Ever shot without ear protector?

I used to have very good hearing, I've been using ear plugs to sleep since 1996. A while back I decided to take care of the issue, shot about 200 rounds from my 2" taurus .38 without ear protection.
I am happy to report that now I can sleep while the lawn people cut the grass under my window. Blessed silence!
 
Please let me clarify shooting without hearing protection. I do use and HIGHLY recommend using hearing protection when under cover or near buildings. Yes, even the .22 cal.
 
I shoot without hearing protection when doing self defense drills with my 357 magnum, 22LR, 40sw, and 12 gauge every once and a while. Chances are, bad guys wont wait for me to put in my ear plugs before I have to defend myself. I personally think one should be comfortable with the loudness. That is a personal preference only.
 
Went in the Army with perfect hearing,ten years later substantial loss in both ears.Learned two things, don't trust Army earplugs,and double up with foam and ear muffs.
 
I have tinnitus, perhaps from the monster gun racket fending off kamakazis on my carrier during WWII. High frequencies are gone. The VA helped me get good hearing aids.

Once in a while I'll start down toward the paper target without my protection and let one off. Oh, I forgot. I turn around and go put on those cans.

Save as much as you can. When it's gone, it's gone.
 
I shoot without hearing protection when doing self defense drills with my 357 magnum, 22LR, 40sw, and 12 gauge every once and a while. Chances are, bad guys wont wait for me to put in my ear plugs before I have to defend myself. I personally think one should be comfortable with the loudness. That is a personal preference only.
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NOTE: NO ONE DO THIS IF YOU VALUE YOUR HEARING.

Seriously dude what are you thinking? A single .357 round indoors caused me to suffer high frequency hearing loss and left me with tinnitus in my left ear. Chances are bad guys wont wait for you to put your ear plugs on like you said but keep it up and you are never going to hear them coming. Do a little research on the inner ear and how certain DB levels affect it. You may think your self defense drills are doing you good but in reality it's doing you more harm than anything. Keep practicing your drills, but wear ear protection.

I personally think one should be comfortable with the loudness.
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Due to auditory exclusion chances are you wont hear the shots, you will be too focused on the target, but just because you don't register the shot does not mean it wont damage your ears. Often times officers in shootings think they fired 3 or 4 rounds only to find out they fired 10.

But seriously, what your doing is causing damage to your ears whether you know it or not. It may not have caused major damage yet, but you are slowly killing the auditory hairs in your ear, and its going to take just one right shot to put them over the top. If you value your hearing stop the foolishness.
 
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I shoot without hearing protection when doing self defense drills with my 357 magnum, 22LR, 40sw, and 12 gauge every once and a while. Chances are, bad guys wont wait for me to put in my ear plugs before I have to defend myself. I personally think one should be comfortable with the loudness.
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Wow. Seems akin to slicing yourself up just in case your home invader has a knife so you can know what it feels like.

As was said, when it's gone, it's gone. Don't help it along. You can complain about how loud it was afterward if you're lucky.
 
I shot .308 competitively for my battalion, without hearing protection. Today I am mostly deaf in my left ear (left-handed). A buddy forgot to put his plugs in (I fault his guides) when firing at a mulie in a box canyon - think he used a 7MM Rem Mag or 300 H&H Mag - 20 years later he still has tinnitus and has to put cotton in his ears when he is in a noisy crowded room.

When people ask me for my personal opinion about in-home defense, I recommend against .32 Magnum, .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum (and their cousins) because of the sharpness, volume and high pitch of the report. I'm not a scientist and haven't yet read all the replies in the thread, but the reason I like .45s is the lower-hertz report, if that's what it is called. Velocity presumably plays a large part in all this, but that's for the scientists or engineers to discuss. Obviously, when it is hitting the fan you shoot what you have and you almost certainly won't be wearing plugs, but planning for a real event should be able to mitigate hearing damage to some degree.

At indoor ranges in particular, I never remove my ear muffs unless I visibly confirm that every other lane is cold. Otherwise, I just shout and or mouth or signal what I want to say to whomever is with me. An option, probably already mentioned, is expensive electronic earmuffs that "shut down" when the report of a cartridge hits them but that allow normal voice-level sounds through otherwise. The cost is relative. Good hearing aids begin at $1,500 each. High-end "expensive" electronic muffs are waaay cheaper than that.

