Anybody Ever Fire a .357 in a SD Situation?

Well I hope you guys here were earmuffs 7/24 if you are so worried about hearing damage in a SD situation cause if you pack any serious gun it is going to go bang and might hurt your ears.
Click to expand...
Just about any handgun can cause permanent damage if fired without hearing protection but there does seem to be evidence that the louder calibers make it worse.

Does that mean folks shouldn't use magnums for self-defense or for LE? I guess some people might make that decision, but if they do, I would think that it would be wiser to make the decision for reasons other than potential hearing damage.

The point is, of course, that people should make their decisions based on the facts. I get the impression that some folks think that it would be better to conceal the facts as long as doing so gets others to make decisions that match their own.
 
Cerebral flatulance on my part. In a box blind i shot a deer with my 41 Mag. The intent was to hold the revolver outside the blind. But when the deer arrived i just got stupid and rested the pistol with the cylinder gap inside the blind the end of the barrel was just outside the perimeter but not by much. What i remember was 'click' and then RING in both ears. I dont remember the sound of the blast, just the pressure from the blast. Felt like someone slapped me on both ears really hard. That was 35 years ago and my last hearing test was ok. So no apparent permanent damage . Not sure that would have been the case had the end of the barrel also been inside.
 
When armed for self defence as well as hunting myself or no one I know wears hearing protection . Im not worried about the one or two shots fired while deer hunting and in SD that would be the least of my concerns . Its the round after round training and just shooting that I and anyone shooting with me will wear hp .
 
Hearing loss or damage to your ears is cumulative. I personally won't shoot a 357 mag indoors. I don't even like to shoot them in an indoor range and have ear protection on. 38 spl for me.... That is likely bad enough indoors but I have never shot one unpretected.

Years ago, when I got my first Colt Python, I shot it without hearing protection one time. Won't happen again.

I use or have used hearing protection hunting with handguns. It is the first thing I do after sighting a potential quarry.

Serious hearing loss really sucks. I know. You live in a world of silence without mechanical help. Even then, that sucks but at least you can hear someone talking to you at normal voice levels.
 
Well I hope you guys here were earmuffs 7/24 if you are so worried about hearing damage in a SD situation cause if you pack any serious gun it is going to go bang and might hurt your ears.

See the .357 is loud, but go try a .45 or 9mm or and higher pressured cartridge and you will find they ring ears to.
Click to expand...

Nobody is disputing that a 45 or a 9mm is loud and firing one indoors might damage your hearing. The point is that a 357 Magnum is even worse.
 
As much as I LOVE my .357 revolvers for social work, my new Charter Arms Bulldog .44 special is every bit as effective with it's larger heavier bullet. It doesn't need speed or energy to do the job, it's the big fat bullet that will do it!

It also operates at much lower pressure than .357 magnum. This makes it equal in stopping power, but probably won't do as much damage to hearing as the .357 magnum. Just something to ruminate on....
 
I have the added concern about firing a magnum while wearing a hearing aid, as in amplifier. I am carrying strictly subsonic these days, the bigger the better, but I did order brass and lighter bullets for 32 S&W Long and 32 H&R Magnum to enable including my 327 Federal Magnums in the rotation, as appropriate.
 
I have shot a few dozen hot 180grn 357's from my 6.5in Blackhawk hunting deer, no ill effects, I can still hear the kids sneak into the kitchen pantry in the middle of the night.
 
Firing a 357 indoors without hearing protection will almost certainly cause damage to the basilar membrane and some degree of hearing loss. G&A magazine published a chart of the decibel (dB)measurements of various firearms. A 357 was measured at 164 dB, and a 38 spcl at 158 dB. But the dN ratings are logarithmic. A dB difference of only 3 means that the louder sound has twice as much power, or intensity, as the lower sound. So there is a significant difference between 38 spcl and 357.
 
Shot while wearing hearing aid

I don't wear hearing protection while hunting. Last winter I shot a mulie with my 25-06 with one hearing aid on--and turned on---brain flatulence (great terminology!). Funny, because the report wasn't that noticeable, but the bullet impacting the deer was amazingly clear and loud. Note to self--leave the hearing aids in the truck.
 
I've never fired one in a SD situation. I have fired a bunch out in the open shooting. I have only fired two 357 Mag rounds without protection over the years. Once while target shooting and once while shooting at a coyote. They are flippin' loud. However, a 357 mag rests on the stand beside my bed. And, I'd shoot it inside my house without thought if the safety of my family depended upon it.

