To all the guys who say to double up on hearing protection at indoor ranges

I cleared out half of MFL with my Miculek compensated AR when I first got it... it's not much more fun out doors either... Ask anyone who's been at Georgetown with me..

When shooting it extensively I double up in the shooting ear... otherwise it rings for hours.

Your 40 should be fine though outdoors with decent muffs..

I've got one of those damned things too. Wish I had known a little more about them when I bought my AR, I would have gone with a different comp.
 
anyone else go to the range and fire forgetting to put on ear protection?

I did that on the firing line during an Appleseed once. Put my muffs on top of my head during the prep period, and forgot to put them back on when the "make ready" command was given. The dozen ARs and a couple 30 cals on either side reminded me pretty damn quickly...
 
I was given a free pair of custom molded plugs by a guy that was peddling them at the range and I use those with a pair of muffs over them when indoors.
 
anyone else go to the range and fire forgetting to put on ear protection?

Just once. [smile]. Unfortunately it was the first time I shot my AR30. Rifle is in 300 win mag and has a muzzle brake. I was so excited after having waited about 3 months for delivery that I forgot to put on my hearing protection. My ears were ringing for the next 12 hours.[frown]
 
Couple of lessons from the school of hard knocks: best way to insert ear plugs is to reach over the top of your head with the opposite hand i.e. left hand, pinch the top of right ear, and pull upwards. Also, for the rifle and shotgun shooters who only wear plugs because muffs hit the stock, you are absorbing damaging sound levels through the bone structure around the ear. The damage one does is cumulative, so if you have hearing loss and ringing for a week after shooting, you have permanent damage.
If you think hearing loss is fun, try tinnitus (ears ringing 24/7). Mine is more from chainsaws and power tools, but any continuous loud sound will do it.
 
Make sure the ear plugs fit. Some folks use the reusable plugs, which work ok. Thing is that we all have different size ear canals. I recently purchased a set of EarPlugz-DF from Ear Inc. The medium size was able to be used but only with difficulty. They let me send them back and exchange them for size small. What a nice difference...easy fit and work fine. Great CS by the way.
 
Definitely know the level of protection you're getting from your muffs. There's a noticable difference between NRR 22 and NRR 30. My favorite pair is NRR 23, I believe, but if I'm indoors and people are firing large calibers, I'll upgrade to my NRR 30s for the day.

Power doubles (or halves) every 3dB. So yeah, there's a HUGE difference in noise reduction between NRR 30 and NRR 23.

My ears are likely to be stimulated first in a home invasion or night time burglary attempt. Consequently, I wear 29s plus earplugs.
 
I saw this thread a couple days ago but did not pay much attention, wish I had. Last night went to the plate match at Hopkinton again. (Great time but not to go off topic.) I had my ear protection on the entire night and woke up with an ear ache this am. Same thing happened after attending Thanksgiving, though it was just an earache then but put 2 and 2 together after reading this thread. So I looked up the rating of my Falcom electronic ears. Guess what only 22. So while they have been working fine for me when doing the indivuidual range trips they don't do so well with four hours of nearly constant 9-45 cal popping at very close range inside. If you don't know what the rating for your "protection" is it probably is worth looking up. I know I will plug and muff next time and I am in the market for a realy good set of ears. Any suggestions welcome. My ears have been ringing all day. Makes ringing in the New Year literal.
 
When I stand next to a 50 BMG rifle going off I feel like I have been hit by a linebacker (which means the sound was rather loud as sound is a pressure wave)
Try standing next to EddieCoyle when he fires that hand cannon of his with some of his thermonuclear handloads. Gives a WHOLE new meaning to the word "kaboom".
I have fired each of my hand gun calibers once without ear protection to know what it would be like should I ever have to use them in self defense
Truly bad idea. Your hearing can be damaged from ONE shot. Don't do that again if you want to keep your ears undamaged.

My wife actually thinks I'm just trying to drive her crazy - I can hear her speak, but I can't understand what she says if we're in different rooms. my most used word is "What?".
I resemble that remark... but my hearing loss is from 10 years of highway speeds on my bike. Never knew that wind noise could damage my hearing... and by the time I found out, it was too late.

I'm 31 now and I dread to see how bad it is in 10 years. For the last 6-7 years I've consistently used double hearing protection, trying to save what hearing I have left.
That's good that you're doubling up - if you take care of what you have left that'll help a lot. I've had hearing tests for the last several years, and since I've been wearing hearing protection when I so much as mow the lawn, I haven't lost any more hearing.

WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?!
[slap]

anyone else go to the range and fire forgetting to put on ear protection?

I did that on the firing line during an Appleseed once. Put my muffs on top of my head during the prep period, and forgot to put them back on when the "make ready" command was given. The dozen ARs and a couple 30 cals on either side reminded me pretty damn quickly...
Bet you don't do THAT again...

I know I will plug and muff next time and I am in the market for a realy good set of ears. Any suggestions welcome.

Check these out. Note the NRR rating. I'm thinking of getting them just because.

My ears have been ringing all day.
NOT a good sign. Read.
Exposure to harmful sounds causes damage to the hair cells as well as the auditory, or hearing, nerve (see figure). Impulse sound can result in immediate hearing loss that may be permanent. This kind of hearing loss may be accompanied by tinnitus—a ringing, buzzing, or roaring in the ears or head—which may subside over time. Hearing loss and tinnitus may be experienced in one or both ears, and tinnitus may continue constantly or occasionally throughout a lifetime.

