04-24-2012, 07:19 AM
Well done! And Congrats!
Sound suppression: actually your rig likely is hearing safe at the shooter's ear with supersonic ammo. OSHA spec is 140db for "impulse" sound pressure levels, and I'd wager you are well under it. It all depends on number of "events" (sound pressure), duration of each event, and cumulative time of exposure. It is still wise to wear hearing protection for range time, but if no one else is shooting something non-hearing safe then you should be fine while hunting.
Technically speaking, anything over 85db is potentially damaging depending on your time of exposure (think hours), whereas a gunshot has peak sound pressure levels that are measured in milliseconds.
Sound suppression: actually your rig likely is hearing safe at the shooter's ear with supersonic ammo. OSHA spec is 140db for "impulse" sound pressure levels, and I'd wager you are well under it. It all depends on number of "events" (sound pressure), duration of each event, and cumulative time of exposure. It is still wise to wear hearing protection for range time, but if no one else is shooting something non-hearing safe then you should be fine while hunting.
Technically speaking, anything over 85db is potentially damaging depending on your time of exposure (think hours), whereas a gunshot has peak sound pressure levels that are measured in milliseconds.