Shooting Range and Tinnitus

What do you mean, can i shoot in open shooting range with doubled hearing protection (muffs+plugs)? It is safe for my acustic trauma damaged ears, or i should avoid this hobby forever? Is here someone who likes shooting and guns?

PS: in my country is not alloved sound suppresor owning.

 

Archery

 

Yes, this is probably best alternative

 

Johno- from my experience you have to stay completely away from loud music ..your will T will keep increasing in volume if you keep getting exposed to loud noise ..even one time exposure can be too much !

 

You should be okay with plugs and earmuffs.. But dont take my word for it. Ive been offered to go shooting like three times this year and i said no although i LOVE shooting ranges. I think ill do archery this fall instead. Alot quieter and its funn. Some douche lit fire works next door to my house on the 4th of july and i wasnt wearing plugs at the time cause there was nothing loud around and it went off and scared the hell outta me..and that sounded like a freakin m80 ugh.

 

I've been shooting handguns for years at outdoor ranges just wearing the regular hearing protection. I have never noticed any change in my hearing or T after going to the range and doing a lot of shooting. I think that you should be fine wearing both muffs & plugs as you mentioned.

 

As everyone has said just double up and stay outdoors. I went shooting indoors with ear plugs only a little over a month ago and now have hearing loss, tinnitus and hyperacusis from 20 mins of shooting. Be careful and stay safe.

 

I remember when you came on. How are you doing? I've had T, 13 weeks too long.

 

@jimH 30+ years have you ever had a relapse?

 

@Jay M I'm ok. Just taking this day by day. Sometimes I feel fine and others not so great. Just hoping to habituate. I think the ear fullness/ hearing loss is what is worse although T and H suck also. How about you?

 

Still hoping. Some days I'm good or okay and other days I'm not.

 

I have tinnitus from a .357 magnum gunshot without hearing protection (negligent discharge). MASSIVE acoustic trauma.

Before then I wore earplugs and shot a lot, and never had hearing problems. Since then I have work ear plugs and ear muffs, probably shot about 5,000 rounds of various calibers (including full house .44 Magnums), and my tinnitus had not increased at all. For me, earplugs and muffs provide ample protection.

 

SHOTGUN NOISE DATA (DECIBEL AVERAGES)

.410 Bore
28" barrel 150dB
26" barrel 150.25dB
18 " barrel 156.30dB

20 Gauge
28" barrel 152.50dB
22" barrel 154.75dB

12 Gauge
28" barrel 151.50dB
26" barrel 156.10dB
18 " barrel 161.50dB

CENTERFIRE RIFLE DATA

.223, 55GR. Commercial load 18 " barrel 155.5dB
.243 in 22" barrel 155.9dB
.30-30 in 20" barrel 156.0dB
7mm Magnum in 20" barrel 157.5dB
.308 in 24" barrel 156.2dB
.30-06 in 24" barrel 158.5dB
.30-06 in 18 " barrel 163.2dB
.375 18" barrel with muzzle brake 170 dB

CENTERFIRE PISTOL DATA

.25 ACP 155.0 dB
.32 LONG 152.4 dB
.32 ACP 153.5 dB
.380 157.7 dB
9mm 159.8 dB
.38 S&W 153.5 dB
.38 Spl 156.3 dB
.357 Magnum 164.3 dB
.41 Magnum 163.2 dB
.44 Spl 155.9 dB
.45 ACP 157.0 dB
.45 COLT 154.7 dB

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
.22 LR 132 dB (no data, but probably long barreled 20"+ )


Loudness depends on the length of the barrel of course.

Source: http://keepandbeararms.com/information/XcIBViewItem.asp?ID=2052#_ftn2

 

My T was only low or moderate in volume most of those years. I was able to handle it without an medication. However, in February of this year it changed and since then is loud most of the time with an occasional day of it being moderate. Sometimes only one side is loud and the other is moderate.

Due to a loss of sleep, appetite and weight loss, my doctor recommended an antidepressant. It has helped and I am able to sleep and eat normally again because it eliminated most of the anxiety I was experiencing.

 

Johno,
I regularly shoot. Mostly .22 these days but just use standard earplugs with about 30db reduction. Ear muffs and plugs with large bore rifles. No change in T as a result.

 

Imagine: 22Lr rifle with 30dB suppresor, with 30dB earplugs and 30dB earmuffs -

132dB - 30 -30 -30 = 42dB shooting noise, like little bit louder whispering of niece woman

 

30 DB ear muffs plus 30
DB ear plugs doesn't equal to 60
DB protection .Max protection you can get is 33 DB .
Even with 33 DB ..here is how math works from what I have read 33-7/2..so noise is reduced only by 13 DB .its not straight 33 DB reduction .
Again some one with more knowledge on how sound mechanics might be able to explain it better .

 

I know, that every 3dB doubles acoustic pressure, but are you sure, that 30dB muffs on 30dB plugs reduce loudness by only -3dB ?

 

he explains it pretty good.

 

But 50% of 32 dB noise is 29 dB, not 16dB

 

Yup, your getting almost everything they tell you on the package.

 

Once you introduce OSHA the recommendations become invalid, void, not worthy of quote.

 

@jimH You're only approx 5 months on this relapse. You will habituate in time.

 

30db plugs plus 30db muffs WILL NOT EQUAL 60d protection......PLEASE ALL BE AWARE OF THAT!!!

Also high frequency noise is easier to block out than the low freq noise which I am assuming is what you will get from shooting - low freq'.

In my opinion completely not worth it...surely you can find some other fun stuff to do that doesn't involve potentially f*!cking you ears up even further.

Archery sounds perfect like another member said.

Rhea x

 

Hi, i try find something about this on internet. Shooting with handguns produce more dangerous high freq. noises, than low freq. Low freq is more produced by shooting by howitzers, cannons and other big barrels. But archery is probably best opinion, i know. Maybe long barreled 22lr is not as dangerous with doubled hearing protection.

 

How Much Extra Hearing Protection Do You Get?

The degree of extra protection can vary widely, but typically the combined noise reduction rating (NRR) will be about 4 to 8 decibels (dB) higher than the higher of the two individual NRRs. For example, if the ear plugs have an NRR of 25, and the ear muffs have an NRR of 21, the combined NRR might be between 29 and 33 dB. As a rule of thumb, an improvement of 5 dB is often assumed, for a combined NRR of 30 in this example.
This 4 to 8 dB of additional protection translates into a 60% to 85% reduction in sound intensity, a marked reduction in the risk of hearing damage.

source: http://www.noisehelp.com/double-hearing-protection.html

Now i need find some mathematical formula

 

I'm going to the shooting range tomorrow. I have 30db ear muffs but gonna double up with plugs after reading this thread.
Thanks all.

 

It's really quite safe on your ears *IF* you wear protection. My hearing was nigh perfect before the .357 gunshot, and that was after many, many years and many 10's of thousands of rounds of shooting. But...it only takes being stupid once to damage your ears with a gunshot, which I learned the hard way.

 

1.) Archery like the dude suggested
2.) You can always shoot silenced weapons if you really want to shoot shit
3.) If you ever get the idea of exposing yourself to sounds as violent as gunshot sounds just think of your Tinnitus, think of it going up two three times and consider is it worth the risk.

 

I acquired T from an unprotected .243 which in the list is around 155db... stupid stupid stupid me. IMHO It's a no-brainer: Use ANY sort of ear proection unless you want 29yrs of T, on-going like me.