Continuous exposure to loud noise also can damage the structure of hair cells, resulting in hearing loss and tinnitus, although the process occurs more gradually than for impulse noise.

Exposure to impulse and continuous noise may cause only a temporary hearing loss. If a person regains hearing, the temporary hearing loss is called a temporary threshold shift. The temporary threshold shift largely disappears 16 to 48 hours after exposure to loud noise. You can prevent NIHL from both impulse and continuous noise by regularly using hearing protectors such as earplugs or earmuffs.
 
So I looked up the rating of my Falcom electronic ears. Guess what only 22. So while they have been working fine for me when doing the indivuidual range trips they don't do so well with four hours of nearly constant 9-45 cal popping at very close range inside.

I doubt they were even "fine" outdoors; it just that the damage was not as severe, as soon. You probably weren't shooting for as long, either. An NRR of merely 22 isn't even close to what we shooters need.

If you don't know what the rating for your "protection" is it probably is worth looking up. I know I will plug and muff next time and I am in the market for a realy good set of ears. Any suggestions welcome. My ears have been ringing all day. Makes ringing in the New Year literal.

My muffs are NRR 33 and I use the inner plugs as well - ESPECIALLY when indoors at Hopkinton or AFS.
 
I bought a pair of custom plugs at the New England Regional IDPA match, and it was the best shooting money I've ever spent. They're much more comfortable than disposable plugs, and the sound reduction is greater. I still wear muffs over them most of the time, especially indoors.
 
I doubt they were even "fine" outdoors; it just that the damage was not as severe, as soon. You probably weren't shooting for as long, either. An NRR of merely 22 isn't even close to what we shooters need.



My muffs are NRR 33 and I use the inner plugs as well - ESPECIALLY when indoors at Hopkinton or AFS.



I always double up, but I though the benefit of electronic muffs (at least the ones with compression) are that they compress the impulse sounds by at least 50%. If that is true, then the NRR rating would matter for backup (when batteries fail) and/or for other protection (say vibration/bone)

I'm considering buynig the high end electronics with compression but I"m curious if they really are effective in reducing the noise to 80ish levels - anyone with experience with them?
 
I always double up, but I though the benefit of electronic muffs (at least the ones with compression) are that they compress the impulse sounds by at least 50%. If that is true, then the NRR rating would matter for backup (when batteries fail) and/or for other protection (say vibration/bone)

I'm considering buynig the high end electronics with compression but I"m curious if they really are effective in reducing the noise to 80ish levels - anyone with experience with them?

Nope, the NRR is how much they reduce the noise coming in, ignoring the electronics. All the electronics do is add sound back in, they don't take any away.
 
anyone else go to the range and fire forgetting to put on ear protection?

I was doing a service rifle shoot using my M1A (first time shooting it in competition). First stage was prone slow fire. I fired my first shot - and thought 'darn that was much louder than my AR". I fired my second shot, and noticed that all the AR's around me were quite loud as well - Duh!. And to make matters worse, all slung up etc - quite difficutl to get plugs in when in that position....
 
After you check them out on the Browning site, go buy them on Amazon where they can be found for almost $20 cheaper
$54 and free shipping
I'd love to... but after dropping near a grand on my cat's health, and 6 bills on my car's health, I'm not buying much of ANYTHING this month. [rolleyes]
 
I wear the Peltor electronic muffs and they work fine by themselves. Never needed anything else and I shoot pistols (9mm, .40, .45 and .44mag) and the full autos and these seem to work just fine in my indoor club and outdoors.

One of my buddies says the same thing though that he has to double up. I guess I just dont need to. Not a bad idea though..

Rob
 
For starters, when shooting handguns indoors... you need muffs that are 29DB or better. All the 19-22 db shotgunner/power tool crap won't cut it. When anyone is shooting anything big, you need muffs and plugs. Even with electronics, you should still use some kind of plugs underneath them to supplement. Otherwise your bell is going to get rung.

-Mike
 
I did that on the firing line during an Appleseed once. Put my muffs on top of my head during the prep period, and forgot to put them back on when the "make ready" command was given. The dozen ARs and a couple 30 cals on either side reminded me pretty damn quickly...

I did the same thing but luckily I was on a line with .22's only. I started shooting and said "something doesn't feel right here, what is it? ..... whoops"
 
I took my AR to the range yesterday to fire off 120 rounds and realized when I get there that I had forgotten my ear plugs. So I just used my muffs. It was pretty loud, but not damaging. I used to have access to endless free earplugs, but now im gonna have to start buying some. I'm not gonna go without doubling up again.
 
CVS sells a jar of 40 of their own soft plugs for about $10.00.

That's what I carry in my range bag to supplement muffs, for visitors, etc.
 
I took my AR to the range yesterday to fire off 120 rounds and realized when I get there that I had forgotten my ear plugs. So I just used my muffs. It was pretty loud, but not damaging. I used to have access to endless free earplugs, but now im gonna have to start buying some. I'm not gonna go without doubling up again.

Outdoors, muffs are just fine. Indoors, not a great idea. You say it wasn't damaging, but you can't really tell.
 
I've been wearing both muffs and earplugs. I went to AFS a few months back and only had the muffs they have on loan, I really didn't enjoy the guy next to me shooting an AR. I'm of the "can't hurt" mindset, most of my shooting is done outside, but foamies are cheap and readily available, so why not wear them?

I probably need to buy new ones, the bag I have (almost empty...) is 5 years old or so, and the plugs left are getting kinda hard.
 
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