TargetTalk

Is it ok to use ear plugs on air rifle shooting?
Is there any disadvantage that a beginner (me) uses ear plugs for air rifle shooting?
I am using them right now and I feel very confident using them, they help me concentrate a lot, just wanted to know your opinion on this subject.

Thanks in advance for any comments.

It is not merely "okay" to wear hearing protection, it is necessary. Hearing damage is instantaneous, cummulative and permanent and it begins at about 85 db, a level easily exceeded by an airgun in a small room with reflective walls, e.g., a basement. This is why the NRA, USAS and all the major manufacturers (Steyr, Baikal, Gammo, etc.) all advise hearing protection when shooting an airgun.

The matter is so well settled that the only word that comes to mind when I see airgunners shooting without hearing protection is "stupid."

Though I generally wear hearing protection air rifle shooting to minimize distractions, if I'm alone on a range I don't. I coached a shooter from Trinity College in Dublin this summer and he does not wear hearing protection with a .22 normally either. Most of the shooters on his squad do not wear protection on air or .22.
That being said, I feel it is a good idea to wear plugs if you are on a smaller range with poor sound isolation. However if the range is well set up with good sound insulation and I'm alone or with one or two other air shooters then I don't see a need for ear plugs. An air rifle is a bit quieter than an air pistol, plus the muzzle of the pistol is closer to your ears so that would have to be taken into account.
The CMP rules state that wearing eye and ear protection is urged.
ISSF rules state eye and ear protection must be made available, but again use is urged, not mandatory.
Different ranges do have local rules, but national and international rules do not mandate it.
Use your own discretion, but if you like using them please continue, they contribute to concentration and will protect you in the long run.

Different measured sound pressure levels for comparison:

An Arrow T50 heavy duty stapler into a piece of wood. 97 decibels

A Swingline light duty stapler into a piece of wood 93 decibels

A battery powered 1/2" drill 71 decibels

Closing the door on my Ford Explorer (not slammed) 85 decibels

Empty soda can hitting a cement floor from shoulder height 86 decibels

Opening a full soda can 85 decibels

The sound of a doorbell 71 decibels


Air Rifles Decibels

R7 (.177) 88
RWS 46 (.177) 89
RWS 36 (.22) 90
R11 (.177) 90
HW97 (.177) 90
Kodiak (.25) 91
TX200 MkIV (.177) 90
R1 (.20) 91
RX-1 (.177) 91
R9 (.177) 91
Kodiak (.22) 92
R1 (.177) 92
RWS 34 (.177) 93
RWS 48 (.22) 93
Pro Elite (.177) 94
RX-1 (.20) 94


Decibel Exposure Time Guidelines

Accepted standards for recommended permissible exposure time for continuous time weighted average noise, according to NIOSH and CDC, 2002. For every 3 dBs over 85dB, the permissible exposure time before possible damage can occur is cut in half.

Continuous dB
Permissible Exposure Time

85 db
8 hours

88 dB
4 hours

91 db
2 hours

94 db
1 hour

97 db
30 minutes

100 db
15 minutes

103 db
7.5 minutes

106 dB
3.75 min (< 4min)

109 dB
1.875 min (< 2min)

112 dB
.9375 min (~1 min)

115 dB
.46875 min (~30 sec)

n1heu wrote:I coached a shooter from Trinity College in Dublin this summer and he does not wear hearing protection with a .22 normally either. Most of the shooters on his squad do not wear protection on air or .22.

(With apologies to Verizon :) Can you hear me now? ... (Louder) CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? ... (Louder still) CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW???

Young people always think they're invulnerable.

.22 rifle with subsonic ammo is pretty quiet outside. Indoors on a large range it's pretty quiet too. I find the noise distracting so I use ear muffs. I insist on eye and ear protection on my home range when coaching juniors with .22's. Air rifles are shot alongside the juniors with 22's so it is a non-issue as everyone is wearing plugs and glasses. But again, it depends on the range and how much distraction you are willing to live with regard to air shooting.

As someone who is suffering from shooting related tinnatus, I would URGE anyone using a .22 to wear hearing protection indoors AND outdoors - preferably ear defenders.
I have been using earplugs for the last 9 years and I'm still going deaf.
A constant tone at about 3.8kHz mainly in the left ear.

