Handguns only... fast & loud, vrs big & heavy... your thoughts ???

Take allok at this website:...

www.hipowersandhandguns.com, by the late Steve Camp.

he has photos' of a deer taken with the Hornady 124gr XTP in 9mm, plus some others calibers.

Basically, it come down to PLACEMENT.

Do know of a gent used a 185gr Silvertip .45 ACP in Michigan, took a buck @ 85yds and dropped it.
 
The difference in the sound pressure between handgun rounds is like asking if you would rather be deaf as a stone or deaf as a rock.

Yes, there are measurable and theoretically large decibel differences between them. However, the "quietest" is loud enough to permanently damage your hearing with a single shot while the loudest is loud enough.... to permanently damage your hearing with a single shot.
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Sure any handgun round has the potential to cause permanent damage, but that does not mean that some do not have the potential to cause more damage than others. You are basically saying the difference in decibel levels between pistol rounds is negligible, but the .357 round can be as loud as many long arms? I no longer carry or use a .357 for home defense after a single .357 round left me with permanent tinnitus in my left ear 2 years ago. The .357 is notoriously loud and much more punishing to the ears than say a 9mm or .45, and is just as loud as a 12g shotgun and several long arms. On the decibel scale the .357 is leaps and bounds ahead of other pistol rounds, and seeing as I have already done enough damage to my ears I would like to minimize the chance of further damage as much as possible. It is reasonable to assume that the higher something is on the decibel scale, the more potential it has to cause damage when compared to something of a lower decibel level. Note I said potential, because it is not written in stone that you fire Round A and you will suffer this much damage compared to Round B. But I still believe a higher decibel round increases the potential for how much damage it will cause.

As far as big and heavy vs fast and loud it depends on the caliber. In a 9mm HP I like the 124gr rounds vs the 148gr. In a .380 I prefer the heavier 102gr gold dots to the typical 90gr HP's, in .45 Colt or ACP I prefer heavy and slow to light and fast.
 
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Being on the firing line with guys shooting 357 sig at an indoor range for the day requires double ear protection and I get headaches afterward. Same range with 40 S&W I use only one set of hearing protection and I don't get headaches. There is a difference!

As for animals, fast handgun rounds like the 357 mag 140 barnes take down deer differently than a 45 colt with big slow keith bullet. Both work but in different ways.
 
You are basically saying the difference in decibel levels between pistol rounds is negligible, but the .357 round can be as loud as many long arms?
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Nope, I'm not saying it's negligible. I'm saying that the "quietest" causes real and permanent damage so there's no point in trying to pick one. Would you like real and permanent damage or real and permanent damage? Like, you order a pizza and you go to pick it up and they say "Sorry sir, we made you two. The first one we burnt to a crisp and the second we burnt so bad it looks like a hockey puck... which would you like?"

Now, if you're really and truly convinced that "Cartridge A" is equally as effective as "Cartridge B" but A is slightly "quieter", by all means, go with A.

Yes, you're right that the higher on the scale, the more damage it could theoretically do but you're still talking "severe and permanent" versus "severe and permanent".

You don't want to end up dead, with SLIGHTLY less damage to your ears because you picked a less effective cartridge that was SLIGHTLY quieter.

That's my point. Use the cartridge that you're convinced is MOST EFFECTIVE. If it also happens to be quieter, super, but don't make "quieter" a determining factor.
 
Sound

Sound intensity is an interesting and important concern for shooters.
All of the common CF cartridges have decibel levels above 150. This is, as noted, loud enough to cause permanent damage with a single exposure.
A decibel increase of 10 is ten times more intense than then lower value.
Normal conversation occurs at about 60 db. A gunshot is at 150. That is 10x10x10x10x10x10x10x10x10 times more intense.
Pete
 
I imagine a forum for squirrels and they're chatting about if it's better to be hit by a Cadillac Escalade or an 18 Wheeler.
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Nonsense Peetza, everybody knows squirrels chat about things like "who has the best nuts?" :)
 
I've shot (or been near) and unfortunate number of handgun discharges when I wasn't wearing protection.
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Yeah, I shot a full mag out of my SIG P226 and changed mags and shot a few more. Right after I heard a ringing for such a long time..I don't recall when it finally subsided. Heck, I bet I'm still hearing it and got used to it.

Home defense, I agree with getting the electronic ear muffs for all the time. But home defense would be great to have those.

There should be a surgery for avid shooters that you flip a switch and you have it already installed in your ears. (Perfect shooters world, that was a huge joke).

I also second getting something that you feel is effective and that YOU shoot effectively.

Carry the strongest and biggest gun you can train with and are the most adequate with, that you actually want to and can carry!
 
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