*We’re finalizing our preparations for LC. OBVIOUSLY we’re not leaving in the morning. (Work stuff. Not mine.) Anyway, for those of you making it to the range, this seems like an important post. I’ll try to write one tomorrow. Time not guaranteed, as we’ll be driving and sometimes connection is iffy. Same Friday. Anyway, stay safe. Practice responsible bang therapy. (Not that kind of bang, you sickos. Well, that kind of bang maybe too, but I don’t want to hear about it. Ew.) – SAH*
Range PPE by David Bock
I’m sure the majority of our regular readers are aware of the importance of range safety. Most people know this means following range instructions from the range safety officer and/or match director, keeping your muzzle down range, and other basic safe gun handling.
But there’s more to it than that. Range safety also means personal protective equipment (or PPE) which includes dressing properly for the range.
I’d like to think everyone knows about the importance of eye and ear protection, but experience as an instructor and Range Safety Officer has taught me better.
While many modern plastic prescription lenses have similar attributes to safety glasses, they are not the same thing. For one, regular eyeglasses do not generally have side shields. There are too many stories of people getting eye damage from a piece of bullet jacket, an empty casing, or a ricochet hitting them from the side.
Prescription safety glasses are available as well as regular safety glasses that will fit over your everyday glasses. Yes, they might not be as comfortable, but I’m willing to lay odds they’re more comfortable than an eye patch.
Moving on to ear protection, hearing damage is cumulative and permanent and over time, it affects us all.
The unit of measurement for sound is the decibel. The decibel scale is logarithmic, this means that a change from 10 to 20 decibels is not double, but ten times the volume. Another aspect of hearing damage from sounds is duration. Exposure to a lower volume sound for a longer period of time can be just as damaging to our hearing as exposure to a loud sound for a shorter time.
Any sound in excess of 140 decibels, without hearing protection, can cause instant hearing damage. A .22 rimfire pistol generally exceeds 150 decibels at the muzzle. The volumes go up from there.
Both the National Institute of Health and Safety (NIOSH) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have more information on both hearing loss and hearing protection.
Here’s a decibel chart with a specific emphasis on firearms.
Here’s a more generalized chart of common noise levels.
Hearing protection is listed with a noise reduction rating, or NRR value. For hearing protection to be good for use while shooting, it should have a NRR in the 20s at least.
Keep in mind that the actual decibel reduction is not what‘s listed on the package. To determine this value, take the NRR number (as decibels), subtract seven, and then divide by two. As shown in this 3M Hearing Protection Guide (PDF warning). So a product with an NRR rating of 27 would reduce volume by 10 decibels.
Some people like to double up their hearing protection, wearing plugs and muffs, for example. However, the two ratings aren’t added together, five decibels of protection are added to whichever element has the higher NRR value.
In addition to these two main elements, there’s also making wise clothing choices.
The general recommendation is to wear a long sleeved, high collar shirt, long pants, closed toed shoes, and a hat. Avoid low cut tops.
All of this it to keep brass off our skin. Brass gets hot when fired. Anyone who’s ever gotten a piece of brass down their shirt knows just how uncomfortable this can be.
One of the main benefits of the metallic cartridge case is that it takes a significant amount of heat with it when it leaves the gun. I don’t think any of us want that heat transferred to our skin. As I was told during firefighter training more than once “people cook just like chicken.” I’d say more like pork, but whatever.
There are many good reasons to wear proper protective equipment while shooting. It won’t protect us completely, but it can go a long way to making our experience safer and more enjoyable.
According To Hoyt 
If you are a ‘well-endowed’ woman it is especially important to wear a shirt that does not expose cleavage to hot brass.
Yup. Crew neck is best for that situation, with the caveat that it is difficult to find a comfortable crew neck shirt if you are a well-endowed female (because shirt-makers have weird ideas about comfortable ratios for women.)
Well, you could get a scarf/kerchief/bandana, and tie it across your enviably vast tracts of land, like in the shape of a fichu or a bib.
Actually, if you have some kind of shooting kit, you could put one in there as an emergency cleavage cover, in case you happen to forget the crewneck, turtleneck, or what have you.
Guys could do this too. Everybody wants to look like a cowboy, and nobody wants to get burnt.
(I was using the you of indeterminate female person of cleavage, not the you of Brenda Durbin specifically. I have no knowledge of the personal appearance of most of you Internet friends, including her.)
I pointed out this problem to a young woman at a carry license qualification class. By the time we stepped up to the firing line, she had found a scarf to wear that covered the exposed skin. That problem was blocked, at least.
My spouse has to mention the exposed bossom facts to at least one couple every trip to the local range when the bays are open to the public and not league shooting. (Most league/comp shooters are better trained. Most.)
