This question was inspired by the movie Goodfellas, in the scene where there’s a group of men sitting around a table playing cards, one character (Tommy) shoots another (Spider) 4 – 5 times with what appears to be a .45 while they’re all inside a room. The remaining (living) characters in the room then carry on a conversation in more or less normal, conversational speaking voices. All the characters were relatively close to the gun when it was fired (within 10 feet, but that’s a guess), but the salient point is that they were all inside an enclosed room (again a guess, but let’s say 40’ x 40’).
Question: IRL wouldn’t these people be deafened by the gunshots? Temporarily? Permanently?
The noise would be loud, and prolonged exposure to loud noises can deafen.
But there’s no guarantee that it will or won’t cause temporary or permanent damage, though either is a remote possibility, permanent damage is less likely.
The size of the room shouldn’t matter. A gun is no louder indoors than out. The echo effect is there but with each echo, the sound is 40’ further away and the walls absorb some of the sound.
I’ve never fired my .45 indoors, but if I snap off five shots outdoors without hearing protection, I’m going to have trouble hearing normal conversation for a while.
I’ve shot a lot of .45 rounds indoors, but always while wearing hearing protection. Just what would be the effect on unprotected ears I can’t say beyond noting that it would certainly be uncomfortable and likely cause some temporary problems. I can say that for indoor “big-bore” pistol competitions, I use both earplugs and earmuff-style hearing protectors.
Yes. A gunshot at such close range will do instant permanent damage to your hearing. Being indoors, depending on the acoustics of the room, can make it worse.
Subjectively, it’s almost always a LOT louder indoors, and a smaller room typically seems worse. I’m sure this has to do with how well the walls & ceilings reflect/absorb acoustic energy.
I’ve forgotton to put in ear protection at an indoor gun range a couple of times and when someone squeezes off that first round it gets your attention real quick. You will experience some ringing and partial temporary loss, more so with repeat exposure.
In the movie it likely was just a way of showing how inured to violence the men were. In real life it’s very unpleasant to be so close.
One of the times I went to the local indoor range, I arrived right at opening time.
Not knowing there was already someone in the range, I went in without putting in my earplugs. Just as I stepped in and registered the fact there was a shooter on the line, he let go with a .44 Mag.
A .45 fired indoors might be bad but not horrible. Something like a .357 fired with a full load multiple times would be really bad however. I shot mine a few times without ear protection outdoors and my ears rang for two or three days. It certainly caused temporary hearing loss.