.357 mag too loud for home defense?

"Put .38 special in your .357mag and use frangile bullets."

.38 specials? Yep, that's what I'm doing in my .357.

Frangible bullets? Nope. Not gonna do that, for 2 reasons. First, I want reliable penetration in the 12"-14" range, and frangibles aren't going to give me that. Second, they are way to pricey to shoot for practice. So I advocate and use good premium hollow points instead. I'm using Gold Dots, but there are other good choices out there as well. Besides that, there are no children in my house, so it isn't as critical to me about the shooting through the walls thing.
 
Loud noises bother me, even .22s.. Don't quite know why but yeah. I would think that a .38 Spec or .45 of some sort would be better, as they were designed for defence and such, where as the magnums are designed for hunting. though, I am not a pro so ;) Shotgun works fine for us... loaded with #4 buckshot.

//EDIT
Oh yeah, I am 17 :cool:
 
Indoor .357 & Hearing Protection

I have considered getting amplification hearing protection. The kind that blocks loud sounds but progressivly amplifies quieter sounds. They let you talk normal at the range. OR let you hear what is going on in your living room at 2 in the morning. (Hay! You kids get to bed NOW!) OR identify that it IS a BG and not your cat. Then if you have to shoot only your wife will have a hard time hearing you. OK, my wife has that problem now, but considers it MY problem. I have .357 125gr QuikShoks in a 4" S&W Mt. Gun. 7 shots in the stair well would "ring" for quite a while.
 
How many .30-06's were fired off inside or in enclosed places during street fighting in Europe during WWII? I've never heard of any of them dropping their rifles and letting the enemy kill them because their ears hurt that bad. Ever see those pics of the Germans firing their MG34's or 43's?
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but many of the senior folks in my country (Austria/Europe, next to Germany) have very bad hearing..., especially men who fought in WWII..
 
One issue I have with either the electronic earplugs or muffs for home defense is direction of noise. With your naked ear, you can identify the direction, and to an extent, the distance of the intruder. You can't do that when the sounds are going throught electronics.

Personally, I think that some are a little too concerned with this. Most of us will never have to fire a shot in self defense, which we should be happy about. But, in that remote chance that we may have to fire a shot, the absolute last thing I'm going to be concerned with is ear protection. If someone has entered my house, and I have determined that I need to fire on him (which would mean that he is threatening my life), I'll take my chances with a small amount of hearing damage.

From my experience with the electronic muffs, I personally feel they would be useless in a self defense situation. But, to each their own, I guess.
 
I'd use .38Special +P Speer Gold Dots - it's enough IMO, particularly with a well engineered round like that.
 
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You can't do that when the sounds are going throught electronics.
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That's only true if you're using the cheap stuff. At around $150 or perhaps a bit less these days, you should be able to get electronic hearing protection with properly balanced amplifiers which will have absolutely no effect on your ability to properly locate sounds.

My $160 Peltors have balanced binaural amps designed to allow proper sound location. With the amplification, you can actually hear and locate sounds that are not audible without the hearing protection in place.

There is NO reason (other than perhaps cost) not to use hearing protection these days. Now, in an emergency, I'm not going to WASTE time grabbing for my electronic muffs, but if I have the time, they're going on--not only for the protection, but because they actually enhance my hearing. Furthermore, and more importantly, I'll still be able to hear AFTER the first shot is fired.
 
Ditto the .38 self defense load a better choice if you have a .357. Also the .45 Colt or .44 Special are good choices for those looking for a home defense gun. Ditto .22 comments; I was at a gun show where a .22 revolver went off (a vendor had not unloaded and a prospective customer fired one off into the floor--boy was there trouble over this! Vets especially in the room "too cover" (no lie!). The sound was deafening; you would've sworn it had to be a .44 or .45 of some sort--or .357. I (and everyone I spoke with) had ringing in their ears for several minutes--regardless of their proximity to the incident...this in a modest sized, enclosed hall with concrete floor.

I agree with the comments of "if it's your hearing or your life..." -- that you should not sacrifice you or your family's survival based on hearing loss considerations, but the advice of the above calibers makes it so that you usually don't have to make (quite) that decision. I.e., .44 Mag or .357 are not the ideal HD (interior SD) weapons/calibers to begin with, but fortunately have non-magnum companion rounds that'll shoot just fine in the same guns.
 
JohnKSa said:
My $160 Peltors have balanced binaural amps designed to allow proper sound location. With the amplification, you can actually hear and locate sounds that are not audible without the hearing protection in place.

There is NO reason (other than perhaps cost) not to use hearing protection these days. Now, in an emergency, I'm not going to WASTE time grabbing for my electronic muffs, but if I have the time, they're going on--not only for the protection, but because they actually enhance my hearing. Furthermore, and more importantly, I'll still be able to hear AFTER the first shot is fired.
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Exactly. Also, it's good to have dogs. Why? They give early warning that something is amiss, and gives you time to put on the hearing protection before grabbing the gun.

gak said:
I.e., .44 Mag or .357 are not the ideal HD (interior SD) weapons/calibers to begin with, but fortunately have non-magnum companion rounds that'll shoot just fine in the same guns.
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To each his own, but if my life is on the line, I'd rather have a premium .357 than a premium .38. But, it really is a personal choice.
 
I think our hearing is like a clutch..

Do what you gotta do but keep your foot off it when you are not using it.
shoot with out 'protection' when you have to but your hearing will be fine over the long run. it may also be hereditary. some people are probably better at taking sound than others...????
 
In an adrenaline-filled HD/SD situation few will have the wherewithal (mental, time or otherwise) to put hearing protection on, and a gun fired in an indoors situation--while not "felt" immediately due to the hyped up/adrenaline dynamic--will have long term hearing loss consequences. The .45 Colt, .44 Special and .38 Special SD loads are enough less bang (loudness-wise, I'm sure somebody has some numbers of % degree, db, etc.) that there'll likely be at least less loss. And since these calibers excel in SD situations to begin with--and as someone noted, are not over-penetrating re walls, etc, i.e., they expend their energy on the primary (intended) target, which is an added bonus (to this sound issue, but is a primary argument for the SD/HD subject)--they represent better rounds for the (home) role anyway. Out on the street--in a "street fight"--or where defending from the inside "outside intruders" (who are still outside), where penetration may be a (positive or even offensive) issue (e.g., our military in Baghdad), that's another story.
 
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