Subsonic ammo
- Thread starter fleabaggins
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Someone else with more ballistic knowledge than myself could set me straight if I'm wrong, but I recall reading somewhere that (probably on account of bullet twist) that low power loads in the .223/5.56 calibres don't stabilize too well, limiting the effectiveness of loading down those cartridges into slower/subsonic loadings.
Perhaps a reloader could make a subsonic load with Trail Boss or one of the pistol powders used to do the same in larger bore cartridges, but there's probably a good reason why I haven't heard of that being done in .223.
Another solution for you might be to find one of the cartridge adapters that would let you fire a .22LR from a .223 rifle for those times you want to use it without creating the report of the regular load. It might not be practical for lots of target practice but suffice for some plinking, hunting and pest control.
None in Canada as far as I know. Some boutique ammo maker in the US may very well offer it but that won't matter here.
It's actually done fairly frequently. You just have to know where to look for the necessary information. Sure, I can appreciate why many may not wish to persue subsonic .223 Rem. due in part because .22LR standard velocity will achieve the same thing with much less effort, fanfare, and expense. Howver, if one wishes to attempt it, there's no reason why not to do so.
I've read some accounts of individuals using heavy .224" bullets in subsonic applications. Accuracy is decent and the report is very minimal as one may well imagine. Naturally, a fast twist barrel is going to be necessary to stabilize those long heavy for cal. bullets.
Cartridge adapters might be an option, however, most rimfire ammo is under-sized for .224" dia. barrels and I think accuracy would be spotty at best. Personally, I think hand loading is more of a practical endeavour under the circumstances.
I don't mean to stray away from the original post, but could you provide sources for such load data? Further to small game applications, a subsonic .223 could be great for target practice outside of shooting ranges, so as to avoid neighbour complaints and troubles with noise bylaws, etc.
Sure thing. I just copied this from the Hodgdon web site. There are no doubt a variety of other sources that list similar load data.
Bullet Powder OAL Chg. Wt. Vel. Pressure
55 GR. HDY FMJ IMR Trail Boss .224" 2.200" 4.0 1074
55 GR. HDY FMJ Hodgdon Titegroup .224" 2.200" 3.1 1064 4,000 CUP
55 GR. HDY FMJ Hodgdon Clays .224" 2.200" 3.2 1060 3,700 CUP
No doubt a lot of reloading data you find online on various forums is not going to be published data from powder manufacturers. For example, I use Blue Dot fairly regularly in rifle loads and have found useful info for it accross the web. There's some good non-published data on this site w ww.jamescalhoon.com/ . Go under the articles section for reduced .223 Remington loads.
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Thanks for the info. This will give another reloading project to think about.
boltonscouter
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Interesting!
they used to make modified 223 remington cases that shot a 22 cal air rifle pellet with nothing but a primer, the skirt swells enough to catch the rifleing. if you neck size a standard brass you need a rather small bushing to get the neck down to hold the pellet...........
I actually tried doing that with using candle wax to seal the pellet into the neck of the case. It was laborious and tedius work to say the least. At 25 yds. it was shotgun accurate. I didn't think of spending a whole lot of money for a bush die specifically for the project but I'm sure it would perform much better under the circumstances.
I recently tried something similar by taking 6mm plastic BB's used for airsoft and putting them into a .223 case. Sounded like a good idea at first but it ended up not working out. Maybe if I tried the same thing on my .243 Win. I might get a different result.
Subsonic 223 is not only a waste of time but potentially dangerous. In a long barreled rifle it is really easy to stick a bullet in the bore. If you don't notice and shoot another one then you have a problem. If you don't notice and shoot a full power round you are out one rifle and potentially in for a trip to the hospital.
The easiest and safest way to go subsonic in .22 caliber is 22 LR.
I've done subsonic 223, it is a PIA and hugely underwhelming. It is in no way similar to subsonic .30 cal.
The easiest and safest way to go subsonic in .22 caliber is 22 LR.
I've done subsonic 223, it is a PIA and hugely underwhelming. It is in no way similar to subsonic .30 cal.
