Hearing protection at the range

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I'm interested in a good basic type of battery powered electronic ear muff headphones. I'm a casual occasional range shooter. Don't want to pay a lot for them. I've been using the pair that I use when weed eating. They're a pain to have to lift one side a little when someone at the range talks to me. I have earplugs but they're worse than my old pair of ear muffs. Amazon has a lot with pricing from $20 to $200. Can you guys recommend a good pair that won't break the bank? Thanks
 
Caldwell over the top of the head ones for+ or - $29.00 work pretty good at an out door range. Not enough DB reduction for indoors. amazon link
 
If you would have searched the forums at all, you would have a seen a detailed post about this. Edwards recommendation is good.
 
I bought a 2 pair of Caldwell's from Midway on sale for $19.95 each, for the wife and I a few months back. They had a special sale going. They work surprisingly well. Like most electronic technology, The type employed in these kind of hearing protectors has gotten much cheaper in the last couple of years. So don't pay a lot thinking you're getting better because of price. Go by the DB rating. That tells you everything you need to know.
 
Originally Posted By: EdwardC
I have two pairs of these purchased based on Amazon reviews. They work great. I personally still wear ear plugs inside them, but that's just me, and I do that with all ear muffs.

https://smile.amazon.com/Howard-Leight-I...+ear+protection

I swear, if you look around at the range, you see these Howard Leights ALL OVER.


+1, great product. I wear foam plugs as well for anything bigger than a .22
 
The Howard Leight muffs are hard to beat for the price. I have used Pro-Ears for years and can't really tell the difference between the 2 except for the amplified sound of the Pro-Ears is much better. I usually don't even turn them on anymore.

When shooting the big stuff with muzzle brakes, like my .378 Weatherby or my .338 Lapua, I use fitted ear plugs under my ear muffs. The most irritating sound comes from my Smith and Wesson model 53 22 Jet shooting full power loads. It's a piercing sound like no other handgun I ever fired. Crazy loud !!!
 
I'm going to be the odd ball and say I've been disappointed with my Howard Leights. Guess I was expecting too much but my take on these are they need more padding and compression. I've always used a quality pair of old fashion earmuffs and always they did a more than ample job of hearing protection.

Decided to get with the times and picked up a pair of Leights and like I already mentioned, I've been totally disappointed in them. Padding needs to be doubled and compression is weak. I'm constantly playing with them to find the perfect seal. When I do find it, it short lived. The slightest turn of my head breaks the seal between my head and the padding.

I mainly bought these because my job requires me to qualify twice a year at an indoor range. The range has a high tech air exchange system that quite loud. The range master shouts shooting instructions over a PA during the quals which can be hard to hear when you factor in the air exchange system, a decent set of old fashion earmuffs and ear plugs (double ear protection is mandatory.) My plan was to get the Leights and have them filter the blower motors so I could hear the RM. The Leights let so much sound in that I don't think I even need to turn on the mic on, I can just turn my head.
 
Originally Posted By: Fatboymoe
The most irritating sound comes from my Smith and Wesson model 53 22 Jet shooting full power loads. It's a piercing sound like no other handgun I ever fired. Crazy loud !!!


The .22 Jet is unbelievably loud. Another is the Ruger Blackhawk in .30 Carbine. If I shoot mine at an indoor range, with W.W. II high pressure surplus ammo, everyone comes over to see what I'm shooting.
 
The little 30 carbine has always been a loud round. Try it in a AMT pistol. Not much good in the pistol either. Still have better than half case of Winchester around somewhere. Ear plugs plus muffs. Wish ranges could adopt a red, yellow green light system for range control
 
Originally Posted By: EdwardC
I personally still wear ear plugs inside them, but that's just me, and I do that with all ear muffs.

me TOO..Smart..especially if you shoot a lot. Need to preserve what hearing I have left. And when you wear glasses the temples cause loss of effectiveness..even if they are thin.
 
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Originally Posted By: Timo325
If you would have searched the forums at all, you would have a seen a detailed post about this. Edwards recommendation is good.


I researched numerous shooting forums. I posed the question here for opinions. No, an oil forum wasn't my first choice while researching for hearing protection at a firing range!
 
I'd advice against Howard Leigh - I have one as well as a few of my shooting buddies but we all stopped using them.
First and foremost, they really press on the ears and cause great discomfort and headache after wearing them for only 2 hours straight.
2nd, if practicing indoors with low-ish ceiling and fluorescent lights - they crackle a lot.

I'd suggest investing in a quality headset that's comfortable and long lasting to offset initial cost.

I'm using Peltor Tactical Sport with gel cups and am happy with it, can wear it 8+ hours with ease. This is probably the cheapest quality active hearing protection one can buy that's good for handgun and long gun use due to low cup profile. They are second to MSA Sordin that cost 2X as much, at least from my experience.
On the cheap and non-active ones - look at SureFire EP4 Sonic Defenders Plus - they are about $15.
 
Peltor has some new ones out for the NRA Meeting in April that were super nice. Pro Ears are excellent, but a bit pricey and take "N" batteries that can be interesting to find

Good equipment is worth the money, especially if you want to hear conversation . . . you kinda sorta get what you pay for in hearing protection.
 
I run 34dB muffs with plugs underneath. Works pretty well. I'm not a big fan of noise cancellation/amplification personally.
 
Active hearing protection is pretty much a must if one is teaching/learning thus interaction between shooters is required, also during matches.
It's also good to know what's happening around you when shooting by yourself but other shooters are present at the range.
 
In my experience, Peltor is the best hands down. You really get what you pay for and I have a set which are pushing 13 years old now and all I have had to do is change batteries and the gel cups/mic covers. When these finally go, I will definitely buy another pair of them.
 
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