How loud are brakes, to the shooter, in a hunting situation, in the woods?

[Bigeclipse]

As the title states, how loud are muzzle brakes, to the shooter, when shooting in the woods? The reason I ask is I have been contemplating putting a brake on a lighter weight 7mm08 rifle so my wife can see her impacts while shooting long distances but still be able to use the same rifle out of a tree stand in the woods hunting deer. Can you get away with one shot on a deer and not hurt your hearing? She does not want to hunt with hearing protection on as there could be times a deer comes up from behind at close range and she would want to be able to hear that deer coming. she does not like the idea of spending huge sums of money for those small earplugs with speakers either. Thanks!

 

[257Tony]

I've shot lots of animals with brake equipped rifles, and I can hear just fine! WHATS THAT HONEY???? QUIT MUMBLING I CANT HEAR YOU!

Seriously tho, you never hear the first shot, but the damage is being done regardless.

 

[Bigeclipse]

I've shot lots of animals with brake equipped rifles, and I can hear just fine! WHATS THAT HONEY???? QUIT MUMBLING I CANT HEAR YOU!

Seriously tho, you never hear the first shot, but the damage is being done regardless.

Thanks...if there is possibility of hearing loss then it will be a no-go! thanks again!

 

[Schnyd112]

Almost a certainty from a braked rifle and no hearing protection. Talking 160+ decibels which is immediate damage to unprotected ears. damage to your ears is degenerative meaning it only gets worse.

 

[Plinker147]

They are loud hearing protection is a must.

Even without a brake, you don't notice in a hunting situation but you damage your ears without protection.

 

[Bravo 4]

It's been discussed here recently, but I wear amplified ear muffs while hunting. It has actually helped me hear deer behind me that otherwise would have possibly made it by without me knowing. It is however annoying when there are squires around. I need to take my .22 out there and murder about 15 of those suckers.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I can tell you this much... Don't try to shoot them inside of a shooting house like you're a sniper in a hide...You can possibly blow your eardrums. And if it doesn't, you've still done permanent damage to your hearing. Don't ask me how I know...

All the years of shooting without plugs have also given me pretty bad tinnitus... Out in the woods I can hear some VERY faint and far away sounds, that buddies who have much better hearing cannot hear. But sometimes when there's a lot of ambient noise, I can't even hear when someone says something right next to me.

 

[horse killer]

Damage to hearing will happen even with out a break . If you want to shoot at the range or practicing on rocks put a break on and use ear protection. Have a thread protector made remove the break and put in on check zero and go hunt.

 

[adam32]

Hitting a hammer on a piece of steel will damage your hearing...it's up to the person if they are willing to take the risk.

I do both muffs and no muffs, just depends on the situation.

 

[Rich Coyle]

Bigeclipse,

There is no way I will fire a firearm that does not have a can on it without ear protection. When hunting I use electronic ear muffs. At the range I use ear plugs and the muffs. You and your wife need hearing protection whether you use a brake or not.

 

[Bravo 4]

I can tell you this much... Don't try to shoot them inside of a shooting house like you're a sniper in a hide...You can possibly blow your eardrums. And if it doesn't, you've still done permanent damage to your hearing. Don't ask me how I know...

Ha ha ha! That's when/where/why I started to use electronic muffs.
Try being in an enclosure with a Barrett going off, even with double hearing protection.

And playing off yours and Rich's posts; in an enclosure even a suppressed weapon calls for hearing protection with supersonic ammo.

 

[Bigeclipse]

Bigeclipse,

There is no way I will fire a firearm that does not have a can on it without ear protection. When hunting I use electronic ear muffs. At the range I use ear plugs and the muffs. You and your wife need hearing protection whether you use a brake or not.

I read a long article by a doctor who did a study on this which showed that while high powered rifles hit very high decibels 150+ the sound out of a nonbraked rifle is projected forward and that the noise coming back towards the shooter is back in the range where a one time event does not cause any permanent damage. Long term repeated exposure certainly would so while they still recommended hearing protection, it would not cause any permenant damage on a one shot shooting situation where the sound was not being echoed back to the shooter such as out of a blind, structure, or next to a wall. I will try to find the article.

As an FYI we wear protection at all times minus when we are hunting. If we are hunting together, then we wear protection but when by ourselves and far apart we do not and also we are wearing very thick winter hats which while certainly not considered earplugs, definitely reduce the sound

 

[Schnyd112]

Precision rifle blog did a good series on muzzle brakes. In one article they tested noise output from several positions relative to the rifle. I don't remember the numbers, but the shooter was not out of harms way. I want to say it was around 160 dba but I just don't remember.

 

[bassrods]

Thanks...if there is possibility of hearing loss then it will be a no-go! thanks again!

I use a brake but I have ear plugs that I put in before I shoot, and I will not shoot with out my brake on my hunting rifle and ear plugs..