Question for Jerry Lester

[cattleskinner]

I just have a quick question for you, or anyone that uses a .357.  I have a gp100, and while growing up using my dad's mod.66 smith, and honestly think that shooting without plugs a few times has contributed a great deal to hearing loss in my left ear.  I know that you are quite a fan of the .357, and now the .32mag, as well as using a 22 mag in your single six.  What is your secret to keeping your hearing?  Do you keep a plug in your ear all the time, not when hunting, or only while at the range?  I really like the cartridge, but the muzzle blast is a killer...thanks for the help.

--Amos

[Graybeard]

NEVER EVER pull the trigger on the range without plugs/muffs or both. In hunting do the best you can. I keep plugs on a string around my neck when hunting and most times have time to get them in but not always. I limit the shooting I do without them tho to ONLY those hunting situations where I just plain don't have the time to get them in. My ears ring full time because I failed to do that a LONG time ago. My hearing is pretty bad these days from it really from ONE DAY of it on a skeet range where I was pulling for a competition and made some bad pulls not being able to hear the shooters. Like a fool I took off my hearing protection to be sure I heard them rather than telling them to call more loudly. That one day cost me dearly on my hearing.

[Jerry Lester]

100% in agreement with GB on this.

Up untill just a few years ago, I never(tough guy syndrome ) wore any protection when shooting any gun. It didn't seem to bother me after the initial ringing settled back down, so I didn't give it much thought. Now I'm limited to about 10-20% hearing in my left ear(doctors estimate), and roughly 50% in my right ear. My left ear also can't hear a very wide range of tones at all no matter what the volume level is. I can still hear certain tones perfectly, but others are completely silent to me. Not only that, but I've lost nearly all my ability to triangulate a sound to locate it. If I hear an animal in the woods, I have to either turn my head till my right ear picks up the direction of the sound or in most cases start scanning with my eyes till I actually see the animal. Also, if I'm in an enviroment with even a little background noise like a resturaunt, or room with a TV, etc. going, everything tends to blend into one solid noise, and I can't pick out the voice of the person talking to me.

It's very aggravating to have somebody talking to you, and not be able to make out the words. I've actually learned to read lips pretty well, and by doing that, and then picking up on bits of there voice, I can carry on a conversation so that most people would never notice anything. One horrible thing that's resulted from it is that I generally sleep on my right side, and that ear is usually tucked in my pillow. That makes it impossible for anybody to holler at me to wake me.

One really weird thing that's resulted from all this, and I've been told I was crazy by several people after telling them this , is that my whole body seems to have become extremely sensitive to vibrations. I can literally "feel" somebody talking loud, or a car coming in the distance. At times, if the vibration is just the right frequency, I can feel it before others around me can hear it. This has been kinda developing over the last several years, and actually seems to be getting more sensitive every year.

I didn't mean to get so lengthy with this reply . Just "ALWAYS" wear protection anytime you're plinking, target shooting, etc. I know it's not always practical in a hunting situation, but any other time, wear it.

[Lloyd Smale]

tell you what i do when im at the range or at a shoot where theres other people around and you need to occasionaly talk. I wear a pair of foam earplugs and put my electronic headphones over them. Then i turn up the volume on the electronics to where i can hear. They will still cut out when someone shoots. I kind of get the best of both worlds that way. I can hear normal conversation and have double protection. I agree with Jerry and graybeard. Theres no excuse for shooting without protection except in the field hunting and then only when absoultely  nessisary. Youll end up like me and having the old lady constantly baggering me about how loud the tv is!!

[OLDHandgunner]

Lost most of my hearing back in the 60's from shooting 1000's of rounds with a 357 Mag with no ear protection. ( It wasn't cool to wear ear protecters back then.) Boy am I paying for it now. DON"T BE A FOOL, BE COOL. I make the grandkids wear ear protection when shooting 22's outdoors or just plinking. They don't like it but I told them they will thank me later on. Now I wear ear plugs & ear muffs together to protect what little hearing I have left.

[CJ]

I try to never fire a shot at a range without ear and eye protection, but dont usually use it hunting. Once after checking targets I sot my M1 Garand and neglected to put the plugs back in. Big Mistake, my club has a metal roof over the benches.  I have shot 12ga, .300winmag, 45/70 down to .223 and .22lr hunting without undue discomfort. Probably still suffered some degree of hearing damage, but the only time I had ringing for a while was in WY when I cut loose a shot from a 4 5/8 inch .357 Blackhawk. Ears were ringing for about 2-3hours. When I started hunting with handguns I invested in Walkers ear muffs. Couldnt imagine shooting the .454 or .44 without protection!

[cattleskinner]

I'm not trying to be ignorant about these things as if I don't have a clue.  Growing up I would go out without muffs alot of the time, and I am paying for it now.  The last audiologist's app. they said that I am deaf as all get out in the high ranges of tones.  I have the same problem that Jerry talked about in that if there is any background noise at all, you can about forget about talking to me unless you are real close, or I can catch you with my right ear.  It isn't so bad if you we were to talk one on one since that is a lower range of sound.  Nowadays I use ear protection almost 100% of the time.  I say almost because there is times I don't when shooting .22 pistols(long rifle, not mags...they get muffs all the time).  I also don't use them when hunting, but the smallest I have used for deer is a 41 mag so it has more of a boom when firing.  I've been thinking of starting to have a set of plugs to put in while hunting if I have the opportunity.  I know that recently I have become a stickler for wearing muffs because of my hearing loss, and I was just wondering if Jerry had bionic ears, or if they were starting to go downhill because of those sharp crackers that he likes to hunt with.  Thanks for all your help guys.

~~Amos

[olywa]

This is an important subject. It's because of this that I have started to move towards lower pressure rounds and loadings almost exclusively. I've been a 44 Mag guy for a long time but I am really loading it down to the mid-ranges these days, and I am thinking about picking up a 45 Colt. Same deal with my 357s, mostly pushing hard casts at 900-1050 now. I'd like to pick up a 32 H&R Blackhawk some time to start working with that round, and I just sold my 14" 223 Contender barrel and picked up a 22 Hornet.

I've gone back to using my Marlin 30-30 more often and my next rifle purchases will be a used 336 in 35 Remington and a 25-35 carbine barrel for my Contender. Big booms are fun but I think I'm enjoying the heck out of my shooting time a lot more these days.

[Dusty Miller]

When I was a foolish young lad I went thru a shooting session with a flatttop Ruger in .357 and my ears rang for at least a week.  That was the last time I pulled that stunt.  I now have tennitis in both ears because of my work envornment even though I use plugs religiously.  Like GB sed, don't do it.