3M Peltor ProTac Shooter Review – 2024

Our Comprehensive Review Of The 3M Peltor ProTac Shooter

Peltor is one of the leading manufacturers of hearing protection for shooters. The ProTac series is just one of their many high-quality product lines and it’s no joke when it comes to hearing protection for recreational shooters and hunters alike.

The original ProTac earmuffs aren’t the easiest thing to get a hold of, since they are mostly found in European countries such as Germany and Netherlands but they’re a great choice for any shooter who’s looking for solid electronic hearing protection. Keep reading for our detailed verdict of these earmuffs.

The current price of the Peltor ProTac Shooters on Amazon.com is below:

Features & Benefits At A Glance

* Professional-quality hearing protection (26dB Nrr).

* Environmental microphones for level-dependent hearing protection and ambient listening.

* Padded foam on headband minimizes pressure on the head for long-wearing comfort.

* 3.5 mm listen only Stereo input for connection to external devices (E.G. Cell phone, two-way radio, iPod).

* Voice guided menu system for ease of use and adjusting settings.

* Auto power off, the headset will turn off after 4 hrs. of non-use to save battery.

Sound Features, Sound Quality & Noise Reduction

One of the first things you should examine in any set of earmuffs is the noise reduction rating. While most sets of electronic hearing protection sacrifice noise suppression to cut costs and weight, the Peltor ProTac Shooter manages to reduce noise by 26 dB. This is better than some passive earmuffs.

While the 5 dB of difference between these and Howard Leight Impact Sports might not seem like a lot, it means that the sound waves that reach your ear are about 4 times less powerful. Since decibels aren’t a linear scale, there’s quite a big difference whenever you go up more than one point.

The Peltor ProTac is designed with industrial use in mind. In addition to its powerful hearing protection, it’s got pretty good sound quality for electronic earmuffs.

Each cup has a recessed microphone that picks up ambient sounds and then relays them to a speaker that’s right outside of your ear. In order to keep your hearing protected, there’s an internal circuit that compresses sound levels down to 82 dB before playing them back. This allows you to hear speech and other important sounds while keeping your eardrums safe from gunshots and other loud noises.

Because there are two microphones, you’ll get full stereo sound from these, giving you surprisingly good situational awareness. If you wear hearing protection around other people, these will work wonders at helping you stay alert and connected.

It’s worth noting that electronic hearing protection is not all created equal. There are two types of circuits commonly used to filter sound: a clipping circuit and a compression circuit.

Clipping circuits will cut out all sound entirely after a loud event (like a gunshot) for a short while before bringing sound back all at once. Compression circuits will sharply reduce sound volume and then gradually bring it back as soon as it’s safe.

Most users prefer compression circuits (like the ones in these Peltor ProTac Shooters) because they allow you to hear more things more quickly after a loud noise.

Comfortability

The ProTac muffs fit quite well on most heads. The band is adjustable and has enough padding to prevent it from digging into your head, while the ear cups have plenty of padding to achieve a good cheek weld.

Peltor sells a few accessories that you can use to make your set even more comfortable. I haven’t had a chance to try out any of their accessories, but the people who have say that they’re extremely comfortable.

Other Important Features

These days, most sets of electronic earmuffs come with a 3.5mm input jack, and these ProTacs are no exception. You can plug in a mp3 player or phone or even a radio and listen to playback from inside of your ear muffs.

This is great for home use since you can do noisy chores while listening to your favorite tunes, but it’s also perfect for use in a more professional capacity. By plugging into a radio, you can keep everyone connected while still keeping everyone’s eardrums safe.

The Cons

I mentioned this before, but the ProTac Shooters are really designed with industrial use in mind. This doesn’t make it a bad choice for hobby shooters, but it does mean it’s a bit harder to get a hold of.

Something like the Peltor Sport Tactical 300 offers many of the same features at a fairly comparable price. Be ready to consider these (and other options) if the ProTac proves too difficult for you to acquire as a private individual.

As we mentioned at the beginning these are more common within the European market so this exact pair is hard to get a hold of unless you opt for the Peltor TacticalPro or the Peltor Protact III’s which are more commonly seen in the US market.

Overall & Final Thoughts

With that being said, there aren’t very many sets of -26 dB earmuffs with the kind of sound quality the Peltor ProTac Shooter offers. They’re not the cheapest set of hearing protection you can buy, but they’re priced fairly competitively for what they do.

If you can get your hands on a pair without too much hassle, they’re a very solid option for home and hobby use. You’ll get better hearing protection than you would with something like the Howard Leight Impact Sport, and you’ll get better sound quality from the built-in internal speakers.