Is blackpowder easier on your ears than smokeless?

It seams to be not as sharp of a sound as smokeless to me. But this is likely really subjective what ma be easier on the ears for one person may be hell on earth for another

Black powder guns seem to produce softer noise in my experience.

I have to ask, are you shooting without hearing protection? If you are, you will pay for it in the future with hearing lose. Only shoot with muffs or ear plugs or better yet the combination of both.

ears

What he said ^^^^^!
"Ringing" means hearing damage. It can only get worse. If you don't want it to get worse....wear hearing protection.
Pete

Both will damage your hearing over time, neither is good .

It's a "Boom" rather than a CRASH.
(Part of it's charm)

Good morning,
Yes! to this question. If not for black powder and replica revolvers, I would have had to give up the fun of target shooting some years ago. The Big 'T' is unforgiving and more damage can be done with repeated sharp and ringing noise even with hearing protection.
Regards!

Hearing loss. Ask someone who knows. I'm deaf as a post, to my poor wife's chagrin, from the engine room of the destroyer in my Navy days, to industrial work, to gun range, in my youth no one thought of hearing protection.

Although some of it is hereditary also, most of the loss was most likey avoidable.

It is all bad. Loud car stereos, head banging house stereos, firearms, fireworks, ijots with straight pipes on their motorcycles, loud farm machinery, dragsters, etc.

Many muzzle loader target/match shooters use minimal charges to get the job done. Not as loud, but still damaging over time, even without the loud crack.

Had a friend that worked in the syrup dept at a Chocolate company loading the empty clean cans into the production machinery. The rattle and banging of the empty cans didn't seem loud when I worked with him for a week. After 5 years, he realized his hearing loss and started wearing protection but it was too late.

I almost always wore ear plugs/muffs and I still came out tone deaf to certain levels of sound. Very low tones are next to impossible for me to notice. A neighbor down the street has a very very low voice. Unless I see his face to be able to read his lips, I can't figure out what he is saying.

Yes.

Even with hearing aids, telephone use, conversation in a noisy room, and tv dialog is an exercise in futility.

Wish OSHA was around in the 50s and 60s. But then again as the man said "Its my own damn fault"

I wear just earplugs most of the time. Muffs if I forget the earplugs (there's a closet with muffs for the forgetful). On my range, there is a "no magnum calibers" rule, due to noise pollution and houses nearby. Hence, you'll find people shooting 9mm, .38 Special, .45 LC and .44 Special, and .45 ACP, but overall the noise isn't too bad.

With earplugs, the sound of a 9mm is still sometimes somewhat unpleasant if I'm really close to the gun (eg. shooter is in the next lane). Interestingly the lower pressure .45s do not sound so snappy. However, BP revolvers sound like music with their deep throaty booms. Of course it's damn easier on the ears.

Plus, when there's a couple of us shooting smokepoles, the whole range smells like sulfur and bacon Really gets you in the mood for lunch

as much as I hate to say it I love listening to my bp arms going off! they have a sound of their own...

I find the sound of BP guns to be less concussive than smokeless loads so the damage might take longer to happen. I'm down to about 50 percent hearing mostly due to genetics so protecting what I have left is important.

Glad you are using protection, the phrasing in the original post didn't make that clear. Have you tried plugs that are molded and fitted to your ears? I have a pair and they offer more protection than any others I've tried. The folks I've seen use them typically combine them with muffs for the most benefit.

Jeff

My ears ring so much I cant tell the difference.

I normally don't wear them as much when shooting my 22 rifles do ya'll do the same or what?

If this was an oral conversation I'd just be repeatedly asking "What?".

A man and his wife were driving down the highway in Alabama and a State Trooper pulled him over for speeding. The trooper asked for the DL and the wife immediately shouted to her husband, "WHAT DID HE SAY????" He told her the trooper had asked for his license. The trooper then asked for his insurance and the wife yelled "WHAT"D HE SAY????" The man told her he asked for the insurance. The trooper then asked for the registration and the wife hollered "WHAT"D HE SAY???? The man told her the trooper asked for the registration. The trooper said, sir, is your wife hard of hearing? The wife again yelled "WHAT"D HE SAY????" and the man told her he asked about her hearing. The man told the trooper that she had worked in a plant in Akron for 30 years and has lost her hearing due to the noise of the machines in the factory. The trooper said, I had a girlfriend from Akron once. Ugly as a mud fence and the worst lover I had ever had! The woman yelled "WHAT'D HE SAY???" The husband looked over at her and said, "HE SAID HE THINKS HE KNOWS YOU!

piettakid said:

My 1858 with 30 grains of pyro is as potent as a 38 special +p

Click to expand...

I use real BP in mine and they are far more powerful than the .38 SPL +P!

The report is definitely easier on the ears but years of engine rooms and jet engines make tinnitus the loudest thing heard all day long. It stinks. Protect them ears fellas!

Easier, yes. You can easly hear the sonic boom from the ball breaking the sound barrier, over the muzzle blast of a black powder rifle. In the area of 1045 fps and above, you get the sound.

Of course i use protection, both muffs AND plugs. And still most smokeless guns make my ears ring.

Click to expand...

Two things. First off I suspect that the way the muffs fit you that you're leaving some serious openings for the sound to leak in. Find shooting glasses that fit closer to your temples so they don't lift the seals away from your head. If you wear prescription glasses that do not fit right onto and even into your temples and just in front of your ears then look into a new set which does fit closer.

Next check the attenuation ratings of your muffs and ear plugs. Go for something with higher values.

But that won't help if they don't fit correctly. When you seal in the plugs be sure that they block and muffle the high frequencies of the noises before the you put on the muffs. When fitted right and they seal the sound should sound like you have your palms pressed firmly over your ears. In other words highly muffled. If you can make out the sibilances of the speech around you at all then it's not sealing. Same for the muffs. Test them for this level of sealing and attenuation without plugs so you can hear that they fit and seal correctly. Again, you're looking for that total muffling where it suddenly sounds like you put your hands firmly over your ears.

There is simply NO WAY that your ears should be ringing if you are double plugged and if the plugs and muffs are sealing to your ears and head correctly.

By any chance are you concentrating so much that you have your lips open? If you do then the sound can get into your ears through the "back door" knows as the eustachtion tubes. Keep mouth closed in that case.

Muffs to me muffle too much sound. Everything sounds like I'm underwater. Plugs are just right - they take the snapiness out.

Of course if people were shooting some hand cannon nearby I'd go with muffs probably.

Yes, I remember black powder as being less noisy to shoot. The recoil was different too, more of a push than a slam. The only downside was having to hop to one side to check the target because of the smoke cloud. I've been thinking about getting a Navy .36 again, thanks for reminding me.