Thread: Dont take hearing protection lightly

Originally Posted by Russian 22.

Anyone have first hand experience with using the electronic ear muffs with a unsuppressed rifle?

Yep, range use with 308s, 284s, 7mmSAUMs.

MSA Sordins. Wouldn't be happy to trust the cheapies. I already have substantial hearing loss from the days when only weaklings wore muffs.

On the odd occassion due to other shooters nearby have also used throwaway ear plugs under my electronic muffs.

Originally Posted by zimmer

Yep, range use with 308s, 284s, 7mmSAUMs.

MSA Sordins. Wouldn't be happy to trust the cheapies. I already have substantial hearing loss from the days when only weaklings wore muffs.

On the odd occassion due to other shooters nearby have also used throwaway ear plugs under my electronic muffs.

I use sordins with my braked 7mm, they work well, especially with the gel cup.

Just got my first braked rifle (7mm wsm). First few shots with 3m plugs (usually have foam disposables) and my howard leight electronic muffs. No issues, lost the muffs and went just plugs for the next few and noticed a difference.

Havent used the electronic side other than at the range which they were great for.

Helped the neighbour across the road do a fence using his nail gun. Came away with tinnitus
Sometimes don’t notice it and sometimes quite annoying
Would have only taken 5min to get earmuffs from home and now a life sentence

Originally Posted by Mathias

Yep, I find they are not enough for my braked 260 and wear Grade 4 muffs, this is for range use. I've got the Peltor Sport Tac.

These would be for bush stalking with a 30 30 or 243. I always bring decent ear Pro if it's a longer shot where I have time.

Originally Posted by zimmer

Yep, range use with 308s, 284s, 7mmSAUMs.

MSA Sordins. Wouldn't be happy to trust the cheapies. I already have substantial hearing loss from the days when only weaklings wore muffs.

On the odd occassion due to other shooters nearby have also used throwaway ear plugs under my electronic muffs.

Sounds good.

Originally Posted by sako75

Helped the neighbour across the road do a fence using his nail gun. Came away with tinnitus
Sometimes don’t notice it and sometimes quite annoying
Would have only taken 5min to get earmuffs from home and now a life sentence

Yeah it's very annoying. Simply will never have real peace and quiet. The tapping the back of your head doesn't work for me.

I had a cockup while hunting with the braked 28 Nosler over the weekend.

Had plugs in ready to shoot a deer, deer went out of sight, plugs out to talk to mate further back up the hill on the uhf to see if he could still see the 3 deer (which he could) the one I wanted to shoot then quickly came back into my view and presented a shot thru a very small opening in the bush, I let rip with the plugs still hanging on their string around my neck.

The moment I pulled the trigger I realised my mistake. Ringing in my ears for hours and they were sore for the rest of the night but not bad by morning.

I know I will have done damage and will have lost some hearing, but I think I ended getting off lightly.

I do have a feeling I'll regret that mistake for life tho.

I'm pretty pissed off with myself.

Earplug is the key to protect hearing, but we need to make the right decision. The loud noise is one of the best reason for tinnitus, which is not curable.

Anyone notice that tinnitus is more noticeable when you are miserable than happy..?

Always wondered what's up with that.

Or is it just me?

But I know when my tinnitus is bugging me it's time for a meeting with myself about my lifestyle choices.

Originally Posted by davetapson

Anyone notice that tinnitus is more noticeable when you are miserable than happy..?

Always wondered what's up with that.

Or is it just me?

But I know when my tinnitus is bugging me it's time for a meeting with myself about my lifestyle choices.

I hate loosing to myself when I argue with myself. SOB loosing to yourself Bloody hell no justice in that one sided goddarn argument

got a head cold....left ear is ringing constantly....are as grumpy as a grumpy bastard....poor wife keeps getting grumped at and even the dogs are giving me a wide berth.....
got work tomorrow and just know already how little fun that will be...with head cold communication becomes a real effort
look after your hearing.

some people can blast their ears to deafness without a squeak of tinnitus, some people get tinnitus matching hearing loss, and some can lose very little or no hearing and get a lot of tinnitus.You get used to it, but as the above blokes say you would rather not have it. I got 10-15 high pitch whines oscillating in my left ear, crickets in the background and hissing behind my head... though that could be snakes creeping up on me this is Australia after all.

I reckon this is one of the reasons people preferred longer barrels a couple of generations ago before hearing protection was common. Sudden mild hearing loss and tinnitus was seen as a pretty good reason not to chop high powered rifles down to 20". With a longer barrel, not only is the noise further from the ears, the muzzle pressure has more time to drop, which contributes to less db blast.

What're your thoughts on electronic hearing protection? I think electronic earplugs are best than generic earplugs at the time of the shooting.

Originally Posted by jacksimonton

What're your thoughts on electronic hearing protection? I think electronic earplugs are best than generic earplugs at the time of the shooting.

I find them distracting to use for range shooting. Good for hunting

Originally Posted by jacksimonton

What're your thoughts on electronic hearing protection? I think electronic earplugs are best than generic earplugs at the time of the shooting.

For muffs their maximum protection is usually lower than the best standard earmuffs, 20-27db reduction levels vs compared to 33-35db. Not sure about the plugs though? you should be able to google it.

As to question above, can blast from muzzle brakes beside you damage ears through hearing protection, especially if you notice ringing afterwards. Yes.

Some hearing protection ratings, like for the lightest muffs and lower electronic stuff can be as low as 21DB reduction. That means a magnum or short barrel muzzle braked gun, running almost 170db is hitting you with neatly 150db, or roughly the same as a 410 shotgun without hearing protection. You need to work out what you are dealing with and do the math.

I think most people using decent hearing protection are not going to have many problems. The idea is if you are worried or the type of guy who wants the most protection, you double up on hearing protection, particularly at the range. Hunting game you only fire a certain amount of shots anyway. At a range shoot you can be exposed to more gunfire in a day than a lifetime of hunting, since you get the blast and reflected sound from everyone elses guns.

AN OFFER.......anyone who wants some of these earplugs(foam)...let me know Ill post you some....these are brilliant and work very well.....send me and address and Ill send you a dozen....look at the reviews