Do I wish I'd been better protected? Hell, yes.
Beware.

ummm i know he's probley on this sight too but im just gonna jump ahead and say

READ THIS
http://www.gunsnot.com/JP%20File/OTFL%2 ... etails.htm

RifleNicky
Thanks for sharing that great link.
I had experimented both situations listed, so I can support the author statement.
I can FEEL the difference when using ear plugs and the big aperture, and that is represented on the shots.

Keep it coming.

Hi Booker,

Glad you liked the article. Our TT host has the series on his site at:

http://www.pilkguns.com/jpindx.shtml

There are now 6 more installments in the series that I am overdue in sending to be posted.

I agree with Nicole Hamilton - any exposure is not wise from a safety point of view. We shooters tend to shoot a lot - and that is a lot of exposure and can easily result in long term damage, even when the sound isn't loud enough to cause instant pain.

Besides, the quiet helps the focus and thus the shooting. Those who shoot without protection should wear it to aid their shooting, even if they are so "macho" they think they don't "need" it. Even with free pistol (closed breach and outdoors) I wear custom molded ear plugs and a good set of muffs (so I am "double plugged") since I like the quiet and notice it aids my focus. When coaching air rifle shooters, I still often wear electronic ear muffs when I am going to be up close so that I have protection yet can converse with the athlete.

"Feel Center!"

JP

Many of the older shooters I've met are deaf. Not just because they're old. Some were deaf before being "old". They've had hearing tests. Oddly enough, their hearing is worst at around the pitch of gunshots. That is because of not wearing hearing protection while shooting.

You've a choice: either wear hearing protection, or don't wear hearing protection.

If you wear it then you're:
1) protecting against hearing loss (which may or may not happen depending on your belief system)
2) helping your concentration by muffling distrations
3) setting others a good example
4) not learning to cope with distractions as much

If you don't wear it then you're:
1) probably going to have hearing problems in a few years
2) hearing every details of what's going on around you and the range, probably including a joke that'll have you in stitches and unable to shoot, or crowd noises when you're shooting well in a match and people have noticed and crowded around to watch
3) encouraging others to damage their hearing too (you irresponsible inconsiderate person)
...
but I can't think of anything good that might come from not wearing hearing protection.

Personally I like ear defenders because they keep my ears warm when shooting outside in the winter.

Nicole Hamilton wrote:

n1heu wrote:I coached a shooter from Trinity College in Dublin this summer and he does not wear hearing protection with a .22 normally either. Most of the shooters on his squad do not wear protection on air or .22.

(With apologies to Verizon :) Can you hear me now? ... (Louder) CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? ... (Louder still) CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW???

Young people always think they're invulnerable.

I'm a long way from young.

Anyway, let me clarify my position here. The original question was about shooting an air rifle with hearing protection. I personally don't see a need to wear plugs when shooting air arms alone on a range unless it is an echo chamber. Ear plugs and headphones give me a headache within 5 minutes of putting them on.
I do not condone shooting any type of powder arms without eye and ear protection. Others I know feel different and I brought that to light. I've watched many outdoor smallbore matches without hearing protection. I contend that outdoor smallbore shooting is not loud, and yes my ears test fine.
I've met many people with hearing loss associated with shooting powder arms. I have not yet met a shooter with hearing loss that shot exclusively air arms. The numbers on the sound pressure measurements would show that air arms are about as quiet as opening a can of soda. Do we don ear plugs when we open a Killian's Red?
A match with 25 AR competitors is a different matter. The distraction alone is worth blocking out the noise. Not to mention the increased sound pressure of more firing.
Just my 2c .
Not necessarily that of the management.

Mr. C.M. Bereznoff and I have attended medical training and received diplomas for same. During this training we attended the chamber and the instructional requirement to experience the effects of hypoxia.

Mr. C.M. Bereznoff responses in justification of his position failed to generate any thing about shooting or shooting technique. The pros and con data base is extensive and we could debate this subject for years but to no avail. At least until Mr. C.M. Bereznoff started using valid shooting responses for same. And, to also be blocked from Target Talk is also a violation of freedom of speech. You both over stepped your authorities. I said nothing to justify removal or to be censored for on either list or board.