I let the RSOs handle it when I shoot. Nothing like a brain dead Chad thinking you are staring at his gf’s ample low hung brass trap to cause problems. Also nothing like novice shooters waving guns while doing the hot halter or shirt dance.
It’s not just your brass you have to watch for, but that of the folks on either side. Better ranges have better barriers between the lanes.
If there is a gap in the back of the collar, that’s also a prime location that needs to be considered. Also proper footgear, properly worn. And check pockets when leaving.
Re back of the collar, I have had more hot brass end up down the back of my neck when shooting pistol than any other location. I don’t know if the pistols I shoot are particularly high flingers, or the lane walls and the shape of my head are just right for making that bank shot, but if I went shooting midday wearing a business-dress shirt I inevitably got one there.
My best range ppe shirt recommendation would probably be a long sleeve crew neck in the tighter-fitting modern style.
Cowboy hat solves a multitude of brass issues. Boonie hat also works.
Behind-the-ears muffs work with such hats, but are not quite as effective. Double up with plugs.
his gf’s ample low hung brass trap
Gonna have to use that phrase in more places.
It’s even funnier than “vast tracts of land”
C4C
Preaching to the choir. Been there, done that. I have a light sweat shirt I wear when shooting. Need to get protection glasses to wear over regular glasses. Really surprised hubby hasn’t insisted on getting some before. He wears glasses too, oversized lens. But he is already blind in his left eye (childhood accident), so he knows the consequences. Haven’t had a casing flip back into my face, yet. But I have done the hot case down the shirt, please don’t go into the bra dance, more than once. I don’t tuck shirts so each incident the casing just dropped out. I think back to when we were shooting when we were kids (parental supervised). No eye, hearing, or any type of, protection. We weren’t shooting at a shooting range. The location was on grandparents 2.75 acres, with targets backstopped by the mountain behind the house. Only one shooter at a time.
For those of us who already have poor hearing, some noise reduction muffs have amplifiers built in, that shut down when loud sounds occur. I have an ancient pair of Silencio muffs that help with understanding range commands before the loud switches get pressed.
I have a set like these. Very handy, since normal conversational tones can be picked up, while anything that’s too loud is muffled. So you don’t need to worry about someone saying something to you, and you not hearing them.
The Walker brand electronic muffs are my preferred. They sell a behind-the head version that works with cowboy hats and is USB-C chargeable, with a fairly large battery. Peltor also sells such, powered by four AAA batteries and fewer features.
I was at an outdoor range last summer when an Asian family set up next to me. Half a dozen handguns, IIRC. Dad, Mom, daughter, son. Latter two were probably both older elementary school.
They were shooting their weapons, the kids getting some range time along with the parents, when suddenly a spent casing from one of the daughter’s shots flipped back and struck her in the face right next to her eye. And as her mother explained to me a little bit later, while the parents had brought ear protection for everyone, they hadn’t thought to bring eye protection (parents had glasses)…
Daughter didn’t hurt her eye. But the incident freaked her out. She stepped back off the firing line, and refused to shoot anymore. Parents couldn’t coax her back.
Shortly afterwards, I finished my shooting. After a bit of thought, I pulled off my own (non-corrective) safety glasses, and offered them to the daughter. She accepted, and – with her eyes now properly armored – went back to shooting.
Shortly afterwards, the parents remembered that they had sunglasses in the car for both kids, and brought those out. My safety glasses were returned to me with thanks.
Considering how much everything else related to the hobby costs these days, safety glasses are extremely inexpensive for the value they provide.
Both hearing and eye protection are required at the range we use. Eye protection can be prescription glasses, but side protection is not required.
The range used by the Reader requires full protection shooting glasses. The Reader got a rather expensive pair that fits nicely over his prescription glasses.
You can order from your eyeglass provider “Industrial Safety Glasses”, which will be prescription, ANSI-spec-approved, sturdy frame, heavy Lexan lens, and side shields. Suitable for construction work, power tool wielding, and firearms.
-Highly- recommend these for shooting glasses.
The Reader had those before he had cataract surgery. His current prescription is for astigmatism only, and for some reason having the lenses further away from his face bothers him. Hence the safety glasses over his prescription glasses.
There is a reason why lots of shooters have range bags that are different from their other kits. A good list to others of what should consist an adequate range bag/kit would be helpful, I know I always forget something. And yes it tends to get worse each year.
My bag is pretty simple, actually. Spotting scope, stapler, spare staples, shooting glasses (Knobloch frame, custom lens), and earplugs. But I have separate cases for the gun (two cases, one set up for percussion revolver, the other for single-shot pistol). Which are loaded.
To the above, add black and white target pasters, cleaning rod(s) and tips, and tools for all sight adjustments and field stripping, including, in addition to the usual screwdrivers, Torx and Allen wrenches, and needlenose pliers, a set of punches and a brass-faced hammer. Same kit for handguns from .22 to .45, and rifles from .17 to .30. All fit in a Plano(?) range box I’ve used for about 40 years.
