Thread: Does noise-flinching ever go away?

Try wearing plugs and good muffs. Buy the highest quality you can afford, with the highest noise reduction rating.

Using cheap muffs will hurt you in the long run, and you can never get back lost hearing. When I talk to customers at Galco, I can usually tell how long they've been shooting by how many times I have to repeat myself.

Definitely get the best ears you can. You can get really high NRR inexpensively; go to Academy and look for the Terminator earmuffs; they have 29NRR (30 is the best possible rating) and they're something like $15. Better earmuffs are "active", with a decibel limiter in them that allows you to hear voices but quiets loud bangs.

The jitters do go away with a little range time, but a powerful revolver like a 357 or 44 magnum still makes me jump. Get good earmuffs (and earplugs too if you want, but they become uncomfortable after a while IMO), and ask to be kept as far away from the larger calibers as possible.

Double up with plugs and good muffs. My outdoor pistol range is beside a rifle range and I get a lot of loud bangs. Next time you experience this at the range, use it as a practice situation and increase your concentration. Expect the interruption. Once you do that, you'll be a more proficient shooter.

Yes, plugs and muffs. Remember to pull back on your ear when you insert the plugs. That will let them go in her. On muff, expensive doesn't alway mean high quality. The $15 Silencio ones at Walmart have a nice tight fit. I can hear less with those than the electronic ones that don't hug my head as tight.

Thanks guys. Sounds like it's time to go ear shopping.

My range has a pair of peltor muffs with an NRR of 30 or 32 (can't remember exactly, but it was 30 or above) for $33. Is this a good deal? Probably not. My range really sticks it in and breaks it off for the accessories. I think I'll look into those Terminators you mentioned.

Funny that you mentioned making it an exercise to increase concentration. I actually tried to start thinking of it that way. Except I went too far and couldn't quiet the voice in my head. "OK.... easy... he might shoot but it's OK... squeeeze... good... uh-oh, I think he's going to shoot, I just heard him release the slide...squeeze... OK..." BANG! Jump! Yank! Doh!!!

I've got the big Peltor ones with NRR30 for about $30 bucks and they're pretty good IMO. Very nice tight seal, and are comfortable. No reason to go cheap on muffs unless you know the ones you are getting are quality since you can't replace ears, and hearing aids cost a bit more than $30.

Amazon.com has a pair of Peltor's w/ NRR of 30 for $17 or $18. I'll be ordering some shortly myself.

Originally Posted by uncle ben

Amazon.com has a pair of Peltor's w/ NRR of 30 for $17 or $18. I'll be ordering some shortly myself.

Perfect! Thanks UB. Just ordered them. Got free shipping too. NRR is actually 29, but I figure that's pretty damn good.

Be aware that with the price; it fits the quality.

I've invested in a $80 ear muff and bought a $20 in hurry...and have noticed a HUGE difference.

Also, it's good to shoot with a lot noise/distractions going on around you. It helps you focus on your shot. Dry firing helps also.

I got my new ears the other day and I could tell the second I put them on that they are far and away better that the cheapos they hand out for free at the range. Here's a picture of my 17 month-old daughter enjoying the peace and quiet.

I go to a free public range so I really like the ear muffs I have with a noise canceling mic in it. I like to hear what's going on as much as possible. You need to learn to co-exist with the Magnum going off next to you. As long as you focus on it as a problem it will be a problem. You could try just sitting with your eyes closed while people are shooting and allow your nerves to get use to it. It's a pain though! Back when I had my 7mm Remington Magnum I could clear the range in about 20 min.s! That sucker was REALLY LOUD!!!

i dont know if you can do this where you are, but try using fireworks if you have someplace in the sticks to go shooting. the loud and random reports might help you with the jumping.also,just have your family jump at you and scare the bejeezers out of you for a while. you just need some extra time getting use to the distractions and learn to tune them out. dont know if it will help but it sure cant hurt.

Clyde,

What the guys have said, good muffs will not only protect your hearing, but will help to minimize the noise.

With range time the flinch from noise does lessen. It probably does not go away completely, especially when there is a big dog going off near you.

What I do when I'm really trying to hit the bullseye is look around and time my fire when the guys around me have just emptied their guns and are reeling in targets or reloading.

For HD training, the distractions don't bother me and probably helps. I figure in a real situation there will be so much stress that the noise around me will help increase my stress level at least a little and therefore be beneficial to my training.

Originally Posted by RightTurnClyde

She's a cute little shooter.