[greyhound]

Seems we have a lot of recent converts here (self included), and I was wondering something....

Shot my first gun in 11/02. Previously, all my knowledge of firearms came from movies and TV. Wasn't too shocked at the amount of recoil or flash , since like most people with no knowledge of guns I never really noticed there was little or no recoil or flash in movies or TV (betcha I do now though!:D )

But Sweet Jeebus, the NOISE!

If there is one thing Hollywood gets wrong about guns its the noise! I couldn't believe how LOUD a gun discharging was.

Any other newbie have the same reaction? Or an old hand wanna laugh at us ?:D

[MagKnightX]

That's why we all wear plugs, muffs, or both.

[Dionysusigma]

First time I ever shot a real gun was in February. My friends and I were picking up ammo & clays from Wal-Mart, and I saw some orange foamies off to the side. I threw them into the basket, and haven't shot w/o hearing protection since.

[Chupacabra]

If I were to ever make a Hollywood action movie I would have a scene right after a major gun fight where all the characters just stood around trying to have a conversation.

"Are you okay!?"

"What?"

"Have any holes in you?"

"What? I can't hear you?"

"What did you just say?"

:D

[Mike Irwin]

Made the mistake when I was a kid of shooting without hearing protection.

WHAT? DID YOU SAY SOMETHING?

Now I almost always double up, even when I'm shooting outside.

[greyhound]

What? I can't hear you

Kinda what made me think of this. Went to see "Underworld" yesterday (good movie), and there's a scene where a car is totally submerged in water and one charachter shoots out the window to get free. Now I don't claim to know much, but if I shot a handgun in a totally enclosed car with no hearing protection, I figure I would at least be deaf for a while, if not permanently.

[Moparmike]

Yep, the first gun I ever shot that I owned was friggin loud.

Note to self: Dont shoot the 8mm Mauser w/o hearing protection again.

[Ryder]

Depends on what you're shooting. Lots of things can affect the noise level like barrel length, caliber, porting, load/pressure levels, enclosures/surrounding surface materials, and orientation to the weapon. I don't wear plugs in the field unless I am practicing.

I've shot a low pressure 45acp from a full sized gun indoors and it only sounded like a muffled boom. No ringing in the ears. Same load from a compact model even shot outdoors is a real eye opener.

I was standing 15 feet away from a guy who was shooting a 40sw the other day and even though I was wearing plugs it made me flinch every shot. I think he gave me a headache ;) Dude was shaking the dust out of the rafters!

[10-Ring]

Congrats, you've learned lesson #2. ALWAYS wear proper ear & eye protection!

[timbo]

Actually, for me I had a shock the first time I went to an outdoor range. I was so used to being protected by regulations and by physical barriers at my local indoor range that I never really knew what an unprotected gun shot sounded like. For pistols it didn't seem as loud as I thought it would have been. Rifles on the other hand are a bit much sometimes even with hearing protection. Either way I always wear my muffs, but it was still a bit of a surprise the first time I drove up to that place.

[duckfoot]

Was in a usmc 5 ton at a HMG range and Marty Mcnichol cut loose with the ring mount M-2 with out letting any one know.

the whole "what did you say" skit came into play for real.

not funny

he did alot of push ups

that was funny

duck

[Black Snowman]

Biggest suprise for me was how much differance the design of the gun made in the noise. After I got my .50 AE Desert Eagle, which I expected to be really loud, and in an enclosed range actually has a bit of a concussion, I thought it was just because it was a .50.

Kamicosmos got a .357 Mag DE and I'll be damned if that thing isn't nearly as loud! Easily louder than his .44 Mag Redhawk and quite a bit louder than my comped Taurus 669 .357 shooting the exact same loads.

The only thing we could figure is since they're gas oporated that the concussion is directed right out the barrel in a single pulse without any loss anywhere else. We confirmed this because at an out-door range the shot isn't as loud but the report off the backstop is pretty healthy.

I've found comped rifles are quite a bit louder outside for what I'm guessing are the same reasons.

[Double Maduro]

Ryder,

You think .40 is bad, I was at an indoor range when a guy broke out his .454. I could feel it more than hear it.

Greyhound,

Welcome to the fold. I actually went through the Army (60's) where I was a range instructor for several weapons before I considered that I may be damaging my ears. Luckily I only have a slight high-frequency hearing loss.

What's that ringing? There it goes again. At least I caught it before it got too bad.

DM

[Standing Wolf]

If there is one thing Hollywood gets wrong about guns its the noise!

That and everything else.

I wear plugs and muffs both. They're not going to bring back the hearing I've lost over the years, but they help reduce the additional loss.

[Ryder]

I won't get to experience that DM. No magnums allowed at my indoor range. I am OK with that!

:D

[CleverNickname]

If I were to ever make a Hollywood action movie I would have a scene right after a major gun fight where all the characters just stood around trying to have a conversation.

"Are you okay!?"

"What?"

"Have any holes in you?"

