Acoustic trauma of sportsman hunter due to gun firing

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Abstract
A historical review of acoustic trauma is presented with documented proof of resulting hearing loss and established damage risk criteria for both steady state and impulse noise.A detailed evaluation of impulse noise produced by the weapons and ammunition most frequently used by the sportsman hunter revealed that only a few of the rim firing tests fell short of the damage risk criteria for impulse noise. The muzzle energy exerts the greatest effect on the peak sound pressure level.It is demonstrated that modification of the barrel of the firearm lowered the acoustical energy as much as 97.5 percent. Since most sportsmen hunters decline the use of ear defenders to protect their ears, this method is proposed as an alternative for the conservation of their hearing.