My ears ring nonstop and I hear crickets 365 days a year from chemo treatments. Coupled with the nerves in a SD situation, I probably wouldn't even notice the blast anyways. God Bless
 
I have never fired a .357 in self defense, but I have shot a few outdoors with no hearing protection.... it was pretty loud. I'm certain it has a cumulative effect, as I've had permanent, all the time tinnitus for the past, oh, 30 years or so.
As bad as the 4" 357 was, it is junior league compared to the 7 1/2" Blackhawk in .30 Carbine I shot ONCE with no protection. .32 H&R mag seems almost as bad.
 
I've heard .30 carbine handguns are mad noisy. I bet that Blackhawk .30 carbine is super fun though!

Still kind of a miracle I don't have permanent hearing damage from my .357 incident. I just remember a loud POP!, those earbuds saved me. The load in the gun was Double Tap 125 grain loads... just about maximum power .357 magnum ammo, gun was a 6" .357 magnum GP100.
 
Last edited:
I may have given the impression in my earlier post that I don't think gunfire will damage your hearing. If so, that's not the case. I just don't think it was the main culprit in MY hearing loss. I used to shoot shotguns especially, and 22 rifles without ear protection. I'm sure they didn't help anything. I think the loudest, most uncomfortable gun I hear heard fired was a 12 ga. shotgun with a Cutts Compensator. You want to talk about unpleasant, those things are, especially if you're off to the side.

I've heard just about every pistol cartridge fired from under the tin roof of an outdoor range. They're all unpleasant, but a 357 will literally rattle the roof. To me they feel like a physical force smacking me. At my indoor range, a .357 will get everyone's attention over the run of the mill 9mm, 40's and 45's that most people are shooting. Even more so than the ones shooting 5.56 or 7.62X39. It may not be louder, but it's different enough to get attention.

These days I've got that ringing in my ears all the time. As I said, I blame it on the outboard motors and wind noise from a bass boat, mostly because for the 20 years or so I tournament fished, I hardly fired a shot. There was a lot more boat noise than gun noise, but these days, I hate to fire a 22 pistol outside. Even those are loud. I don't hunt much anymore, but when I do, I wear an ear plug in one ear, and keep another handy to slip in before shooting.

Self-defense will have to be played by ear...no pun intended.
 
I won't give you the story and invite being beaten up over it, but yesterday I found out what it's like to fire a 32 H&R indoors without hearing protection but WITH a hearing aid. Still some tinnitus today but not really that bad. I appreciate subsonic rounds with limited percussion.:o
 
I dont know what I was thinking when I use to shoot without hearing protection but now I wish I made better decisions about it . My hearing is not as bad as I have seen in other shooters but it is bad enough to make a difference in a normal conversation . I knew one old GunSmith that was retired but came around a shop I use to work at . He was a small guy with ears as big as most Mens hands but could not hear anything less than a shout . He talked at the top of his lungs all the time and would not admitt he had a hearing problem .
 
When I was young I never shot with hearing protection. This included lots of rounds through my S&W 640-1 (snubnose 357 magnum)

My ears did ring occasionally but I never saw any real hearing loss. 2 years ago I went to the Doctor for a physical and they tested my hearing. I had 10% hearing loss in my left ear and 5% loss in my right ear. The doctor says that for my age I have very good hearing. For a shooter I have excellent hearing.

I am not sure why I am so lucky. I dont want to push my luck though. I now shot usually with suppressors and muffs but always with at least one or the other. My Carry gun is a 357 magnum and I would use it if I had to even with no protection.
 
When I was young I never shot with hearing protection. This included lots of rounds through my S&W 640-1 (snubnose 357 magnum)

My ears did ring occasionally but I never saw any real hearing loss. 2 years ago I went to the Doctor for a physical and they tested my hearing. I had 10% hearing loss in my left ear and 5% loss in my right ear. The doctor says that for my age I have very good hearing. For a shooter I have excellent hearing.

I am not sure why I am so lucky. I dont want to push my luck though. I now shot usually with suppressors and muffs but always with at least one or the other. My Carry gun is a 357 magnum and I would use it if I had to even with no protection.
Click to expand...

Must be an alien.;)
 
What?
Click to expand...
My thoughts as well, the barrel length and load makes the difference between deaf, less deaf and ok.
Shooting in a confined space would be the worst case scenario.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top