So, I always wear ear pro. Most of the time it’s the Surefires and I have the plugs in or it’s the Howard electronic muffs.
I shoot mostly bolt guns, and I’m around a lot of bolt guns when I do shoot it. Then I’m under a tin roof which really can make things loud. I feel the concussion more than I feel anything to my ears. Yesterday I started shooting around 8am and finished up ( after breaks and lunch and dicking around) around 5PM. I noticed after taking my ear pro out and talking to people, it sounds like they are talking to me though a storm drain for a bit. This goes away, but I’m not sure if my ears are normalizing or if I’m sustaining hearing damage. Last year I shot 3 rounds w/o ear pro with my braked .308 I felt a real compression for a few days and then it normalized. The issue I’m having now is nothing like that. I just want to make sure I have enough ear protection so I figured I’d see how others feel shooting in different environments.

With a brake on, your adding 5-10 more decibels at least. They say with a brake you need to wear plugs under your muffs. Just muffs you're still permanently damaging your ears. Good Read here

http://www.chuckhawks.com/muzzle_brakes.htm

Chuck do you have any actual data on that? Have you ever put a sound meter near one and fired it with and without. The same gun. I don't think it increases the sound, it just redirects some of it.

I'm not a scientist and haven't read any studies on it but I feel that hearing loss is unavoidable if you are around loud noises.

From the little I have read about it, in just as little as two shots without hearing protection we can cause permanet hearing loss. We don't go completely deaf at once. What happens is we gradually loose a frequency at a time. Thus I can hear really good in the woods, ie, background noise, leaves rustling, etc, but I cannot pick up the human voice very well at all.

Ear protection does help but I don't think it prevents damage 100%. Being on a line or in a room with a bunch of guys firing AR's is a loud experience no matter what you have on your ears.

Sucks, I don't have a brake on my current rig, but often shoot next to others taht do.

Have ever shot a compensated gun next to a normal one? We did with a Glock 22C and a regular G22, the difference was massive even on a handgun.

Not trying to be a jerk, just want to know if there is actual data. The only gun I notice a difference on is my Browning with the BOSS. The AR type rifles I don't hear a difference.

When you can feel your head ringing it's pretty easy to tell.

I'm sure there is actual data somewhere. I bet OSHA has done some testing at least. I shoot with a guy that has a PWS comp on a 11.5'' barrel. It's to damn loud for me to be around. It's brutal.

I am not trying to be jerk either, but there is not a single doubt in my mind breaks add percussion/noise to the gun.


I found this on Wikipedia about muzzle brake noise increase.

"Recorded noise levels (on certified audiological instruments) at the muzzle of a magnum or high velocity rifle with a muzzle break [sic] normally exceed 160 decibels. Permanent ear damage occurs at 120 decibels. If you read the fine print on the finest set of ear plugs and ear muffs available, you will find the total noise reduction only between 22 and 31 decibels. This means that on a rifle with a muzzle brake, even if you are wearing hearing protection, you are suffering permanent damage.

Measurements indicate that on a rifle a muzzle brake adds 5 to 10 dB to the normal noise level perceived by the shooter, increasing total noise levels up to 160 dB(A) +/- 3 dB


Looking around on the web it seems most add 11-15 decibels.

That happens with or without a compensator.

Shooting under a tin building with my 6.5 next to somone w/ a brake on a 6.5 It's more than obvious what's louder for the shooter and person next to him. It's like having a speaker pointed toward the road, then turning it around at your face.

Okay, I can buy that. But my point is still valid. With or without the brake you will get hearing damage. So a gun with a brake will be lets just say 160, and one without will be for argument sake 155. Not enough difference to worry about. Both will do about the same amount of damage.

Makes sense. The energy that would translate to the gun's recoil velovity has to go somewhere. I.E. sound

its good practice to use both forms of hearing protection when shooting a gun whether it is braked or not. once hearing is gone, its gone.

what? I couldnt hear what you were saying?

