Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Muzzle Blast Sensitive - Which Caliber??

Ear protection is the first thing to do. The electronic devices work well and also have better sound proofing than the tiny piece of 1/4" foam that some muffs have. Wearing both plugs and electroic muffs at the range works well.



A long barrel is really essential. It will increase the expansion ratio and get the blast away from you.



Faster burning powders make a lot of sense. In the .308 Win IMR 3031 is not only super accurate but pleasant to shoot for instance.



Silencers are legal to own! They are also legal to hunt with in my state. One of our club members has one and you can hardly hear any blast. You can hear the bullet going down range and also hear it hit.



I find a 7mm-08 with a 22" barrel and RL 15 very noisy. It's not a good choice.



Finally you can still compete with the .22 LR. I wear ear protection even when shooting match .22 LR out of a long barrel as it helps my concentration. There more .22 LR matches anyway and it's year round unlike big bore.

Whoa. Pretty sure you need some sort of license to own a silenced firearm. There was some discussion about this a while back on the rimfire board.

Yes you need a liscense for silencers and they can be a real pain to get not to mention extensive. However another idea along those same lines. There is/was a company out of Utah, called American safe arms I believe, who have a muzzle break venting into a sleeve around the barrel. When they first started making them they got in trouble with the ATF 'cause it worked not only as a break but as a kind if silencer. However after some legal work they compromised and last I heard their breaks will drop blast about 4 or 5 decibles. Which definitely enough to notice. However the contact info I have dosent work anymor so I am not sure what is going on.

PSE, I wasnt going to add anything as most of the bases have been more than covered here. EXCEPT that wearing hearing protection while shooting the .22LR should be always worn. I know it doesnt hurt to shoot the .22, BUT it probably does as much if not more damage than your magnum, not due to the high decibel (db) level but more to the higher pitch of this round. Not to mention the fact that it doesnt hurt so we tend not to wear protection. Here are two interesting links I found on shooting & hearing loss. I hope everyone checks these out! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> http://www.ata.org/members_only/pdf/gunfire_noise.pdf

http://www.freehearingtest.com/hia_gunfirenoise.shtml

The first link shows & explains how & why unprotected shooting hurts us. The second has an interesting table that shows the Db levels of many different calibers.
Enjoy
Mark Tabor, PA-C
Physician Assistant - Certified.

Hi,
PSE: you say that you are getting sensitive, but that you have used hearing protection when competing....was it insufficient, or was it overpowered by the sheer number of shots?
BTW does anyone know how bad a shotgun blast is? I find the boom not to be that bad, and even cheap plugs cut out a lot more of the blast that a rifle's sharp crack.

Bog, did you look at the links I posted? They list Db levels for shotguns, rifles & pistoles <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for those links, MarkT. I have seen a copy of a page or two from Kramer before, but I was not able to locate a copy of the original paper. As with the last time I saw it, I am a bit suspicious of the data presented.

I can't see a 20 ga. shotgun being noisier than a 12 ga. of the same length barrel. The 20 ga. uses less powder. It may be, though, that these dB ratings are frequency weighted. The 20 ga. would likely have more higher frequency content.

I also have to wonder about his claim that a 20" 7 RM is quieter than a 24" .30-06. The 7 has a bigger case, a lower expansion ratio, a smaller bore (higher pitch), and a higher working pressure limit. This just doesn't make sense!

dingus, by suggesting the .44 Mag, I was not suggesting PSE go try a revolver. I meant a long barrel rifle in this cartridge. I have to believe that for work under 100 yd, this would be one of the quieter rounds PSE might use for big game.

Karl

2525, think of it this way: the 20 uses slower powder, which should increase the pressure all the way to the muzzle.



As far as your original question, I think the bigger the barrel diameter, the smaller the charge, the faster the powder, and the longer the barrel, the better off you would be.



The suggestion of a 44 mag rifle might just be "perfect", or, if you would like a little more power, the 35Rem. Great deer round.



For moose, I would consider the 358, or 35Whelen.



From personal experience, my 7mag rings my ears, my Whelen does not. HTH, Dutch.



Edit: just thought of the "perfect" chambering: the 375Win.

PSE
I'll have some data here in a few days that may help you make your decision........some loads have a secondary spike in pressure that is higher than the initial pressure......yes, bullets leaving the barrel at 50,000psi.......in calibers that you would not think....
Charlie

Thanks to all who are helping in my decision to get a quieter rifle. Thank you Mark T for those links. I am now communicating with Dr. Kramer via e-mail and he has been kind enough to give me some good advice with regards to hunting and shooting. Charlie Sisk - Thank you as well -I am eagerly waiting for your information. In reply to Bog - I have worn good quality hearing protection (top of the line Peltor muffs) most of my shooting career but perhaps it wasn't enough or maybe I'm more predisposed than most to tinnitus - I just don't know. I've run and RO'd many matches and been exposed to hundreds of thousands of shots but always wore hearing protection so I don't know the answer as to why I've developed hearing loss and tinnitus. I know I have to live with it and not do things that will make it worse but I love to hunt and shoot and it would be a great loss to have to give it up. I've been depressed about it for a while now but I think I'm going to try to hunt with a quieter rifle and take up .22 pistol or rifle competition and see how it goes this year. I guess what I really regret is not seeing my friends out at the range anymore. Unfortunately it would make me too miserable just to go out and watch and not compete so I"m not going out at all.