over the years.
 
First, if I have to fire indoors in self defense, hearing loss and temporary loss of night vision will be the LAST things on my mind.
Click to expand...

This has been said one thousand million billion trillion quadrillion times before.

I totally agree with this statement.

However, since I am a human, with the ability to think ahead and prepare for possible future events, I choose to have hearing protection as an option. If I don't have time to put hearing protection on, so be it, my gun is still there and I'll reach for that instead. And I'll shoot without hearing protection and possibly do irreversible damage to my hearing. And that's that.

Let's move on.
 
WEAR HEARING PROTECTION, and not just plugs, full earmuffs, when shooting indoors.
Click to expand...
Properly inserted plugs have at least as good of db reduction as most muffs. Often better. The problem comes in when people don't insert them fully or properly.
 
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