Will a 357 Blow your eardrums out indoors?

I shot one outdoors a few shots... left my ears painful and ringing.

Hearing damage is permanent btw. It may or may not effect you at the time (due to stress, adrenaline, etc.) but the damage occurs and is irreversable.

A pair of earmuffs (or even electronic ones so you can hear noises in the home) in the nightstand isn't a bad call.

My eardrums are still intact. OTOH, the gun was not right next to my head when it went off, I was behind the shooter, the room was fairly large, and the floor was carpeted. A small room, hard floor and walls, and closer proximity and it might have been different. Still, it was very loud and I wouldn't recommend the experience.

Everyone can tolerate a little hearing damage and have it not impact their lives too much....and hopefully its only something you'll need to do once

Personally ide risk some hearing loss if it means being able to hear fully in a SD scenario

As for electronic muffs.....they run on batteries....and Murphy is always popping up uninvited....

A 357 Magnum is quiet when compared to those 16" AR's which are ever so popular for HD. You will get a bit of hearing loss and Tinnitus, but not anything debilitating. It's not like you're firing off thousands of rounds from an M2 in urban warfare. Your hearing will for the most part recover. You have a lot more to worry about than whether or not you will need a hearing aid when you're 70. I agree with M-Cameron about electronic muffs and batteries; things have an annoying tendency to not work when I put batteries in them.

Somehow I can't picture grabbing muffs or plugs and then my .357 if someone is kicking in my door. Maybe if we miss the bad guy his eardrums will hurt so bad he'll be incapacitated?

I had a catastrophic breech crack open from a blown case in a break open rifle (using a subcaliber cartridge in an inner barrel that allowed a headspace problem) while firing through a port in a low hanging shed....about the equivalent of a .44 mag about 8-10 inches in front of my face, indoors. I saw stars, and my ears have had strong tinnitus since. I would sincerely suggest avoiding any magnums or equivalent handguns, or .223 carbines for indoor defense.

.357 Mag outdoors is pretty rough on the ears. I'd shoot one indoors only if I had to. Besides the noise, the muzzle flash would be blinding.

When I was young and stupid, a friend of mine thought it would be a good idea. My head rang for about a week. I am very fortunate that I still have exceptional hearing. I could easily see some guns and loads being loud enough to rupture the eardrum.

I would sincerely suggest avoiding any magnums or equivalent handguns, or .223 carbines for indoor defense.

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I would amend that to say "unless wearing earpro or using a suppressor" (I know, a can won't likely work on most revolvers...)

I must say it's rather surprising to see the number of people who think ear pro is a bad idea in a defensive situation. Obviously if you don't have the time, that's one thing, but to not even give yourself the option is quite another. Anyone ever been to a metal/hard rock concert, or any rock concert for that matter? The last one I was at metered about 120-130dB and I was asking people to repeat themselves for days before my hearing started to return. A .357 Mag revolver is on the order of 165dB! And this isn't happeneing 30 feet in front of you, it is at most 2-3 feet from your ears. Remember, the dB scale is logarithmic, so a 10dB increase means that the sound is 10 times louder.

It seems very few people here have had to deal with much (if any) hearing damage. Let me tell you, asking people to repeat themselves 2 or 3 times a sentence gets really old after a while. Not even to mention the constant ringing (or even worse, nothingness) in your ears!

mortablunt said:

A 357 Magnum is quiet when compared to those 16" AR's which are ever so popular for HD.

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Ahhh, no.

According to Dr. William Clark, Ph.D. senior research scientist in charge of the NOISE LABORATORY at the Central Institute for the Deaf in St. Louis, the damage caused by one shot from a .357 magnum pistol, which can expose a shooter to 165 dB for 2msec, is equivalent to over 40 hours in a noisy workplace. Dr. Krammer, Ph.D., Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana has documented the following pressure levels.

Table 2. CENTERFIRE RIFLE DATA
.223, 55GR. Commercial load 18 _" barrel 155.5dB
.243 in 22" barrel 155.9dB
.30-30 in 20" barrel 156.0dB
7mm Magnum in 20" barrel 157.5dB
.308 in 24" barrel 156.2dB
.30-06 in 24" barrel 158.5dB
.30-06 in 18 _" barrel 163.2dB
.375 — 18" barrel with muzzle brake 170 dB

Table 3. CENTERFIRE PISTOL DATA
.25 ACP 155.0 dB
.32 LONG 152.4 dB
.32 ACP 153.5 dB
.380 157.7 dB
9mm 159.8 dB
.38 S&W 153.5 dB
.38 Spl 156.3 dB
.357 Magnum 164.3 dB
.41 Magnum 163.2 dB
.44 Spl 155.9 dB
.45 ACP 157.0 dB
.45 COLT 154.7 dB

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I use a 12.5" AR as a house gun and some Peltors stay next to it.

It's interesting to note that in the above chart 9mm is significantly louder than .223 out of an 18" barrel.

Tinnitus sucks. Keep the stupid earmuffs on the night stand or in the safe... If you have the two seconds to put them on, then do it... and if they aren't working, throw them off... but at least you have the choice. Even a .22 can give you permanent hearing loss - true story.

I will say that I can hear WAY better with my electric earmuffs on. I use them when I mow the lawn and (when the mower is off) I can hear neighbors having conversations from 2 doors down... Inside, I can hear EVERYTHING. They are amazing.

