Is it too Loud: .357 Magnum

[ArchAngelCD]

As many of the others my HD .357 Magnum revolver is loaded with .38 Special ammo for indoor use.
IMO inside a small dark room the .357 Magnum = Flash-Bang...

 

[BCRider]

I like the idea of the amplified shooting earmuffs. It would give you the hearing you want to track the movements of the bad guy but save the hearing at the same time if you had to shoot.

.... but now I've got this image in my head of a guy with a hand gun, electronic shooting muffs and bunny slippers... and nothing else.

Do you think I need to seek professional help?

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Do you think I need to seek professional help?

I don't think so but the bad guy might have a different opinion!

 

[Narwhal]

I have shot a .40 S&W in a small 10x12' bedroom without hearing protection and it really wasn't that bad, granted it was out of a 4" barrel. .357 out of a snub nosed revolver would probably be 25-50% louder though, and I wouldn't want to use it as my primary home defense weapon if there were alternatives. I keep a 5" barreled .40 S&W semi-auto for that purpose nowadays. Even a suppressor wouldn't be a bad idea if it weren't for all the negative connotations that potentially come with using NFA items for self defnse.

 

[charlie echo]

off topic: First time I walked into an indoor range I did not have ear protection on when I heard the BOOM of a 44 Magnum! I got my head gear on FAST! (I bought such a revolver soon after that)

158 gr +P HP are nice all around.

 

[Owen Sparks]

I keep a shotgun by my bed along with a pair of ear muffs.

 

[FullMetal]

A .357 Mag will be over 160db from a 4 inch revolver, and because of the cylinder gap it will blow back more into you ears. I developed a shooting stance where I cover my left ear with my left hand and cover my right ear with my right arm while I aim down the sight. It sounds complicated but it's actually really simple and allows me to shoot any caliber without disorientation from sound.

Keep in mind this doesn't help with the recoil/muzzle flash, which I believe are relatively minor anyway.

 

[76shuvlinoff]

Yeah they are loud.... and dangerous too.

 

[Frank V]

Charlie Echo said it well!
A .38 Special 158gr Lead SWC HP +P works well. That's the old FBI load & it worked for years on the street for NYPD & others. The NYPD is a rather large orginization & has a huge data base.
Remington & Winchester still make it.
There is another one on the market that I've been using the past few months. It's Buffalo Bore's version. The one I've been using is a .38 Special 158gr Lead SWC HP non +P. Buffalo Bore claims 850fps & I actually got 876fps from a 2" bbl. I chronographed the Remington load at 844fps.
Buffalo Bore makes a +P version that I think wold work very well especially out of a .357.
I hear the new Speer .38 Special 135gr Gold Dot HP +P works well on the street too. When I find some I'll try it, but for now I'm really happy with the Buffalo Bore offering.
So if you have a .357, I'd say don't scrap it for something else, it will work just fine with a somewhat reduced load.
www.buffalobore.com
Good luck.
Frank

 

[HiVel1]

LOUD

Try a 223 Colt M4 AD in the house-HUH??

one of my friends did this not me!

I have had 380 and 45 fired inside with no hearing protection-not too bad.
Would not worry about noise if some intruder was threatening me or family-just pop em with whatever is handy. (12 ga double is handy as is a
Glock 21 ) Not even thinking about noise. At the range I double up with foam plugs and electronic muffs.

 

[SG1]

I wonder what the noise difference would be out of a 16" barreled carbine as opposed to a 3" barrel with the same .357 mag load.

 

[Cosmoline]

It would be much less noisy. And it would carry most of the noise further from your ears.

In some ways the noise from the magnum indoors is so loud it's no longer loud. It's such an overwhelming *KAWHAM* that you don't notice it until later, when your ears are ringing.

 

[340PD]

All this points out the need for legal suppressors.

