Subsonic round for 100 yard hunting?

[mattri]

Starting to think about a round for a subsonic build that could be effective for hunting mid sized game out to around 100 yards.

Looking at rounds like the 300BLK, 308, 338 Federal, 458 socom etc.

Just crunching numbers at this point but seems like these would be pretty achievable:

.338 250gr bullet @1100 fps with a 75 yard zero keeps you within about 3" high or low from 50 to 100 yards with about 600 ft/lbs of energy.

Jumping to a .338 300gr bullet bumps the energy to about 750 ft/lbs.

A .458 400gr bullet keeps about the same trajectory and 900 ft/lbs.

By comparison a .45 ACP with a 230gr bullet has 350-450 ft/lbs at the muzzle. Seems like if you held a Colt to a deer it would do the job.

Anyone have more experience with this?

 

[MrMajestic]

The.30 208 grain A-Max will get the job done. Shot placement is King, adequate penetration is Queen and the rest is just dancing on the head of a pin....

 

[matthias]

I have a socom and shoot 500 hornady at 975 it works well. Working on a 500 wsm for 750 amax at 1000fps

 

[Sniper338]

My 308 shooting subsonic 175smk will kill, its got plenty power still. 300blk has plenty too.

 

[Gabe22BR]

Unless your hunting elephants, a simple 22LR suppressed will do the job. It's ALOT cheaper to shoot as well...

 

[rebel]

My vote, 300 BLK and 194 Lehigh Maximum Expansion or a 220 gr Maker sub bullet.

Through a pumpkin, into wetpack at 50 yards. 1050 fps.

 

[matthias]

All of these work. So will a stick and string. But what is the fun in that ?

 

[Yote Hunter]

I have a 458 Socom and shoot the Lehigh 582 gr solids and the Fracturing 575 gr bullet with a 55 gr 224 caliber bullet inserted in the tip. Very high energies and penetration. 10 twist barrel. At 1050 fps at the muzzle it still has 1350+/- ft-lbs at 100 yards. Carries over 1000 ft-lbs well beyond 500 yards. Very expensive bullets though.

 

[snowpro440]

.22 sub sonic would be the best choice for a head shot, other than that a pistol caliber designed for low velocity expansion for head or body shot would be best if your not afraid to buy those specialty bullets at a dollar each you could go that route . I tried several bullets in the .300 Blackout and .308 while hand loading with 1680 and Trail boss with no expansion and poor results on deer . Most all pencil right thru on the body shots then the tracking begins. There's a few websites silencer talk and 300blackout that have a lot of information on there .

 

[mattri]

Interesting replies thanks.

Anyone shooting cast bullets in the blackout?

 

[Webster]

Starting to think about a round for a subsonic build that could be effective for hunting mid sized game out to around 100 yards.

Looking at rounds like the 300BLK, 308, 338 Federal, 458 socom etc.

Just crunching numbers at this point but seems like these would be pretty achievable:

.338 250gr bullet @1100 fps with a 75 yard zero keeps you within about 3" high or low from 50 to 100 yards with about 600 ft/lbs of energy.

Jumping to a .338 300gr bullet bumps the energy to about 750 ft/lbs.

A .458 400gr bullet keeps about the same trajectory and 900 ft/lbs.

By comparison a .45 ACP with a 230gr bullet has 350-450 ft/lbs at the muzzle. Seems like if you held a Colt to a deer it would do the job.

Anyone have more experience with this?

It may be subsonic but it shouldn't be quiet. How loud is a 44 Mag pistol shooting a heavy bullet at 900 fps? Don't know if the barrel length makes much difference? Almost the same thing. Someone I know at the range let me fire his bolt action 30 Blackout reduced charge rifle with an ATF legal silencer. We traded rifles for a few shots. MV was about 800-850 fps. You could only hear the firing pin fall. You can hunt in Ohio now with a suppressor. Is there a difference between a suppressor and a silencer?

