Safe distance from guns with no earpro?

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ChaoSS

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Ok, so I want to find some public land to shoot on, so me and my wife can go shooting together. We don't really have a baby sitter who can watch the youngest, so, no range time together. So my thought was that one of us could shoot, the other watch the kid, and swap out who shoots.

So how far would the non shooter and the baby have to be to be safe without ear protection? Too far for this to be a practical thought? BTW, we'd be talking about up to 12 gauge and 7.62x54r in terms of noise.
 
My google-fu is strong... I was curious myself at this question.

The math: http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-distance.htm
Reference Sound levels: http://m14forum.com/hearing/78442-various-noise-levels-firearms.html
And then some warnings... http://www.dangerousdecibels.org/education/information-center/noise-induced-hearing-loss/

So if you put some numbers in the first page from the second and third page... by the math you'd have to be a good distance! With a baby you can't be too safe though. they're still developing and I'd err to super caution.

Personally though barriers and such play a huge role. Outside the range I typically go to 50-100 feet in the parking lot on the other side of the entrance building is fine for me. I actually think it's an interesting thing to hear. I find the sound kind of a rattling and you get more of sense it's traveling the distance vs. the snap you hear when it's you shooting.

So by the math, it's quite a distance, but in my experience not super far. Since we're talking your child I'd say 100 yards if you can maybe play inside the back of your vehicle?
 
Subtract 6bB for every doubling of distance. Reference distance for measuring gunshots is 1 meter so at 2 meters you'd expect to see 6dB less. At 4 meters a total of 12dB less and at 8 meters 18dB reduction.

A .308 might produce 157dB. At 8 meters distance it would measure around 139dB, which just happens to be right at the instantaneous injury level. 16 meters would reduce it further to 131dB.

BUT, the duration of the exposure is also an important factor in determining the potential for injury. The short duration of each shot adds up. Whether they add up to a time weighted average above 85dB for an 8hr day of continuous exposure depends upon the number of shots and the duration of the energy peak for each amounting to the time of the exposure each time. String enough shots together in short order and you can exceed the safe exposure level (drink a beer an hour for an 8hr day or drink them all in one hour).
 
Wait, so we are still talking about 90 db at around 1000 meters?

I guess I'm familiar with the basics of how sound diminishes, but I didn't bother with looking up the actual sound levels of a gun going off, (which is higher than I expected) because I was hoping for some real world experience. And I really don't know what level would be safe, for constant, repeated sounds, on an infant.

I wonder how much the sound would be attenuated by playing in the back of an SUV, with the rear door open, but facing away from the gun shots...

Maybe I'll just have to experiment. Only problem is, it's hard to experiment, without the kid being around. Oh well. Maybe the whole thing is a bad idea. I'm not looking to damage the baby's hearing here.
 
Children have very sensitive hearing and need extra precaution around loud noise. Even for short duration. Also those figures would be in a flat plane with no objects to reflect sound . Real world hills boulders and trees can act like reflectors or acoustic tunnels.
From my up stairs window I can hear footsteps on the gravel road over 300 yards away because of the shape of the terrain.
Get some extra ear protection or extreme distance. Other side of a hill at least.
 
I would not take a chance with my child's hearing. A few hour's pleasure rather than waiting or finding a baby sitter is not worth the risk of damaging a baby's hearing forever.

Shoot separately or take the kid for a drive while the other shoots.
 
keep the kids and the wife at least a mile away.

otherwise YOU are endangering the young persons hearing for the rest of their life...:eek:
 
I don't know if they need to be a whole mile away. I go shooting in a publicly available outdoor area, and unless someone in your group is shooting or another group is closer than 200-300 yards, you generally don't need ear pro to avoid serious hearing damage. This is true of my experience with people shooting rifles and pistols "nearby" (average maybe 300-500 yards between each group).

However, as stated, you don't want to chance it with an infant's delicate hearing.

I would think that a good 300 yards away AND inside the car with windows closed would be fine for most gun sound levels, even with an infant.

If not in a car, I would at least double that distance, maybe a little farther.

If gas is not an issue the "go for a ride" idea above sounds like a good idea.
 
Youth earmuffs. 27dB reduction for $10. Worth a shot, and if they don't fit now they will soon!

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/1867355757/walkers-youth-and-women-earmuffs-nrr-27db

Having the kid inside the vehicle is a great idea, but keep all the doors/windows closed for further reduction.

Obviously I don't know the area you go to shoot, but getting any kind of solid objects between the shooter and the listener counts for a lot. There is a Meijer about 700yd from the shooting range at my local gunshop. The distance, combined with a building, a few trees and berms cuts the sound far below harmful levels. The shots are easily audible but just a thump in the distance and those not familiar with guns don't recognize them as gunshots. Certainly nowhere near 90Db. YMMV, of course.
 
My wife and I visited the Grand American Trap Shoot this summer in Sparta, Il. Over one hundred trap ranges are being used simultaneously, behind which are shops, seating areas, food vendors galore, and other public venues. All this runs parallel to the ranges and no more than 50 to 75 yards away. The shooters are, of course, firing away from this public area. The noise is of absolutely no concern in the public area. Folks, including may young kids, relaxed, visited, played, etc. with no discomfort form the literally millions of 12 gauge shells being fired during this multi-day event. If this noise was, indeed, a safely concern I believe the American Trap Association would jump all over the problem.
 
Thanks to everyone with the real life experiences. To anyone who got the impression otherwise, I'm not planning on doing something that could harm the kid's hearing and hoping for the best. I'm hoping to figure out a way to do this completely safely, or not at all.

I live in an area where gun shots are not terribly uncommon, as people get drunk and stupid, and even when outside, i wouldn't be worried about hearing damage. That being said, they could be coming from anywhere, with a couple houses, trees, whatever, blocking the sound. I was kind of hoping someone would have experience with this exact situation, basically a flat area with a vehicle parked, let's just say, 100 yards away, how bad are the sound levels?


HSO, I could experiment, simply by taking the wife and baby out somewhere, and using earpro on the baby while I shoot and my wife tells me how loud it sounds, or the other way around. I don't want to rely on earpro though, because babies don't tend to like stuff like that, and I was hoping someone could give me a heads up on what to expect, if I'm going to be basically wasting a trip out to the middle of nowhere or not.
 
If you're shooting pistol, you'll probably be fine. I often go hiking with my dog into the mountains and also take a pistol to shoot as well. When finding a place to shoot, the dog gets tied up about 100m behind me with a earthen slope or whatnot between it and I. The sound levels seem to be OK at this distance, but it hasn't been confirmed by any equipment so more of a guess I suppose.
 
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