 

[gamestalker]

I'm about 70% deaf the result of shooting the .357 mag.. I forgot to put my ear plugs in one time and now suffer constant ringing in my ears 24 hrs. a day. I also having difficulty handling the concussion / muzle blast. I almost white out even with the muzzle as far away from my face as possible. The recoil doesn't bother me though. As much as I love magnum wheel guns, I think I'm finished with them, I guess old age and too many full house loads.

 

[oldbear]

So... do yall think it's too loud, got too much flash or blast, etc?

For for normal, whatever that is, training it is close. If things ever go south for real you will not notice any of the above until it's over.

Please never fire any weapon without proper hearing protection...

 

[Jaymo]

A buddy of mine ADed my Tokarev 7.62x25 inside my care once. He blew out the passenger window. Lucky for him, the Magsafe round hit a tree and not a person.

I was in a room when a .357 mag went off. Full house 125 grain HP.
Also when an M1 Carbine went off.

Can you say hearing damage?

It doesn't matter if a .45 ACP/.45 Colt/.44 special/.44-40/.38 special will damage your hearing. The louder/more powerful rounds will damage your hearing a lot more.

Low pressure rounds do less damage to your hearing.

Just forgo the firearms for home defense and go with a .45-50 caliber precharged pneumatic air rifle.
.45 acp performance with a LOT less noise and NO flash.

 

[NoirFan]

Guys, let me confess a tale of stupidity to shed some light on this question. Years ago when I was younger and much dumber I had an AD with a 4" .357 magnum. My face was close enough that it got sprayed with hot gas from the cylinder gap. I immediately lost 40% of my hearing, but I could still hear people moving about and talking in the other rooms of my apartment. In a defensive situation I would still have been able to hear an attacker moving around me, or a policeman issuing orders. It took a week for my hearing to fully return and I have not noticed any permanent effects.

The round was a 158-grain Hydra Shok and it went through 4 layers of drywall before striking a wood door frame and basically exploding copper fragments all over the room.

 

[Tom609]

I have to use bilateral hearing aids, and if I get up in the middle of the night without them the ringing is deafening. For me, electronic muffs bedside are to hearing what night scopes are to vision. The ability to hear a mouse pass gas in the dark also gives me a distinct advantage in a pitch black environment with a bad guy. I have Peltors and Howard Leight in my range bag, and $25 Caldwells near the nightstand.

 

[627PCFan]

Last week I was getting rid of some extra Fiochi shotgun hulls, and before I throw them out I fire them off muzzle down into a piece of wood to keep the noise down. I forgot to get the muzzle down and fired the primer. It was damn loud and not as loud as a live round but nonetheless my ears rang for about a day after and that was just the primer.

 

[brnmuenchow]

It's not a bad idea to try it once or twice just so you know what to expect when you have to shoot a gun off indoors (ex. "break-in"), but it's never a good idea with any gun to ever shoot indoors or even outdoors without some hearing protection.

 

[Action_Can_Do]

This subject comes up pretty regularly. I keep a 357 magnum next to my bed for home defense. I've considered all the information and I'll tell you why I've chosen to stick with my choice.

1. All guns fired indoors will cause hearing damage. I lost the hearing in my left ear from firing a 9mm outdoors. Firing a light 38 special load indoors can cause deafness. You better believe it.

2. In a self-defense situation you want the best equipment you can handle. Soldiers use rifles and carbines indoors because it's the safest choice. Rifles fired indoors ARE NOT quieter due to barrel length. A rifle is held closer to the body than a handgun is so that muzzle is closer to your head than you think.

3. The odds of needing to fire a gun indoors for self-defense are slim enough that if I have to do so, I still want a 357 magnum.

 

[Elm Creek Smith]

I spent most of 20 years in the Army on tanks, and, despite religiously worn ear plugs and cinched down tight CVC helmet ear cups, I have tinnitus 24/7 and hearing loss just short of "profound." There is no way they can protect you from the Db produced by 105mm or 120mm tank main guns.

I vote for active hearing protection muffs because they are on my nightstand with my Model 13-3 loaded with .38's. I need all the hearing help I can get.

ECS