I was wondering what the best ear protection is for competition shooting, in particular long-range shooting where the rifles are so loud. Is standard protection (ear plugs/earmuffs) enough? Should you wear both together?

I use the muff style but also keep plugs handy just in case.

If more than my gun is shooting, I will always wear both. In this situation, my muffs are electronic. If I am shooting at an indoor range, I will also wear doubles.

What you need depends on the situation.

I use a pair of muffs that fit over my ears comfortably that have a 35 decibal sound reduction. For the outdoor range I use it's enough most days. I've used them with no problems when a couple of older gentlemen were sighting in their African guns. They were sighting in a couple of .375s. I could hear them firing, but had no ringing in my ears. The closer guy was about 15' away from me, and the other guy was 30' away from me.

Although, if they were shooting those guns again I'd move further away. You could feel it when they fired.

I use muffs.

I was told my ported .44mag was going to be extremely loud, so I used both ear plugs and muffs the 1st time I shot it and it was no louder than any other gun I normally shoot.

I'd say just a pair of quality muffs is plenty of protection, no need for both, in general I would say muffs are better than ear plugs which can come loose at times etc...

I'm very protective of my ears too.
remember sharp ultra loud noises can damage just as much as loud noises for exposed periods of time, ie the lawn mower....loud music etc...

Both; if shooting repeatedly.

I always wear plugs and muffs. I'm deaf in one ear (through no fault of shooting) and cannot take any chances on further loss. You can't control who is shooting next to you or what they're shooting. The double protection takes care of that possible issue.

Electronic muffs ARE WORTH the money! Buy some and dont look back. I have the Howard Leight Muffs. Best $60 i have ever spent. They really work as advertised, shutting off when the noise gets too high. I no longer wear foamies underneath, no need. I work around F-16 A/C all day and do wear the traditional muffs and foamies for that. The electronic dont have too much of a place for that kind of sustained noise!

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Both, makes a huge difference for me.