I believe the loudest firearm I ever shot was a M38 Nagant.That short barrel was NASTY.You could start forest fires 10 yards away from the muzzle flash too.I have a covered porch on the front of our garage,and sometimes we shoot under that towards my berm when it's raining.Well,an acquaintance of mine happened by one day while were lining up a friends hunting rifle.
Well this dude had been buggin' me to shoot that old firebreather for some time now,so when he saw us shooting he brought it up again.I told him you don't want to fire that thing under here,and explained why.He kept on about it so I figured why the hell not.Ever notice how some people are stupid and stubborn?
Normally I have strict rules about hearing protection,my range my rules,if you want to shoot here period.He never wanted to wear anything,and would always give me shit about it,so I figured I would break him of this annoying ritual everytime he wanted to shoot here.I told him this thing is "loud as hell".So I figured I did my part to warn him of the consequences.I even offered hearing protection like usual.
Well as usual he didn't want any,while mumbling something under his breath about how only pussies were earplugs.So before he touched off the shot my and my friend told him to wait as we stepped back about 20 feet,and I put muffs over my plugs and told him to "let her rip.He was standing about 3 feet away from the wall and well under the roof when he touched off the shot.BOOOOOOM! From where I was it felt like someone hit me in the chest with a rolled up Washington post that was swingin' for the fences.I can only imagine the concussion wave he felt.
He walked over to me handed me that old rifle and said "what the hell ya have in that thang dynamite"? I was already laughing uncontrollably because I could tell from the look on his face he was halfway in shock.I said "I warned you it was loud".He said "huh"? Then I raised my voice and said "I might be a pussy,But I'm not a deaf pussy". ;D