No hearing protection during practice?

[motleystew]

I have never fired a firearm without ear protection. I was curious though after a comment made by a co-worker. He said he fired his pistol without hearing protection to practice real-world shooting. He says that if you have to shoot in a real-life situation, not being prepared for the full blast will alter your ability to shoot, follow up if necassary, etc..Does anyone else on this forum practice this way at times? I would not, but I am curious about this.

[Liberty]

I have never fired a firearm without ear protection. I was curious though after a comment made by a co-worker. He said he fired his pistol without hearing protection to practice real-world shooting. He says that if you have to shoot in a real-life situation, not being prepared for the full blast will alter your ability to shoot, follow up if necassary, etc..Does anyone else on this forum practice this way at times? I would not, but I am curious about this.

I've been told in the urgency of self defence the adrenalin rush is so high you might not even hear your gun go off.

I've also been told that just firing, one time, a loud gun inside will likely cause some hearing loss. The choice is yours.

[seamusTX]

I always wear ear protection. I've been exposed to reports without it. A single pistol shot under a meal canopy causes ringing in the ears that lasts up to an hour. I have to think that leads to some hearing loss, though maybe impossible to measure from a single shot.

I'm not willing to risk permanent hearing loss to practice for an event that has less than 1% chance of occurring in my lifetime.

- Jim

[jimlongley]

not being prepared for the full blast will alter your ability to shoot,

And practicing this way will alter your ability to hear.

[The Marshal]

I submit that your friend is wrong.

Last Deer Season, I was in a hunting blind not much bigger than the old walk-in phone booths. (Remember those?!)

When that buck came into view at sunset, I raised my 7mm Mag and fired.

I never heard the shot. I don't recall the recoil. I know their was a muzzle flash as I vaguely remember the scope obscured by the momentary flash.
Muscle memory had me reload the bolt and put the scope back on target.
Keep in mind I was in a 4'x4' box!

My best shot ever, I heart-shot the buck and ruined none of the meat.

Now I submit to you, if you have EVER shot a 7mm Mag, you would know that you did, and the felt recoil would make you not want to repeat it.
Ask Cyphur. I had him 'sight it in' at the range before I went, and he was hopping mad after he put one downrange. Seems he didn't know what a 7mm Mag felt like.

~Bill

[SC1903A3]

I never heard the shot. I don't recall the recoil. I know their was a muzzle flash as I vaguely remember the scope obscured by the momentary flash.
Muscle memory had me reload the bolt and put the scope back on target.
Keep in mind I was in a 4'x4' box!

My best shot ever, I heart-shot the buck and ruined none of the meat.

Now I submit to you, if you have EVER shot a 7mm Mag, you would know that you did, and the felt recoil would make you not want to repeat it.
Ask Cyphur. I had him 'sight it in' at the range before I went, and he was hopping mad after he put one downrange. Seems he didn't know what a 7mm Mag felt like.

Exacta mundo

When I deer hunt I never hear the shot. I also loose peripheral vision.

[frankie_the_yankee]

I submit that your friend is wrong.

Last Deer Season, I was in a hunting blind not much bigger than the old walk-in phone booths. (Remember those?!)

When that buck came into view at sunset, I raised my 7mm Mag and fired.

I never heard the shot. I don't recall the recoil. I know their was a muzzle flash as I vaguely remember the scope obscured by the momentary flash.
Muscle memory had me reload the bolt and put the scope back on target.
Keep in mind I was in a 4'x4' box!

My best shot ever, I heart-shot the buck and ruined none of the meat.

Now I submit to you, if you have EVER shot a 7mm Mag, you would know that you did, and the felt recoil would make you not want to repeat it.
Ask Cyphur. I had him 'sight it in' at the range before I went, and he was hopping mad after he put one downrange. Seems he didn't know what a 7mm Mag felt like.

~Bill

I'll bet the muzzle end of the barrel was OUTSIDE of the blind. That being the case, so was most of the sound.

And you should know this. Whether YOUR BRAIN registered the sound or not, your inner ear tissue certainly WAS subjected to the pressure wave from the shot. If that wave was strong enough to cause physical damage to the inner ear tissue, it did, whether you "heard" it or not.

Think of this. If you were under deep general anesthesia, you couldn't hear anything, no matter how loud it was. Now if, while still in this condition, you were subjected to repeated gunshot sounds at close range, you wouldn't hear them, but your ear tissue would be subjected to the exact same pressure as if you were wide awake.

And it would sustain the same damage.

[NcongruNt]

I submit that your friend is wrong.

Last Deer Season, I was in a hunting blind not much bigger than the old walk-in phone booths. (Remember those?!)

