Hunting with a muzzle brake, ear protection

[kbrezlin]

I use hearing protection 100% of the time, now. I mostly just hunt white tails so when I'm set up in a box blind I use regular earplugs and just keeep them in the entire time. Don't really need to hear them coming so it doesn't matter. This year for turkey season I used the Soundgear plugs and they worked perfect. If I gun hunt from a tree the soundgear would be my go to. Wore them all day with no issues. Last year was my sons first year and he has been using the electronic muffs from the start so he knows no different.

I grew up waterfowl hunting and we never used anything. I wonder how many thousands of rounds went off with no hearing protection that is now responsible for tinnitus and degraded hearing in my right ear.

 

[P7M13]

I cannot get a consistent cheek weld with electronic muffs. I wear Peltor EP100s now.
Do yourself a favor, wear hearing protection. From years of shooting, rock concerts, and industrial noise, I have 25% hearing loss and a constant tinnitus screeeeeee in my head, 24/7.
If you're the shooter, you are in the quietest zone of your rifle and MB report. If you're an unlucky bystander in the worst place, where you might receive as much as 180dB sound, one blast will induce permanent hearing damage.

 

[26Reload]

"Personally I don't understand why you guys feel that a brake makes the muzzle blast worse for the shooter".....seriously...

Normal sound of rifle firing is directed straight away from muzzle...
a radious brake is basically straight out at a 90 degree to muzzle...
A hard brake is directed to the sides and back....
How can you say the noise isn't bad.....

 

[rammac]

"Personally I don't understand why you guys feel that a brake makes the muzzle blast worse for the shooter".....seriously...

Normal sound of rifle firing is directed straight away from muzzle...
a radious brake is basically straight out at a 90 degree to muzzle...
A hard brake is directed to the sides and back....
How can you say the noise isn't bad.....

I can easily say that the noise isn't bad because I wear hearing protection, with or without a brake, I literally don't understand why people complain about the noise because I don't hear it.

I understand how a brake is designed, I've actually built a few, that's why I can't understand the negative comments...until I read an article about sound testing brakes. This conversation made me do some searching for information about actual sound levels and from what I've read I can see why you would complain about a brake if you weren't wearing hearing protection. Just about everything that I shoot has a brake and I do a lot of shooting. And yes, all of my hunting rifles have brakes and all are. 30 caliber.

But I still don't understand why you'd complain if you were wearing hearing protection unless you were using very poor sound suppression equipment. I learned to wear hearing protection early in my shooting experience but I progressed from cheap foam plugs to the expensive ear buds that I now use. If you want optimal sound protection then double up with ear buds and muffs.

 

[Laelkhunter]

I use the Walker's Quad Razor rear muffs. The Razors are thin enough so they don't interfere with my cheek weld, and they have quad speakers so I can tell which way the sound (Elk bugle) is coming from. I wear them the entire time I am hunting, and they enhance the sound so good, I can hear my guide whispering to me. I couldn't hear him before (due to hearing loss) but the ear muffs really help. Ear plugs did work at one time, but they blocked out everything.

edited to add: MidwayUSA has them for $75 pn 749111 in camo, or $85 pn 939578 in black. They can occasionally be found on camofire.com for around $50 Forgot to mention they are bluetooth capable also

 

[rammac]

So from re-reading the posts here I guess that I've missed the concept that you guys must not be wearing hearing protection and that's why I can't understand your problem, for me it's a given that you always wear hearing protection. When I'm just shooting on the range I always wear hearing protection, while hunting I used to carry hearing protection and put it on just before the shot, if I had to pass on a shot because of not having time to put on my hearing protection then I passed on it, it's not like anybody would die if I didn't take the shot, my hearing was more important than shooting an animal.

But over the years I finally found what I consider to be the best hearing protection made.

The Otto NoizeBarrier High Definition earbuds.

Hands down these are the most versatile, best functioning, easiest to use sound protection devices I've ever worked with. They are very expensive ($300 to $400 depending on where you buy them) but they are well worth the money.

