Sasselhoff

I've been moving towards getting into three gun, and right before everything got locked down with the virus I picked up the last piece of the puzzle, a new Stoeger M3k Freedom and a box of Franchi dummy rounds. Once a day I take 5 minutes and work at teaching myself how to quad load (thank you YouTube University), which if you aren't familiar with the M3k, is possible as it comes with an already somewhat milled out loading port from the factory. After only a week or two of practice, I've gotten pretty reliable with weak hand, and semi-decent with strong hand (dang inflexible wrist)...however, because of how the loading port has not been additionally filed/hogged out yet, I end up having to stuff the end/tip of my thumb into the shell tube to get the shells all the way in. This both slows me down, and is pretty uncomfortable for the thumbs after a few sets of loading practice. Luckily it does not have the same type of lifter as the Benelli "thumb killer" (haha), so it has neither wounded me nor needs to be welded...but it still isn't exactly fun. Once I finally get around to milling out the loading port even more than it already is (working my way up to that...it's just so unnatural for me to start "hacking away" at a gun, haha), I will no longer have to do that, but will instead just be able to swipe my hand past and the pad/knuckle on my thumb should get them all the way in as it slides by (as y'all well know). So I know the solution, and plan to apply it when I have the chance. So my question is: should I stop practicing my loads until I get that done to not build a bad habit? Or do you folks think it will it be easy enough to switch over once I get the mill work done? I would assume that it shouldn't be too hard to change my method down the road, should I just keep practicing "as is", but I can't say for sure. Though, I figure an added benefit to keeping practicing now is that if at some competition my future "milled" gun ever goes down and someone is nice enough to loan me something to finish a match, if it's unmodified I figure I could still be somewhat competitive, given I already have the muscle memory.

For those of you with the custom fit $100+ plugs, do they actually block more decibels than a good pair of disposable foamies, or are they just more comfortable? I checked the different custom ones you folks have recommended, but their decibel reduction ratings are all right at or even below a good set of foamies. However, I also know a lot of that may just be marketing BS (on both sides), so I'd like to know what y'all think. I couldn't care less about fit, and am more interested in outright decibel reduction. I am getting into 3 gun, and holy mother of pearl is my rifle loud with that comp on there. I've been doubling up with the best foamies (forget the brand, but I think they are 32 DB NRR) and the highest decibel reducing over ears I could find (37 DB NRR "Silent Sound"), but it is still loud enough that I know I'm causing some hearing damage, and my ears are already screwed up enough. I understand it's important to hear range calls, and when not shooting I can hear them just fine, even with doubled up protection (while actively shooting I don't think I would hear anyone except the RO standing behind me, but that's enough to be safe). I'd much rather have better "lifetime" hearing than be able to hear everyone talking... and anyway, if I want to hear better, I can always just pull off the over ears and temporarily deal with less NRR. I also ride a loud as hell Ducati (hey, it came that way from the previous owner, but, I'm also not changing it back, haha), and would love to have something that gives me better NRR than just some foamies...but those custom ones don't seem to have the same rating!