I'm making progress on my climactic fight scene in my novel, and I've got a question about the deafness that results when a gun is discharged close to you. I've got my characters in a closed room about 18 feet square (7 to 8 meters?) with a low ceiling (8 foot max). Hardwood floor, wood beamed ceiling, wood paneling on the walls. So lots of reverberation. The first shooter is in a semi-crouch off to the right side and a little forward of my MMC, who stands about four feet from her. She's about twelve feet diagonally from my FMC, who stands facing her. (The target is ahead and to the left of my MMC, and to the right and ahead of my FMC.) The gun is a pre-1983 Walther PPK, unsilenced, which from YouTube videos has an overtone of sheetmetal being struck by a mallet. After they hear that, what then? Would their ears ring? Would the percussion be like cotton being slammed into their ears? Would everyone in the room (eight in all) be rendered effectively deaf? How long before they could hear others shouting? I know it's common as dirt to have characters in extended shootouts with no hearing protection suffer no reduction in hearing at all. I want to be more realistic than that, but I don't want to overdo it, either.
The only thing I know about it is, I heard a story once about a judge who was deafened by a gunshot at close range. As for the result—well, they said he would be missing all his hearings for the rest of the week. Lol sorry! I was trying to look up the title of a film noir movie where the MC was temporarily deafened and blinded by a gunshot, and I ran across that from Reddit. Still don't know what the movie was, but I doubt it was very realistic. More likely just used as a handy plot contrivance.
I just realized I actually did experience something similar once. When I was a teenager a friend and I were horsing around with fireworks one night and he tied a firecracker on a piece of string and hung it down into a sewer grate. It didn't go off, and after a while I peered inside to see if it was still lit. Then it went off. I had a hard ringing in my ears for a few hours, and could still hear but everything seemed far off or like I was hearing it through a thick filter. yeah, like cotton jammed in my ears. Mostly I just heard the ringing. It gradually faded and everything else came back up slowly. I'm trying to remember it the ringing was constant or if it faded after a while, but that was a long time ago. Like 40 years or so.
Never been anywhere near a gunshot, but I've had experience with other noises loud enough to cause problems for my ears. Tinnitus, especially ringing in the ears, is quite likely (I'd already had it for as long as can remember, but it got worse for a while after the loud noise). The ear felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool and I lost some hearing on that side for a while. But also, at the same time as not being able to hear properly with that ear, sounds actually made that ear feel tender and painful, even at normal speaking volume. This all lasted for around 6 months. It was years ago and as far as I can tell I've fully recovered from it now, but at the time it really sucked. If you want more detail, Google acoustic trauma. That's the correct medical term.
I did that, and one site I brought up said the deafness sets in the next day. That'd be handy, but I have no idea if it's typical. Ouch!
I have fired guns in indoor shooting ranges, though with ear protection. Without it, in a room like you describe, the result would likely be some felt concussion and temporary ringing in the ears, but I doubt if any permanent damage would occur. That gun fires a .380 round which isn't that powerful, or as loud as a larger caliber. Pay no attention to anything you see on screen about this. I saw a ridiculous episode of Blue Bloods where two detectives and two miscreants unknowingly ended up together in an elevator. Recognition and multiple gunshots ensued, without serious hearing effect. In actual life, I'm sure there would have been permanent deafness and bleeding from the ears in that situation.
I once fired a Magnum outdoors without any ear protection. I didn't hear a bang - my ears instantly went into a weird state, a little like the feeling when you're yawning. I had ringing in my ears for about a week, and spoke too loudly the whole time, much like after being in a noisy nightclub.
It depends to some degree on the individual involved. I've had my ears ring for a while along with a sense of hearing from under water, but neither lasted more than ten or fifteen minutes, half an hour at the outside. It's the cumulative effect of loud noises over a period of time that'll eventually cause problems.
As someone who owns a Walter PPK 380 the muzzle report is not loud. The only real way you would be deaf from the shot is if the muzzle was close to your ear so the shock wave actually hit your ear drum. I was a competed in combat pistol matches for years, with a 9mm which is the 380s big brother, while it might leave your ears ringing for a few moments there is also a good chance that if the adrenaline was flowing that you would not even remember the sound of the shot. I remember many times hunting, that after the shot was fired I had no memory of the boom, this is with no hearing protection, as you would not wear that while hunting. If you were to choose a round known for a deafing bang look at changing the gun to a 357 sig https://www.gunmann.com/357-sig-pistols/ or the .40 cal. https://www.gunmann.com/40-cal-pistols/ There are lots of calibers that would make for a much more believable choice if you want to make the loss of hearing part of the story. The PPK was always a good choice for a carry gun, it is slim and reliable. I carried mine for years in a belly band every day until switching to a Glock 19, today a Glock 23 The 380 is under powered for a defense gun. It is the gun of choice for my wife.
Thanks for this! Actually, I don't want my characters to be deafened. I just didn't want them running around as if there'd been no loud noise in the room at all. Much better if they can hear each other.
A single gunshot will definitely take away your hearing if the bullet goes in one ear, shattering the eardrum, and comes out the other, shuttering the eardrum there too.
One must therefore be VERY careful to choose to be in the company of interesting conversationalists when a gunfight breaks out. There is nothing worse than having to listen to some boring moron drone on during a sparkly exchange of fire.
We are talking about a .38 in a small enclosed room. Are we talking cider block construction, which would give you an echo chamber for the noise, or some other construction that does not reflect sound as much? I remember firing a .45 as a kid that left my ears ringing for about 5 minutes, but that was out doors. The only cases of deafness from a gunshot I have heard of were all where the discharge was close to the ear. That makes me wonder if the deafness was caused by the pressure wave of the discharge rather than the sound.
This seems quite likely. In my case I looked down into the sewer, so the steel pipe channeled the blast right up at my head. And in the noir movie (not that movies demonstrate reality of course) the bad guy very deliberately fired the gun right in front of the guy's face, in what I think was a deliberate attempt to temporarily blind and deafen him. Wish I could remember what movie it was.
I’ve never fired a gun without hearing protection, but I would encourage anyone writing about a shooting situation to rent a 9mm from the local range and put a few magazines of rounds through it. It’s cheap and if you have never felt a gun recoil, valuable to understand what it feels like and why hitting a moving target is very very hard In Bruges? I think one character shoots another in the face with a blank.
No, it was an original noir, from the 40's or 50's, in black and white. Thank you though, I appreciate it. I think he went through a big chunk of the movie with a bandage wrapped around his head, covering his eyes and ears. Or ears anyway.
I very much agree! Though it you are writing about a specific weapon, either rent that weapon, or at least the same caliber. And spend the extra for some instruction of the range, for safety if nothing else.
Hardwoods will reflect sound, rather than absorb it. Which will cause the sound of the discharge to echo. This article should help for background information. https://www.silencercentral.com/blog/how-loud-is-a-gunshot-gun-db-levels-compared/
It would to some extent depend on how much soft material is in the room—rugs, carpet, sofas, drapery etc. A bare empty room will be way worse than a soft fluffy one.
This place may not be near you, but will give you an idea of what to expect. https://gunforhire.com/first-time-shooting/ their price estimate is not out of line, from what i see on the west coast. Range time, 100 rounds, and targets generally runs a bit less than $100, add in instruction and $125 is not unreasonable. I was stationed in West Germany for a couple years. It was a blast. Most of my time was In central Germany, but I might be able to help with background question.
