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Ever fire a 12 gauge indoors, without hearing protection?

Tom396

Tom396

.30-06
Been thinking more and more about this (not always a good idea for me). If an intruder gets into my house, and I'm fortunate enough to protect myself with one of my weapons, is my hearing going to be destroyed forever? I know the noise will at least be temporarily disorienting. My question is will it be forever? I can't imagine that I'd be thinking about it, while the actual invasion was taking place. I've fired outdoors, without protection, but that's a whole different ballgame. I agree, saving my life and my family's life is all that should matter, but it's in the back of my head now. Has anybody had experience with firing a 12 gauge and/or a heavy caliber handgun, in a hallway? Take care. Tom Worthington.
 
Re: Ever fire a 12 gauge indoors, without hearing protection

Your adrenaline will be pumping so hard you won't even notice it, let alone think about it. You'd be fine, just don't make it a habit lol!
 
Re: Ever fire a 12 gauge indoors, without hearing protection

Interesting question Tom. I have not had the opportunity to "try" it, yet I'm not sure I want to though....
My hearing is already 60/30...but it comes in handy when the wife's going on about some blah blah blah....
 
Re: Ever fire a 12 gauge indoors, without hearing protection

Shooting anything anywhere without hearing protection is a crap shoot--you may get permanent, temporary, or no damage from one incident. Don`t have any solid data t back up my opinion, but I think shooting my shotgun indoors would be easier on my ears than my .223 or my 7.62 by 25! I know in the Army the .223 irritated me much more than the .30 or .50.

In the unlikely event i would get into a shooting incident with warning I would put on ear plugs. Most cases, you would be fighting for your life and wouldn`t have the chance.
 
Re: Ever fire a 12 gauge indoors, without hearing protection

I shot my .357 without hearing protection once while I was out in the woods. My ears rang for days and I attribute some of my current hearing issues with that one incident.

I would never shoot indoors without hearing protection unless my life depended on it. Even though adrenalin kicks in an you don't hear the shot as loud, I have to believe you are still doing damage to your ear.
 
I forgot my muffs one time skeet shooting with my 12 ga, bad idea. I only shot a box of 25 and my ears rang untill I fell asleep that night. I thought I was screwed!

I'm sure it would be vastly different due to adrenaline and being indoors. I wouldnt do it unless my life depended on it.
 
Re: Ever fire a 12 gauge indoors, without hearing protection

I have never fired a 12 gauge indoors, but I have had an AD with a .45 acp Black Talon in a small bedroom once. It physically hurt my ears. I cannot imagine what a 12 gauge would do!
The wife (we were engaged at the time) was downstairs when it happened. I did not have ANY trouble hearing her yelling. :oops:
Funny part is, the bullet hit the adjoining bedroom door, blew though it without even checking up, crossed the other bedroom, and exited the house. When I lined up the hole in the bedroom door with the hole in the wall, My wife's wedding dress was hanging right in the way. :shock:
The wife and I went over that dress for 2 hours and never found any sign of any damage. It was as if that .45 acp Black Talon saw the dress, recognized it as instant death for me if it hit the dress, and detoured accordingly. :)
All I can say is thank you to Winchester for creating the first 'Smart' bullet design! ;)
 
Re: Ever fire a 12 gauge indoors, without hearing protection

Holy cow man! Good thing no one got hurt!

Smart bullet..LOL
 
Re: Ever fire a 12 gauge indoors, without hearing protection

Yeah, it was just me and the Missus then. It was very fortunate that everything happened the way it did. I was unloading my Para P-12 and my finger got in the trigger guard. No excuses, just complacent gun handling. I had it by my belly looking straight down on top of it. I always unload my pistols with my left hand over the top of the slide to catch the round as it is coming out of the chamber. Very lucky all the way around. Learned from it as I have not had an AD since and that was in June of 1992.
 
Re: Ever fire a 12 gauge indoors, without hearing protection

My personal experiences;

When target shooting without headphones, its loud. Especially the AR15. I've fired in the open and under a shelter. From under the tin roof of the barn, its near deafening and even momentarily painful. In the open its a shock, just kind of caught me by surprise but with no lasting affects.

When hunting we dont wear ear protection. When a bird flushes its a couple of adrenaline filled seconds and we fire! I havent even noticed the shot in those moments. No ringing in our ears, not even temporary.

Auditory exclusion.
 
Re: Ever fire a 12 gauge indoors, without hearing protection

Rossignol said:
My personal experiences;

When target shooting without headphones, its loud. Especially the AR15.
Click to expand...

Now that genuinely surprises me. I figured the 15 wouldn't be such a big deal, at least compared to 12 gauges and/or heavy caliber handguns. I fired M-16, 12 gauge, and 1911s while in the service. Outdoors, the M-16 didn't faze me, but I was definitely younger then. :) There isn't a significant difference between the sound characteristics of the M-16 and AR 15, is there? Take care. Tom Worthington.
 
Re: Ever fire a 12 gauge indoors, without hearing protection

Tom, no. No significant differences between the AR and M16/M4.

We fired from under the tin roof of the barn I mentioned and it was when standing to the side that the we could really feel the presure from the flash hider. A 12 ga. is downright painful under those circumstances too.
 
Re: Ever fire a 12 gauge indoors, without hearing protection

I agree with Rossignol, I have been around alot of SBR and standard length AR15/M-16/M-4's and even with protection, the pressure wave and then the sound blast is bad. Cannot imagine firing in a concrete building or cave. I assume it is the type of powders that are used to boost rifle rounds so fast that causes such a bad pressure wave/sound blast. I thought that SBR's were worse than standard length, but could have been just me.
 
Re: Ever fire a 12 gauge indoors, without hearing protection

I believe that firing a 12ga inside a room, even one shot would certainly cause some degree of permanent hearing loss. It might be a small degree, but probably evident in a hearing test. Also, the noise may only effect a certain hearing range. I used to work sound systems in chuch, and we were at a seminar once that offered hearing tests. I took the test, and found that I had a "notch" in my hearing in one ear. Seems like it was at about 200khz. I was fine above and below that frequency. The audiologist asked me if I had been around firearms noise. He said the gap in my hearing was common for gunshots.

I would also dread letting go of a .40S&W inside the house.

Look at it this way - You might lose some hearing, but you will be alive to know about it.

I've thought about getting a set of those earplugs that have a plastic connector that goes over your head, kind of like the way earphones do - but whether or not I would have the time, or presence of mind to put them on when needed is another question.
 
Re: Ever fire a 12 gauge indoors, without hearing protection

If its me.

My first choice in the house is a shotgun, followed by a handgun back up. Realistically, I dont know i would have time to grab both.

What I dont keep with my firearms is ear protection. Its in my range bag and back packs, but not next to my HD/SD plan.

Like what Cracker mentioned, I would hope to come out on the other side alive, hearing in tact isnt a prerequisite for me.
 
Re: Ever fire a 12 gauge indoors, without hearing protection

I have though about this before but how it would effect my kids hearing. The way my hall is set up all the bedroom doors come out right where I think I would have to shoot so the blast way would go right in to there rooms.
 
Re: Ever fire a 12 gauge indoors, without hearing protection

Five, if it came down to a threat in the house, I'd still take the shot.

My set up is similar.
 
Re: Ever fire a 12 gauge indoors, without hearing protection

Dont get me wrong I will to in a sec I was just thinking about one day when doing some drills around the house and yes there where no kids around in using snap caps.
 
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