Bunny cull with 'silenced' rifles

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Bunny cull with 'silenced' rifles

Post by NTSOG » 26 Mar 2022, 6:18 am

G'day,

This was in the news today. about professional pest controllers who have been culling rabbits at a golf course in Cranbourne, Victoria for over 15 years:

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australi ... ?ocid=EMMX

Of interest is the following quote "The spokesperson said they were told contractors were using a silencer however, some residents reported hearing gunshots while others didn't."

I was of the belief that so-called 'silencers' are not silent, but simply reduce overall noise. Thus they moderate or reduce the noise of a gunshot which might still be heard faintly. I suspect a .22 rifle firing sub-sonics would have been the preferred choice of firearm for a start.

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Re: Bunny cull with 'silenced' rifles

Post by northdude » 26 Mar 2022, 1:39 pm

Depends what ammo you use a bolt action with subs and youll just hear the click of the firing pin and a thump of bullet hitting rabbit
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Re: Bunny cull with 'silenced' rifles

Post by Bugman » 26 Mar 2022, 3:34 pm

Many years ago I assisted a mate who had a rabbit culling contract on a couple of golf courses. We always picked an area and walked it and I held the spot light and battery pack while he shot with a suppressor and and low velocity ammo. The work was carried out after sundown and then again before sunup. Worked pretty well as the average distance was about 50m. Never had any problems. Maybe were lucky but more so due to doing our homework beforehand and picking the times taking into account weather, time of year etc.
Gee I miss those days.
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Re: Bunny cull with 'silenced' rifles

Post by on_one_wheel » 26 Mar 2022, 6:23 pm

Yeah suppressed subsonic .22lr are pretty quiet until you get a ricochet. :lol:
I was watching some suppressed. 223 work on YouTube, they were still around 100 db
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Re: Bunny cull with 'silenced' rifles

Post by Biscuits » 19 Apr 2022, 9:29 pm

I have a UK licence, where suppressors are easy to get. I've sent a lot of lead downrange through suppressed rifles.

Have one which fits on a 22LR and one which goes on a 308 and 6.5 Creedmoor. It is effective at reducing noise for both. The fact that there is more of a gap around a 6.5mm bullet when using a .30 caliber suppressor doesn't make any real world difference.

Subsonic 22LR suppressed is very, very, very quiet. You can buy CCI Quiet 22 (reduced charge, comes out a bit slower) which is even quieter. The noise of working the bolt is louder. Not that I would ever recommend this, but you could fire it indoors in an apartment and your neighbours would have no idea. The TV would be louder. Club in the UK does not require hearing protection when shooting 22LR suppressed.

The 6.5 and 308 is a different story. It is quiet enough that I don't wear hearing protection when hunting and I might not wear hearing protection when target shooting and firing only a few rounds. But it is still loud and readily identifiable as a gunshot. If you were to fire a suppressed 308 in a residential area, the police would be there in minutes. The suppressor takes about 35dB off the nose, but considering how loud a full power gunshot is, taking 35dB off is still loud enough to damage your hearing. I know someone that hunts with downloaded 308 ammunition, so the bullet comes out subsonic on a suppressed rifle. Very quiet.

IMHO the Aus effective ban on normal people owning suppressors is stupid. They protect your hearing. They stop noise nuisance. Why not have one?
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Post by bladeracer » 20 Apr 2022, 10:19 am

If I want to be really quiet I just use subsonic loads in whatever I'm shooting. If I just want to be more pleasant on my hearing I download to around the 1500-2000fps depending on the bullet weight I'm pushing - bigger bullets need more bang. Suppressor would be nice if I had to use full-power loads but I don't really need one.

Biscuits wrote:I have a UK licence, where suppressors are easy to get. I've sent a lot of lead downrange through suppressed rifles.

Have one which fits on a 22LR and one which goes on a 308 and 6.5 Creedmoor. It is effective at reducing noise for both. The fact that there is more of a gap around a 6.5mm bullet when using a .30 caliber suppressor doesn't make any real world difference.

