How bad is it?
Let’s say you bounce out of bed in response to a disturbance in your home. You grab your AR and confront someone and actually fire.
What happens to your ears?
What happens if you have a muzzle break?
Just firing mine with a muzzle break outside without hearing protection was bad enough. Has anyone ever fired inside without hearing protection?
It’s going to be bad. But I run an 11.5 unsuppressed for HD. I’ll save my life and have ears ringing for a day any time. If it comes to the point where I have to fire an M4 in my house, a little ear ringing is WAY down on the priority list.
I fired my suppressed AR in an abandoned mobile home once. And that was like shooting a 9mm with no ears on out in the open.
It is bad. I have shot a lot indoors and with hearing protection unsuppressed will rattle your teeth. That being said I would not hesitate to do it to save my and my family’s lives.
This is where, with the right ammo, the subsonic 300blk with a can shines.
I’m more concerned about my family being unable to communicate with me and each other after the first round goes off.
Its not going to be as bad as the intruder killing you. In the moment with the adrenalin you will work through it.
With a muzzle brake it will like a flash bang. With a flash hider it will just be a bang and concussion. Shooting a rifle inside is seriously no joke, you feel it.
You hearing may be diminished but you won’t be deaf long term, in the moment maybe. keep in mind others like kids and a wife in the house, rooms away with open doors it will be very loud for them too, they will also get hearing damage.
Personally for hearing reasons heavy 9mm ammo is the best for indoors HD. Longer the barrel the better. Obviously for dropping some one fast 5.56 is ideal, but there are other tactical considerations. Lets say you have a wife and kid, you’ve dropped the intruder. You don’t know if there are more but you want to evacuate your family. Communication is going to be key here as you gather, extract and cover your family. I’d rather do it after clapping of some 9mm, not a 5.56. Personally I have a Glock 34 with a surefire x300 and 147gr. GD ammo, good HD ammo is also low flash.
Silencers are ideal, but not available in all states.
ETA: I have never shot a rifle inside with out ear pro. I have shot inside, and inside cars with a rifle and ear pro plenty though. I have shot a 9mm inside with not earpro, it was ‘stunningly’ loud and certainly left your ears badly ringing. I still had decent hearing after though, despite the ringing. Outside of saving my life I would not ever want to shoot a rifle inside without ear pro.
a house with carpet, beds, furniture and sheetrock walls will help reduce the sound shockwave to some degree. I accidently discharged my M4 in my room, it wasn’t that bad but it did scare me.
I shot a suppressed M4 in an empty warehouse, it sounded like a top fuel dragster.
This is a much better written summary of my philosophy.
That sonic crack captured by walls is pretty loud.
It’s terrible. Even suppressed.
It’s so bad.
Worth it if you save your own life though.
Sucks big time and only takes once to cause damage. But if in a “real” situation, you’re not even aware of it til it’s over. At least that’s my experience. I have severe Tinnitus which may / may not have been caused by firearms. Had it forever. Last year a deputy buddy of mine woke up with it, still has it, and drives him crazy.
I’ve never shot inside without ear pro, but I’ve shot rifles inside with ear pro on plenty of times and even that can be rough. My go to gun is an 11.5" shorty that usually has a Sandman K on it. It’s not a full-sized can but every little bit will help inside. In the end I wouldn’t hesitate to use an unsuppressed rifle inside without ear pro simply because it’s loud.
Shot a Colt 6920 with Wolf gold 223 in what would be a basement. Concrete floors, 3 concrete block walls on 3 sides with drywall on the 4th side, typical plywood floor above. Didn’t hurt but a lot of ringing for a few minutes followed by this feeling of like you’re listing through water and head feels kinda weird like pressure. Actually overall between the sounds and the pressure it’s like you’re all the way on the bottom of the deep end of the pool
Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
It sucks, I did it one time by accident.
16" 5.56 with a Vortex FH, feels like somebody punched you right in the eardrum and it rings for days.
But in a life or death situation and not a stupid mistake, I would do it again no problem.
It beats the alternative.
Yeah, it sucks. But how do you think soldiers from the advent of gunpowder through Desert storm delt with it?
Did they fall down into blabbering piles of goo because of the concussion and overpower blast that will rattle you to your bones?
No, the suffered hearing loss but somehow managed to survive…
Auditory exclusion is real. I’ve never worn ear pro during a gunfight and was still able to communicate during every one. Last one was a month ago and I barely remember the gunshots and could hear my partner breathing behind me right after. That however was outside.
It’ll bring THE SUCK. But I’m gonna make it suck a LOT more, for the miscreant that broke into a house with 4 Autistic children, when I’m their only protection. :mad:
Any unsuppressed gunshot indoors without ear pro will cause instant long term hearing damage.
Instant hearing damage starts at 140 db. An rifle going off is ~165 db.
So the solution is a 9mm Carbine?
I had an ND with an SKS indoors many years ago. It was a loud “pop” and my ears rang for a few hours, but I don’t think it led to significant long-term hearing damage.
I really wish there were an SME on this subject. It comes up often enough and there’s usually a ton of speculation about it.
So, one day I’m working with a shooter on the line and another shooter to my left fired a late round - I was slightly behind the muzzle and four foot to the side. Instant threshold hearing shift that never recovered. Resulted in my first hearing aide.
You can not guarantee no permanent damage.
BLUF: Better to be deaf than dead. OP, get a suppressor. If you cant get a suppressor get rid of the brake and get a flash can/krinkov device.
It is very real, but the more you grow used to the high stress events, the less it occurs. The same goes for tunnel vision, which is certainly a more well known outcome of high stress levels. In addition, persons involved in high stress events may find time slows down, in some cases both involved parties appear to move slowly, in other cases your body is processing the information so quickly that you are moving at regular speed while the bad guy appears to be moving slowly. Loss of fine motor skills is another well known one, and highly increased visual acuity over comes into play (victim notices everything about a bad guys weapon etc). Variable amnesia is not uncommon either, with events revealing themselves some times moments later, sometimes days later, and sometimes never.
One of the important things to remember is that high stress levels hit us physically in different ways. A guy involved in a lot of shootings may be cool as a cucumber and not experience much if any of the above. However, an IED blowing limbs off a child that looks like his back home may put that same guy into overload.
As good trainers it is important we inoculate our students with high stress events, and equally important we do it in ways tailored to the individual. I teach a class on this stuff and find it exceedingly important. All to often these classes are taught by departmental buffoons or NCOs who are just filling a slot to get out of regular duties. Teaching the classes should be based on understanding of the subject matter, and the ability to impart it to others.
Sorry the above is so short, but to go into any form of legitimate detail would fill a huge amount of space that most people wouldn’t read.