I've shot for....45 years? give or take. I retired from the aviation industry 5 years ago after 36 years around airplanes. Ear protection when outdoors around airplanes; always was mandatory, always wore them...ALWAYS. Shooting? Not always mandatory to wear them, but I did 90% of the time outdoors, 100% indoors. I also had to maintain a medical licence for 36 years which involved a hear test annually, so there is very little subjective opinion in my situation. at 59 years old, my hearing loss is in the upper 25% of the age group. I have never once, in all that time, had an audiologist even hint that my loss was normal; They all have said that a combination of airplanes and guns is the result of my hearing being what it is. Sort of an "occupational/recreational" hazard, I quess.
You have to decide what your risk tolerance is. Not being able to hear well sucks. Wearing a hearing aid sucks. Ain't no big deal, but it does suck. I could have avoided much of it by not shooting, and working around something not as loud as airplanes. If you shoot regularly for years, you WILL experience permanent, irreversible hearing loss. Permanent. Irreversible. How much is dependent on a ton of other factors, but you will develop hearing loss. If you want to shoot subsonic pistol ammo out of a carbine, You'll likely find it "seems" quieter. My JRC 9mm with 115 gr. Remington sure "seems" to be. I still wear in ear foams, and active electronic muffs with it, every round. It doesn't make any real difference in my mind whether you're shooting subsonic, supersonic, maybe not even hypersonic if you can find something that fast; you'll screw your hearing eventually.
Now, do you want to be a perfectly preserved Dead guy when they plant you, or do you want to be a dead guy that looks like he enjoyed life and did what he did for enjoyment, knowing and accepting the risk to his physical well-being long term. There's the bigger question
One day you will....but it will be too late.
