Moderator poll

[Monkey Spanker]

Yep use one on my .243 and on the .22lr, as said it helps with the recoil and most importantly my hearing which has taken a hammering with the shotgun over the years. Funnily enough when i had my last medical it was my left ear that was the problem which I thought was a bit strange being right handed. Nurse told me that the sound travels round and affects the opposite ear, seemingly quite common in shooters!

Bryan

Mount you gun and look in the mirror and you will see that it is your left ear that faces more forward!
I'm quite deaf in my left ear from almost 40 years of shooting, mostly without ear defence!
MS

 

[flytie]

Yes I do. Not only do I value what is left of my hearing, but it is a requisite on some of the land I stalk over.

I do think they spoil the lines of nice rifle though.

Simon

 

[Pigglet1]

Never had one, never used one, never will as ALL my stalking rifles (in fact all my rifles) going back over thirty plus years have all had iron sights in addition to any telescopic sight that they may have been fitted with. If you either don't take more than a couple of shots OR if doing so wear good hearing protection then there isn't a problem to you IMHO.

I also think that if you have a longer barrel...60cms or 24"...then it also with cartridges around or under 2,800 fps less of a problem. The longer the barrel the further the noise is away.

The very worst culprits were Churchill XXV shot guns!

Having said that I can see that they have great advantages in both noise and blast reduction. Although the quietest firearm that I ever encountered was hearing a Welrod pistol being used. Or rather not hearing it being used. It was virtually bar the strike of the firing pin on the primer silent.

Dangerous advice there I'm afraid. Every single unmoderated shot from a C/F rifle or shotgun WILL do irrepairable damage to your hearing.
I work in industry and have recieved a lot of information and instruction on noise and hearing damage over the years. As a result all my rifles are moderated and I will not fire a shotgun without my MSA sordins.
When zeroing or at the range I use both ear defenders and Moderator.
Regular hearing checks have shown no deterioration in my hearing and that the way i want to keep it. I don't want to be bellowing "eh??" "What did you say" at my grand children

 

[dlz90]

Tinnitus is not nice !! wish I could do it over again and not have this condition,moderator on all rifles now and never fire the shotgun without some form of protection

 

[ruger mini 14]

Who uses a moderator on their stalking rifle ? And what's your reason for your choice . I use a .308 and a .243 without a mod , to me , as a recreational stalker I don't need one and I prefer how my gun handles without one . I use ear protection in the form of the squishy inserts !

Hi, I have a ruger mini 14 .223 so recoil isn't stupid. the accuracy of the mini 14 has always been broght in to question but the model i have is the later one with the tapered barrel which has better grouping with remy ammo (inch at 100m) but with a mod attached it's put the groups down to 3/4 inch at 100m. the first mod fitted was a can type on the end of the barrel and it looked stupid, the one fitted now is a third eye tactical spartan and it's brilliant, it's an over barrel jobby and it makes the rifle look balanced. with this mod fitted the recoil has gone right down, the "bang" has gone (HV crack still there but nothing gets rid of that) the grouping is better and because the gun is quite short, it's reduced the muzzle flip too. The spartan gets posted to your RFD and once fitted you measure the diameter of the barrel where the mod stops and the guy at Third Eye will turn down/bore out the nylon barrel spacer to suit, this makes the mod so much more rigid to the barrel and in the case of the mini 14 increases the accuracy.

 

[Conor1]

I used a mod for the first time stalking this October. I never hear the shot when I am stalking and recoil is not a big issue foe me. However when I tried the moderator for the first time, I now understand why people use them. If you are recoil shy, get a moderator.