Will a 357 Blow your eardrums out indoors?

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Since the OP seems to be concerned with a home defense situation and we can generally not expect to have one in our lifetime I'll say it is way down on my list of concerns.
I hunt quite a bit and while I won't target or recreational shoot any longer without earpro I more times than not shoot while hunting without.
I have a fair amount of hearing loss due mostly to industrial exposure in construction and maintenance but I'm sure some due to gunfire.
I would question how many who won't shoot in SD without earpro routinely wear earbuds with sound turned up to loud for hours during the week.
 
I have found 357 Magnum loads fired outdoors to be mcuh too loud without hearing protection. For defensive purposes I opt for the 9mm with 147 gr. bullets or 45 ACP.
 
An ND with a Winchester Silvertip .357 occurred a short distance to my left, indoors, in a fairly small space, and while I am certain it was not good for my hearing, my eardrum remained intact, and I can still hear better with my left ear than my right ear. I have fired one defensive shot outdoors with a hot Federal 125-grain JHP, and my eardrums survived that one just fine, too. The way I understand it, it is cumulative loud noise that is most detrimental to hearing, not occasional individual loud noises.

As others have indicated, surviving a defensive encounter, indoors or out, trumps dying with intact hearing.

Having said that, one reason I like my 1911 for HD is that its muzzle flash and blast are less obnoxious, especially indoors. I do still like to carry .357 revolvers on the street, and an SP101 is usually in my pocket while I am at home, but my Boston Terrorists and other early-warning systems may well allow me the time to select the 1911 (or a long gun) to repel intruders.
 
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If you plan on firing the .357 indoors often, then use hearing protection.

If you only ever hope to have to fire the .357 indoors in a self defense situation, worry about making sure your aim is true.
 
I'd use a .38 special in something like the "FBI load" for indoor use. You don't have to choose between effectiveness and not causing tinnitis(potentially) from one shot. You can have both.
 
When I was confronted in my car by two idiots with baseball bats, I put my windows down and I was still thinking, "Oh this is going to be bad", if I would have had to shoot my .357, loaded with 125Gr JHP's. The two clowns took off, so I didn't have to fire. I went to a lot of drag races and didn't wear hearing protection until the early 80's, it was considered "sissy". Dumb, but that's what we did. I somehow still have much better hearing than most men over 50, but my hearing isn't what it used to be. I think my dog's 14 years of endless screaming in my left ear while driving took a much bigger troll than the Funny Cars and Top Fuel cars ever did.
 
When I was confronted in my car by two idiots with baseball bats, I put my windows down and I was still thinking, "Oh this is going to be bad", if I would have had to shoot my .357, loaded with 125Gr JHP's. The two clowns took off, so I didn't have to fire. I went to a lot of drag races and didn't wear hearing protection until the early 80's, it was considered "sissy". Dumb, but that's what we did. I somehow still have much better hearing than most men over 50, but my hearing isn't what it used to be. I think my dog's 14 years of endless screaming in my left ear while driving took a much bigger troll than the Funny Cars and Top Fuel cars ever did.
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Ditto. Top Fuel is bad for the ears!
 
I'll date myself - I was at a Bachman-Turner Overdrive concert while in college and was at the worst possible place near a speaker - every time the guitarist hit certain high notes, it truly felt like someone was sticking a knitting needle in my ear. I moved when I could, but I truly think my hearing has never been the same since that day. I have tried to be a lot more careful since that day. Sorry to be somewhat off topic.
 
I once shot one standing in the bottom of a dry wash, with banks on either side, without muffs, and the discomfort was noticeable. A very confined space will leave you partially deafened and hurting for a little while, but I doubt it would actually "blow out" the eardrum. The "report" of the .357, probably due to a large charge of slow-burning powder to give it the high velocity, is much harsher than the "boom" of the subsonic .45 Auto or the "crack" of the barely supersonic 9mm Luger.
 
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The one reason, even though I have a .357 listed on my LTC, that I prefer not to carry it. The sharp report from a .357 can not only damage hearing but it can be disorienting as well. At my age (63) I don't need anymore disorientation in my life.

I like the idea of having a pair of electronic earpro next to the HD weapon. I'm going to set this up right now.