They respond so quickly to loud noises that you can have a normal conversation while the noise is going on without missing any of the words spoken by the other person. They come in a box that has a rechargeable battery which allows you to recharge the earbuds while they are stored away. I typically wear mine for 8 hours or more at a time doing everything from mowing the lawn, to shooting at the range, to hunting, to logging and when I take them out the power display usually tells me that I have at least 30% of the power charge left on the earbuds. The box will recharge the earbuds many times, if I were to use mine for 8 hours a day every day then I'd be able to use the recharging system in the box for at least a week before I'd have to recharge the box itself.

 

[TexasSportsman]

I wear hearing protection all when shooting/hunting. Electronic ear plugs have been available for years that seamlessly respond to the sharp muzzle blast. With them you can hear normal conversation but will muffle the muzzle blast.

I wear hearing protection while using the lawn mower and weed whacker and I always wear them when at the gun range and when hunting.

 

[Rich Coyle]

For you guys that hunt with brakes, I assume you use ear protection. I was thinking that it would be no issue when you have time to set up and range a long shot to slip on a set of ear muffs. What about if something pops out at 200 yards and you have to make a quick shot?

Any advice? I am thinking about hunting with my 300 WM this year but it has a brake on it. I'm already a bit hard of hearing and don't want to make it worse.

Thanks.

I did not read passed your question. I don't understand why anyone would not put on electronic hearing protection when they leave the rig and take it off when they return; especially if they are hard of hearing. Why damage your hearing further with even one shot whether you use a brake or not.

You no longer use a spear so take advantage of modern protection just like you do with your firearm.

 

[FEENIX]

FYSA, hearing PPE on sale at https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/sale?page=5

 

[Scott E Ames]

Etymotic ear plugs work well and they have a stem on them that makes them fast and easy to insert. Get the ones with the lanyard and clip them to the button hole at the top (the one we never use) of your hunting shirt. No problems with cheek weld interference. Inexpensive and I keep a pair in the rifle stock of all of my rifles. As others have very correctly said once you lose it it won't come back. For max protection the Howard Leights fit over them easily.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VQO7SR2/?tag=lrhmag19-20

 

[ndking1126]

I wear reasonably priced Redhead earmuffs at the range and hunting. I know it wouldn't work in every situation, but I just put them on my head above my ears while waiting. When the time comes to shoot at the animal, just slip them down. Key here is that these ear muffs are very comfortable and dont put much pressure on my head and still are 28NRR. I have another pair that start to bother me after about 10 minutes... they don't get much use, haha.

 

[FEENIX]

I typically wear mine for 8 hours or more at a time doing everything from mowing the lawn, to shooting at the range, to hunting, to logging

Good on you .. keep it up. You're one of the few I know that does. Most worry about hunting or range time but nothing else. I too wear hearing protection (as well as eye protection, gloves, and shoes) when mowing and other noise generating power tools. I did aircraft flightline maintenance for 10 years working on F-4s and A-10s with 120+ dBs for 10-12 hours and taking care of my hearing is one of the best things I have ever done and I kept the good habit since 1996. Most of the guys I knew had hearing loss but I was one of the lucky ones. Cheers!

Ed

 

[KurtB]

This article discusses hearing loss from using brakes even with hearing protection. To each their own. I'll stick with non-braked rifles after having a few with brakes over the years.

Don’t Go Deaf — Understand Risks of Concussive Hearing Loss « Daily Bulletin

Did you know you can damage your hearing even if you are wearing the best hearing protection available? Well, have you ever heard of concussion (or concussive) hearing loss? There is no amount of anything you can put in or over your ears to protect you from concussion loss.

bulletin.accurateshooter.com

Article is worth a read in my opinion.

 

[Mrvmax]

I've lost too much hearing over the years and I have tinnitus. I never shoot without hearing protection unless I'm using my suppressor. If not I put my ear plugs in before firing, trust me, it's not worth the hearing loss you will eventually have to shoot without protection.