Frequency of shootingĪs explained above, the length of time you’re exposed to dangerous sound levels affects your level of risk. You should talk to your range instructor or the range owner about the sound-dampening measures they have in place and adjust your hearing protection accordingly. Many use sound-proofing materials to dampen the noise reflected back at you, but the effectiveness of this depends on the material and placement.
There’s no set amount of extra noise protection you’ll need when shooting indoors, as each indoor gun range is set up differently. However, an indoor shooting range encloses you in a smaller area, letting the sound waves bounce off the walls, floor, and ceiling and back to your ears.īecause of this, more percussive waves impact your ears with each gunshot, causing more damage to your hearing. Here are some of the most popular firearms and how loud they are when unsuppressed: FirearmĪn outside shooting range has space for sound to dissipate after a gunshot. This is due to factors such as caliber, barrel length, and muzzle velocity. Let’s go through each of them:ĭifferent firearms produce different amounts of noise when fired. There are several additional factors that can affect the amount of NRR you need when shooting. Different Factors That Affect the Required NRR for Shooting However, the NRR of a hearing protection device isn’t the only factor you should consider. OSHA does this by halving the advertised NRR of every hearing protection device, though there are methods more specific to the form factor of an HPD available.įor more information on NRRs and derating, check out our article explaining the noise reduction rating. The testing to determine a device’s NRR is done in a controlled environment and doesn’t consider issues like fit and interference.īecause of these inaccuracies, you’ll need to adjust the NRR to a more realistic score. However, the advertised NRR of a device isn’t always accurate for real-world applications. For example, earplugs with an NRR of 30 would reduce a 140 dB gunshot to only 110 dB upon reaching your ears. The NRR of a hearing protection device refers to the decibels it can reduce an incoming sound by. What exactly is a noise reduction rating (NRR)? Noise Reduction Rating label for a hearing protection device. You can measure the noise reduction a hearing protection device (HPD) offers with the noise reduction rating. This is the legally required OSHA standard to keep workers safe in high-volume environments, so it’s a good rule to follow. If you’re shooting for a few hours, you should aim to reduce the volume to below 85 dB. This is because the risk of hearing damage increases the longer you’re exposed to dangerous levels of sound.įor example, 100 dB of sound won’t cause damage instantly but can put you at risk after just fifteen minutes.
Check the volume of the gunshots you’ll be exposed to in the section below and subtract 120 dB to determine how much noise reduction you’ll need.Īdditionally, you need to consider how long you’ll be exposed to dangerous levels of sound.