Listen to music while shooting?

[MEATSAW]

Do you listen to music when you go shooting?

I listen to my iPod quietly though the earbuds with my ear muffs over the top when i am shooting alone. Especially if I am doing longer range shooting off the bench.

Your thoughts?

 

[Jezz]

i wont if i am shooting a comp or there are others on the range....but if im alone at the range i see no problem listening to so quite tunes with my earmuffs over the top. .............. some people are really against it tho...

 

[shortwave]

Sometimes, but only if I`m shooting here at the house. I`m the RO here.

 

[Sevens]

Not entirely firearm related... but there was a U.S. Olympic Archer in the last summer games that listened to speed metal at a high volume while practicing... not sure if they allowed ti while competing, but I would imagine they did because I can't see the guy practicing in a manner that he couldn't repeat for competition.

Anyhow, my point is that it seems counter productive, but this guy was one of the finest in his field and he was pounding the music while plying his trade.

 

[Dannyl]

If it suits you to listen to music and you stay safe , fine with me.

Personally, I prefer quiet to focus on what I am doing.

Brgds,

Danny

 

[CWPinSC]

+1 Dannyl. Practice or even "fun" plinking is serious business. I prefer to concentrate on one thing.

 

[Kreyzhorse]

Listening to music can be a "passive" activity, but as mentioned, guns are deadly business. I'd prefer to keep all of my attention on what I'm doing with that gun and others I may happen to be shooting with.

 

[BerettaBuckeye]

I could see it if you're alone but I would want to hear a cease fire call ( or whatever ) if on a public range.

 

[ZEBRARANGER]

I enjoy music and have done it a couple of times myself, but I'd rather hear if I have a potential squib or any other malfunction.

 

[Crosshair]

When I have my noise canceling muffs and I'm alone I often leave the tape plater/MP3 player on in my car. Some might say it is a distraction, but isn't that a good thing to be able to safely handle firearms while other things are going through your head?

 

[CraigC]

Sometimes I do but I also shoot on my own property. I found that my iPod ear buds work better than most commercial ear plugs at protecting my hearing.....from gunfire at least. As far as disturbing my focus or being a safety issue, my thoughts are more along the lines of the Olympic archer's.

 

[sigman232]

My concern would be if something went wrong and if there was an audible hint before something catastrophic, I'd want to hear it.

 

[BusGunner007]

NO.

 

[Freakdaddy]

I do if I'm at the range (outdoor range, no RO)and no one else is present. As soon as someone shows up though, the music is off. I really enjoy listening to the music as I shoot and it does drown out the gunfire better than regular plugs or muffs for me.

 

[dev_null]

+1 for the "No thanks, I'm concentrating on what I'm doing" votes.

 

[philbo]

I'd rather hear if I have a potential squib or any other malfunction

Exactly so! Music off when shooting.

 

[olyinaz]

Absolutely not. When I'm at the range I want to be completely focused on what I'm doing and I don't think music helps that goal at all but most importantly I want to hear what's going on with my guns as best I can through my hearing protection AND I want to hear what's going on across the range as absolutely best I can.

Someone noted that some people are "really against it" and you can put me in that camp. I'm addicted to my iPod (iPhone these days) and I've loved MP3 players since Rio introduced them years ago, but with that said I'll move to have personal music players banned at my range if I see any of this nonsense going on. Heck, they probably already are banned given that my range is run by old military and law enforcement range masters who give no grace to buffoonery but I'll have to check. Thankfully I haven't seen this but I guess with all I HAVE seen at the range I should've known someone would come up with this crack pot idea.

Sorry, no tolerance for this.

Oly

 

[KyJim]

Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of auto accidents, whether from cell phones, IPods, putting on make-up, or whatever. Shooting is inherently dangerous and deserves our full attention.

 

[Tuzo]

Hearing damage

An inherent hazard with ear phones is concentration of sound in one very small area. Many years ago I worked as a part time assistant in the Navy's airborne acoustics lab in San Diego. The lab gathered a great deal of information concerning hearing damage aboard Navy ships. An obvious conclusion was that hearing is damaged by long term exposure to sound above a dertain decibel level. Another discovery was that concentration of sound caused by ear phones can be insidiuously damaging. Try this experiment: listen to music through ear phones or buds at low volume. Most people will experience a relative increase in volume, or sensitivity to noise, within a minute or two with no volume adjustment at the source. If a person with normal hearing can hear your music with ear buds in your ears then the volume is too high for your hearing safety.

High levels of noise are experienced while shooting so we naturally increase music volume. This is not healthy for two reasons: 1) increased hearing damage; and 2) obvious distraction (as stated in previous posts).

 

[Mello2u]

Taking into account hearing protection which will reduce the ability to hear range commands which is a necessary trade-off to preserve hearing; anything else that would interfere with a shooter hearing range commands has to be considered detrimental. This is one reason that many shooters buy and wear electronic hearing protection to hear range commands in a near normal manner.

If the shooter is alone and there will be no range commands then this is not an issue. Then again I do not like the idea of playing music while shooting as it would preclude hearing if anyone approached me while shooting.