Good God my hearing must be worse than the VA has my disability listed for. :eek:
Earlier this summer I shot a few rounds of M855 from my LMT 10.5" sans hearing pro just to see how bad it really was. I remember thinking "OK...it's loud I guess but not that bad." LOL...crap. Heck, I think my 14.5" LMT with a Vortex and AK101 with muzzle brake are downright quiet and pleasant to shoot now.
Then again I fired a lot of damn rounds from my M4 in Iraq with no hearing pro whats so ever, and the whole "auditory exclusion will protect your hearing" is a crock of shit.

