Shot my AR with no ear protection today...

I've been around gunfire and jet engines in various stages of hearing protection for prolonged periods of time for the past ten years.

According to my doc, I'm near deaf in certain frequencies, right around the typical frequency of a woman's voice. I don't notice anything wrong with my hearing, but my wife sure does.
 
holyroler said:
has anyone shot a 12g, my personal choice for hd, without plugs in. Did you cry for mommy?
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A 12 ga isn't that bad really. I've shot more rounds of 12 ga without hearing protection than with them, mainly duck hunting using hot loads in 3 inch shells. Of course home defense would most likely be in the home, magnifying the sound. I find handguns far worse.
 
depicts said:
You can't hear the guns go off. The artillery and rockets are too loud.[smile]
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[laugh2] I heard somewhere posted on this site (by vellenevue I think) about an ear canal constriction or something that occurs during high stress periods. I've wondered the same thing 'cause damn a semi-auto AR-15 is loud, I can't imagine a couple of M16s an M60 and a few rockets going off!!!

Although, I've been hunting with a 7mm rem. mag. and you don't notice the bang when you're focused on trying to get a good shot off.
 
clinotus said:
Very much so. Massmark and I talk about this ever so often. Some guns you can do it and hope at the same time you've got that adrenal energy shielding you. Some other guns I wouldnt dream of shooting indoors as a HD choice.
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Exactly...I had the thought about my SOCOM-16, AR or even my 642CT as a home defense option. The thought of touching off a .308, 5.56 or 38+P at 2:25am in my 15x20 livingroom gives me the jitters...[shocked] Even with auditory exclusion, say goodbye to your eardrums...I had a plug come loose when I was unleashing some Speer GDHP 135gr +P and it rattled my skull...Sadly this is Massachusetts, as I would think a 10" AR, or my SOCOM-16 with an AAC on deck and TAP in the mag would be a viable HD option...I have adjusted my HD choice to that with the lowest noise signature out of all my firearms and one which I have actually shot indoors sans hearing protection...
 
Gonzo said:
I've been around gunfire and jet engines in various stages of hearing protection for prolonged periods of time for the past ten years.

According to my doc, I'm near deaf in certain frequencies, right around the typical frequency of a woman's voice. I don't notice anything wrong with my hearing, but my wife sure does.
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I think I have the same affliction
 
Yes, my post was serious. Agreement or not is your personal discretion, but here is my logic. Serious counterpoints are welcome and considered, silly reticule will be ignored appropriately (although silly logical counterpoints will be judged and rated [smile]):

1: Notice I said "electronic hearing protection with fresh batteries". It does give you an advantage as you can hear things you normally can't while not being disoriented by gunshots. As was mentioned previously, it really screws you up shooting indoors, and the last thing I want in a room-to-room situation is to have my hearing off so badly I can't hear what is going on in the other room. (not to mention have equilibrium thrown off, etc)

2: Notice I said "if you have time". Obviously, if someone has just kicked in your door you don't have time to do this. First you arm yourself, then you add your advantages as you can. You would not leave the extra mags if you had time to grab them, would you? If someone is trying to jimmy open a door or window, you may have a bit more time. I know I would not ignore a kevlar vest if I had time to put it on, same goes for hearing protection. You have to assess the situation, and they are all different. But you are correct in saying "arm yourself first", but any increase to your advantage will help you live longer.

3: If I am defending myself/family/house, I am worried about what the courts say as an afterthought. It is better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6. It would be foolish to toss out a legal tactical advantage because you are worried about what the jury may say. Besides, you don't have to wear the things until the cops show up, and you would likely have to take them off to dial 911. (You DID make sure your life was safe BEFORE taking the time to dial 911, right?) [wink]

4: Indoors house invasion != outdoor paper target shooting, or hunting. It is loud, disorienting, and much more dangerous. Unless you have a grizzly bear strung out on meth running loose in your house, hunting situations do not apply.

5: Ayoob, Kenneth Royce, and other highly reputable and trained people support this.. I trust their judgment.

6: Did I mention it is "situational"? [wink]
 
I didn't even know what hearing protection was growing up shooting. 12 gauges, handguns, and hunting rifles. I never used hearing protection of any kind until I was in my mid-20's and first shot indoors. I seriously regret it now, but I can honestly say it never even occurred to me at the time. Hearing protection when I was growing up was putting your hands over your ears when it was your buddy's turn to shoot an old refrigerator with a .30-06. [wink]

Now I wear plugs AND muffs shooting. I can't afford to hurt my hearing even one bit more. I will even put on my hearing protection while still in my truck before I step out of it at an outdoor range, and wear them back into the truck until the doors are shut.

Damaging your hearing on purpose just to know what it feels like is STOOOPID! Don't do it!! You will regret it.
 
