Measuring the Loudness of a Gunshot With & Without Suppressors

A .22lr gunshot typically registers at 140 decibels with larger rounds averaging 175dB, which can cause immediate and permanent hearing damage. The intensity varies by firearm type, with a suppressed gunshot noise dropping to around 110 decibels (suppressed .22lr). Given the logarithmic nature of the decibel scale, this level of noise is vastly more intense than everyday sounds, enough to cause significant hearing loss and tinnitus over time. Protecting your hearing with ear protection and the use of suppressors is crucial to mitigate these risks.

Gunshot noise is something that most shooters are accustomed to and spend little time thinking about. Gunshot noise, however has some serious consequences. Though often joked about, hearing damage is no laughing matter, and something we take seriously at Rugged Suppressors. Your hearing is one of the most important of your five senses, that keep you safe on a day-to-day basis. Hearing greatly impacts the quality of your life at all life stages.  

The noise level that a gunshot makes can have a serious impact in causing permanent damage to your hearing. There are an awful lot of risk factors at play when shooting a firearm and we will try to make sense of them in this article. Let’s begin by talking about how loud a gunshot is. Then we’ll discuss how this damages your hearing and the risk factors at play. We will then discuss protective measures, followed by the role suppressors play in protecting your precious hearing.

Understanding how loud something is by looking at a number of decibels (dB) is hard and potentially confusing. For example, a hair dryer produces around 90 decibels of noise while a jet engine only produces around 110 to 140 decibels. How is that possible? A jet engine is almost literally deafening while a hair dryer is perceived as merely annoying, so how are they only separated by 50 decibels? That’s because the decibel scale is logarithmic rather than linear. This means that every increase of 10 decibels is a TENFOLD increase. An increase of 20 decibels increases the noise 100 times, and an increase of 30 increases the noise a thousand times…and so on. That’s why a rock concert producing 120 decibels is not merely twice as loud as a conversational tone of 60 decibels – it’s thousands of times louder. 

So where does a gunshot fall within this scale? It varies, a .22lr is not going to be as loud as a .300 WinMag, and there are various other differences as well, but the loud bang of a gunshot is generally 165 decibels or louder. When shooting suppressed, a gunshot can be reduced to a sound level of around 120 decibels. This is loud, but we may not perceive it as being louder than a rock concert or jet engine because it happens very quickly. We want to be very clear here: this quick spike DOES NOT mean it is not dangerous to hear – it is. Any noise above a decibel level of 120 can have an immediate impact on noise-induced hearing loss, no matter if it is for a short duration.

Let’s talk about a few other common noises that you may be familiar with and where they fall on the logarithmic decibel scale. The hum of a refrigerator is about 40 dB, a ticking watch is about 20 dB, and normal breathing is somewhere around 10 dB. A washing machine is around 70 dB, while city traffic is closer to 80 dB from inside your car. You may experience some frustration at sounds in this range. A leaf blower is around 80-85 dB and a motorcycle generates around 90 dB. Prolonged exposure (45-60 minutes) to these noises can cause permanent hearing damage.

How does all this affect your hearing? Noise is a concussive wave that moves through the air. The larger, faster, and more violent this wave is, the more potential there is for hearing damage. This damage is actual, mechanical damage that is done to the structures of the inner ear. Over time, moderately loud noises can damage the hairs in the inner ear. These hairs vibrate in response to noise and allow us to perceive sound. Even short exposures to high sound levels (over 140 dB) can cause permanent hearing loss.

The insidious thing about hearing damage is that it is cumulative. Generally, we don’t lose it all in one big event. Multiple exposures to harmful noise in an unprotected ear tend to take a little here, a little there, until your hearing is seriously compromised. Things like walking up the ramp on a running C-17, running an angle grinder without ear protection, or forgetting to pop your muffs down for that first shooting drill… all of this adds up.

And what is the result? Ultimately this results in hearing loss and tinnitus. Tinnitus is that ringing in your ears. Sometimes tinnitus is instantaneous and temporary, but if you are careless with your hearing for long enough it can become permanent. Tinnitus can make it difficult to hear other things, cause sleeplessness, and generally be a pain to live with. But that pales in comparison to true hearing loss.

Everyone reading this is probably interested in his or her own self-defense. Hearing is one of your critical senses that protects you from danger. It lets you hear a bottle breaking or strained voices in the restaurant you’re sitting in. It gives you the ability to perceive footsteps behind you as you walk down the street. Hearing is literally how smoke alarms save your life. Without hearing – or with seriously reduced hearing – your ability to perceive danger around you is compromised. This may sound silly if you’re not in this situation, but hearing loss also makes personal relationships more difficult to maintain. Constantly asking for instructions to be repeated, leaning in uncomfortably to conversations at parties, and smiling politely while you wonder what the other person just said to you… These all impact your overall quality of life negatively. Bottom line: hearing is important. Protective Measures: Safeguarding Your Ears From Gunshot Noise

You can – and very much should – take measures to protect your hearing. First and foremost, you should wear hearing protection like ear plugs. People are much more likely to wear hearing protection these days than they were a few decades ago, but it’s not as simple as putting some foam in your ear, and if you think so, read the “3M Earplug Lawsuit". First, you need to consider your shooting environment. Are you shooting outdoors or indoors? The big difference is that shooting indoors is louder than outdoors because the firearm noise gets reverberated back to your ears multiple times.

Even when shooting suppressed you should use hearing protection. Most ear protection places a physical barrier between your inner ear and the source of the sound. This barrier attenuates the damaging sound waves before they reach the sensitive structures of the inner ear. You should look at the noise reduction rating of whatever hearing protection devices you choose to use and match them to the environment. Shooting pistols at an outdoor range? You might be OK with a inexpensive set of ear muffs. Shooting higher caliber rifles indoors? It would be very wise to double up with high-quality in-ear protection (plugs) and over-the-ear muffs.

One phenomenal tool in the hearing protection arsenal is the firearm suppressor. The suppressor reduces the noise produced by the firearm, making it less dangerous to the ear in the first place. Rather than trying to dampen all those waves with intermediate barriers, the suppressor reduces the intensity of the sound waves providing better protection for the shooter's ear. Shooting with a suppressor is also much more efficient than piling on layers of ear protection. The suppressor keeps your ears safe, protecting them from immediate hearing loss, and also allowing you to communicate more effectively. And, contrary to some internet myths, shooting suppressed doesn’t reduce the performance of your firearm. While the suppressor does add a bit of length out front, it doesn’t reduce bullet velocity, or negatively impact accuracy.

At Rugged Suppressors, we take pride in crafting some of the most robust and durable  suppressors available, a commitment embodied in our very name. Our suppressors are not only rugged in build, but also stand as a testament to the pinnacle of sound reduction technology. With a relentless focus on quality and innovation, we ensure that every product we offer not only meets but exceeds the expectations of our customers, which is why we back all of our products with our Unconditional Lifetime Warranty. When you choose Rugged Suppressors, you're investing in a legacy of durability, performance, and reliability that is second to none, providing you with an unparalleled shooting experience that is both quiet and dependable.