Hearing protection.

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V4Vendetta

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I'm looking for hearing protection from gunfire. I have a 12 gauge if that's important. I want something under $50.00 but decent quality. Also, where could I get the items you suggest?:) Thanks for the help.
 
Lowes and Home Depot (or a similar store) will have what you need. Usually somewhere near the chainsaws. Standard earmuff style protectors is all you will need.
 
It shouldn't be hard to find decent hearing
protection for 30-40 dollars.I always look
for ear muffs with a noise reduction rating
of at lease 28-30 dba.Because i shoot on a
indoor range i also wear ear plugs when
shooting any caliber.I have my hearing
checked by a doctor every 2 years and i
haven't lost any yet.
 
I double up on hearing protection indoors as well, especially when my eye protection pushes my ear muffs out a bit. Works great. Outdoors, I just use the plugs.
 
When shooting a rifle or shotgun, it is always wise to "double up," which means wearing ear plugs and ear muffs.

And don't forget eye protection. Ask me why. :eek:
 
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I like the soft foam earplugs that Wal-Mart carries (at least they did the last time I checked), and low-profile earmuffs (sporting goods section at Wal-Mart). My wife likes Silencio, I have a pair of Peltor Shotgunners, but both are fairly thin. The ones that stick way, way out to the sides are annoying when trying to shoot long guns.

As has been mentioned, put in the earplugs and wear the muffs over top of them. Hearing damage is cumulative.
 
V4Vendetta said:
"And don't forget eye protection. Ask me why."

Why? :confused:
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Last year my .308 FAL rifle blew up in my face. While I was clearing a jam.

My face was bloodied. Thank God I was wearing my prescription glasses. If I had not been, I am 100% convinced I would be blind today.

FYI, the explosion bent the receiver and launched the dust cover 50 feet away. The root cause of the failure? A broken firing pin.

The incident scared the !@#$% out of me. Today, I will not shoot a gun unless I'm wearing safety glasses or goggles over my prescription glasses.
 
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Oh. I always wondered why folks where eye protection while shooting. Hearing protection I could understand. I'll be sure to get some goggles. They'll have to fit over my regular glasses though. Thanks for the advice.
 
Not always, but MOST of the time, the cheap foam ear plugs block more sound than the more expensive ones. I have some Remington electronic muffs that I got on sale for $29 and I like them. They are normally around $125 though. My favorite pair of plugs of all time are the ones that came with my Savage 10FP. They are just simple foam ones, but they work great. The style with the bell shape at the end seem to work even better. My new ones are neon green and hot pink...Ewww sexy! :D

So, for price and effectiveness, and if you lose them it's no big deal, I always liked the foam style plugs you can get from any store.
 
V4Vendetta said:
Oh. I always wondered why folks where eye protection while shooting. Hearing protection I could understand. I'll be sure to get some goggles. They'll have to fit over my regular glasses though. Thanks for the advice.
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I don't worry about guns blowing up in my face (not in terms of eye protection). I figure if that happens I'll have other things to worry about (like living). However, the range I go to insists that you wear eye protection so I do. I can't tell you how many times I've been shooting and had that spent shell casing come right back from my Glock and try to hit me in the eye.
 
"the range I go to insists that you wear eye protection "

My range is my backyard.:D I'm one fortunate guy.
 
I jsut use the simple ones from the hardware store. Cheap and effective, I will keep a pair of the little plugs in my bag incase someone comes in with something really loud.

As for eye protection I think the main reason isn't so much the gun exploading as it is for fragments. How may of us have been at the range and a was hit by a small fragment of a bullet that bounced off the back stop? Even something that bounces off your skin could have done some nasty eye damage, let along a piece of jacket that managed to cut/stick into you. I wear glasses and find that thats good enough for most things I am likly to be bothered about at the range, and if it is bad enough to beak my glasses I figure I amd going to have enough problems besides my eyes.
 
As has been pointed out, eye protection IS important! I've never had a gun explode, but many times I've felt a bit of a sting on my arms or face, probably from incompletely burned powder or something being ejected after a taking a shot. I'd hate to think what that little sting could do to an eye.
Marty
 
Some things to consider:

1) Shooting earmuffs are typically shaped better for getting a cheek weld. The ones I've seen at Home Depot, etc, are too large for a good weld.

2) Plugs are no substitute for muffs. The bone behind your ear conducts sound to the fragile parts of your ears and needs to be protected.

3) In your price range, I would buy a high quality pair of shooting muffs rather than a cheap electronic set.
 
Oh. I always wondered why folks where eye protection while shooting. Hearing protection I could understand. I'll be sure to get some goggles. They'll have to fit over my regular glasses though. Thanks for the advice.
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No need to look like your going to precipitate some aqueous solutions. There are plenty of prescription safety glasses that either have prescription lenses or have prescription inserts behind polycarb lenses. Plus, if you get tinted ones, they work great a regular sun glasses.

Safety glasses are not only for exploding guns and ammo. If you get a chance to attend a plate shoot, you'll get a few stings on occassion from bullet and plate fragments flying back towards the firing line from down range.
 
anybody remember being in the military with drill instructors/sgts. who had spent most of their careers with out hearing protection? when they said I can't hear you!,i believe 'em now.
 
Howard Leigh makes the highest rated muffs- 31 decibles.... resonably priced (25-30 $) and very comfortable. Called Leighning I think. I wear plugs also.
 
Regarding always wearing eye protection, there are very rare cases of live rounds falling to the ground and going off. The idea is that the round falls with the primer onto a pebble or something else that "fires" the round. Since the round isn't contained in a chamber, the velocity of the bullet will be very much reduced, but would still be enough to do eye damage.
 
Regarding always wearing eye protection, there are very rare cases of live rounds falling to the ground and going off. The idea is that the round falls with the primer onto a pebble or something else that "fires" the round. Since the round isn't contained in a chamber, the velocity of the bullet will be very much reduced, but would still be enough to do eye damage.
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Have you considered the fragments of brass from the ruptured casing?

...but would still be enough to do eye damage.
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The eye being of relative soft tissue and construction, your proof?
 
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