If you want to be an eternal optimist, losing your hearing means you can't hear very much nagging, either.
 
I spent several years in a research lab whose main focus was investigating the effects of noise on hearing. We did lab work using various animal models, and low level temporary threshold shift experiments on humans. I also read a lot of the historical literature. How many shots does it take to cause permanent damage to your hearing? One.
 
I personally think one should be comfortable with the loudness. That is a personal preference only
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As someone who has lost some of my high frequency hearing already due to age, loud music, machinery sounds, and gunfire... I personally think that is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard.

Enjoy the tinnitus when it sets in, as it surely will. :rolleyes:

Galileo probably thought staring at the sun would get him comfortable with the brightness... he was blind for the last decade of his life.
 
Sure have. I've done a couple doozies, once was shooting some full tilt boogie 44 mags from a Redhawk and got the bright idea to shoot prone out of the back of my truck, first shot no protection :eek:.
 
I grew up shooting small rifle without hearing protection, then spent 4 yrs. in the Marine Corps. I was in artillery and we never had any ear protection. I hurt my ears a couple of times shooting 357 indoors but it seemed to recover. I never shoot anything now without hearing protection.
 
When I went through basic training in 1965, they gave us ear plugs. But I discovered that if I used them, I couldn't hear range commands. So I didn't use them. Later I took artillery training and I'm sure they issued ear plugs because the style was to wear them under your shoulder strap on your field jacket (this would have been November-December). They came in a little plastic container with a chain loop. I don't remember if I wore them or not but I don't think the sound of a 105mm howitizer was any worse than an M14, provided you were directly behind the gun. Other large weapons were very bad.

I also remember taking a hearing test in basic. You sat in this booth with ear phones on and you were supposed to press a button when you heard a sound. But the sounds, as I recall, were pretty much like a ringing in your ears. It didn't seem like a very good test to me.
 
Hm... I didn't think my personal preference would have others labeling me as an idiot. My post was a response to the OP, and I made it clear that this is a personal preference. I do not encourage others to shoot without hearing protection.
 
No one called you any names.

I typically pay no never mind to one oridinary persons opinion against mine but when a particular practice is universally decried by virtually everyone who comments on it, I might rethink the wisdom of that practice.

Your practice has no benefits and it's incredibly damaging to your ears. It's your business, your ears, you can do what you want, but you might take some time to seriously consider your practice.
 
What cha say ???

When I was in my twenties, shot a few times without ear plugs. Had that ringing sensation for a day or so. But it cleared up. Also did skeet in my teens. Later in life found myself on a pre-OSHA enforced LOUD production floor to make a living. No real problems there either. Got active with pistols again 10 years ago. ALWAYS wore protection. Went to a friend's farm. Had the ear muffs on (but above the ears...forgot to pull 'em down). Let off ONE SHOT with a .22 pistol. Ruptured the ear drum and suffered mild permanent loss in that ear. Now if I put my finger in that ear and move it as if to relieve an itch, I can hear "jingle bells". Doc says this will be with me for life! I'm 61 and still don't need hearing aides but can't enjoy the stereo like I used to. Motto: ALWAYS USE PROTECTION !!!
 
HEARING

Hey, I almost forgot. I read recently in a "Gunner Magazine" somewhere that the author RECOMMENDED that every one should fire a pistol once in a cement stairway...just to know what to expect in a "real incident". He's CRAZY !! Do it and you won't need to carry a gun because you'll never hear your assailant coming!!!
 
I had the same eardrum rupturing expectations at first. I've had a couple ear-pro mishaps.

The hearing loss isn't as horrific as you'd think, though it IS notable. Even with .50 thundering in a helmet and a 5.56mm and it's loud as all hell crack in an enclosed place, I still didn't have any effects that lasted longer than 24hrs. (caveat to that is that to this day, I also make extra sure my ear pro is snug and secure)

Having lived to tell the tale, and hear another day, I'd second this "Gunner Mag" opinion that everyone should fire a gun sans earpro at some point, just so when Murphy jumps up and smacks your earpro out of your head, you know it isn't going to be the worst thing that's ever happened to you. You can continue the fight instead of worrying about the small things like trying to protect your hearing instead of your life.
 
I never shoot without ear protection (thankfully), but yesterday i was standing next to my friend shooting his SKS and I didn't have my earplugs on. I can say that it is not very pleasant....
 
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