Yeah, think of the most loud live concert you’ve ever heard, to the point where your ears physically start hurting, but make it even louder.
22lr rifles go at around 140dB, and large bore rifles and handguns go above 175dB. Meanwhile, the loudest concert ever was sitting at slightly under 130dB (Manowar in the 90s, not sure if their record had been broken since then).
Definitely take care of your hearing. Even at much lower dB at large concerts, you cause some amount of irreversible hearing damage. And even at much lower volume than 130dB, your ears start physically hurting from the sound pretty bad. Aftering hearing a typical gunshot without any ear protection just a few feet away from you, you might just not want to come back to a range ever again.
TLDR: wear (appropriate type for the specific task) ear protection to concerts, gun ranges, and while riding a motorcycle on highways, you will thank yourself later.
22lr rifles go at around 140dB, and large bore rifles and handguns go above 175dB. Meanwhile, the loudest concert ever was sitting at slightly under 130dB (Manowar in the 90s, not sure if their record had been broken since then).
Definitely take care of your hearing. Even at much lower dB at large concerts, you cause some amount of irreversible hearing damage. And even at much lower volume than 130dB, your ears start physically hurting from the sound pretty bad. Aftering hearing a typical gunshot without any ear protection just a few feet away from you, you might just not want to come back to a range ever again.
TLDR: wear (appropriate type for the specific task) ear protection to concerts, gun ranges, and while riding a motorcycle on highways, you will thank yourself later.