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I had the opportunity to shoot the new .308 Subsonic ammo from AWC. The ammo is part of a larger collection of standard and subsonic rounds currently being offered by them. For me, to be able to draw any quality subsonic rounds from a factory box that I can have confidence in is a luxury. These rounds were really very nice indeed. The .308 Subs have a flat nosed 170 grain loaded into all new brass. They clock at muzzle at 1071, just shy of supersonic with the foot pounds calculating in somewhere near 432 foot/pounds at the muzzle . At 100 yards, the velocity slows to 938 and the foot pounds drop to 332. As you might imagine, by 200 yards velocity is only 850ish and energy is just shy of 300 ft/lbs. So, in manner of speaking, we have less energy at 100 yards than a supersonic .45 acp round. No surprise that the actually useful range is from 50 to 100 yards.
What was surprising was two things. First the sound through a new Thundertrap TI can, in XL (300 Winmag length or an extra chamber set) was nothing sort of astonishing. A low tone air bleed, so quiet as to cause one wearing plugs and looking through a pair of binocs to say "let me know when you're ready to go" long after the round went down range. In a bolt gun, it is quieter than a suppressed .22 because the frequency is so damn low, like a slow baritone air release. Quieter than a pellet gun. Second, these are really good looking, well finished rounds.
Accuracy came in at 1.47" at 100 yards, moderate breeze. I would think that this is about what one should expect. For those fortunate enough to have a great can, the remaining sonic crack is always present, coming back through the woods. When that disappears, and there is no projectile noise, no action noise, only the terminal noise and all else is quiet, well you start to look around to ask "did that sound that quiet to you?"
I had the opportunity to shoot the new .308 Subsonic ammo from AWC. The ammo is part of a larger collection of standard and subsonic rounds currently being offered by them. For me, to be able to draw any quality subsonic rounds from a factory box that I can have confidence in is a luxury. These rounds were really very nice indeed. The .308 Subs have a flat nosed 170 grain loaded into all new brass. They clock at muzzle at 1071, just shy of supersonic with the foot pounds calculating in somewhere near 432 foot/pounds at the muzzle . At 100 yards, the velocity slows to 938 and the foot pounds drop to 332. As you might imagine, by 200 yards velocity is only 850ish and energy is just shy of 300 ft/lbs. So, in manner of speaking, we have less energy at 100 yards than a supersonic .45 acp round. No surprise that the actually useful range is from 50 to 100 yards.
What was surprising was two things. First the sound through a new Thundertrap TI can, in XL (300 Winmag length or an extra chamber set) was nothing sort of astonishing. A low tone air bleed, so quiet as to cause one wearing plugs and looking through a pair of binocs to say "let me know when you're ready to go" long after the round went down range. In a bolt gun, it is quieter than a suppressed .22 because the frequency is so damn low, like a slow baritone air release. Quieter than a pellet gun. Second, these are really good looking, well finished rounds.
Accuracy came in at 1.47" at 100 yards, moderate breeze. I would think that this is about what one should expect. For those fortunate enough to have a great can, the remaining sonic crack is always present, coming back through the woods. When that disappears, and there is no projectile noise, no action noise, only the terminal noise and all else is quiet, well you start to look around to ask "did that sound that quiet to you?"