Gadsden said:
Yea.. don't do that. I used to shoot all the time with no hearing protection, and now I curse the days that I did. It WILL screw up your hearing for life.. I never hear silence anymore.. only a faint "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee".

A
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Me, too. If it's a bump in the middle of the night, and there's no time for hearing protection, do what you have to do. Otherwise, don't experiment with it. Listen to those of us who have experienced the results (while you can still hear).
 
Half Cocked said:
Shooting at the range without hearing protection is plain foolish and is not worth the long term damage. Ask me how I know.

There is no comparison between firing at the range without hearing protection and firing under stress and adrenaline.

Most people involved in shootings never heard the shots. Adrenaline takes over.
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I'd just like to add a note here that despite the fact that your adrenaline is allowing your body to ignore the effects, you are still doing the same level of damage to your hearing.
 
2/1Marine said:
When I was in Iraq they gave us hearing protection but no one I was with would use it. It was too damn difficult to hear what people were saying, be aware of surrounding sounds, and could have meant the difference between life and death. I have tinitus (constant ringing in the ears) and bad hearing loss in my right ear. I can't even talk on a phone with my right ear, when I try the conversations goes like this....huh?.....what?...huh?

All in all I'm glad I'm alive and would trade all of my hearing to be alive. Now being blind that would be a different story.
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Sorry to hear about the tinnitus, but thanks for the info and thanks for your service!
 
This may have been a flawed experiment as I was shooting previously for about a half hour with electronic protection, and I was under a canopy.

Though I don't think I'm going to re-attempt....

What I have learned is moving my electronic earmuffs from the safe into the nightstand is a good idea.
 
Supermoto said:
Hell yeah he is... look at this skill
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i dont know whats more creepy,

your obvious school girl flirting with me on the forum (arent you married?)

or the fact that you have kept up with BillK's youtube account enough that you know all the videos on it by heart of us fooling around. whats odd about that is neither of us know you and that video has never been posted before.

hopefully, when im old and lame like you i can troll forums looking to cause trouble. then when i get beat on by forum members i can cry to my wife so she logs on to defend me [rofl]
 
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Big_Red said:
I will have to wear hearing protection next time I am doing a drive-by. [wink]
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[laugh2]



Don't forget to hold your gun sideways....


Carmelo-With-Gun.jpg
 
primer-only louder than I expected

I had a .380 that had had its bullet pulled. I don't re-load and I didn't want to have this brass in an in between catagory.

I figured I'd just take it to the range next time, drop it in the chamber, and fire it thereby relegating it to typical spent brass.

As I didn't even have a target up, and wouldn't have a magazine in, and I was alone, I didn't put the muffs on. It was conscious, it occurred to me that I had no idea on the loudness -- and I guessed it would be on the order of a .22 CBee (primer-only 22 load).

The range was indoors with concrete walls.

I was very, very wrong. Ouch!
 
z0mbi said:
I'd just like to add a note here that despite the fact that your adrenaline is allowing your body to ignore the effects, you are still doing the same level of damage to your hearing.
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Excellent point, the short term effects may be masked but the long term will still be there.
 
Dench said:
i dont know whats more creepy,

your obvious school girl flirting with me on the forum (arent you married?)

or the fact that you have kept up with BillK's youtube account enough that you know all the videos on it by heart of us fooling around. whats odd about that is neither of us know you and that video has never been posted before.

hopefully, when im old and lame like you i can troll forums looking to cause trouble. then when i get beat on by forum members i can cry to my wife so she logs on to defend me [rofl]
Click to expand...

Oh hell.. one one to get video hits to that account...Now too bad I do not get paid for views! [rofl][rofl][rofl][rofl][rofl]
 
went shooting with my g/f's grand dad the other day. an old .38 auto with no hearing protection, wasn't that bad, but it's a small round and was still ringing for like 3 min.
 
Dench said:
i dont know whats more creepy,

your obvious school girl flirting with me on the forum (arent you married?)

or the fact that you have kept up with BillK's youtube account enough that you know all the videos on it by heart of us fooling around. whats odd about that is neither of us know you and that video has never been posted before.

hopefully, when im old and lame like you i can troll forums looking to cause trouble. then when i get beat on by forum members i can cry to my wife so she logs on to defend me [rofl]
Click to expand...


I searched "Tactical Tool" and your video was the first one up.
 
MrsWildweasel said:
All men do.[laugh]
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Unfortunately, this tends to be true. Psychologists call it selective attention - we tend to tune out what we are trying to avoid hearing... Ladies, next time you are talking at your men, and they are nodding and going "a ha, a hum, yep" with the associated head nod, try injecting a total out of left field comment like "can I get you a beer honey?" and see what happens...

[smile]
 
If you guys knew what it costs for a pair of hearing aids these days, never mind the batteries every week, you'd wear ear protection.
 

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