Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Useful-Quieter rifle calibers

.........Without hearing protection, sooner or later and depending on the person, even a 24" tubed 30-30 will have an adverse impact on the hearing. Imo, all a so-called "more quiet" cartridge does, is offer more justification in the shooter`s mind, NOT to wear and get out from wearing any hearing protection at all. In other words, a quieter cartridge equals an "escape" goat.

As I read, it is interesting that most who have lost a small, moderate, or a higher percentage of their hearing due to lack of hearing protection in the field or on the range, mostly happened as a result from firing their longer barreled rifles.

Sometimes, these same folks that complain against shorter tubed rifles as being way too noisy, are in some cases, the same folks who have lost some if not most of their hearing firing longer barreled rifles.

A 30-30 or any 30 caliber that fires a 150 gr bullet at 2600 fps (tops) from a 24" barrel (as a so-called quiet cartridge), is all well and good up to a point without any hearing protection use, "IF" one desires only that level of performance.

However, without fear of any hearing loss, (after many many years my hearing is still 100%), I for one will continue wearing good field hearing protection while on hunts, and continue hunting with my "loud" 16.5" shorty barreled 300 WSM Frontier compact, that`s capable of 3000+ fps MV using a 168 gr VLD.

If some wish to limit or sacrifice ballistic performance by using so-called more "quiet" cartridges and do so without wearing any hearing protection, then that is clearly their choice.

However given a choice, I`d rather wear good hearing protection in the field without sacrificing ballistic performance, handloading up to any desired level.

bigsqueeze: If a person can wear hearing protection with a caliber of loud report and still retain 100% hearing after years of shooting, that is extremely good news to me.

So, what hearing protection do you use. I know there is another thread on this subject, but maybe I missed the comments on your type of results. What I have been using is ear plugs while hunting and ear plugs with ear protectors/muffs(don't know the right word).

When I load sub-sonic for my 16" Contender carbine in 44 Mag, it's pretty sedate. I'm still kicking around the idea of licensing a suppressor for it though. I like low pressure and I like quiet.

As I understand it, the muzzle blast can damage your hearing even if you're wearing hearing protection, and if the blast is excessive, such as from a short barreled pistol in a rifle caliber.

I've lost a good deal of hearing, need hearing aids both ears. There is NO gun that's safe to use without hearing protection. Maybe a CB cap.

I've got silencers on a couple of .22 rifles and a .300 WM, which doesn't suppress it all that much. The .22s are very quiet, but they're not legal in some states. In England, they're common and encouraged, in fact. Strange world.

..............Always have worn good muffs on the range and sometimes do ear plugs at the same time. Have 2 pr of 31 dcbl Peltier muffs for the range and use "Walker Game Ears" for field use.

Fortunately, my hearing has not been affected after all these years. Firing those three cartridges below, definitely requires protection.

Normal population will show a bisymmetrical hearing loss with age increase regardless of the use of hearing protection. Not saying that hearing protection isn't good, it should be used in all segments of daily activity, not limited to shooting. Loss starts with higher frequencies (reason why you can't hear soft femine voices-- like your wife's) any more. Building social awarness that aids are ok just as eyeglasses are is needed. Biggest area of concern these days is kids, and earphones.

What 30-30 ammo/rifle are you getting 2600 FPS in???

That is 300 Savage territory.


Why would someone even consider shooting without hearing protection (other than field use) is beyond me!

............Twice a year for the last 45+ years of shooting, I have gone and had my hearing tested. Every year so far (knock on wood), the results have been the same as far as how faint I can still hear the same frequency tones.

Haven`t been married since 1995, so I don`t have a wife problem when it comes to me not hearing her...

My mistake. I'm trying to talk myself into another rifle. Mine is a 20 inch model 94. Ballistics table for a 24inch 150 gr. rounnd nose is 2480 fps.

.222

I've hunted several times in Scotland. None of us in the U. S. would want to have the United Kingdom's gun laws, but interestingly they allow silencers (called moderators there). Most of the estate rifles and gamekeepers' rifles have them. Last year for the first time I shot one. A .308 felt and sounded like a .22 long rifle. In the United Kingdom, moderators are allowed to address the health issue of hearing loss.

There is another factor (possibly) making smaller calibers desirable. Some years ago I noticed on one hunt, I shot a deer with a 22" .270 running slow burning powder, and I didn't see another deer at the stand for 2 days. Next year at the same stand I used a .300 Savage with 24" barrel, killed a deer one afternoon, then a nice buck the next morning. Coincidence? I don't know.

Yesterday, I killed a doe with a Contender single shot, 23" barrel .30-30 with 36 grains of Varget. 15 minutes later other deer were walking up to the stand.

If you have a chance at multiple deer on a given stand, smaller/quieter calibers MAY be of benefit. It will be fun gathering more data.

The 7.62x39, and the 7mm TC/U are calibers I want to try in the future.

Along those lines, why does anyone need more than a 300 Whisper from most tree stands? Never could figure out what anyone needed a 30-06 for when shooting 150 lb deer at 75 yards? FWIW, Dutch.

I'll echo the 221 Fireball...

Doting pretty heavy on the 7.62x39 in a bolt action right now...

And, agreed on having suppressors taken off the NFA for health/hearing reasons.

How's that little gem treating you?

When you get brave, I'd like to know how turning it into a 22 PPC works....I'm too damn cheap to find out!

It went 3 for 3 this weekend, and I'm going to try some stuff with it this year. Stay tuned.

Would never do a .22PPC. A 6PPC, maybe, but never a .22.

Fine, a SIX.

I know a feller with cases.... (grins)

Interested in this "stuff" you speak of...

I'd vote for the 6PPC in this department. Mine is a 26" TC Encore barrel with 1-10" twist. 55 gr. Ballistic tips at 3500 and 85 gr. BTHP Sierras at 2800 are the top end for most loads, but with some of Seafire's Blue Dot loads and 60 gr. HPs the accuracy is stunning and the report is a little more than a .22 WMR.

A .44-40 from a 26" barrel ought to be about as quiet a deer rifle as you can get, barring suppressors.

A professor at Ball State University was to write a book on how various rifle types affect hearing damage. Some dB data which he sent me, as measured at the shooter's head, was surprising. The .22 LR was still pretty bad for your ears. Sadly, I don't think he ever finished the book, and I haven't heard from him in years.