Dan
 
It does seem like a good idea to have some muffs with the gun. As long as you aren't immediately confronted by a bad guy, like somebody kicking in your door, electronic muffs make sense. I'll have to do some tests with them to make sure they pick up slight movements, like someone creeping up behind you or up the stairs or around the corner etc.
 
I damaged both of my inner ears about thirty years ago and got tinnitus as well. I have worn hearing aids since my mid-thirties. Thats over 30 years. I didn't even shoot a firearm that day, but hit the side of a wooden roof top box that would not budge from position with a sledge hammer while my head was in the box. The concussion was, literaly, deafening. A firearm would have done the same thing. I would never shoot a firearm of any kind inside a room without ear protection unless it was too late to put them on.
 
A .357 fired indoors won't "blow your eardrums out", but it will be painful, cause at least some temporary hearing loss, and possibly permenant damage. Firing any gun, indoors or out, even a .22 without ear protection is a bad idea.

Keeping some good electronic ear muffs near your home defense gun is a great idea, but worst case, if i had to shoot to defend myself without ear protection there would be no hesitation.
 
I was a Master helmsman on the good ship USS Fitzgerald DDG-62, a guided missile destroyer back in the early/mid 90s. I did not have the luxury of donning double ear protection when conducting missile/gun exercises, for I absolutely had to hear the conning officer; I always had my muffs off one ear. It's hard to say what is louder; 5 inch cannon, ciws, or some other assortment of missiles from the vantage point of the pilot house. Initially, I would try to remember to alternate ears, but in the end decided that hearing in one ear is better than no hearing at all. So, my right ear is pretty much a goner. I could only imagine the noise the gunnersmates were exposed to down in the guts of that gun. I have have buddies who were firemen who worked in the Mers (main engine rooms) who are pretty well deaf.
 
deadhawg said:
Keeping some good electronic ear muffs near your home defense gun is a great idea, but worst case, if i had to shoot to defend myself without ear protection there would be no hesitation.
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This.

A home-defense shooting is likely to be a "once in a lifetime" incident. I'll take the minor loss in hearing if I have to as opposed to the alternative- never hearing anything again.
 
The .357 will damage your hearing -- I'm living proof. I will not shoot without hearing protection, not even a .22.

As for wearing sound amplification muffs with cut-off capability in a home invasion scenario, why not if you have the time to put them on? I can tell you that they certainly help in squirrel and deer hunting.
 
Somehow I can't picture grabbing muffs or plugs and then my .357 if someone is kicking in my door.
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This is true. I do keep hearing protection rigth next to my night stand gun, so if I have time I can use it but I know I may not. That's why I changed from .357 to .45 for a bedside HD weapon.

Dr. Krammer, Ph.D., Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana has documented the following pressure levels.
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One quick note on the interesting information posted by Sam. Decible measurements are not linear. That is double the number is not double the sound. IIRC(?), an increase of 3 Db represents a doubleing of the sound pressure. So, the .357 is more than twice as loud as the .45ACP
 
Electronic ear protection is fantastic, but with quality comes cost. You can get ones from the cheaper end of the market but the return time after noise cut off is longer. Try a pair on and clap, you should not hear your hands hit together and should be able to hear ok afterwards, but with the cheaper ones there is a delay in hearing returning.
In a HD situation this could be bad, you need all your senses, so try before you buy. I use Peltor SportTac while shooting but in a HD situation, as I am in England, we just have to ask the bad guy to leave peacefully or we will call the nasty police officers who will arrive in about 20 minutes and arrest them !
 
In all fairness, if you want to avoid or at least reduce hearing damage, choose a heavy subsonic cartridge like .45 Long Colt or .45 ACP. It's the sonic crack that makes high-velocity rounds like the .357 so damaging.
 
Ah, the tinnitus, what a horrid thing to have come onto you. Over the years of military service, 13 years on a rail crew, then one afternoon kneeling beside my truck's front tire and shooting my .357, that'll just about do one in. The concussion that reverberated inside the fender well just about did the trick! The tinnitus, white noise, whatever the hell one wants to call it, leaves one pondering whether the .357 is a good firearm for SD anywhere, especially inside any building. OH, I know its a good round, but as has been pointed out previously, the "crack" when it goes off, is the thing that gets one. Almost deaf in that ear at 63 isn't a picnic!
 
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