Subsonic hunting ammo

[velvetant]

Curious what you all use.
Picked up some Winchester 42gr max subsonic, accurate in my 10/22 and cycle 100%.
Going to try them on small varmints this spring.

 

[Geno C.]

Eley subsonic hollow points

 

[straightshooter1]

Curious what you all use.
Picked up some Winchester 42gr max subsonic, accurate in my 10/22 and cycle 100%.
Going to try them on small varmints this spring.

Last year I picked up a brick of Winchester 42gr Subsonics and ran them through a couple different guns to see how they performed. To my surprise, they performed really, really well (very unexpected when looking at data from other Winchester LR rounds). Also, at 50 yds I would getting pretty good accuracy with them out of my 10/22 and the velocity was actually quite close to the published speed of 1065 fps. So . . . is sound like your batch is also performing well and you should find them working well for small varmints.

Since I still have quite a few of these left I think I'll try them again with my more accurate chrono and put them through a couple more different guns and see if they still get such good numbers after sitting in my cabinet for a year+ now.

I also tried some Eley Subsonics that also did very well. You can see that data I happen to have on these and some other subsonic HPs in the attached PDF file.

 

[NVScout]

I’m in the same boat ! I’ve shot the Eley subs and will get 6-7 in one hole and usualy 3-4 out 1” at 50yrds ?! My gun really likes the Eley club and am considering trying it on some varmints to see how effective it is.

 

[Gunfighter14e2]

I run CCi std vol in 16 twist guns for most things under 50 #.
Everything else it's Aguila 60gr in a 9 twist for over 50 #

 

[Graywolf.260]

CCI subsonic segmented copper accuracy is not bad but if you are at elevations above 4K it may not be subsonic.

 

[Hookturnr]

CCI segmented 40gr.hp is 1/2 moa in two of my guns and actually shoots same poi as my match ammo

 

[straightshooter1]

Curious what you all use.
Picked up some Winchester 42gr max subsonic, accurate in my 10/22 and cycle 100%.
Going to try them on small varmints this spring.

OK, went out today and shot this Winchester subsonic 42gr round through 3 of my 22 rifles and it performed very well; the best performance I've gotten out of all the Winchester 22LR cartridges I've tested. At 50 yds, I was getting nice tight groups . . . though not as nice as one gets with the better match grade cartridges.

See attached:

 

[softcock]

I still have a couple bricks and use to shoot grey diggers in the hazelnut orchards every year . I used to buy everywhere . Is good all around, hunting and accuracy . Subsonic HP .22lr, with the softest Lead for good expansion, & accurate .
Was the ( Aguila SE, 38 grn. HP subsonic ) . I would love to find and buy another case of bricks, but have not seen it around for a few years .

CCI std. Vel. stays subsonic and quiet with can and with good groups at 50 yrd.
.

 

[natdscott]

If the rifle and shooter are good, the particular type of subsonic ammo becomes less relevant than is just selecting what the rifle likes.

Other than the really radical hollow point game ammo--all of which is supersonic, and most of which shoots like shit--I've not found much performance difference in any of the SV 40 grain stuff. The segmented bullet did splash a little more, and CB rounds penetrate well, but expand zero, but overall, put any of them in the brain and they do fine.

 

[natdscott]

Historically I have read:
The .32 Winchester Self-loading cartridge for the Winchester Model 1905 Rifle
165 gr at 1,392 ft/sec for 710 ft/lb was not a deer hunting success.
The .351 Winchester Self-loading cartridge for the Winchester Model 1907 Rifle
180 gr at 1,870 ft/sec for 1,400 ft/lb was a deer hunting success.

If a 710 ft/lb load failed to impress the average deer hunter (or deer), what is chance of a 498 ft/lb load working for all but the few hunters honestly capable of surgically precise shot placement?

What is the point of the 220 gr .300 Blackout round? To "offer subsonic performance greater than the current standard 9mm Luger round" in ARs with cans. The subsonic 9mm Parabellum is 147 gr at 990 ft/sec for 320 ft/lbs. The 220gr Blackout beats the 9mm subsonic as an antipersonnel round, its niche purpose. Its purpose is not deer hunting with the average hunter.

I'd think of using the 125 gr .300 Blackout for deer, but not the subsonic load.

Great post...but this guy is asking about .22LR.

 

[RTH1800]

If you get an older high quality target rifle like a Win 52 Rem 40x or some other one with a 28" barrel you can simply shoot Eley Match, Tenex or something similar. You get match performance and suppressor quite without the suppressor. Those long barrels slow down and reduce the SD. Its a win, win. They also hold very nicely offhand or in other non bench hunting positions.

 

[natdscott]

They also hold very nicely offhand...

