Indoor Loudness of common home defense rounds

.45 is actually more of a boom, compared to the crack of the 9mm and .357, as it's normally subsonic. I'd rather shoot my 1911 than BHP indoors if we're just talking about sound.

From what I hear, your body sort of "tunes out" the sound in high tension scenarios like the kind that would require use of your gun. A lot of soldiers in combat, as well as officers involved in shootings, say that they dont even really hear the gun, or that it was a small 'pop'.

Lots of verified anecdotal stories of not even hearing the gun go off in a confrontation. OTOH without that intense stress, it could be very bad. I still remember taking a shot at a jackrabbit with a .357/125 out of a 4" barrel.

It hurt like hell.

I would give serious consideration to a set of electronic muffs if I expected to have to rouse up in the middle of the night and do any shooting. My preferred load without protection would be a stout .38 Special load or a .45.

Every shot without ear protection takes at least a small part of your hearing with it.

I personally know a retired PD officer whom was in a shootout within the confines of a car. He was hit 3 times and survived but the arrested suspect didn't, anyway the concussion of the firearms blew out the windows but he doesn't really remember much about how loud it was, just being covered with glass afterward. I guess when you are in a fight for your life, with the adreline flowing, you kind of tune those things out. LM

Every shot without ear protection takes at least a small part of your hearing with it.

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Very true, whether you remember hearing it or not.

.45 is actually quieter than 9mm, .40, .357. I think cause it's slower and doesn't break the sound barrier. Yet another reason to make bigger holes.

I had a ND with a Walther PPK 16 years ago. Even the .32acp is LOUD indoors.



nero

Every shot without ear protection takes at least a small part of your hearing with it.

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Very true, whether you remember hearing it or not.

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Biologist and anatomy and physiology teacher here.

I suspect this relates to the distinction between "hearing" and "perception".

When confronted with a large mass of rapidly moving air (AKA sound wave), your ear drum will move, which in turn will trigger movement in those three little bones associated with the middle ear that transfer pressure into your inner ear. That's the mechanical part of "hearing".

When the sound is above a critical threshold measured in decibels, some damage will occur to the inner ear. Some portion of that will be permanent, perhaps resulting in tinnitus (a constant ringing sound) or worse.

However, the action potential (electrical impulse) that actually transfers that information to your brain, resulting in "perception" (awareness of the sound) may be overridden by the stress of the shooting. During that time, visual and other information dominates the brain, trying to keep ysa alive.

Summary: even if you don't perceive it, it may cause damage.

If I have to shoot one inside w/o protection, I'll take .38 spl non +p.

Subsonics, which have been measured, are less harmful to long-term hearing than supersonics.

A .357 is louder than even a 12-gauge shotgun and .30-06 rifle. It is also considerably louder than the 9mm and .45 ACP. The 9mm is louder than a .45 ACP.

http://www.freehearingtest.com/hia_gunfirenoise.shtml

When your body goes into survival mode- it does wonderful things like dump all the stored epinephrine from your adrenal gland causing heart rate and volume to increase, blood sugar to sky rocket, your pupils dilate so you can see where you are going to run or fight however many assailants there are, and your perceived hearing becomes muted and muffled.

There are web sites that say .357 has been recorded at 160-165dB.

www.freehearingtest.com says that 160dB for 2mseconds is equivalent to the same exposure as 40hrs in a noise workplace (although they don't say what that means - steel mill blast furnace noisy workplace or an outdoor construction site?).

All the info seems to agree that a single .357 blast in a closed space is almost certainly going to cause permanent hearing damage or even loss. It's far worse for people standing off the the sides and forward of the shooter then then shooter themselves though.

Anyway, I hope to never find out for sure - indoor ranges I wear ear plugs under my Remington ear muffs! For HD, I load .38spl (although not merely because of noise/blast concerns).

You also have to understand that a shot indoors is NOT experienced just once, but multiple times in rapid, but slowing and de-intensifying fashion. Here, I will just refer to structural considerations.

First you have the gunshot noise and (if supersonic) the sonic crack.
Next you have the first reflected noise back from the closest floor, wall, or ceiling. For any shot, if you are inside, you should get 6 for a normal room with 4 sides, a floor, and a ceiling. If the floor isn't carpeted, then at least 5 will likely be nearly as ear damaging as the initial shot. The wall behind you will reflect the least noise to you from the initial shot because you will shadow that wall with your own body.

Next will come the re-reflected reports, a bit later and a bit slower, and with less pressure (noise).

Then the re-re-reflected.

Then the re-re-re-reflected.

etc.

At some point, the overall pressure will eventually reduce to being non-damaging after several reflections and combined reflections. HOWEVER, you will have been exposed to several episodes of damaging sound so quickly that you will only discern it as a single report.

I once accidently fired a 45-70 indoors. I never heard it, but knew it had gone off when I saw the smoke.

http://www.freehearingtest.com/hia_gunfirenoise.shtml

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Thanks for the link.

I agree with most people who say you won't even think about the sound when things are happening and yes, you will experience hearing loss from it.

If you are really concerned get yourself a suppressor for you handgun.

For me, when it comes down to my life, for a little lost hearing...the choice is elementary. I'm not going to pick a defensive round based on it's effect on my long term hearing. I'm choosing it based on it's immediate effect on Mr. BadGuy.

.45 is actually more of a boom, compared to the crack of the 9mm and .357, as it's normally subsonic. I'd rather shoot my 1911 than BHP indoors if we're just talking about sound.

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I have had the misfortune to hear both a 230 grain .45 and a 115 grain 9mm indoors, in small rooms both times, and it sucks. The .45 hurt a whole lot less, the 9mm was a very sharp sound, the .45 was a much gentler booming noise, after both but especially the 9mm all I could hear was a whining noise. With both it was sort of a quick deafening that slowly was replaced by a whine.

Not pleasant.

"Every shot without ear protection takes at least a small part of your hearing with it".
Very true, whether you remember hearing it or not.

WHAT ????? Can't hear you; wadda say???

I forgot to don my muffs once and fired a .357 in a basement out of a 4" 586.

I suffered frequency loss in my left ear from that single shot.

.45 is actually quieter than 9mm, .40, .357. I think cause it's slower and doesn't break the sound barrier.

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It actually has nothing to do with bullet velocity, or whether it is super-sonic or not.

What matters is the operating pressure and the shock wave from the blast.

The .45 ACP, .38 Spl, and others of that power level operate at about half the chamber pressure of the 9mm, .40, & .357.

rcmodel

Rcmodel, that's interesting info. Can you say more about the operating pressure and its relationship to decibels, or post a link, or a book reference? I'd like to read more about this.

Thanks.

They're all DANG loud, and that's why my HD guns are silenced. Still loud, but not "my ears are bleeding" loud.

Concrete walled rooms (like my entire apartment) make for noise being echoed back.

The .45 ACP, .38 Spl, and others of that power level operate at
about half the chamber pressure of the 9mm, .40, & .357.

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.357 mag outside
(especially in a carbine).
Will take deer to 50 m.

.38 spl +p inside.
Good enough.

Frequency of the sound make a difference. While 9mm and .45 ACP may both measure around 155 decibels, the 9mm report will be at a higher frequency range.

Nematocyst said:

Biologist and anatomy and physiology teacher here.
Summary: even if you don't perceive it, it may cause damage.
If I have to shoot one inside w/o protection, I'll take .38 spl non +p.

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Thank you sir, for adding a professional opinion to those of us that have been saying this all along. .45ACP shooter, here, and looking to add e-muffs to my HD equipment.