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Anyone ever forget to put on/in their hearing protection and discharged their firearm ?
What caliber bullet was fired, and has it affected your hearing today ?
.50cal mounted above and behind me in a APC 113
At my club's indoor range. Was by myself and took my hearing protection off as I was changing guns and hanging a new target. Loaded hot 44 Mag rounds into my S&W 629, took aim and fired. It was bad, very bad. I had pain in both ears but my right ear hurt the worst. I was pretty sure I had ruptured my eardrum. Luckily not, but my ears took several days before they felt normal again.
I already have some hearing loss and tinnitus from years of working on jets while I was in the Navy. Can't tell if it caused anything permanent, but it couldn't have been good.
Made me wonder how GIs in WWII weren't all deaf by the time they came home.....
Anyone ever forget to put on/in their hearing protection and discharged their firearm ?
What caliber bullet was fired, and has it affected your hearing today ?
HUH!
They are not all deaf because shooting a rifle outside while uncomfortable.......won't give you that much damage in the long run.
Anyone ever forget to put on/in their hearing protection and discharged their firearm ?
What caliber bullet was fired, and has it affected your hearing today ?
I don't believe this for a minute. Even prolonged low level noise is very bad. Once it's gone, it's gone.
On the line with about 6 other guys, 14 in barreled M4's. Some of life's lessons are best learned the hard way. I'll never do that again.
Indoor range, in the basement.
Basic Firearms Safety Class. String of five or six students with S&W Model 41 .22's. I was there as a range coach.
Instructor gave the order to fire, then leaned towards me to say something. When I turned an ear towards him to hear through my ear pro, he pulled my ear pro off my head. No idea what he ever said. Nausea for the rest of the day through the night. Ear ringing couple more days. May have lasted longer but I've had tinnitus since childhood so can't be sure.
.....
Not all combat vets have hearing loss.....
Not all hunters have hearing loss.....
Look.....I'm in no way advocating shooting without earpro. The op asked if anyone has fired a gun without ear pro.......an if their hearing was damaged. I'm telling you I have.........many ****ing times.......even a 50 cal machine gun administering suppressive fire for a couple of minutes......and hearing has been tested many times........and my hearing shows no detectable adverse effects.
Can you get hearing damage from one shot without muffs......yes it happens........but I'm living proof it's not a guarantee to have damage from one shot without muffs. Not all vets are have hearing loss
Not all hunters have hearing loss
....!
If you ever forget your hearing protection live 9mm para cartridges work great as temporary ear plugs. If your allergic to any metals you might not want to use this option.
liability trumpsWhen I was young and stupid my buddy and I decided to see what it was like to shoot without hearing protection. We shot about 50 rounds each of .357. Our ears rang for about 3 days after but there didn't seem to be any lasting effects. ...What?
On a side note, as a police academy firearms instructor, I tried to get the idea of shooting without hearing protection introduced into the curriculum to give some real life experience as the cadets wouldn't have hearing protection in a police shooting situation. My idea was shot down due to liability issues. I still think it would be valuable training, even a string of 5 or 10 rounds.
...., I tried to get the idea of shooting without hearing protection introduced into the curriculum to give some real life experience as the cadets wouldn't have hearing protection in a police shooting situation. My idea was shot down due to liability issues. I still think it would be valuable training, even a string of 5 or 10 rounds.