The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - chances of hearing damage from different calibers?

Webleymkv · November 14, 2012, 03:49 PM

Since we have already established that all common handgun cartridges are loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage if used without a suppressor or hearing protection, do we have any way to quantify how much hearing damage varying decibel levels will cause? The reason I ask is because I see several people recommending cartridges like .38 Special, .44 Special, and .45 ACP because they produce lower decibel levels and would thus presumably cause less hearing damage, but I've never seen anyone say how much less damage. It seems to me that decibel levels, and thus potential hearing damage, should be weighed against cartridge effectiveness when selecting a defensive cartridge, but we cannot do that if we don't know the risk and/or magnitude of hearing damage caused by various decibel levels.

November 14, 2012, 03:49 PM	#54
Webleymkv Senior Member Join Date: July 20, 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 10,446	Since we have already established that all common handgun cartridges are loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage if used without a suppressor or hearing protection, do we have any way to quantify how much hearing damage varying decibel levels will cause? The reason I ask is because I see several people recommending cartridges like .38 Special, .44 Special, and .45 ACP because they produce lower decibel levels and would thus presumably cause less hearing damage, but I've never seen anyone say how much less damage. It seems to me that decibel levels, and thus potential hearing damage, should be weighed against cartridge effectiveness when selecting a defensive cartridge, but we cannot do that if we don't know the risk and/or magnitude of hearing damage caused by various decibel levels.