# Any experience with sub-sonic 22LR



## Watcher (Dec 31, 2008)

Just wondering how quiet these things are (compared to "regular" 22LR)?
Can't really tell from Youtube videos how they compare to an air-rifle.

My hoarding instinct for regular 22's seems to have finally calmed down and I leave them for others  but I just saw two boxes of these at a store and passed on them - probably should have bought one.


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## Christine (Mar 13, 2013)

We used to use a lot of subsonic ammo back on our farmette in IL. We shot 30-40 rabbit and at least a hundred starlings and house sparrows every year. 

We like the CCI (CB longs and Quiet) the best for being the quietest. It was pretty consistent with the occasional weird flyer. A starling within 50 yards was as good as dead. 

We used Remington subsonics for 'possums, skunks, and some of the rabbits and squirrels. It's a bit louder but seemed to have more knock down power.

I had some aguila subsonic stuff but my gun didn't like it. 

Subsonic stuff was sometimes hard to find even back before the hording. We bought a lever action henry .22 just so we could use CB shorts. Otherwise we used 10/22s. Had to manually cycle them and sometimes pick out the casing but they were amazingly accurate.

Just an FYI the .22 shotshells are LOUD.


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## Christine (Mar 13, 2013)

So I typed all that and forgot to answer your question. Oops. 

The subsonic stuff is much, much quieter than your average .22lr round. Particularly the CCI stuff.


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

I bought two bricks after hearing good reports on them from my brother. He said that he doesn't shoot past 50 yards with them and uses them on squirrels and rabbits in Louisiana. I haven't shot mine yet but he tells me they're considerably more quiet than a standard LR. They will not cycle a semi auto though. I believe mine are the really low velocity CCI's.


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## gdog (Sep 13, 2007)

you need this....


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

gdog said:


> you need this....


Just curious as to how much they charge for one of those, then you have to add your licensing fee on top of that. My next door neighbor manufactures them also. I helped him get his marketing and website done. His are primarily centerfire though, I don't think he does any for rimfire.


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## gdog (Sep 13, 2007)

LostLouisianian said:


> Just curious as to how much they charge for one of those, then you have to add your licensing fee on top of that. My next door neighbor manufactures them also. I helped him get his marketing and website done. His are primarily centerfire though, I don't think he does any for rimfire.


You can find that specific suppressor for $399. Tax stamp is $200. NFA gun trust is $150 (one time fee to setup if you choose to go that route). The price for the unit is not bad, its all the other costs that add up quick.

Whats the name of your neighbors company?


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Christine said:


> We used to use a lot of subsonic ammo back on our farmette in IL. We shot 30-40 rabbit and at least a hundred starlings and house sparrows every year.
> 
> We like the CCI (CB longs and Quiet) the best for being the quietest. It was pretty consistent with the occasional weird flyer. A starling within 50 yards was as good as dead.
> 
> ...


Yeah, what Christine said.

.22 shorts for most upland game, especially rabbits. I like longs for fox squirrels and long rifles for fox and ***** and when butchering hogs. We used CB caps for nuisance birds and rodents or if say we were on the wrong side of the fence and didn't want the neighbor hearing us. :smile:

.22 shotshells were popular and lots of farmers had cheap smoothbore .22s.

I don't remember seeing "sub-sonic" .22s like they market now while growing up in the 50s and 60s; only CB caps. (CB caps may be sub-sonic, I don't know.)

.


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

gdog said:


> You can find that specific suppressor for $399. Tax stamp is $200. NFA gun trust is $150 (one time fee to setup if you choose to go that route). The price for the unit is not bad, its all the other costs that add up quick.
> 
> Whats the name of your neighbors company?


Here is his website.

http://www.amtacsuppressors.com/

He trained a lot of the guys at silencerco before he actually decided to make them commercially.


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## Cooky (Apr 25, 2011)

With subsonic ammo you don't get the "crack" of the bullet breaking the sound barrier. They are significantly quieter for that reason. I shoot about a brick a month of the stuff. Most target grade .22LR is subsonic. Bullets get unstable as they pass from supersonic to subsonic and that can cause accuracy trouble. 
Subsonic .22LR with a can is movie quiet.


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## gdog (Sep 13, 2007)

Info & chart from KIDD http://www.coolguyguns.com/bAMMO-b_ep_46-1.html

.22 Ammunition Feet Per Second Graph
​In an effort to continue superior service to our customers, KIDD has compiled the following graph of popular ammunition to compare the feet per second (fps). The bold vertical line at 1126 fps denotes the speed of sound. This is important for our customers to know because if a bullet passes through the speed of sound barrier it becomes more unstable and the groups tend to spread out. The fps speed rating is determined with the assumption that it is being shot from a rifle barrel longer than 16 inches. If your bullet leaves the muzzle at supersonic and remains at supersonic to impact of target you will see very little if any negative effect on accuracy. However, if your bullet leaves the muzzle at supersonic and passes below 1126 fps prior to impact of target you will most likely see a deterioration of accuracy. Always stay above or below the speed of sound for optimum accuracy.
​


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## fishreaper (Jan 2, 2014)

My semi-auto only feeds subsonics about 50% of the time, but they seem fairly accurate. I've used eely(name?) and aguila and they both go pop, as opposed to bang. Wouldn't have any questions using them on small game and birds. I do prefer traditional .22lr however because I know they'll cycle every time. I should point out that I'm only using the heavier grain subsonics and not the 20 grain pills that I've seen from aguila after being warned that the 20 grainers may not exit a rifle barrel.


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## hondodawg (Mar 13, 2013)

Just picked up a couple of boxes of RWS sub sonic. Hope to try them out Friday if I get lucky and escape from the house. I've used CCI quiet in a couple of guns and like it just not the accuracy.


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