I've fired a 125gr jhp 357mag indoors with no hearing protection. It was a very confined space. It was a jolt to the system and my ears were rining...but my hearing returned to 'normal' relatively quickly. No blown eardrums here.

Hearing loss is cumulative and permanent. You will suffer permanent hearing loss to a greater or lesser degree from one exposure. Anything you can reasonably do to mitigate that would be worthwhile.

Tinnitus does indeed suck. I sometimes hear tea kettles. I've had to shoot rifles and machineguns and blow stuff up, and without any hearing protection sometimes too. I actually have no hearing loss according to the tests. I don't believe it, there is no way. If that is true, it it is also untrue that hearing loss is permanent. Tinnitus isn't actually hearing loss, it is hearing damage --the hairs get damaged, the filia? and you hear ringing. Shock waves and pressure waves do this kind of damage, so shooting and demo. Even if you don't get hearing loss like me, you can get tinnitus and that is horrible. It does seem to get a little bit better, but not a whole lot, over time. Maybe you just get more used to ignoring it, but at first it drives you crazy. You can also get it WITH ear pro if you spend enough time exposed. It all has to do with exposure, and exposure to medium noise for a long time can be worse than exposure to very loud noise for a short time. Make that day after day and...

The WORST pain and worst hearing loss I ever experienced was firing some 158gr. Starfire Eldorado's out of a 6" 686+ in a semi-enclosed (on one side) outside area under trees with no ear pro. I didn't even finish the cylinder. I couldn't hardly hear for a week, everything was real far away, lots of whining and white noise, and for a day or two it actually hurt.

I keep an M4 handy, but I also don't plan on having to shoot anybody in the house either. It is just an insurance policy for my safety and freedom, the chances of me needing it for those reasons are slim. In the chance I suffer hearing loss from having to discharge a round indoors to save my life and the guy survives, I'm suing him for it, and I'm not kidding.

One pair of Walmart hearing protectors, $20.00. One pair of hearing aids, $500.00. Not being hearing-impaired: priceless.

A .357 is not only towards the top of the chart for actual db, it's also probably the sharpest in its crack for any of those big revolvers. (At least it seems to be from what I have fired.) Higher-pitched noises do more damage to your hearing than lower-pitched.

Remember also, with an AR carbine, not only is it not as loud as a revolver, the noise that escapes from the forcing cone gap on the revolver can hit your ears much more directly.

I fired one shot from a 45 Colt with a 4-3/4" barrel outdoors without hearing protection and took a big hit with permanent hearing loss.

Always wear hearing protection, you can't get it back and hearing aids suck, even the most expensive ones.

Will a 357 Blow your eardrums out indoors?

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No, but here might be some very small damage.
Weighed against protecting your family or the possibility of your being killed it's a small price to pay.


This Kel Tec PLR .223 is about the loudest gun I've ever heard. It makes a .357 sound like a pop gun.
Without ear protection it's like getting hit with a sledge hammer (don't ask).

I have two, with loaded magazines, in two different safes. While I do not intend using them first thing for HD, there is a pair of ear muffs on top of each safe.

But ear protection or not I would still use this gun if necessary. If you are dead it doesn't matter if your hearing is damaged or not.

Amplified ear muffs for checking things that go bump in the night are not "retarded."

The amplification really helps after all the hearing damage I did as a teenager at the rock quarry shooting .357 (and every other gun I could get my hands on).

Takes about the same amount of time to put on, and turn on a set of muffs as it does to put on your glasses.

We can't all be Jason Bourne.

I consider it a win if I can get up out of bed suddenly and actually stand up straight.
You young 'uns will understand one day.

Hearing loss is a individual thing.

I started shooting in the mid 1950's. M1 Garands (USMC), 30.06 03A3, 38 Special, 45ACP, etc. No one used any ear protection then, except sometimes a little cotton in the ears. When I saw the first pair of ear muffs in the early 1960's I said, What kind of sissy would wear those things?". But we all started wearing them.

I flew helicopters and airplanes for 35 years. The early piston engine helicopters with their loud transmissions and engines and loud airplanes were very hard on the hearing.

I am 74 and by all rights I should be stone deaf now.
But my hearing is still better than many people my age.

In any case, don't count on being like me. Use hearing protection EVERY time you shoot.

Amplified ear muffs for checking things that go bump in the night are not "retarded."

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I never tried these. Work good?

I even read one guy keeps ear protection in his safe incase someone comes in. That sounds retarded

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That is retarded, is the "someone" that came in going to hold the light on the tumbler of the safe while he opens it to get his muffs?

Amplified ear muffs for checking things that go bump in the night are not "retarded."


The amplification really helps after all the hearing damage I did as a teenager at the rock quarry shooting .357 (and every other gun I could get my hands on).

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This is proof that a round or two for a bad guy, should he/she come along won't blow out your ear drums (unless the bullet passes through them).

My hearing is shot (pun intended) too, I use hearing aids during the day and my wife's ears at night. If a BG makes it to my location at night, I don't see a lot of harm in one more round without ear protection at this point. If you have time to go get ear muffs out of the safe, you might as well call the cops and let them deal with the problem.

Sam. is there 12 gauge shotgun sound volume data? There is generally a response to a Home Defense post.. "get yourself a 12 gauge shotgun"