When you're really amped up (adrenaline), you aren't going to notice the "bang" at the time, for the most part. It'll still do damage to your hearing of course, but that'll probably be the last thing on your mind.

Basically, where a sound may be debilitating or distracting when you're not amped up, it'll probably just sound like a pop when you're turned up to Eleventeen!

For instance, the incident I was involved in years ago where I had to draw my pistol... I didn't have to fire, thank God, but there are times when I still dream about that incident and I can remember very specific details. What the BG was wearing, smells, details. The funny thing is, most of the details I recall were only the things in front of me. Like I had tunnel vision. I saw/remember very little of what was going on to the sides of me. Seriously, it was if I could smell they guy as well as see the stubble on his chin. In my case, I feel that my body was totally focused on the threat, everything else was pushed aside. Hopefully, if I ever have to draw my weapon again, I'll have a broader scope of recall. (Not that I ever want to have to draw it again, but if I do, I hope I don't get so tunnel focused.

zhur-

You experienced a form of tachypsychia.

Pretty common during a critical incident. Actually automatic and, in some cases time slows etc. It's a defense mechanism and can be used to your advantge in a single-threat incident.

Originally Posted by SIGCrazie

but I'd like to see how loud it is in my house. How do you guys prepare for the BANG of a real shoot out?

Trust me on this. A .357 mag outdoors is LOUD. Confined to a 12'X12' bedroom, it is painful.
I'm not telling.

Originally Posted by SIGCrazie

How do you guys prepare for the BANG of a real shoot out?

I don't.

I train to drop the threat/s a soon as humanly possible. If I'm pointing a firearm at someone and commited to firing my ears are along for the ride.

After that threat/s has been 'eliminated' I scan with my eyes for the next or train my firearm on the next threat that was pre-assessed.

It is wise, however, to cover your 6. During a firefight you may not always be able to hear someone sneaking up behind you. Checking/keeping your 6 safe is part of the total engagement package.

Threats come from all angles. Use all your senses and training.

And please don't do any of this:

I tried shooting without the gear and the echo at the range was really loud, not to mention getting yelled at by the range master. I've even tried this at the outdoor range, but I'd like to see how loud it is in my house.

I expect my gun to go bang if I pull the trigger so in that sense I am ready for it but like Zhur mentioned, that'll probably be the last thing on my mind.

I noticed this deer hunting. You don't notice it in the heat of the moment.

And shooting in the house, it's ileagal where I live. I can not describe how loud it is. It's so loud it's scary.

Just to test it, light a package of firecrackers and throw them in your kitchen sink.

I more ready to hear the *whump* the bullet makes hitting someting solid and dense.

That's a neat sound.

Don't get me wrong...I would NEVER fire my gun "to see how it sounds in my house". I'm a responsible gun ownwer. I meant to say that I wonder how loud it would be if fired in my home.

Well, it's loud enough to make me say the F word with the uuuuu part dragged out.

It'll be "standing behind a 747 powering up for take off" loud.

Please make sure to have about $6,000.00 saved up, ahead of time.
That's how much a decent set of hearing aids costs.
How do I know? Look into my ear canals, and see.

All it took was one shot fired from a .45, outdoors, without any ear protection at all.

This thread makes me think of the movies where there are shootouts with people firing from their cars and carrying on conversations between shots.

BTW, I have no plan to prepare for the loud boom in my house. It is what it is. If I blow out an ear drum or go deaf in the course of saving my wife or kids, it's a good trade in my book.

I am one of the dummies that didn't think about or use ear protection for many years. Fortunately I didn't have to spent the $6,000 Steve did.

I remember a 7MM magnum purchased for an Alaska trip in the 60's. If I fired 10 rounds of 7MM my head would require a double dose of aspirin and a night to recover. It also kicked like hell.

I shot Deer and Elk with it and didn't feel or hear it go off. All I remembered 5 minutes later was the animal hit the ground immediately after pulling the trigger.

My expectation is that the adrenalin and your systems automatic response to danger will cloud everything out if encountering a dangerous event.

I know it will not stop me from pulling the trigger.

Originally Posted by Steve M1911A1

How do I know? Look into my ear canals, and see.

I couldn't resist.

Hey, Salty...
The picture is almost correct, except that when you shine a light through my ears, you see a naked lady projected on the wall.

Evan Marshal, of stoppingpower.net, a retired Detroit cop, says in a SHTF situation you never notice the sound or the flash. Not ever being in a situation like that, I'll take his word for it.

I love dove hunting (can't you tell). If the field is hot, I go through a box and a half of shot shells (25-36), depending on how I'm shooting that day, maybe more. I don't feel the kick nor bothered by the sound that a 12ga makes. Same thing with deer hunting, while on the practice range, I feel and hear my 30.06 go KABOOM, but when that big buck shows up, not a single thing.

Originally Posted by Steve M1911A1

Hey, Salty...
The picture is almost correct, except that when you shine a light through my ears, you see a naked lady projected on the wall.

