I recently got a pair of earplugs from Performance Ear Pro. I was amazed at the reduction of noise they provided. In an indoor range this week one of the shooters was shooting a 44 mag. Even without additional headphones the level was at a comfortable level.
I also have a set of wired Ruckus ear-plug earphones that are rated at 25dB and mostly see use on my moto, but sometimes when driving where I want to listen to something without hearing anyone else.
I don't bother with hearing protection & have not for years. I believe the equipment I worked around was a noisey. Then again I do enjoy everyone shooting suppressed.
I ruined my hearing from humping and thumping an M-60 in 1966-67 without ear protection. The Army didn't give us ear protection in the mid and late 60's. I think the artillery guys had some protection but they told us bottomfeeders that we had to be able to hear everything around us (kind of a contradiction). I since have a bad case of tinnitus but the VA gave me some hearing aids that attenuate my constant brain noise a bit. When I shoot now, I just wear the yellow foam plugs under S&W low end ear muffs.
Growing up, I would go shooting with my dad and his brothers. They all used spent .357 casings stuck in their ears, my dad bought me muffs but I wanted to be like him!
I still have my Army issued earpro that I use. Not a fan of muff styles but have been looking into electronic earpro.
Paging @Vaquero . I don't know the model - some kind of Howard Leight - not sure. I'd love to hear the responses - I usually use my impact pro muffs shooting pistols, and Howard Light foam plugs shooting rifles to get a good cheek weld - in ear electronic ones would shure be nice though.