My question then is why was, I and my post removed from the UIT list and why is my postings being impeded or censored from immediate posting and responses. My posting on Hypoxia is correct and according to medical practice and knowledge. Mr. Bereznoff may not agree but that is his privilege and I will agree with him if and only if he can present any findings that related directly to shooting. Mr. Bereznoff couldn't provide any. By the way the medical community has found and has posted in the medical journals that the brain cells do not regenerate and once gone are gone for ever.

Seems that maybe I am being violated or at least my civil rights to freedom to express my self in any manner I desire. The right to free speech is still on the book is it not? Why have you and pilkguns violated my rights?

Chet Skinner, Coach

Seeing as I'm the last post here before this remark, I'll field an answer. You, sir, have misconstrued the US Constitution.
The First Amendment states:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
Mister Pilkington is not the United States Government is he?
Nobody from the US Government removed your remarks did they?
I personally detest when people passing themselves off as educated Americans do not know the most elementary things about how this country is supposed to be governed.
You want to whine? Start your own website with your own money and spout all the drivel you care to.
No one from the Government will stop you, I promise.
You can start your own religion or newspaper.
You can petition your government for redress and peaceably assemble in protest, no one from the government may stop you.
But here on this site you have no cause of action or standing for complaint.
You must have been schooled by chimps to think that the Constitution protects your right to puke mindless trash on the internet.
Get over it and move along.
I hope you get to read this before the SYSOP removes it.
And if he does, good for him.
It's his right.

n1heu wrote:I coached a shooter from Trinity College in Dublin this summer and he does not wear hearing protection with a .22 normally either. Most of the shooters on his squad do not wear protection on air or .22.

:D *cough*horsehockey*cough* :D
Most of the shooters on his squad get told repeatedly (by me!) to wear hearing protection for air rifle and .22 rifle because the TCD range is an echo chamber. After the first shot with a .22 in there that they forgot the plugs for, they don't forget again - it's physically painful to make that mistake :D

And to be fair, our mutual friend wears earplugs all the time in TCD for .22 and is quite strict about ensuring that the squad do the same. But with the air rifle especially, people don't take all the precautions they ought to, all the time. I have, however, a cunning plan involving a rolled-up newspaper... ;)

Riflier wrote:Chet Skinner, Coach

For pity's sake, do we have to have this crap all over here as well as the UIT list? I had to unsubscribe from that in the end, it got so bad. I'd rather not lose here to this ignorant dross as well.

Ok, then I withdraw my comment on our Irish friend, he told me that no one wears plugs where he shoots when I asked if he had hearing protection. I insist on juniors shooters wearing them on our range as well as glasses. Adults are required by range rule to do so also. Adults are not required to wear either plugs or glasses on some ranges we shoot at when shooting smallbore matches. I wear both always. Everyone wears hearing protection with smallbore that I know when shooting.
Our club also host's air pistol matches. Hearing protection is not required and some shooters don't use them. I always do during matches, but shooting alone on a range I do not.
Tell our friend hello when you see him. I hope he shoots well this season and that the summer was adequate training for his needs.

Cool word. I like it and will use again. I generally do not respond to such mindlessness as set forth by the esteemed coach. I had to respond as the Bill of Rights was refered to in a grossly incorrect manner and I could not abide it. Certain things just cannot be ignored and I for one will not sit idly by while an ignoramus spouts off about his 'rights' being violated. It makes me physically ill.
Sorry if anyone is offended by my comments except the intended recipient.





I like the rolled up newspaper idea. Food for thought.

n1heu wrote:Cool word. I like it and will use again.

Well, when a word fits the purpose so well...

I generally do not respond to such mindlessness as set forth by the esteemed coach.

As I've learnt the hard way as well :(

Sorry if anyone is offended by my comments except the intended recipient.

I know I certainly wasn't, it was the original dross that offended!

I like the rolled up newspaper idea. Food for thought.

We actually used that as a cure for trigger mortis over here. Stand behind the shooter as they shoot, and if they really overhold, bat them across the back of the noggin with the newspaper. Not too often (as you don't want to train in a flinch) and not hard (they are armed, after all :D ), but enough to let them know from outside to break concentration, put it down and do it over.
As a treatment for extreme cases, it worked fairly well...

Our mutual friend, by the way, is going from strength to strength and I think his time in the states did him a power of good.

He spent a good deal of time training with one of my friends. He is a rifle coach for a Boston university and a very fine international pistol shooter. I think the time abroad suited him.
You have to worry about a someone that listens to Monty Python on an Ipod however. :)