A quieter HD shotgun

mat33 · Feb 12, 2012

Just came across this site with noise pressure levels for different calibers. According to them, an 18" 12ga shotgun is twice as loud as a 28".

FreeHearingTest.com - Gunfire Noise Levels

In fact, the 28" 12ga is easier on the ears than any centerfire pistol. Does this make a good case to ditch the slightly more maneuverable and tacticool 18" HD gun in favor of a bird gun?

"Shotgun noise averaged slightly more that 150dB. This is approximately 14dB beyond the threshold of pain, and more than sufficient to cause sudden hearing loss with complications."

halmbarte · Feb 12, 2012

Anything you fire indoors is going to damage your hearing. Unless you live in Kabul or Detroit hopefully that's going to be a once in a lifetime problem.

H

just dan · Feb 12, 2012

just keep active hearing protection next to the bed.

Burt Gummer · Feb 12, 2012

Firing off a weapon in doors in a HD would be horrific for my already constant tinnitus. I keep hearing protection near any HD weapon. A suppressor would be ideal. Surprised that angle isn't pitched more by the makers.

My life over my hearing, but damn, it would be awful. BTW, active hearing protection doesn't work so great around close-in walls. Bang - then the sound kicks back right when the electronics open back up. I found that out at The Place to Shoot. The lady up front - "don't you know you need to turn those off indoors."

chemist · Feb 13, 2012

Wow - astonishing numbers - the 28" 12 gauge is actually TEN TIMES quieter than the 18" barrel: 161.5-151.5= 10dB.
I wonder how much it varies with the load. You'd think a low-recoil shell would be quieter. My subjective experience is that slugs have a much sharper 'pop' than shotshells.

teflon6string · Feb 13, 2012

The Db measurement for volume is a lot like the Richter scale for earth movement. Both are exponential, meaning that graduations are not on a constant straight line, but a curve that ramps up horrifically after you pass a certain point. And, for what it's worth, a 28" mod choke muzzle on your duck/clay duster is 10" farther away from your ears than the hole on your pistol-gripped Big-5 short blaster.

Another example of this is the difference between a standard rifle/carbine .22 and a short pistol of the same caliber. Hard to believe it's the same round.

Whatever you're shooting, doing it outside in fresh air lets a lot of pressure escape to the universe that would otherwise end up contentrated tenfold back onto your noggin in an enclosed area. Suffering from mid-50's tinnitus, I have a couple pieces that are just plain crapyourpants concussive at the indoor range, even with foamies inside earmuffs. Not much fun to shoot there.

Just once, I'd like to see the the hero in a movie or TV show finish his shootout scene and then keep asking the appropriately aroused heroine over and over what she's whispering to him, 30 seconds after he smokes the bad guys down. Real warriors often decide which ear they are willing to sacrifice and plug the other so they have something left with which to hear people/music back here in this world. D*mn shame they're relying on the bad one to sense danger and stay alive. Technology is 50 years out of date for fighters coming from a country that's been exporting professional wars globally for over a century now.

Sadly, no solutions here. Just some observations to share about a really noisy hobby/way of life.

PhysicsGuy · Feb 13, 2012

teflon97239 said:
The Db measurement for volume is a lot like the Richter scale for earth movement. Both are exponential, meaning that graduations are not on a constant straight line, but a curve that ramps up horrifically after you pass a certain point. And, for what it's worth, a 28" mod choke muzzle on your duck/clay duster is 10" farther away from your ears than the hole on your pistol-gripped Big-5 short blaster.

They are both base 10 log functions, they don't "ramp up" as an exponential does, actually a logarithm is the exact opposite of an exponent. Its simply a way of scaling large numbers in this case, for example a 10dB increase would be a 10 fold increase (as stated above), twice the sound level would be around a 3db increase.

Sun195 · Feb 13, 2012

Or, you could go this route...

mrsafeway · Feb 13, 2012

Sun195 said:
Or, you could go this route...

Great movie.