I’ve got one of the big Pachmayr-style bullseye pistol boxes, but don’t use it. My normal practice cases have everything needed to shoot that particular pistol, except for the spotting scope and optics. Except for the Swiss Army Knife, which serves as screwdriver, percussion cap remover, and spreader of lube over bullets loaded in a revolver cylinder.
The travel case is another matter. THAT beast was run up by International Case & Container to my specifications. 4 guns in the top section, all accoutrements in the bottom. I’ve taken that thing all over the world.
This is why it pays to shoot firearms that use advanced caseless ammunition (Also known as muzzle-loading guns. The suppository guns that load from the back end are just a fad.).
Chuckle, that’s like saying everyone should learn how to fence because firearms are just a 500 year old fad.
Still rather have a shotgun when facing a guy with a knife or club, fad or not. 😎
Fencing is a good sport…and an excellent way for women to meet eligible, educated gentlemen. There’s a shortage of that these days.
As Heinlein pointed out, a sword never runs out of ammo.
My Mosin-Nagant M44 is a triple threat weapon – at close enough range, I can shoot, stab, and set the target on fire!
It’s a rather long reach club too.
Actually, everyone could benefit from learning how to fence. Both foil and epee are point weapons, and easily translate into using a sharp stick, umbrella, or cane, or even an ordinary stick for that matter, against an assailant. Saber operates similarly to stick use in Escrima. Any weapon, even improvised ones, are force multipliers. If all I have is a stick against a gun, and no other way out, if he’s within 15 feet, I have a good hard hit from a fleche against him in the time he can raise, aim and fire. And I can hit that gun off target on the way in too.
Congratulations, I laughed aloud and startled the cat. “Suppository guns”, hee.
(For those who want to discuss this SERIOUSLY, I did once have a cap blow up and embed tiny fragments of copper in my face. Glasses for the win.)
Defnintely! I’ve always worn glasses, so it wasn’t a big deal for me.
I learned early on doing CMP High Power shooting to wear a neckerchief when shooting prone to keep brass from landing on the back of my neck and rolling down under the collar.
Once had a piece of pistol brass land on the frame of my shooting glasses and get stuck between the frame and my forehead. Started wearing a brimmed cap even when shooting at an indoor range.
I had that happen to me once. Piece of 9mm brass bounced off the lane divider (indoor range), hit my head, and got stuck between my eyebrow and frame of my shooting glasses. No damage, didn’t even sear or burn my eyebrow hairs, but the poor RSO damn near had a heart attack: he saw the piece of brass drop behind my glasses and thought it had burned my eyeball!
DO NOT wear a brimmed hat when shooting flintlocks or matchlocks where the hat extends anywhere near the touchhole. I did that ONCE when deer hunting and had the unpleasant experience of burning powder directed straight into my forehead.
All good advice; thanks for the reminders. I recently had occasion to remember to double-check my foam plugs, and to take note of who’s firing what in the adjacent lanes. Trust me, a not-quite-seated plug, combined with a .300 Win Mag with a muzzle brake in the next lane, is not a happy combination. It only took once, then I doubled-up with Silencio muffs, but my tinnitus is still worse (probably permanently) 3 weeks later. Decades of shotgun hunting before electronic hearing protection was available did the number on my ears.
One nice thing about the electronic earpro is you can double up with foam or fitted in-ear plugs, and just turn up the volume on your over-ear protection to still hear range commands and such while the electronics take care of cutting off the bangs.
I have a brimmed hat that I wear for yard work that also goes to the range with me that has a bandana permanently sewn to the back so it hangs down ala French Foreign Legion desert style. Prevents burns from both hot brass and the sun, plus it can be wetted for a cooling effect. Also have a boonie modded this way as well.
Good point. I’m going to switch to Walkers electronic muffs I’ve had for a while (plus foam plugs) for just that reason. The Silencios plus foam plugs work great, but make it almost impossible to hear range commands.
As a young and foolish wanna-be farmer and woodsman, I did in my hearing with chainsaws and tractors. Once I realized my folly and started using proper PPE, It was too late to reverse the damage, but it has not progressed in the subsequent 30 years despite regular exposure to firearms, military rotary-wing, fixed wing jet and turboprop, and of course all manner and caliber of gunpowder propelled projectile targeting of fixed and moving targets. Read and Heed!
Pro-tip: Hot brass can’t get hung up in the shirt or bra if you shoot topless…
At my age it would be cruel and unusual to subject other people at the range to my bare boobs.
Same. Pretty sure they’d go blind. Hubby is immune.
Besides there would still be places the hot brass could get stuck.
