Anybody Ever Fire a .357 in a SD Situation?

Deja vu wrote:

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.
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It's a combination of genetics and probability. It's like an old man who smokes a pack of unfiltered before lunch, drinks like a fish, and can still clean your clock. It happens. So does winning the lottery. You are right not to count on it.
 
Maybe Texans's ears are tougher, but this is what happened in a small city in PA. One night a patrol officer glanced down a narrow alley in town and saw some folks loading up TV sets from the back door of a department store. Since a 2AM delivery didn't seem on the up-and-up, he decided to investigate.

When he entered the alley, one of the "gentlemen" at the truck fired a shotgun at him, fortunately missing. He drew his personal .357 S&W (pre-Model 27) and fired one round of his super hot handloads. And found himself on the ground, screaming in pain. The brick walls, only ten feet apart, made the noise intense, not at all like firing in the open and, needless to say, he was not wearing any ear protection. He actually ended up in the hospital, and the damage was severe enough to leave him with a slight, but permanent, hearing problem.

Jim

P.S. Regulations allowed carry of personal weapons and ammo as long as the gun would accept the standard .38 Special.

P.P.S. The officer's shot missed; the thieves took off but were caught by the State Police a few hours later.

JK
 
About 3 or 4 years ago I forgot to slip my hearing protection back on at an indoor range (had the range to myself that day) and fired a single federal 125gr 357B round out of a 3" S&W 60, my left ear took the brunt of it since the partition was closest and it rang for weeks. For a month I couldn't shower or drive with the window down without an earplug in that ear and for some reason the sound of crinkling plastic and tinfoil hurt like hell. I have permanent tinnitus in that ear now and high frequency hearing loss. After that experience I sold that gun and will no longer use the .357 for home defense or carry, a .357 especially out of a shorter barrel is just as loud a my 14.5" AR with a compensator.
 
357

As a young and dumb apprentice in the 60s working at the Charleston Naval Shipyard l just HAD to go above deck one day on an overhaul sea run when they lit up those 5''/38s...But it was no better below deck ...Enduring the dust from all the grinding, chipping, sanding from 3 months in dry dock.. My head rang for a week after that boat ride...

Another LOUD surprise was when l fired the first factory round from my S&W 460 Magnum at Shooters last year...l had my old trusty muffs on, but it sure did hurt...That cannon has a muzzle break and operates @ 60,000psi w/factory loads.. Almost DOUBLE 357 mag pressures @ 35k...lt was almost bearable with plugs and muffs for the next shot... Now l only shoot 460 mag factory loads outdoors and reduced ones indoors
 
I can't imagine how terrible war-fighting must have been all the way up to our current conflicts with no ear protection.

You might survive, but it would have been hell on so many fronts, even just sustained bombs, cannons and firing your personal weapon.

I wonder how many guys made makeshift ear protection out of cloth.
 
But it was no better below deck ...Enduring the dust from all the grinding, chipping, sanding from 3 months in dry dock.. My head rang for a week after that boat ride...
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You've got that right. The needle guns were the worst. I tried to ensure the my men always used both plugs and muffs when using needle guns.
 
I can't imagine how terrible war-fighting must have been all the way up to our current conflicts with no ear protection.
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My grandfather who fought in WWII was practically deaf and spent the better part of his life with two big hearing aids in his ears.
 
Blast

Homer, I guess everything takes some getting used to. Fire 6 rounds from a 44 Mag and the 357 will become a tame kitten
 
My mom's cousin was in the US Field Artillery during WWI - he told us that the Germans attacked their lines in such heavy waves, that his fellow artillerymen set their shell fuses to explode a near point blank range.
Yes, he was almost totally deaf - and had COPD because he had been gassed.
 
We had just gotten the wifes 2" sp101 back from Magna-port and couldn't wait to get it out and shoot it. Loaded it up with .38's and BANG! Immediate and permanent hearing loss. Live and learn I guess.
 
.357 Mag
HOT loads.

6'x8'x7' shooting shack with one 6' side open, facing the targets.

Shooter went hot after a cease-fire, without making a hearing protection call to others in attendance.

:eek:


And then there were the .44 Mag, .30-06, 7mm Mag, 9mm, and .22 LR incidents (mostly by the same shooter - some inside homes :rolleyes:)....


Never again, unless my life depends on it.
 