What's that?

 

[XLR308]

In my 10/22 with Tac Sol barrel it is damn hard to beat SK Standard Plus with anything else regardless of price RWS R50 is right up there with it but considerably more expensive.

 

[natdscott]

In my 10/22 with Tac Sol barrel it is damn hard to beat SK Standard Plus with anything else regardless of price RWS R50 is right up there with it but considerably more expensive.

You might find that Rifle Match reduces the fliers from Standard+. It also impacts the same place, so that's nice.

I'm interested to see what the new Flatnose Match will do, given SK's successes in other ammunition.

 

[XLR308]

You might find that Rifle Match reduces the fliers from Standard+. It also impacts the same place, so that's nice.

I'm interested to see what the new Flatnose Match will do, given SK's successes in other ammunition.

Thanks, I will have to get a couple boxes of those to try out. I have four more bricks of SK for the kids and me to burn up for now.

 

[Norcal911]

Recently spent a day squirrel hunting (northern california ground squirrels). Great day. Mostly walking, some prone. Ranges were 5 yards to about 200 yards. Took my vudoo with Wolf MT, and my CZ452 17hmr. The wolf seemed fine out to about 50 yards. Beyond that, i was connecting but not getting real clean kills. Perhaps my placement wasn't perfect. Loved running the V-22 and made a few 150ish yard shots. I switched up to my 17 and it was devastating. DRT shots. Of course i didn't have the joy of walking around with my prized V-22. Got about 50 or so squirrels for the day. My final thoughts were, maybe the match ammo's aren't great for longer range hunting? Perhaps i could build a 10/22 specifically for shooting mini-mags or something comparable? Where do the super sonic ammo's go sub-sonic? Perhaps i should stick to paper and steel with the vudoo. My testing has showed me than i can't get any of the super sonic rounds to group worth a damn but i certainly haven't tested everything. Sort of makes we want to slap a Garrow 17HMR upper on my AR, but i sure like running my vudoo. Any thoughts-Norcal911

 

[RTH1800]

I shoot tree squirrels and use SS match ammo. These fox and grey squirrels will weigh from 1# to 3.5# for a large fox squirrel. Shot placement is critical. I normally just take brain shots. When I occasionally take a lung shot to complete a limit and go home results are very poor. I have seen perfect lung shot squirrels run up trees, jump from one tree to another, crawl off etc. Slow killers. When i use Winchester HV HP ammo the kills are great but accuracy suffers.

 

[deersniper]

Not subsonic but velocitors are no joke for hunting.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Good thing I noticed this thread. I just placed a 2000rd bookmark on my Midway wish list.

Good point about altitude and subsonic/supersonic; I live at 4200ft ASL. I'll just take my chances with a non suppressed 10/22. Just looking for some mild noise reduction.

There is a mod you can make to the 10/22 bolt that allows it to cycle better with lower impulse ammunition. The rear lower edge of the bolt is somewhat sharp cornered. If you can relieve that corner to make it a softer radius, it will be easier for the bolt to cock the hammer on its rearward travel.

I did mine years ago and short cycles with lower impulse ammunition (including FGMM) just went away. In the years since, I cannot detect any evidence of another condition arising from the fix. I found that fix right here on The 'Hide.

Greg

 

[velvetant]

Thanks everyone for the replies.
Greg, I live at 4900ft and shoot between 4500ft-7500ft. So far I have only shot at 4500ft but they stayed subsonic.
I'll report back when I get up higher, not sure when that will be.
I also did the radius on the bolt long ago when I shot match ammo, does make a difference.
Thanks again everyone.
Randy

 

[Norcal911]

Thumbs up on raiusing the bolt, i've had that done to both of mine and it never short strokes even on the match stuff. I run a buffer though, just in case the kids slap some hi-velocity in without me seeing. Not sure the bolt really ever makes contact back there but just in case-Norcal911

 

[Greg Langelius *]

I live at the height, but can't breathe at 8000ft-9000ft anymore. I can fly (rarely) in aircraft because they keep the cabin altitude at 7000ft and I can get by with that. I carry Nitrate tablets to help if the O2 level gets iffy.

I found out about the 8000ft thing the hard way last September, when we drove up Mt Lemmon to attend their Oktoberfest at the Ski slope. I had to come back down pretty quickly.

I still can't fly much these days, but it's not the breathing. I can no longer jam my 6' 5" frame into those little buckets they call seats. Seven hours to Honolulu literally cramped me up into knots for the entire following 36 hours. We had asked for leg room since my Wife was flying disabled. The idiot CSR booked us into the only row on the plane which had the seat recliners locked.

I don't want to talk about it anymore...

GRRRR...!

Greg