RARR Without Ear Protection

[Shaman]

I’d like a suppressor that will allow me to shoot my 300 blk RARR supersonic without ear protecting if that’s possible. Recommendations and/or advice appreciated.

[BlogSarge]

Hi Shaman,

The problem you’ll run into is the sonic crack of the bullet. A can can’t lessen that.

Both my Omega 30 and 762-SDN-6 manage the actual bang of the rifle and, at least with subs, it is comfortable to shoot a bit without ear pro. My experience with suppressed supers and no ear pro was not comfortable.

[Shaman]

I suspected as much since most if not all vids of folks firing supersonic suppressed show them wearing ear pro. I suppose that sound reduction in spite of the supersonic penalty may be of benefit under some circumstances. It appears, however, that in general there’s little to be gained from the investment unless your interest is in subsonic loads with the benefits and disadvantages that entails.

[dellet]

You need to research decibel reduction, long term exposure, repetitive exposure to noise. Then look at suppressors used by long range and precision shooters. There are plenty of benefits other than noise reduction shooting suppressed.

As for hearing safe supers vs comfortable shooting without ear protection, they are two completely different things. Life in general is not “hearing safe”, so it comes down to comfort level. No one can answer that for you, just like no one can answer how much tinnitus you will be comfortable living with as you age.

The surroundings where you shoot will have a lot to do with perceived sound of the crack. Under a roof will have more noise than without, as will a concrete floor.

For what it’s worth, the action of an AR simply closing is not “Hearing safe” by definition and requires hearing protection.

I am very comfortable shooting supers suppressed without extra hearing protection, I just don’t do it more than one or two shots at a time. Not worth it for the long term effects.

[Shaman]

I understand. I have an AAC upper for my blk and have noticed that the SDN appears reasonably priced. Of your two suppressors which do you prefer. The SDN comes with the required flash hider so I can put that on my RARR to accommodate. My AAC came with the flash/adapter mounted.

[BlogSarge]

Both the 762-SDN-6 and Omega 300 do a good job, but I kind of prefer the Omega.

On my ARs the Omega seems to have a bit less blow-back. The Omega seems to lock up tighter with the QD mount. Finally, the Omega can be direct threaded if you want. But, the SDN-6 is a few hundred bucks less.

If the $$ isn’t a controlling factor, I’d get the Omega.

[wildfowler]

Looks like it may be already covered here but technically supersonic suppressed is not going to be hearing safe.

[Shaman]

Thanks