Subsonic ammo

[Stephens]

Does shooting with subsonic ammo make that much of a difference? Those who have a suppressor, do you use subsonic ammo or regular ammo? The subsonic I have found online is pretty pricey.

[RJT]

Night and day difference. Be prepared for a big grin on your face, just make sure your barrel has the proper twist rate.

[quietoldfart]

I can happily concur. Out of my Unique D4 pistol with an 11" integral can and barrel porting Remington Subsonics fly at about 950fps and are very quiet, less noise than a competition air pistol. Same pistol shooting Federal at 1070fps is distinctly louder, though still subsonic except on cold winter days. Below about 10°C there is a definite transonic crack, though not huge as it's still just .22" LR. If you are shooting at less than 50 or 60 yards I definitely recommend subsonic for the quietness.

[hardcase]

Reloading is the way to go with subs. Makes the cost a non-factor.

I can tell a big difference with an extra 100 fps of subs vs super, even with my ear protection. Trouble is sometimes 1,050 fps is sub, sometimes it is super. Depends on atmospheric conditions. I load all my subs in the 975-1,000 fps range. Don't expect a long range load subsonic bullet. After 50 yds, they drop fast.

[HK91]

Does shooting with subsonic ammo make that much of a difference? Those who have a suppressor, do you use subsonic ammo or regular ammo? The subsonic I have found online is pretty pricey.

I was out yesterday shooting my Specwar 762 on my 16" 300 Blackout. You can definitely tell the difference between subsonic and supersonic but my experience was that neither seemed to bother my ears. I had my chronograph out and was trying some 180gr BTHPs that I have a couple thousand of to see if I could get them to work, they did. I had 1 of 5 that I chronographed go supersonic, the chronograph read 1120 fps for the high shot and the average was 1079 fps. Temp was 70 degrees at about 1150' elevation. I also shot some 155gr A-Max I loaded that were going about 1800 and seemed hearing safe. I could hear the sonic crack coming back at me from the target backers, berm, and trees in the distance.

There was a guy shooting an AK47 type rifle about 25 yards to my left and that bothered my ears and I felt I needed my earmuffs.

Two guys from the pistol side of the range which has a berm between the rifle and pistol side came over and asked what I was shooting. They told me the bullet impacting the berm at 115 yards made about the same amount of noise as the suppressed shot, real subjective, but tells me that the suppressor is doing a good job.

HK91

[Detroitammoco]

Give us a try.http://www.detroitammoco.com/subsonic-9 ... 00-rounds/

[Stephens]

Thanks, I am still waiting on the ATF. I will be shooting with the Specwar 762 & 556 suppressors. So primarily I will shoot .308, .270 & .233/5.56.

[dtom29]

Thanks, I am still waiting on the ATF. I will be shooting with the Specwar 762 & 556 suppressors. So primarily I will shoot .308, .270 & .233/5.56.

Of those three the 308 is the only one worth using subsonic.

[hardcase]

Stephens,

Just in case you don't know, sub-sonic rounds in an AR 10 type don't work that well. With trial and error, you can find ammo that will cycle but here again, reloading is the way to go. If you have a bolt gun, no problem.

I've also found in my AR 10 type that is direct impingement, a suppressor tends to make for a lot more debris blowback with full power loads, even makes for dirtier bullets in the magazine. My 5.56 AR is a gas piston and I've not noticed this problem. Others may have difference experience and I don't want to open a debate on direct imp. vs gas piston. I like them both.

[Stephens]

Thanks for the tip on the AR 10.