• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades
  • Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.

    We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.

    Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103

Hearing Protection?

Shop deals on ebay
the hawken shop
L & R
Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Smokey Plainsman

Smokey Plainsman

50 Cal.
MLF Supporter
Joined
Jul 26, 2014
Messages
4,602
Reaction score
4,684
Location
Southern Illinois
Hey :)

I was at a large event this weekend and noticed nobody on the firing line was wearing any ear protection that I could see. This was a living history shoot at a historic site. I got a good look at many sets of ears and didn’t see anyone using them.

I also attended a little class about how to fire a flintlock rifle, with some live fire at the end. It was a lot of fun but no ear pro was provided to the students and the instructors didn’t wear any either. I fired two shots with none and it wasn’t too bad. The gun was loaded fairly light.

Do you wear ear protection when shooting your flintlocks or percussions? If so, why or why not? Thanks!
 
Smokey Plainsman said:
Hey :)

I was at a large event this weekend and noticed nobody on the firing line was wearing any ear protection that I could see. This was a living history shoot at a historic site. I got a good look at many sets of ears and didn’t see anyone using them.

I also attended a little class about how to fire a flintlock rifle, with some live fire at the end. It was a lot of fun but no ear pro was provided to the students and the instructors didn’t wear any either. I fired two shots with none and it wasn’t too bad. The gun was loaded fairly light.

Do you wear ear protection when shooting your flintlocks or percussions? If so, why or why not? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Good topic.
I've had a few sidelock percussion ML's & BP shotgun & pistol, I never wore any hearing protection with any of them until a cpl yrs ago when I forgot to pull my earplugs down & fired my inline with a 5 port brake & instantly got permanent Tenitis in my left ear.
That constant high pitch ringing SUCKS!
So after that genius move, I now wear some form of hearing protection when shooting anything.
After 50yrs of shooting, mostly with no hearing protection, I'm amazed that I didn't get Tenitis in both ears decades ago.
 
i do now to protect what little hearing i have left, i was in the rivet gang at the railroad back in the early 60's and wore ear plugs but it still destroyed my hearing. i have no idea what kind of weapon you would have to shoot to match that.
 
Phil Coffins said:
Now yes, I have to remove my hearing aids to put the plugs in. When I started I was much to manly to use any protection. Getting smart late has cost me.
Click to expand...
Yes, as I just posted about my own experience, finally wising up a little in my old age, has costed me, & like most of the valuable lifes lessons I've learned, the only way I know , is the hard way.
 
Coming from cowboy shooting, I almost always wear ear plugs when shooting MLs.
I use pliable wax plugs for kids when swimming. They are clearish/grey in color, and don't stand out too much. In fact, in my avatar, I'm wearing them. They're cheap at Wallyworld.
I already have tinnitus, I guess, and it's not too bad, but I wish someone would answer that damned ringing phone!
 
Brazos John said:
Coming from cowboy shooting, I almost always wear ear plugs when shooting MLs.
I use pliable wax plugs for kids when swimming. They are clearish/grey in color, and don't stand out too much. In fact, in my avatar, I'm wearing them. They're cheap at Wallyworld.
I already have tinnitus, I guess, and it's not too bad, but I wish someone would answer that damned ringing phone!
Click to expand...
Same here, nobody picks up the phone:dunno: but could be worse, could be deaf. Many years ago I took 3 old trap shooters to a gun event, the conversation in the car was amusing as these guys yelled at one another nearly deafening me:eek: Glad I started wearing muffs and earplugs when still fairly young.
 
YES! I wear hearing protection when shooting my muzzleloader rifles. I always have worn hearing protection shooting ever since I went shooting as a 13-year-old with my uncle (a tough WW-II vet who didn't think anyone should need anything to protect their ears). By the end of the day I couldn't hear anything anyone was saying and could not sleep that night for the loud ringing in my ears...fortunately my hearing recovered but I have never shot anything without hearing protection since! When shooting my modern unmentionables I often put in ear plugs AND then my Walker sound activated headphones as well.
 
I too am in the “What did you say?” group. I shot mostly 22s growing up and 12 gauges in hunting season. I also worked around lots of noisy farm engines. It makes very little sense to not at least use ear plugs. There are some great electronic ear plugs and muffs these days. It makes little sense to spend hundreds of dollars on firearms and shooting supplies and not spend a couple of hundred on great hearing protection when shooting. Even a few shots starts the damage.
 
deermanok said:
I don't when hunting. But always at the range.
Click to expand...
Yeah, me too - not while hunting. I don't see a need to wear hearing protection while hunting with a traditional ML or an inline - without a brake ). It feels weird having to wear hearing protection while hunting, still, when I'm using one of my ML's with a brake on it.
 
Walker makes electronic earplugs and muffs that sell for less than $50. A small price to pay for protection. I’ve used the muffs at the range and they enhance my ability to hear. I met a get a set of the earplugs for hunting. I’m sure there are other good choices. I sometimes use conventional ear plugs and the muffs at the range when folks are shooting firearms with muzzle brakes.
 
Smokey Plainsman said:
Hey :)

I was at a large event this weekend and noticed nobody on the firing line was wearing any ear protection that I could see. This was a living history shoot at a historic site. I got a good look at many sets of ears and didn’t see anyone using them.

I also attended a little class about how to fire a flintlock rifle, with some live fire at the end. It was a lot of fun but no ear pro was provided to the students and the instructors didn’t wear any either. I fired two shots with none and it wasn’t too bad. The gun was loaded fairly light.

Do you wear ear protection when shooting your flintlocks or percussions? If so, why or why not? Thanks!
Click to expand...
With all my guns I use ear protection. Why? I learned the hard way............got old and deaf. When I started in the early 70s it was not encourage nor taught. I did not know any better. I worked in commercial construction, that too took my hearing to the city dump. Again, in the 60s and 70s hearing protection was not encourage where I live. Safety in the US has come a long ways in in the last 30 years.
Larry
 

Similar threads

James Dietz
Cannon Grade Powder....
Replies
4
Views
274
James Dietz
James Dietz
V
Hearing protection
2
Replies
39
Views
1K
ormond tony
ormond tony
OldNo7
So. Vermont Primitive Biathlon 2024
Replies
0
Views
137
OldNo7
OldNo7
G
New to me Pedersoli 12 guage
2
Replies
33
Views
1K
TCMonts
TCMonts
MAC1967
Jim & Barbie Chambers Where Are You?
6 7 8
Replies
148
Views
8K
Harold Coleman
Harold Coleman

Latest posts

Back
Top