DoubleTapDrew · Feb 14, 2012

Your few dB of hearing loss would be the last thing on your mind in a HD scenario, and if that extra 10" of barrel makes you take too long to pie a corner or gets hung up on something, whatever you are thinking may be the last thing on your mind...ever.
Most hunters wear no hearing protection and centerfire rifles are quite loud (especially indoors). Hopefully they would only need to take a shot or two, and over time it may add up. Usually when in a situation where you are going to shoot at a living, breathing thing you get "auditory exclusion" where the sound and recoil will barely be noticed. You may lose a little hearing but its not totally deafening or disorienting because your focus is elsewhere. But I'm not going to put a long barrel on a HD weapon. Its up to you but there is a reason the military went to 14.5" M16s as house to house fighting escalated.
A suppressor is an option, but then the crowd comes out about using a title II item in a HD situation and how the prosecutor will rake you over the coals as an assassin who just was waiting to kill someone.

jbett98 · Feb 14, 2012

When I was in second grade (1961), I was diagnosed with severe hearing loss "80%", due to all the strep throat and inner ear infections that I had while growing up.
I was the first kid in Oregon to have the operation that put reconstructive tubes in your ears.
I will never forget the sensation of complete hearing restoration after the doctor removed the tubes. It was very painful without the cotton plugs that I had been wearing for the last couple of weeks.
The doctor lectured me that I was very lucky to have my hearing restored to 100%, and to always avoid high decibel noises. I took his advice to heart.
Since then, I have always carried and used ear plugs all my life, and it has paid off. All of my coworkers in home building construction use to give me a hard time about using the foam plugs religiously while on the job.
Now,they all have severe hearing loss because of the constant exposure to the saws and nail guns and regret not taking any preventive measures.
As I am writing this, I can hear my wrist watch tick off the seconds, even my wife can't hear that good.
I owe my excellent hearing to Dr Petroff for taking the time to set me on the right path.

mat33 · Feb 14, 2012

DoubleTapDrew said:
Most hunters wear no hearing protection.

Who are 'most hunters'? I've never fired a gun without eye and ear protection and I've never been hunting with someone not using both.

Greenbug · Feb 14, 2012

PhysicsGuy said:
They are both base 10 log functions, they don't "ramp up" as an exponential does, actually a logarithm is the exact opposite of an exponent. Its simply a way of scaling large numbers in this case, for example a 10dB increase would be a 10 fold increase (as stated above), twice the sound level would be around a 3db increase.

That is what I thought... a 3 db increase is double the volume. So 10db decrease would be 3.3 times quieter, not 10 times. I shot a super long barrel 870 when I was helping a buddy at work (gov't trapper) doing bird control at the Salem airport. He called it an urban barrel, it was about 60" long and it was pretty darn quiet for a shotgun! I think that the increased barrel length definately lowers the sound, but a 5 foot barrel is no good for home defense.

John H · Feb 15, 2012

I have always been worried about my 3 cats, what would happen if I have to light off my 870 in the house.

chemist · Feb 16, 2012

Greenbug said:
That is what I thought... a 3 db increase is double the volume. So 10db decrease would be 3.3 times quieter, not 10 times. I shot a super long barrel 870 when I was helping a buddy at work (gov't trapper) doing bird control at the Salem airport. He called it an urban barrel, it was about 60" long and it was pretty darn quiet for a shotgun! I think that the increased barrel length definately lowers the sound, but a 5 foot barrel is no good for home defense.

Ten to the 0.3 power is a factor of two.
Ten to the 1.0 power is a factor of ten.
A ten dB increase is a tenfold sound pressure level increase.

Greenbug · Feb 16, 2012

chemist said:
Ten to the 0.3 power is a factor of two.
Ten to the 1.0 power is a factor of ten.
A ten dB increase is a tenfold sound pressure level increase.

????HUH???

Maybe you could explain that in dumb hick terms, I don't follow what you are gettin' at......

Capn Jack · Feb 16, 2012

I think that's how long it's going to take you to find
the cats after the first shot. :s0112:

Jack...

just dan · Feb 16, 2012

Noisycow said:
Firing off a weapon in doors in a HD would be horrific for my already constant tinnitus. I keep hearing protection near any HD weapon. A suppressor would be ideal. Surprised that angle isn't pitched more by the makers.

My life over my hearing, but damn, it would be awful. BTW, active hearing protection doesn't work so great around close-in walls. Bang - then the sound kicks back right when the electronics open back up. I found that out at The Place to Shoot. The lady up front - "don't you know you need to turn those off indoors."

i've used my current favorite active hearing protection inside close in training scenarios (com tac II). they do have some issues, but far less of an issue than firing off a .357 then not having ANY hearing for a minute.
on that note, they're on my bed side table... but i can't recall ever putting them on when something goes "thump" in the night. i have worn 'em when the wife was snoring, though....