.223 Subsonic Loads
- Thread starter madmikes262
- Start date
The very best subsonic 223 load for any of these rifles is a .22 conversion using a 1-9 twist barrel and 60gr SSS ammo from Aguila. Loading up that huge oversized .223 case for subsonics is a waste of time and money. Unless you are shooting the 80 or 90gr bullets you're not really gaining any energy over the 22LR and you are adding a lot of work and risk.
Frank
Frank
I have used the Hodgdon recipe with a 55 grain bullet and trail boss (I believe 4 grains). It fills more than half the case with powder. I agree that the 22lr makes a much better subsonic platform for plinking, but it's nice to have a subsonic load for any suppressed rifle. You can jack a sub into your AR a lot faster than you can convert it to 22! I don't call coyotes much but I've always thought it would be good to have a subsonic round in the chamber in case one came in really close. You could dispatch the first dog quietly and his buddy may still work into the call. If he did come in close you should have an opportunity to jack in a super from the magazine and blaze away
I think more realistically you build a dedicated subsonic rifle and just shoot regular HV ammo out of your .223 can. You don't gain enough with the subs to make it worthwhile when you're limited to .22LR weight bullets. On the other hand taking your AR and putting a .338 BR upper on might make it worth doing. You've got a 300gr subsonic telephone pole coming out of the barrel and with good loading and workup with your rifle you can hit dogs out to 500yds with a heavy bullet and do it quietly. I know some guys think they should have subs for any gun they carry with a can but it makes more sense to carry a suppressed .22 pistol than to load .223 subsonic. That way you can take care of any close in stuff quietly and save a lot of time on loading a basic 22LR equivalent in your rifle.
This is just my opinion based on quite a few years of playing with subsonics and suppressors. I shoot a lot of full power .338LM, 6.5X47, 308 etc through cans and it works great. I only load subsonics for the .338BR and the 510 W though.
Frank
This is just my opinion based on quite a few years of playing with subsonics and suppressors. I shoot a lot of full power .338LM, 6.5X47, 308 etc through cans and it works great. I only load subsonics for the .338BR and the 510 W though.
Frank