CORRECTION: I think it was a 30 Whisper caliber. Two years ago.

 

[mattri]

Good point, guess I should have been more clear in the original post.

Yes the point would be to use a suppressor.

So far just looking into the efficacy/lethality/limitations of such a project to see if its a road I even want to start down.

I'm very glad to see suppressor use, especially while hunting is finally gaining more acceptance in this country.

 

[Eric Leonard]

I would look long and hard at a bolt action 44 Rem Mag loaded with the 300 gr Hornady XTP at 1,050 fps,,I have shot lots of deer with that bullet from a muzzle loader and they will put deer down hard and fast,,

it will shoot plenty flat past your range and it will still expand ,,

 

[Nomad47]

It may be subsonic but it shouldn't be quiet. How loud is a 44 Mag pistol shooting a heavy bullet at 900 fps? Don't know if the barrel length makes much difference? Almost the same thing. Someone I know at the range let me fire his bolt action 30 Blackout reduced charge rifle with an ATF legal silencer. We traded rifles for a few shots. MV was about 800-850 fps. You could only hear the firing pin fall. You can hunt in Ohio now with a suppressor. Is there a difference between a suppressor and a silencer?

No difference. The movies and the ATF refer to them as silencers. Nearly everyone else refers to them as suppressors. Suppressor is a more accurate term as they suppress sound but may not necessarily silence sound.

I have been hunting groundhogs in Ohio for the past 2 years (since it became legal) with a suppressor. A Form 1 suppressor to be exact. $200 for the tax stamp, and a little over $200 for the parts for making my own. BTW, I don't own a lathe.
Several friends have been impressed with the reduction of noise. Most have said it sounds about like a 22 rimfire. Obviously you hear the crack of the bullet since my MV is right at 3100 fps. Actually, that has become a neat thing since there is no BOOM to mask that crack of the bullet. What is neat is being able to hear the bullet traveling all the way to the target. Ssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-whack. Long range shots are interesting. For example, it takes the bullet about 1 second to reach a 700 yard target and it takes the sound of impact nearly 2 seconds to get back to your ears. So you end up hearing the bullet "crack" for nearly 3 seconds. And the sound changes pitch along the way.

 

[mattri]

That is interesting. Haven't shot suppressed myself yet but at our last steel match a few competitors had suppressed rifles and what a difference! The old saw about "you wouldn't drive a car without a muffler" really shines true.

Will check out the 44 rem load thx.

 

[284driver]

.22 sub sonic would be the best choice for a head shot, other than that a pistol caliber designed for low velocity expansion for head or body shot would be best if your not afraid to buy those specialty bullets at a dollar each you could go that route . I tried several bullets in the .300 Blackout and .308 while hand loading with 1680 and Trail boss with no expansion and poor results on deer . Most all pencil right thru on the body shots then the tracking begins. There's a few websites silencer talk and 300blackout that have a lot of information on there .

You gotta shoot em in the ear hole

 

[Sniper338]

I shoot deer in the head and neck anyways so bullet expansion or velocity isnt a big deal. Both placements drop deer dead. Im all for not tracking animals i shoot now days.

Just smoked a cull buck in the neck last weekend with my new 22 250AI

 

[Eric Leonard]

with that 44cal 300 XTP you can put it in the boiler room and it will flatten a whitetail,,one of the new Ruger bolt actions in 44 Mag would really work well,,

a friend of mine has an old Rem 788 44Mag he put a can on and it is deadly and I swear when you shoot it,it sounds like you dry fired it until the bullet hist the target and then you hear that,,there is no sonic crack,bullet whistle or anything,,just quiet death,,

 

[Gabe22BR]

You gotta shoot em in the ear hole

Between the eyes works best

 

[swd]

I built a 338 Whisper for a client a long time ago. The 338 version is on a 6BR case. I did some load development for it and a 225gr down around 700fps is REALLY quiet. Pretty much didn't need eat protection. At 1050 it was a lot noisier but not bad.