"What? I can't hear you?"

"What did you just say?"


There's something similar to this in Blackhawk Down.

[C.R.Sam]

Shotgun
Rifle
Handgun.

.22 caliber and up...

Without hearing protection; will induce permanant hearing loss.
To the shooter and to the bystander.

Often not noticible, but there.

Sam

[ExpatGator]

I was unlucky enough to be standing directly under a 20mm Phalanx CIWS mount when it lit off a burst at a radar phantom. I had on no hearing protection. I swear it caused my eyes to tear up and I could not hear real well for a while. I also skinned my knees on the non-skid when I dove for cover. We were in a hot/weapons free zone so incoming was a distinct possibility. Ahhh, those lovely Navy memories.

[Quartus]

Ryder, no flame here, but if you aren't wearing protection, you ARE damaging your hearing. It doesn't have to hurt or leave your ears ringing to be doing permanent damage. And it's cumulative. Please reconsider shooting without ear protection. You may not notice it now, but it will catch up to you.


As for loud, try having a 155 howitzer company cut loose over your head from about 100 meters away. Without warning. Didn't even see them in the treeline. :what:

I didn't know that jeep would go that fast! Funny - that major was usually very picky about me observing speed limits. He didn't say anything that time! :D


And a LAW is pretty loud when fired without plugs. I do NOT recommend it!

[DorGunR]

Back 50+ years ago we fired the quad .50s and 40mm AAA without any kind of hearing protection.......we were just too dumb to know any better, I guess........now add that to many years in Army Aviation and three years in Nam as a helicopter doorgunner and you can imigine what my hearing is like. But with all my hearing loss I still wear hearing protection when going to the range......indoor or outdoor.

[Telperion]

The first time I was at an outdoor range, I used some cheap-o plugs I bought at a hardware store. Turns out they were about as good as no plugs at all, so for part of the day I was basically shooting with no ear protection. I did have some muffs (that did work) that I later put on. I've since switched to better foam plugs, and always double-up, even outdoors.

Really makes me wish there was a popular push to deregulate suppressors. :(

[C.R.Sam]

DoorGunner tripped nuther thought.

Even the hard of hearing, nearly deaf etc should wear protection when shooting.
If there is any hearing left, there is that much to lose.

Sam

[duckfoot]

Quartus

In front of a firing 155mm battery at a 100m. All I can say is WoW. We use to show off to the NFGs by putting a full soda can about 50 feet in front of a tube and rip loose with the number 7 red bag (arty propellant charges are measured in numbers and colors and 7 red is the second largest charge for 155mm M198 the super 8 being the biggest) and watch it bust open just from the concussion. I've seen birds fall dead out of trees from those things sending a few volleys down range. It's a good visual lesson to never ever get in front of the tube.

And it is true after a certain size you feel more bang than hear it. Like WOOSH than BANG. And after a certain size again like 105mm and up it's like getting hit with a sledge hammer knocking you on you’re a$$ with red jam coming out of your holes.


Just .02

[Double Maduro]

pipsqueak,

I can see it now.

We need to legalize silencers for all firearms to protect the hearing of the innocent.

IT'S FOR THE CHILDREN MAN!

DM

[Tamara]

Heh.

Last week I went to the range with a friend, and shot from the bench next to his. That AK-74 really does make some annoying noises out of that brake... :uhoh:

[Kamicosmos]

First gun was my .44 Mag, and first round fired was without hearing protection at an indoor range. I've never made that mistake since!

My dad (and my grandfathers too) tell me all kinds of war stories.

Dad, while in Vietnam, talks about how the 60 gunner would lite up next to his head. He got a kick out of the BHD scene that was very similar to his experience, 'cept he didn't go deaf. He also talks about the howitzer's firing at the firebases, and the concussions would lift him off the ground. He said that made aiming his M16 pretty hard!

One grandfather was a Sherman tank driver, and he mentioned how loud the tank was just operating it, let alone firing any of it's guns.


It's amazing that combat vets don't have more hearing problems. My dad and grandfathers hearing were all still really good.

[Quartus]

I never got very close to one, but I'm told the 106mm recoiless rifle was merciless. Maintenance on the jeeps was a constant battle - they just got shaken apart.


duckfoot, being a cannon cocker type, are you ready to 'fess up on behalf of your brother cannon cockers? That battery opening up just as we passed in front of them wasn't coincidence, was it? Can you say, "target of opportunity"?


Yeah, I knew you could! :D

[cameroneod]

I fired off our Barret with no hearing protection on my first go. I was mostly deaf for about an hour, with ringing for the rest of the day. If anyone ever has the chance to go to a pop up range with a .50, DO IT! Such a blast. :D :D :D

[SB1]

many many years ago. ( I am just starting again with guns ) a bunch of us went shooting upstate on a friends property. We went a secluded field that had hills on three sides so nobody was coming and we kind of had berms around us. Anyhow, we are all shooting. I had a .22 rifle and another had a S&W 357 revo. ANother had a beretta 92fs. Someone had a Ruger mini14. And the guy who we were visiting had a whole assortment. I remember this big rifle he pulls out of his bag. This thing was huge. It was from Daiwoo, that much I remember. He starts cracking off rounds and I swear it took the air away. Deafening.