Hearing loss

In 1968 I had to fire my GI issue 1911 inside a tunnel in I Corps, Vietnam. I lived but it felt just like someone has shoved chopsticks deep into my ears.
I still have severe hearing loss but that was only one damaging incident there were many others. Apparently we have about a 60% cushion before hearing loss becomes noticeable. Most people lose the 60% gradually and become hearing handicapped as they age. In the infantry you lose 55% in one year of combat. This allows the VA to claim you could hear when you left the service. What they did was remove the safety cushion and render you hearing handicapped at a much younger age.

4 th Battalion of the 31st Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade
 
Heck, I've shot my 686 with hot loads and thin ear muffs and it was way too loud. Having said that, my dad and I used to go hunting. I had a 30-40 Krag, and he had a 300 Win Mag. We never used hearing protection. Yes, my ears would ring for a while, but when the adrenalin is pumping--I never really thought about it. Used to have a mobile DJ service too--always around loud music. Now my ears ring a little...but who knows what caused it, music or the 300 Win Mag. Bottom line, as others have said, better to fire than be dead. I have a couple of 9s and a .45 Auto in the house in case anyone breaks in. I only shoot my .357s at the range. If I had to, I'd carry a .357, but only if I had nothing else.
 
Kinda....

Chased after a Black Bear into the woods last summer that was in the trash.

I was ticked to say the least. I had had enough of their shenanigans.

I cut loose with two rounds into the ground right behind him. Did not notice the large overhead canopy I was in.

Left eardrum went pop. Felt like I got plowed with a ping pong paddle on the left side.

Got back into the house and crawled into bed. MY girlfiend said why is the side of your head wet. I replied..."We'll talk in the morning. Something something f-in bears"
 
Repair hearing damage ????

BillM - You can't repair the kind of damage that occurs from hearing lost due to exposure to loud sounds. I've seen a tinnitus specialist at Wash U and there ain't nothing. Where did you get the idea that it could be repaired?

Always wear hearing protection. Power tools, lawn mowers, shooting any caliber etc.

Live well, be safe.
Prof Young
 
Re hearing damage (and not the OP's question):

There is some evidence that N-acetylcysteine ("NAC"), taken orally after exposure to the sound of gunfire, can help protect against NIHL (noise-induced hearing loss).

See: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22122955

I was surprised at this, thinking that the damage was mechanical damage to the "hairs" on the hair cells in the ear. Not true. The damage, apparently, is oxidative stress that happens after the exposure to noise.

I'm not an MD, and this isn't medical advice, but personally I take NAC orally after visits to loud gun ranges (some are louder than others), even though I always wear hearing protection, since the noise from shock waves isn't the same as other, continuous noise. And I take some in my pack when I go hunting.

Personally, I have lost a bit of hearing in my left ear* and have persistent tinnitus in it from two single shots in the open from a 300 win mag. I mean, how do you put on hearing protection while hunting elk? I have since switched to 270 win - or a bow - but that's another subject.

NAC is available over the counter where I live (California) in GNC (supplement chain store). California: suppressors? Felony. Drugs? No problem. Like anything, it's not without side effects and, again, this isn't medical advice, but something to consider....

Regards,
MrEntropy

*Right-handed rifle shooters get hit on the left side of the face by the shock wave.
 
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My introduction to handgun shooting was with a 7.5" SBH in .44mag. Shot probably 5 50rd boxes without "ears" on. My ears would ring like hell for a few hours but I've been tested recently and have no significant hearing loss. I DID wise up and start wearing my plugs or muffs, but I'm surprised more damage wasn't done. I carry a .357 at work and have some hot Buffalo Bore .357s in my speed loaders, but if I have to use them I'll have worse things to worry about than my ears.

My Dad serves through 72 combat operations in the Pacific Theatre of WWII. It was a light cruiser, the USS Santa Fe. He was on a 40mm twin, firing 240 rpm and sitting below the muzzles of a 5"/38 dual purpose. When GQ sounded they manned their guns and started firing. They didnt waste time looking for ear muffs. It wiped out his high range. You can hold a normal conversation with him, but he cannot hear his smoke detector at all! He had to fight with the VA for over 10 years before they would admit his hearing loss was service related.
 
i keep a pair of electronic muffs on top of the safe, the kind that amplify normal sounds but get quiet when theres a sound over 80 db.

if something goes bump in the night, im grabbing either my 12 gauge or my .40. i had an accidental discharge in my bedroom with the 12 gauge, i could not hear for probably 30 minutes after.
 
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