so I fired a 223 inside a small room today

[moooose102]

just consider the hearing loss as the cost of saving your or a loved ones life. way better to loose you hearing, than your or a loved ones life! if the loss goes awy, it is a big plus. if it does not, at least you are still breathing! i will not be trying this myself (the experiment) any time soon. only in a true emergency.

 

[TRguy]

I am right handed right eye dominant. The lack of adequate hearing protection as a younger man has left me with a permanent ringing in my left ear. The ear angled toward the muzzle when shooting a rifle or shotgun.....Today hearing protection is like religion to me, indispensable.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Yep....and why a .357 mag revolver is also a deafness-inducing choice.

 

[Nuke8401]

Recently (5 months ago) shot my new Stevens 200 30-06 outside, in a covered shooting area. Forgot to put my muffs on.

Left ear still ringing.

My favorite movie scene, T2 elevator, multiple 12ga sawed off shotgun rounds and a few clips worth of 45 ACP in about 10 seconds in an elevator.

WOW talk about deaf!

 

[JCisHe]

Why would anyone want to fire a .223 in their home anyway? Those things shoot at blistering speed and would likely travel right through a BG at 5 feet!

A 4/10 would be just fine. I personally have a single shot 20 ga. and some birdshot in the closet with my 9mm and some HP's just in case...

The 20 ga. would go boom first. I think that's much more practical.

 

[Hokkmike]

Some of the smaller calibers, 22. magnum for example, have a piercing whiny bang!

 

[Sam1911]

Why would anyone want to fire a .223 in their home anyway? Those things shoot at blistering speed and would likely travel right through a BG at 5 feet!

This is a myth that has been disproven. .223/5.56 wound ballistics, especially at close range are quite effective, and the bullets certainly do not travel right through the BG. Especially with proper defensive loads.

Further, they have conclusively been shown to "over" penetrate common building materials LESS than common handgun bullets.

A 4/10 would be just fine. I personally have a single shot 20 ga. and some birdshot in the closet with my 9mm and some HP's just in case...

Also a myth that has been disfavored. Birdshot is not an effective defensive choice. See the "Box 'O Truth" http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot22.htm

-Sam

 

[doc540]

How about a s&w 500 in a 5 lane indoor range??

What????

Why am i yelling???

Say again?????

 

[chuckusaret]

I fired the "Judge", both 410 & 45 cal, indoors in a 480 square foot room, my garage, without hearing protection and I highly recommended you not try it. IMO you would not have to actually hit the BG if you fired in self defense in a small room with a gun of this type, you would rupture his eardrums and he would flee.

 

[TRguy]

Thunder Ranch actually recommends having some ear muffs with electronic hearing on your night stand. Put them on and turn them on once you realize something suspicious is in your house.

It enhances your hearing, protects your ears and the stun effect of indoor shooting

Gives you a huge advantage over the bad guys.

 

[22-rimfire]

My brother shot his 222 out the bedroom windown once at a crow. Barrel was about even with the window pane. Thought for sure all the windows in that room were going to burst from the blast. That is the last time I'll participate with a stunt like that.

Shooting at the range from a covered area is bad enough. Ear protection is mandatory.

I choose something a bit less powerful for home defense although I do have a shotgun loaded as a back up.

 

[Matrix187]

My gun range has a covered firing line with the acoustics set up so the most sound possible is muffled. I once was being stupid and fired my m44 7.62x54R without my ear protection. Needless to say.... my ears rang forever.

 

[JCisHe]

Sam, your telling me that at 2-7 feet a 20 ga. shotgun firing a mass of small bb's out of a full choke would be less than effective?

Get a grip dude...

 

[Sam1911]

Sam, your telling me that at 2-7 feet a 20 ga. shotgun firing a mass of small bb's out of a full choke would be less than effective?

The question has gotten a LOT of mileage here on THR. I'm not going to give you every lick and blow of the debate. If you are curious, please search our archives for more information. Suffice to say, it is generally considered that birdshot (which generally weigh less than two grains) do not sufficiently penetrate any medium far enough to reliably cause incapacitation.

You may argue that they would be very distracting (especially if you feel that you can always hit your opponent's bare face), and might be alarming enough to cause them to flee. But, a shot over a few feet away, at the center-of-mass of an intruder, especially one wearing more than a minimal layer of clothing, will not penetrate far enough to do the kind of damage that would ensure they cease the attack.

The "Box-'O-Truth" website gives some pretty illustrative examples of this using various test media. I'd encourage you to thoroughly read their report(s). Or, as I said, do a search here on THR for similar information.

I have done so, as well as participating in a number of threads here and making penetration tests on my own. I choose to keep my HD shotgun loaded with buckshot and with slugs on standby.

You'll have to make your own choices, of course. Sounds like you already have.

Get a grip dude...

Wow. O.k.

-Sam

 

[benEzra]

I've been wondering about this recently as well.

While I know the chances of having to defend yourself in your home with a firearm are remote, I would like to keep my kid and I's hearing intact if it should come down to it.

I would like to incorporate a suppressor into my home defense scenario, but 1500-2000 dollars altogether or some such makes it a bit out of my price range atm.

I think I will purchase some electronic earmuffs and sit them next to my gun at night (or close by during the day) but how will that help my kid? Should I buy some child-size hearing protection for my toddler and train her to put them on in a hurry if need be?

Keep in mind that the intensity of sound falls off with the square of the distance from the source. If your child is behind you, he/she will experience less peak dB than you do, with the difference depending on the distance.

Why would anyone want to fire a .223 in their home anyway? Those things shoot at blistering speed and would likely travel right through a BG at 5 feet!

As has been pointed out, typical .223 JHP's penetrate less in both gelatin and building materials than 9mm JHP's do. The military is limited to FMJ in most circumstances, but civilians most certainly are not.

your telling me that at 2-7 feet a 20 ga. shotgun firing a mass of small bb's out of a full choke would be less than effective?

Still effective in most cases, but somewhat less effective than #4 buckshot or comparable. Birdshot would still ruin someone's day, but effectiveness falls off sharply with distance, and the likelihood of one-shot incapacitation is lower, particularly with non-square-frontal shots, angled shots, and whatnot.

Here's an image of heavy birdshot at 3 yards into ballistic gelatin, FWIW:

Only a few pellets penetrate even 7 inches, and many penetrate less than 6. Steel shot will perform worse than lead shot in this regard.