Don't see this guy much anymore since he got married and moved away. But when all of us get together who were there that day, one of us says Daiwoo and we all start laughing.

OK I looked it up and I found it

It was a Daewoo DR300. prolly 7.62 but I have no way of knowing. I didn't get to fire it but I remember being pretty awed by this rifle so it was probably a good thing.

Another one a friend had was a Calico semiauto rifle/pistol in a .22 COOL.

[Abominable No-Man]

I can sympathize real well with you, DorgunR.

The Chinook is a LOUD helipeter
(you're talking TWO Lycoming T55-GA-714 engines pushing over 4000 HP each, along with rotors, ICS/Radio talk/noise, talking APR-39's, AND the fairly regular occurance of dumping about 100 or so rounds of 7.62 out of an M60 when some:cuss: fedayeen/taliban :cuss: decides to take a pot shot at you......)

The HGU-56P is the flight helmet we use now, and in the past year or so they've developed a really nifty mod to them. It's a combination of earplug AND earpiece. Plug it into your helmet, stick the things in your ears, and you can actually turn the volume on your ICS box down when you fly. You can still communicate and your ears don't start bleeding after an 8 or 10 hour flight!

ANM

[bogie]

When I go to Knob Creek, I usually just wear muffs.

When I'm at a benchrest match, on the line with 60 other folks who are usually loading as hot at they can handle, I wear plugs and muffs.

Mike Walker, the fellow who invented the Remington 700 and the .222 is darn near deaf as a post. He still wears muffs.

[shermacman]

Ya gotta love Hollyweird with the way shooting scenes are done. One of my favorites was in The Sopranos when Bad Guy One shoots Bad Guy Two in a men's room. The walls were all tile, the floor was all tile and BG #2 opens up with multiple hits from a 9 mm hand gun...
OUCH!
:what: Must have taken a week for the echo to die down...

[Double Maduro]

Was it the old movie, "Freebie and The Bean" that had the two heroes (James Caan and someone else) going into a public toilet to arrest some guy? They put in earplugs and were chewing gum before they went in.

DM

[DorGunR]

Abominable No-Man
The HGU-56P is the flight helmet we use now

Yeah, I've got a lot of hours in the Chinook, all back in the 60s.....I believe they were B models........ancient times, huh.
Wish we had that kind of flight helment back then.......when things got hot (flying on Chinook) and all three 60s lit up plus the noise from blades and engines and both Pilot and Co-Pilot and all three gunners and sometimes loadmaster trying to talk (yell) at the same time............ahhh, interesting times. Thanks for posting about this new (to me) helment. Take care my friend.:D

[STW]

You see evidence of movie learnin' elsewhere.
In the last year or so one of those looking at history type shows investigated the fracas at the Little Big Horn, where Custer went calling too early on a Sunday morning.
One thing they looked at was Reno's claim that he was unaware of Custer's bigger problem. As part of the test the program stationed people on Reno hill and fired some guns from Custer's position. Sure enough, they said, Reno could have heard the gun fire. However, those doing the listening did not spend the few hours preceding shooting .45-70 Springfield's at their hosts. They looked solemn, though, as they condemed Reno. :banghead:

(Incidently, I believe Reno is the only veteren of the fight to be buried in the cemetery there that didn't die on that June day.)

[jrhead75]

Yep...helicopters and machine guns makes for a noisy combo! :D I had the good fortune to be instructed on the importance of hearing protection at a young age by my grandfather, a WWI vet who was all but deaf from the experience.

Kinda what made me think of this. Went to see "Underworld" yesterday (good movie), and there's a scene where a car is totally submerged in water and one charachter shoots out the window to get free. Now I don't claim to know much, but if I shot a handgun in a totally enclosed car with no hearing protection, I figure I would at least be deaf for a while, if not permanently.
I'm thinkin' that deafness would be the least of the joker's problems...the concussion would do a number on his internals.

[Nightfall]

Plugs AND muffs for me...

[MaterDei]

I'm not a flyer but I am a jumper! The sensation of being one instant in a loud as hell helicopter and then 10 seconds later being under a fully deployed canopy floating in the breeze is quite cool :cool:, especially at night.

Blue Skies,

MaterDei

[MeekandMild]

I used to know an old man who'd been a loader on a 5 inch AAA rifle during the Battle of the Coral Sea and several other invitation-only sporting events hosted by the Imperial Japanese Navy. He could read lips really well, hated to talk to guys with beards. :neener:

[gun-fucious]

i like the "Lethal Weapon" scenes wherein the one cop leans across the second cop in the cruiser and fires a handgun thru the open side window

huh?