When that buck came into view at sunset, I raised my 7mm Mag and fired.

I never heard the shot. I don't recall the recoil. I know their was a muzzle flash as I vaguely remember the scope obscured by the momentary flash.
Muscle memory had me reload the bolt and put the scope back on target.
Keep in mind I was in a 4'x4' box!

My best shot ever, I heart-shot the buck and ruined none of the meat.

Now I submit to you, if you have EVER shot a 7mm Mag, you would know that you did, and the felt recoil would make you not want to repeat it.
Ask Cyphur. I had him 'sight it in' at the range before I went, and he was hopping mad after he put one downrange. Seems he didn't know what a 7mm Mag felt like.

~Bill

I'll bet the muzzle end of the barrel was OUTSIDE of the blind. That being the case, so was most of the sound.

And you should know this. Whether YOUR BRAIN registered the sound or not, your inner ear tissue certainly WAS subjected to the pressure wave from the shot. If that wave was strong enough to cause physical damage to the inner ear tissue, it did, whether you "heard" it or not.

Think of this. If you were under deep general anesthesia, you couldn't hear anything, no matter how loud it was. Now if, while still in this condition, you were subjected to repeated gunshot sounds at close range, you wouldn't hear them, but your ear tissue would be subjected to the exact same pressure as if you were wide awake.

And it would sustain the same damage.

I don't think he's arguing your point. It seems to me that he was agreeing with Liberty in the fact that it's senseless to "practice" without hearing protection for a self defense situation, in that the sound from a shot likely won't affect you mentally. I think the purpose of the post was that in his deer-hunting situation, this was the case and seems to confirm Liberty's point.

[MoJo]

Huh, waddaya say? I can't hear you for all the ringing in my ears.

[The Marshal]

Frankie, I was trying to emphasize that in a high-stress, high-adrenaline moment, bang & recoil are not going to be noticed (by the brain).
So yes, I think it is senseless and foolish to practice without proper 'Eyes & Ears.'

And although the muzzle was about 4" outside the opening in the blind, let me be the first to tell you that there is no acceptable distance you can be from a 7Mag with no ear protection!
I'm sure the plywood wall transfered in some of the sound thru reverberation.

My ears were ringing after I calmed down.

I might have to rethink hunting without hearing protection this year...

~Bill

[txinvestigator]

Internet fairy tales aside; we have learned through study of actual shootings that there are several physiological responses the body has. One is called auditory exclusion. This means you don't hear the gunshots or other things around you. As mentioned already, the ear still receives the sound waves, but the brain does not register.

And if you look at police training, SWAT training, military training, etc., it is all done WITH hearing protection. I don't know of ANYONE who has ever startled themselves so much when firing the first shot and not being able to continue firing.

The pain and ear ringing of training without ear protection would not allow you to train for long AT all.

Shall we call this myth busted?

[nuparadigm]

...
I've been told in the urgency of self defence the adrenalin rush is so high you might not even hear your gun go off. ...

This has been true in my experience. I don't know whether the auditory exclusion is from adrenalin or from something else. I know only that it exists.

I don't know about hunting; that is something I don't do. But... it is always good to wear hearing protection when at the range or any other place where you know you're going to shoot.

[frankie_the_yankee]

Frankie, I was trying to emphasize that in a high-stress, high-adrenaline moment, bang & recoil are not going to be noticed (by the brain).
So yes, I think it is senseless and foolish to practice without proper 'Eyes & Ears.'

And although the muzzle was about 4" outside the opening in the blind, let me be the first to tell you that there is no acceptable distance you can be from a 7Mag with no ear protection!
I'm sure the plywood wall transfered in some of the sound thru reverberation.

My ears were ringing after I calmed down.

I might have to rethink hunting without hearing protection this year...

~Bill

Sorry I misunderstood your post.

[SC1903A3]

Since we're going into the auditory and visual exclusion shouldn’t we also cover the all bases and go into situational amnesia. Where a person is in a high stress situation such as a shooting a person may not remember everything that happened. As time passes the person will start remembering the events that occurred. That is why is best to interview again 24 hours after a high stress event (shooting, robbery, assault etc.).

[txinvestigator]

Since we're going into the auditory and visual exclusion shouldn’t we also cover the all bases and go into situational amnesia. Where a person is in a high stress situation such as a shooting a person may not remember everything that happened. As time passes the person will start remembering the events that occurred. That is why is best to interview again 24 hours after a high stress event (shooting, robbery, assault etc.).

No, the question was specifically about hearing. And I've never heard or visual exclusion. Are you referring to tunnel vision?