Look into the MSA Sordin Extreme Pro X earpro. They are pricey but work better than any I've tried hands down. Gettig the gel cups for them will help even more. 12-15 carbines going on the line at once(under cover)and they work well.

In my CHL class, the instructor refrenced some material and showed how if a person just wears ear plugs with out muffs, there is bone around your ear that is damaged, which affects your hearing.

It shows at a minimum, a person should wear muffs, and if possible, plugs with muffs.

If you dont wear muffs, you ARE damaging your hearing.

Just to reiterate Morgan's feelings,

I shoot a Remington 700 AAC-SD in .308, my friend shoots a regular 700 SPS-Tactical in .308. We both shoot Federal GMM 175 SMK's both of our guns are 20 .308's the only difference is his is a 1:12 twist and mine is a 1:10

He runs a plain barrel, I have a AAC Brakeout 2 Chamber Brake to mount my suppressor and I can tell you there is more than 10 decibel difference when we take shots. So much so when I don't have the suppressor attached I wear SF Earpro's under Muffs.

DG,

When I used to referee at the Shotgun Club, I would wear only SF Earpro's as its light shotgun loads and those where all that's needed, I would pull the small plunger out to hear people talk and explain stage and degree's of fire. Most days I would work 4 hours before and after lunch and never take the plugs out except at lunch and I would get the same effect you mentioned. If I leave them in at the range more than 30 minutes or so now I get the same effect for a little while so I don't feel it from hearing loss but rather the sensation of hearing normal sounds again if that makes sense.

Well this is a good time for ya'll to start if you haven't started yet paying attention to your hearing !!!

I turned 67 in September. Last Wednesday I got my first set of new Hearing Aids ...they help a little but are not a cure...there is no cure for deafness ...'cause it appears I am now permanently deaf to most of the upper ranges of sound, including those generated by the human voice and other things. I am also discovering What a PIA hearing aids are too.

I still have normal lower tone range hearing and the Doc sez I had done a great job of compensating for the hearing loss for a very VERY long time. ie ... THIS DID NOT HAPPEN OVERNIGHT after I turned 65 a couple years ago.

Hearing Loss can be caused by numerous factors, and I am sure mine was caused not only by improper/inadequate protection from gunfire, but also by extended sinus infections and high fevers and other diseases, by physical damage in contact sports, fights and car wrecks all of which I had lots of in high school or before I was 30. Damage to your hearing can occur from inner ear, outer ear AND Mastiod bone damage...and the inner ear can be affected by physical damage to the soft mastiod bone behind your external ear too....and why Shooters earmuffs should cover that area also.

I have had periodic Tinitus for 40-50+ years, which is the ringing or whooshing sound you all have been describing in this thread. None of you KNOW how much damage by gunfire, if any, has already been done until you get tested.

Tinitus usally goes away initially and then becomes permanent with repeated exposure to violent or harsh sound levels...or even just extended sessions of softer than gunfire or jet engine noise levels which most people think is not harmful at all, and mine had gotten to the point it was creating a muffled effect to all of my hearing ...or so I thought ...hence a visit to the Audioligist and a Hearing Range Survey to find what the H*&% was going on.

Back in the late '60's when I started shooting rifles and pistols under a steel roof at the Winchester Range in Dallas it was common NOT to use any kind of hearing protection...or just a clean cigarette filter. For the last 30+ years I have been wearing plugs AND muffs when working off the bench...but what I have now for hearing is the best I will ever have left as long as I am alive.

If you have any kind of Questions about your hearing...Do Not walk but RUN to the Audiologist and don't wait or put it off when the Tinitus goes away like I did....It Ain't Healed!!! Once your hearing is gone it is gone forever as long as you are alive.
Ron

I have custom made plugs, best money spent.

Now that you guys mention it, I have had the same effect after wearing plugs for a long while. Some of the plants I go into you have to wear plugs. So I may have them in up to 4 hours at a time. I never noticed it at the range but I wear powered muff while shooting.