Perhaps this is an excessively personal question, but would you also recommend frying bacon in the nude?
XD
Zenni will make you some prescription safety glasses for a reasonable cost. I have a set from them that live in my range bag. Strongly recommended.
I should get those. Took me years to figure out the reason I had trouble hitting the broadside of a barn is because back then I didn’t take my glasses to cons. (I didn’t have nearsightedness worth wearing glasses BUT my astigmatism was awful.)
Whenever I get a new prescription, I get two made, one my usual and a second as “industrial safety glasses”. Those get used for shooting, workshop, etc, and the occasional IT work at a construction site.
They have already saved my eyes more times than I can count. (tool comes apart vigorously. Out-of-battery discharge of a rifle loaded with blackpowder ammo, debris thrown by other people’s work, ejected brass bonks off lens, etc etc etc)
I have gotten hot 5.56mm brass stuck between my web gear and my shoulder/neck at the advanced rifle marksmanship range at Fort Benning while engaging moving targets with the fire selector on burst. I got a nice little pink mark for my effort. IT HURT. Tinnitus in the right ear from a range session w/ the M16A2 and no ear pro, and getting blown up from a M80 as a kid. Use the PPE and be safe – luck is not a substitute.
I made the mistake of walking up to the firing line without ear-pro on. The guy to my left shooting the .44 Mag convinced me to not do that again. The left ear has been worse than the right, partly because of wind noise from the MGB I drove in college. Not sure why, but it was the noisiest car I ever drove.
OTOH, a tendency to rock out with headphones (Dark Side of the Moon for the hearing loss) made sure the right ear was also on the road to nerve damage. On the gripping hand, if I’m in bed with my right ear covered, $SPOUSE’s words are unintelligible. An that’s all before multiple procedures to fix otosclerosis. Whee.
Try being next to an M-2 Bradley IFV on the 25mm qualification range, that wasn’t supposed to be firing. ouch
See yellow “ammo on board” range flag visible, no red “I am shooting” flag shown. No safety man in the range tower. OK. Safe to approach…..
As I walk up to pass out mail, the driver and TC hatches close, turret moves slightly, gun lowers a bit and…
“oh (BLEEP!)” (tries to stuff hands in ears through properly worn helmet, mailbag in hand oops – fail)
BAM – BAM – BAM – BAM – BAM – BAM – BAM…..
The Master Sergeant running the range was … peeved … with the 2LT who was supposed to be controlling things from the safety tower. After checking to make sure I was OK (“WHAT DID YOU SAY SERGEANT? YES I AM FINE. NO DAMAGE.”), I was told to disappear, as the unhappy E-8 proceeded to verbally flay the 2LT, with great gusto…
(grin)
.
My father didn’t wear ear protection while shooting and hunting. Back then, who did? He’s lost most of his hearing, and it’s so sad. He stopped participating in family conversations, and when we’re out to a meal you can tell he can’t hear a thing, even with hearing aids. So I try to make our outings to places that are quiet.
We wear ear protection for shooting, but also while mowing the lawn, using power tools, and when we’re in bike class. (Our Venezuelan cycle teacher likes loud South American dance music. Which is super fun, once I’ve got my ear plugs in.) Hearing loss is cumulative. Protect your hearing, all the time.
Great essay. Thanks!
“you can tell he can’t hear a thing, even with hearing aids.”
BINGO.
That’s why I don’t do bar scenes, or enjoy crowded venues. Too much ambient noise. If I have to get that close to a woman for me to hear her, she may as well just kiss me. 😉
I can’t use ear plugs. Stupid short Neanderthal ear cannals. Sigh. HAS to be over the ear.
Make sure you use a brand with soft-squishy ear cup covers, so that they fit tightly over the glasses. Walker, for example. Some brands offer a “gel” replacement pad that is very comfortable and seals well.
My club’s range requires eye & ear pro basically as soon as you get out of your car/truck. I put in my earplugs before I get out and I usually wear sunglasses until I get to the pistol pit or rifle line, where I add muffs and switch to safety glasses, or prescription glasses if I’m shooting bolt action at 100+ yards. The risk isn’t zero, but flying brass is of reduced concern with a bolt-action rifle.
I double up at the range because I’ve been a musician who’s been pretty religious about wearing ear pro for much longer than I’ve been a shooter. My hearing is still fairly sharp for someone my age, and I wanna keep it that way as long as possible.
Here’s another way to avoid brass burns. It was just linked at Insty.
VR shooting training that’s reportedly pretty realistic (aside from the lack of gunpowder smell), using the Meta 2 or 3 headsets –
https://www.shootingnewsweekly.com/2024/06/19/home-vr-training-ace-virtual-shooting/
Dan has been interested in that for years, but….
Heck, I put on ear protection when I run the vacuum cleaner. Deaf enough already.