Originally Posted by dovehunter

I love dove hunting (can't you tell). If the field is hot, I go through a box and a half of shot shells (25-36), depending on how I'm shooting that day, maybe more. I don't feel the kick nor bothered by the sound that a 12ga makes. Same thing with deer hunting, while on the practice range, I feel and hear my 30.06 go KABOOM, but when that big buck shows up, not a single thing.

what he said w/ one exception. while turkey hunting w/ 3 1/2" shells, i'll still think about what that recoil is going to feel like if i pull the trigger...even if i'm looking at a tom in full strut 20 yards in front of me, it's still on my mind. i'll still pull the trigger though...then i'll say "aw f&@%, that didn't feel good". but it's worth it.

Originally Posted by SIGCrazie

I was at the range the other day and it dawned on me that I always have ear plugs or muffs when shooting. In a real life gun fight or an HD situation, I'm sure I won't have time to reach for my ear protection. I tried shooting without the gear and the echo at the range was really loud, not to mention getting yelled at by the range master. I've even tried this at the outdoor range, but I'd like to see how loud it is in my house. How do you guys prepare for the BANG of a real shoot out?

No preparation is required; as said above, you'll probably do just fine, and if you don't it won't be because of the noise.

Being a military weapons range safety NCO for the better part of 15 years, I was exposed to hazardous noise in the form of gunfire on a regular basis. Starting in the (early?) 80s, all the folks in my field were regularly tested for hearing loss, so I had an initial/baseline and annual followup audiometric tests that documented my hearing acuity.

As an active hunter, I never used hearing protection during bird, small game, or deer hunts; only while calling fur animals or varminting did I wear ear plugs or muffs. Plinking outdoors with .22 rifles in open areas also didn't merit any protection within my group of fellow shooters; only when the handguns or larger rifles came out did we "plug up." In retrospect, this was stupid, but back in those days the hazard just wasn't communicated in a way that young males cared about; however, the macho man/ego threat was always front-and-center.

After a few incidents where shooters in training fired rifles AFTER the cease-fire command (and after most of us had removed our ear protection), in semi-enclosed concrete ranges, several of us were put on quarterly audiograms. During those years, you could SEE the hearing loss on the charts, especially after hunting season; being a left-handed shotgunner, my right ear is closest to the muzzle, and in the late fall tests I always had problems in that right ear. Sometimes it was just the ringing sound in my head masking the sound I was supposed to hear during the test; after the ringing subsided, my hearing temporarily "improved". However, the long-term charts were unmistakable -- peaks and valleys aside, the trend was always downward.

I can tell you that I have also been unlucky enough to hear (unprotected) a short-barreled .22 handgun in a living room, a 9mm in an apartment dining room, a 12-gauge in a poured-concrete armory room, and a .30-06 a few tables away in a gunshow exhibit hall; and while the sharpness of the noise always surprised me, none of them came close to causing me enough pain to prevent proper mind/body functioning in the next few moments. It gets really quiet though, even if there are a lot of people in the room, right after something like that happens...

Nowadays, I often don't hear the small birds singing; my wife comments on them, and I nod, but sometimes I simply don't know what she's talking about. If I try to slip the car keys in my coat pocket and miss, dropping multiple keys on the concrete, I might not hear them hit; where a drop on the wood deck at home with its lower-pitched "thump" will always register.

Folks, PLEASE, always wear the plugs/muffs, or even both, if the gun is big/bad enough. Once it's gone, you don't get your hearing back, and the worst part is, the nature of gradual hearing loss is such that many people simply never know what they are missing. Every day. For the rest of their lives.



(DJ climbs down off of his soapbox, but doesn't hear the creak it makes when he does so)


.

I, for one, am just going to sleep with my full muffs on from here out. That way if someone does break in, and a shot has to be fired, my ears are safe....

On a serious note though, I am pretty young still and already have damaged hearing. My left ear in particular. You should ALWAYS, and I mean ALWAYS wear hearing protection when you can. I try to wear something comparable to the Walker's game ear while I am hunting, and muffs or plugs when I am shooting targets. The damage that I do have is actually from a 22. Its a long story, but I was 13 years old, and couldn't understand why the cartriges were only about a quarter full of powder. I thought to myself, "well those cheap sob's don't even fill the shell up..." . I am fortunate that hearing damage is all that I received.

damn I never thought of this until this thread. I know its going to be loud, the ringing will last for hours.

...On the positive side, my hearing aids do make the ringing in my ears much, much clearer.
(That's a joke, son.)

Originally Posted by Steve M1911A1

...On the positive side, my hearing aids do make the ringing in my ears much, much clearer.
(That's a joke, son.)

I got tinitus pretty bad too.... my sis is an audiologist. Says aint diddly we can do about it.

Maybe I'll git me a discount on hearin' aid's when it all goes *blank* ......

I should prolly be reeeally nice to her this xmas.