Pre-Meditated Mitigation of Hearing Damage during a Defensive Gun Use

[MadMAF]

I think there are earplugs that are supposed to do the same job as electronic muffs. If you can stand sleeping with them in your ears that would be ideal, otherwise go with the muffs on the nightstand. Be aware that there may be situations where you won't have time to put them on. In those situations, if you've practiced shooting one-handed, consider putting a finger in your ear to at least save one ear. If that hand is busy grappling with an assailant, press the muzzle into their body and let THEM be your suppressor. All of this is academic though (which I think was the point of your original post), when it comes down to it, shot placement will mitigate the number of rounds needed, and mild hearing impairment is preferred to permanent loss of life or limb.

 

[wolf_fire]

I'm going to have to take the time to read your link.
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My research mostly matches yours, I would add a 308 to the popular list. But it is for a different reason, I went with a 308 because it would be useable on any .308 or smaller diameter round except for the magnums and .22. At a small cost of a few decibels I can send 223 or any other round down range. The same goes for a 45 suppressor, 40 9, whatever will go down the pipe if they have enough force to work the action. And a 22 because a 22 isn't as clean as center fire rounds and who wants them eroding your blast baffle? Most people that I talked with used rifle suppressors and that is what I went with so I didn't really hear much talk about what rounds do and don't break the barrier since the majority of rifles do by a large margin.

So if anytime you break the sound barrier it creates the crack does that mean that the sound is moving away from the shooter? That would make sense, there is a noticeable delay I hear after shooting my rifle, but since the range is using a mountain as a backstop I could be hearing the crack reflecting off the mountain. Which if true and the crack is reflecting back I don't see why it wouldn't also bounce a room in a self defense situation.

I made a mistake in sending that link to you Warbirds.. sorry for that. My previous link really doesn't address what we are talking about... however this one does. In general the silencer stops the "pop" of the amount of gases that are rushing out of the muzzle but cannot stop the sonic boom that is created in flight of the bullet. Apparently snipers had a term for this, thump crack. The thump can be used to assess your location but the crack (since it is made in flight) cannot. They also have a phrase, "silencers don't make you silent, they make you invisible", since the enemy cannot track your location from the sonic boom.

Here's a better link that explains that: HowStuffWorks "How does a gun silencer work?"

 

[kelcarry]

I think there are earplugs that are supposed to do the same job as electronic muffs. If you can stand sleeping with them in your ears that would be ideal, otherwise go with the muffs on the nightstand.

Earplugs? If you can stand sleeping with them? I hope someone understands that if you cannot hear or limit the amount you can hear while you are sleeping the "bump in the house" did not occur--TO YOU. It is the old question--"if a tree falls in the forest and you did not hear it, did it really fall?" Maybe I am missing something in this thread but anything that takes precedence over my life in any kind of "situation" is not worth anything.

 

[alternety]

I have also considered electronic muffs by the bed. Use would depend on my assessment of how long I had. In my youth (yes we had smokeless powder), I did some shooting without protection. But it appeared to me after a bit of experience to be a poor idea. A few months ago I wanted to scare off some grazing animals. I fired a couple of 9mm rounds. My ears hurt of several days. I can't fully imagine what it would be like in a small room or a car.

I do fully agree; life or injury threatened, shoot first, get your hearing protectors later if further activity is needed. At that point hearing with a volume control may well be an advantage. Clearly depends on circumstances.

 

[foxytwo]

I would do without the muffs as it takes extra time to put on, the wife and dog do not have muffs. Each second saved could be a lifesaver. I now wear hearing aids from shooting in th 50s with no hearing protection, and if I had to discharge my pistol in the house to stop an intruder I would. I can wear hearing aids, but you can not replace a life due to time lost getting ready to do battle.

 

[Comyn]

I think we can safely rule for out ear muffs or anything you have to put on to ready yourself. The ideal solution would be something already engaged or put in place (except sleeping with ear muffs or plugs, for obvious reasons), so that when a threat presents itself you can respond as quickly as humanly possible.

I like the idea of adapting the Bose noice-cancelling tech to something in the house. Maybe have a device mounted like a smoke detector hanging on a few walls that emits the phase cancellation of any noise above a certain decibel. Or maybe something mounted to the handgun itself.... I think the technology is there; we just have to figure our how to implement it.

