Saturday, November 14, 2009

Shooting a single round of .45 is extremely loud. How do people protect their hearing during self-defense?

I always wondered how cops or anyone who shoots a handgun in a situation when they hadn%26#039;t been prepared to shoot. Clearly they are not wearing earplugs or earphones. Don%26#039;t their ears immediately ring? Isn%26#039;t blowing an eardrum a real concern? How do self-defense classes teach what to do to minimize hearing damage due to quickly having to fire a gun?|||I have hearing loss from touching off a rifle in a confined space while training. In open places the noise isn%26#039;t that bad, in closed places it sucks especially when you are shooting rifles.





Some people have access to suppressors mounted on their firearms. Suppressors bring the noise level down to OSHA approved acceptable levels. Many police agencies, federal state and local as well as military units are beginning to adopt them in droves.





Others keep hearing protection next to their firearms. A lot of top notch military and law enforcement guys run Peltor Comtacs or Sordins, they are electronic hearing muffs that cancel out noise that go over a certain decibel level. They also amplify noises around you. You can even plug in communications radios to these systems or even plug in your mp3 player.





In all the training I have taken I can%26#039;t say there has ever been anything presented on hearing or hearing loss.|||Ringing ears and burst eardrums are strictly secondary when you are shooting for your life.





If you are in a life or death situation, there is a very high probability that you won%26#039;t hear the shot anyway. The term for it is auditory exclusion. When your system is full of adrenalin, and your fight or flight instincts are working in overdrive, your brain has a tendency to focus your senses tightly on the situation at hand.





Most people involved in lethal shootings report tunnel vision, i.e. being unable to see anything other than their target, and most also report that they really don%26#039;t hear much if anything. Hunters also often report similar experiences. I don%26#039;t think I%26#039;ve ever heard of a hunter who heard a shot made on a trophy buck.





When practicing, use the best available hearing protection, earplugs and earmuffs combined are not a bad idea. But when the shooting is for serious, watch your opponent, watch your sights, and let your ears watch out for themselves.





Doc|||It%26#039;s called prioritizing. If it comes down to a shooting situation, it%26#039;s basically a pick between your ears and your a$$, so your ears ring for a few days. Keep in mind that while defensive use of firearms by the police or civilians is common on TV and in the movies, it%26#039;s actually quite rare in real life.


On the other hand, if you know any veterans of the World War II or Korean War era, many of them have a little high-frequency hearing loss, often more in the left ear (closer to the muzzle) than the right. But as I said, better your ear than your a$$.|||I%26#039;ve fired an M-16 inside of buildings before defending myself. (combat)





Trust me....with your adrenaline pumping like mad, you don%26#039;t even notice the noise of your firearm. And surprisingly, I didn%26#039;t find my ears ringing afterwards.





The name for this phenomenon is %26quot;Auditory Exclusion%26quot;. We were told about it during our training.





Your brain will, for lack of a better way to explain it, instantly shut out all sounds except those that it needs for the situation at hand.





Another phenomenon that people face in a life threatening situation is called %26quot;Tachy Psyche Syndrome%26quot; where everything seems to be moving in slow motion.





What is actually happening there is that your brain has shifted into %26quot;hyper drive%26quot; and is processing incoming information many times faster than it normally does in an effort to allow you to survive the encounter.|||When you are under stress in a shooting related call or actual shooting or draw down, two things can and frequently do happen. One is auditory shutdown and the other is tunnel vision as well as time slowing to a crawl.





Most gun fights would probably only last around 6 - 8 rounds nowadays even with more semi-auto use. The reason your body shuts down certain things is that it is getting ready to keep just the absolutely needed functions going on in your body to survive.





There have been more than one instance where a suspect or officer ejected all the shells from their shotgun without firing a shot. Usually the sound of gunfire wont deafen you from a few rounds but under stress you may never even hear those shots.











|||Just like most people have commented, you%26#039;re adrenaline will cover up whatever worries you have about loud noise during a self-defense situation. If you%26#039;re in a small enclosed room, you may get temporary ear damage, or possible have a ringing in your ear for quite a while as was mentioned above, but it all depends on the situation.|||Shooting indoors is very loud, If you are prepared you can wear the %26quot;sonic ear plugs%26#039; You can talk and hear normally but the loud noises are canceled out. Also opening your mouth at the time you fire helps. If it is a real world problem in your house, shoot the bum, worry about the ringing after you%26#039;ve call the cops to carry the bum out feet first.|||I agree with BAG B. He summed it up perfectly.





I can tell you from experience while %26quot;hunting%26quot; that I have often pulled the trigger of my rifle and heard a loud bang...but because of the excitement, it almost seemed as if the shot was fired by someone else (the bang was not as loud as it normally is and I never felt the recoil of the magnum caliber rifle that I use).


|||That should seriously be the least of your worries if your using your .45 in a self defense scenario. When the blood is pumping, you%26#039;ll barely hear it. The sound of your heart beating and blood coursing through your veins will over ride it.|||The adrenaline is pumping and you mostly don%26#039;t notice the sound. It depends on your level of training, if any.





You know what they say, The two loudest noises your gun makes is click when its suppose to go boom, and boom when its suppose to go click.|||A subsonic .45 ACP round is nowhere near as loud as a .357 Magnum. I would not worry about my hearing if my life hung in the balance and I had to shoot a round.|||It%26#039;s a rare occurrence and you just live with it. Yes your ears start ringing right away and in my case have kept on doing it for many years now. |||Unless your firing a whole hell of a lot of rounds in self defense hearing loss is not really a problem. People wear hearing protection at the range %26#039;cause they may over time fire thousands of rounds.|||If it is self defense you would only be worried about your life. So i guess hearing loss would be something to be glad for if your still breathing and able to hold your children or hug your mother father friends etc...||| They don%26#039;t protect their hearing, they protect their lives.*|||BAG B is right when your life is on the line you won%26#039;t even notice sound of the weapon it will be like background noise.|||It really isnt that loud. I shoot without plugs a lot and dont suffer damge.|||you do not wear protection ,,, it is the least of ones worry,, the bad guy will not have any ok thanks eddie

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