Hearing Protection ???

[270fan]

What do you consider to be the best .... especially for the shooting range.

 

[JD338]

WHAT DID YOU SAY? :lol:

I use plugs as well as muffs. Works well.

JD338

 

[270fan]

JD338, I said, WHAT KIND OF HEARING PROTECTION DO YOU USE? What I want to know is what kind or plugs or muffs you find do the best job or what your experience has been with the different kinds?

I shot doves without hearing protection a couple weeks ago and since then the ringing has increased and my hearing has diminished some. I want to beef up my ear protection. I usually use protection but I want to check into the different kinds ets. Thanks. Al Crouch

 

[JD338]

270fan,

I use the sonic ear valve plugs and a pair of Browning low profile muffs.
Shooting competition with both helped my scores go up.

I don't (but should) ude some form of ear protection while hunting. None of my guns are ported or braked. If they were, I would use some form of ear protection. If the ringing persist, I would go to a ENT. Most ENT's can also make custom fit ear plugs, which I think are the best way to go.

JD338

 

[Guy Miner]

I use Peltor Tac-6 electronic ear muffs at the range. Am seriously considering them for hunting as well.

Only time I took a shot hunting that was actually painful to my ears was with a factory ported 18.5" Marlin .45-70 Guide Gun. My ears rang for an hour after torching off that little howitzer. :shock: The deer was absolutely dead. No doubt about that, but we had the deer cleaned, hung and skinned before my ears quit bugging me. Am sure I lost some hearing on that little deal.

Traded that rifle for the 22" non-ported version.

Ear protection on the range has been very important to me all along, and now I find myself thinking seriously about it for hunting too. When it's real noisy on the range, the Peltors are not enough, and I add foam ear plugs as well.

Regards, Guy

 

[270fan]

Thanks JD and Guy. My Mom is 92 and can hardly hear it thunder. Her hearing has progressively gotten worse in the last 10 to 12 years. My dad passed away at 73 and his hearing had gotten worse for the last 12 to 15 years of his life. Bad hearing runs in the family ..... so I don't want to stupidly add to my hearings demise since I know how difficult it is to communicate with my Mom. I have already lost some heaaring ability. When a teen ager I would shoot 3 to 4 boxes of shells on a dove hunt without protection....... got to where I could hit those little speedesters pretty well to. I have done a considerable amount of carpentry work over the years. Constant hammering, I know, hasn't helped either. I have been using hearing protection when running lawn mowers, hammering, shooting guns, running chain saws etc for the last 20 some odd years. May not recover the hering loss I already have but using hearing protection may slow it. What have I got to lose. Want to get the best hearing protectors I can. Thanks again and best wishes.

 

[Guest]

I usually use either the soft foam plugs from WalMart (they are sort of round on one end, and made by Silencio and/or Remington. Anyway, they have 31db of reduction. I put them under my 29db reduction Silencio Magnum muffs, and that seems to tame even magnum handgun recoil indoors. I like the Peltor Ultimate 10 muffs, too, but I don't own a pair of those right now.

I have some pretty bad low frequency loss from years of helping a friend with a drag car, and being in a rock band. I sure wish I could go back and change it now.

 

[C.Smith]

I'm a firearms in structor for a medium size Police Department. After about the first year I went looking for something better than the eletronic cut off hearing protection give to me.

I spent $65 to have an ear specialist make me custom fit ear plugs. They work great. I normally only have to wear them when a line of AR15's are firing now. Plus my ears don't ache from wearing foam plugs all day. I would seriously look into those. My father has bad hearing loss as well and I don't want to be that bad.

Corey

 

[270fan]

Corey, That sounds like a good suggestion. I certainly identify with the ear ache after a day of wearing the the foam plugs. Thanksl

 

[Savage99]

What do you consider to be the best .... especially for the shooting range.

For the best hearing protection you need to ask Rocky Raab.

I started shooting in the early 50's and we didn't use any plugs then. My hearing got damaged early and I have always had difficulty understanding speach when there is background noise. This is not a good thing and you don't want it to happen to you.

A buddy got some real hearing protection fitted years ago and he wears them hunting and to the range. What he got cost no more than another gun and he can hear and I can't.

 

[Mike Fontaine]

My father use to put cigarette filters in my ears when I was 7yrs old and shooting trap every week. Might explain my poor hearing I have now. If you want to spend the money (~$80.00) have some custom ear plugs fitted for your ear. Real comfortable and great for hunting. Most any audiologist can make them.
Mike

 

[Guest]

To add a little something to this thread, I was at the range over the weekend, and I discovered that someone on this forum is absolutely right about noise and flinching. (I think it was JD.) Anyway, I left without my muffs, and only had some 24db reduction plugs. I put them in, and shot about 50rds of 270Wby and 8x57 from two different rifles. I noticed that by the end of the day, I was making a noticeable squint-flinch just as the trigger broke (which says something about the predictability of my triggers). I will not be back at the range without my muffs again, I assure you. I didn't shoot too bad (1.5" in 15-17mph gusts is not too bad for me), but I was tired around my eyes from the hard squinting prior to firing. It was almost like having the noise reaction prior to the noise. Never had this issue before, so I don't know why it happened this time. I did have pretty bad sinus congestion, and ended up with a whopper of a pressure headache, so perhaps that was it? Anyway, the point is, for great groups, wear plenty of hearing protection.

 

[JD338]

I always keep my muffs in my truck so I don't forget them!

JD338

 

[Guest]

I usually keep mine in my range box, but I built my son a table for his HO scale trains recently (for not being a carpenter, it turned out pretty nice) and my muffs were my choice for deadening saw noise. I left them on my workbench in the garage (apparently) and got to the range without them this time. I think this is just reason enough to buy a new set of muffs that aren't covered in sawdust!

 

[JD338]

dubyam

I also keep a few of the disposable plugs in my truck. I also keep a couple pairs in my duffel bag. They work great for protection from the great snorers in camp. You wake up freash and ready to hunt! :wink:

JD338

 

[Guest]

Yeah, if I hadn't had disposables in the range box (I buy them in large quantity and carry a bunch so that I can preach hearing protection at the range) I'd have been in a real pickle. I will have better disposables after this, as well as my muffs.

 

[FOTIS]

I always keep my muffs in my truck so I don't forget them!

JD338

2 sets always as well as in my camper!

 

[cloverleaf]

I keep disposables in every car and all my suit cases, seriously. I also have a cheap set of muffs in both cars. Wish I coyuld remember where but some place years ago I read that your brain registers as painful sounds significantly less than the crack of a .22 to say nothing of a 7mm Mag.
My disability causes a condition whereby my startle reflex is highten and exaggerated. As you can guess this can have a significant impact on trigger pull and follow through. I am living proof that sound and recoil can ruin your shooting!!