Reading about the bullet crack got me thinking. I'm most concerned about the concussive force from the expanding gases and less about the sonic crack. Someone brought up the point that at in-home distances the bullet will likely not travel far enough to hit the crack point, IF that point does occur later in its flight. Does anyone know of any data or testing done on this?

Sent from my XT557 using Tapatalk 2

 

[NavyLCDR]

I would think that in a home invasion scenario, a person would want all of their senses at 100%.

 

[alternety]

About the "crack". Just some thoughts. To stimulate thought only. I am not an expert. And I have never really paid attention to the crack unless I was near the bullet as it traveled downrange. The bullet is at its' maximum speed as it emerges from the barrel. If it is going to be supersonic, it will be so at the end of the barrel. The crack is from a wave front created at the tip of the bullet. It is generally cone shaped but the formation and intensity is somewhat determined by the shape of the projectile. Extrapolating form the shockwave in aircraft, there would be a noise at the leading and trailing edge of the shockwave. But with near distances and the size of the supersonic object, you probably would only discern one noise. I have no idea what effect the expanding gasses from the barrel would have on shockwave formation. For the shooter this may be the dominant noise over a short distance. Probably why people have mentioned a delay in hearing the crack. Not that the projectile does not establish the shockwave until it is further away.

At close range, you may not "hear" it but the shockwave will hit your ears. Sort of like if two trees simultaneously fall in the forest (a big one and a small one at the same distance), does the small one make a noise. Sound in this case is treated as a biological recognition of a wavefront in the air rather than the existence of the wavefront. The lesser of two simultaneous shockwaves may not be distinguished because of the higher energy one arriving simultaneously, but it doses not mean that the lesser shockwave can not do damage to your hearing.

The stuff above is only a mind exercise of what I think happens. No warranty implied.

 

[farsidefan1]

I have some Sport Ears which are custom fitted to my ears and programmed to compensate for the damage done to my ears when as a youth I shot vastly more than a vast number of rounds :haha:without protection. They have 4 settings of sensitivity. Normal day by day is setting one. At any of the settings concussive sounds are blocked. If I am hunting I can to to setting 3 and have super sensitive hearing. If someone breaks into my house I expect it will take them long enough to get back to my bedroom that I will have my 12 waiting for them to turn the last corner. If they ran all the way I still have the 12 at the ready and nobody will survive that last turn. If they don't run I have time for hearing protection. Either way they lose more than I do if they proceed to where I'm at.

Our procedure is I grab gun, wife grabs phone and dials 911. We are empty nesters so the shotgun is next to the bed between it and the night stand. To get to the shotgun you have to lift it straight up above the night stand and rack one. I'm comfortable with that setup. Wife has glock 26 by her to back me up.

If I have time hearing will be protected. I've already done enough damage. If no time then BOOM BOOM BOOM I'll get over the noise, beats the alternative.

Do they make suppressors for shotguns? I think I'll google that.

Yes they do, cool. Would have to get a new shotgun with a shorter barrel though. My current weapon is already too long ( good for geese though).

 

[Warrior1256]

If I am dead I will not worry too much about hearing loss. I "pre-meditate" about how to stop a threat--nothing more, nothing less. Bottom line is still the fact that at 72, I have never ever ever had to think "firearm" or hearing loss, and yes--there are "what ifs", but quite frankly, they truly mean nothing to me in my daily life(where very strong SA guides my movements and actions) and less when it comes to "pre-meditating".

I'll go with this.

 

[alternety]

There seems to be a significant number of people that are treating this as either/or. Protect hearing and die/no hearing protection and the bad guys die. And dismiss the point of view of the persons holding an opinion other than theirs. It would be more useful to make this a discussion of methodology.

In many cases you can get a sense of where the BGs are and the rate of advancement. Particularly with an alarm system or a dog. If that is the case, protect hearing. If you can't be sure or know they are close; no hearing protection (or maybe you can). It is not necessarily a binary choice.

I have also thought about going through the hassle of getting a can. And it might get declared illegal without notice. I looked at using the corporation ownership but I saw that our government want to close that. Have not had any more info on that. At home there are ways to be safe and protect your hearing. Other places, not so much.

 

[95and05]

My short answer... open your mouth if you have to fire w/o ear gear.

Long answer... bell labs years ago had a soundproof room you could not even hear your own scream. Find out how it was built and duplicate it at home.