# Easy On The Ears



## PURVIS (Dec 12, 2012)

i know some of u will have some info on this,i shoot a super black hawk 4 5/8 inch in 44mag when hog hunting (with dogs)when the need ever comes to fire it there will be no time for hearing protection,i read on a post that u can hand load with a type of powder to soften the report.any truth to this?i shoot a doubletap 240 gr swc Keith and its pretty ruff on the ears.any info please.and i know i really should wear hearing protection.


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## fishtail (Dec 12, 2012)

Yes!
I can tell you 2400 ain't the powder to use unless you can stand your sinuses bleeding. 
God it's crisp! But I'm too sorry to change to something else.


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## br6ppc (Dec 12, 2012)

I've had good luck with IMR 4227 and a heavy bullet (300-320 WFNGC) around 1000-1100 fps. This is a subsonic to transonic speed. That helps with quieting the sound down some.


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## Inthegarge (Dec 12, 2012)

Have you thought about ear plugs. My son turned me on to ones used by the military....With them in you can hear fine but when a shot goes off the clip the sound...Made by Earpro


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## ejs1980 (Dec 12, 2012)

*44*

If your going to be shooting fast and close you might try a wadcutter at around 1000 fps.  Or maybe a 44 special load. Anything in the 44 is going to be loud.


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## frankwright (Dec 13, 2012)

http://www.lapolicegear.com/surefir...act-sport-electronic-earmuffs-nrr-22-db-green

Nothing is going to quiet a handgun down enough not to hurt your ears.
I would use a passive or electronic hearing protector like the examples above. There are others and other places to buy the ones above but these are good representations.


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## rosewood (Dec 14, 2012)

frankwright said:


> http://www.lapolicegear.com/surefir...act-sport-electronic-earmuffs-nrr-22-db-green
> 
> Nothing is going to quiet a handgun down enough not to hurt your ears.
> I would use a passive or electronic hearing protector like the examples above. There are others and other places to buy the ones above but these are good representations.



Wait, you mean silencers don't?  I thought you could cut the boom to a quiet "thew" with them, at least they do in the movies. 

A revolver is going to be loud, you get a lot of gas escaping around the cylinder and that comes back to the shooters direction.  A semi-auto or single shot will be quieter since most of the sound goes out the end of the barrel.  Some faster burning powders (non-magnum if you would, something like bullseye) will probably be more quiet, but you will lose velocity, but at close range with a .44, I doubt that will be an issue.  You also have to be more careful using the faster burning powders to not double charge it and blow yourself up.  The magnum powders (h110, 2400, etc) will spill out if you double charge and it will be obvious to the reloader.


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## PURVIS (Dec 14, 2012)

br6ppc said:


> I've had good luck with IMR 4227 and a heavy bullet (300-320 WFNGC) around 1000-1100 fps. This is a subsonic to transonic speed. That helps with quieting the sound down some.



would the ft./lbs. be in the 900# range all the shots are within 15 yds. that heavy bullet should be plenty at that range.if supplyed with the imr 4227 are u set up to load this shell?


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## rosewood (Dec 14, 2012)

A 320gr at 1000fps is 710ft*lbs.  More than plenty to kill any Georgia critters at 15 yards.


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## RipperIII (Dec 17, 2012)

I unloaded quite a few rounds of .40 S&W into a running deer Saturday,...no hearing protection. My ears rang all night, I was thankful that the ringing stopped.

(before someone blast me, the deer was wounded by my rifle, I was trying to finish it off, and did)


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## guesswho (Dec 18, 2012)

Passive ear Pro from surefire works great.  I use it alot.  It is not a good as ear muffs but far better than nothing at all. and you can still hear around you fine.  The amplified muffs may be illegal to hunt with and also make everything in the woods seem bigger.


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## rosewood (Dec 18, 2012)

RipperIII said:


> I unloaded quite a few rounds of .40 S&W into a running deer Saturday,...no hearing protection. My ears rang all night, I was thankful that the ringing stopped.
> 
> (before someone blast me, the deer was wounded by my rifle, I was trying to finish it off, and did)



Wait a minute, the rifle wounded the deer?  I guess all of those anti-gunners are right, it was the gun.


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## Win1917 (Dec 20, 2012)

guesswho said:


> The amplified muffs may be illegal to hunt with and also make everything in the woods seem bigger.



If they're illegal, that's one of the most ridiculous hunting regulations ever.


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## nickE10mm (Jan 8, 2013)

To the OP.... You shoot a short barreled .44 and don't use plugs????  LOL. "Yes" , I recommend protection of some kind  (even when hunting!). The .44 is just too loud even with mild loads. You may already have permanent damage if you've touched off too many .44's!

My favorites are as follows (and I've tried LOTS):

1) Howard Leight Impact Sport muffs. $50-60 - AWESOME even for hunting. Several HUNDRED hour battery life. Auto shut off at 4h. Amazing clarity and perfect attenuation. Fold compact (for muffs, that is). 

2)  Howard Leight banded ear plugs. $6-7 - cheap , light, convenient and even quick to slip on if a deer is approaching. They hang around your neck until needed. 

3)  Surefire Earpro EP3. $10-12 - I've heard they are awesome... Mine should arrive within a few days. They use a patented "filter" that let's you hear normal conversations but automatically attenuate sounds louder than 82 dB. Leave them in constantly (ie, hunting), no batteries, sounds like the perfect solution!

Please. Use something for gods sake


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## Oconostota (Jan 10, 2013)

Doesn't matter what you shoot - if you shoot anything more that .22 short through a bolt action (not semi-auto) rifle, you WILL damage your ears with every single shot - period.  Some types of rounds will damage more, or far more than others.

But, knowing what loud noise does to ears, I always wear ear plugs when using my mower, running my 2-cycle gas weed blower, and always when target shooting.  If I were hunting, I would be wearing those (around $40) electronic earmuffs that instantly cut out sound above a certain decibel rating.  Or at least stuff a cotton ball in each ear canal (this really does wonders, and you can still hear normal sounds quite well, unless your hearing is already diminished).

With no hearing protection, yeah sure, you may or may not ever get any noticeable loss of your hearing.  But, that's not something I really want to gamble with.  To me, few things are as annoying as having to repeat myself to someone every time I speak, simply because that person has an issue with his or her hearing.  I'd rather not become one of them.  Plus, I would find it quite annoying myself to lose any of my senses.  Then again, some folks seem to think the world "revolves around them", and "the world needs to adjust to them".  Hogwash to that - that's a socialism principle.


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