Subsonic 22LR suppressed is very, very, very quiet. You can buy CCI Quiet 22 (reduced charge, comes out a bit slower) which is even quieter. The noise of working the bolt is louder. Not that I would ever recommend this, but you could fire it indoors in an apartment and your neighbours would have no idea. The TV would be louder. Club in the UK does not require hearing protection when shooting 22LR suppressed.

The 6.5 and 308 is a different story. It is quiet enough that I don't wear hearing protection when hunting and I might not wear hearing protection when target shooting and firing only a few rounds. But it is still loud and readily identifiable as a gunshot. If you were to fire a suppressed 308 in a residential area, the police would be there in minutes. The suppressor takes about 35dB off the nose, but considering how loud a full power gunshot is, taking 35dB off is still loud enough to damage your hearing. I know someone that hunts with downloaded 308 ammunition, so the bullet comes out subsonic on a suppressed rifle. Very quiet.

IMHO the Aus effective ban on normal people owning suppressors is stupid. They protect your hearing. They stop noise nuisance. Why not have one?
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Post by jwai86 » 20 Apr 2022, 10:49 am

bladeracer wrote:If I want to be really quiet I just use subsonic loads in whatever I'm shooting.


I know you can get factory subsonic rounds for .22 LR, but are there such things sold for centrefire calibres, or is loading them yourself the only way to do it?
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Post by noneyabussiness » 20 Apr 2022, 10:56 am

jwai86 wrote:
bladeracer wrote:If I want to be really quiet I just use subsonic loads in whatever I'm shooting.


I know you can get factory subsonic rounds for .22 LR, but are there such things sold for centrefire calibres, or is loading them yourself the only way to do it?


I know Winchester do in .308.. but rare... spoke with my gun shop and they did say another brand as well.. but again rare... if you " google " sub 308 there are a few factory options ( mostly in states funnily enough) ...
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Re: Bunny cull with 'silenced' rifles

Post by bladeracer » 20 Apr 2022, 11:44 am

jwai86 wrote:
bladeracer wrote:If I want to be really quiet I just use subsonic loads in whatever I'm shooting.


I know you can get factory subsonic rounds for .22 LR, but are there such things sold for centrefire calibres, or is loading them yourself the only way to do it?


I don't buy factory ammo so I have no idea. Probably in 300BLK there would be some offerings. I know there is a subsonic WMR cartridge as well.

I don't get why anybody buys centrefire ammo instead of making their own.
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Post by jwai86 » 20 Apr 2022, 12:58 pm

bladeracer wrote:I don't get why anybody buys centrefire ammo instead of making their own.

I don't have much more space inside my rented unit to put down something like a reloading press. I also have doubts about whether the interior space has sufficiently low humidity to prevent issues with powders and primers.
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Re: Bunny cull with 'silenced' rifles

Post by Biscuits » 20 Apr 2022, 4:03 pm

bladeracer wrote:If I want to be really quiet I just use subsonic loads in whatever I'm shooting. If I just want to be more pleasant on my hearing I download to around the 1500-2000fps depending on the bullet weight I'm pushing - bigger bullets need more bang. Suppressor would be nice if I had to use full-power loads but I don't really need one.

Biscuits wrote:I have a UK licence, where suppressors are easy to get. I've sent a lot of lead downrange through suppressed rifles.

Have one which fits on a 22LR and one which goes on a 308 and 6.5 Creedmoor. It is effective at reducing noise for both. The fact that there is more of a gap around a 6.5mm bullet when using a .30 caliber suppressor doesn't make any real world difference.

Subsonic 22LR suppressed is very, very, very quiet. You can buy CCI Quiet 22 (reduced charge, comes out a bit slower) which is even quieter. The noise of working the bolt is louder. Not that I would ever recommend this, but you could fire it indoors in an apartment and your neighbours would have no idea. The TV would be louder. Club in the UK does not require hearing protection when shooting 22LR suppressed.

The 6.5 and 308 is a different story. It is quiet enough that I don't wear hearing protection when hunting and I might not wear hearing protection when target shooting and firing only a few rounds. But it is still loud and readily identifiable as a gunshot. If you were to fire a suppressed 308 in a residential area, the police would be there in minutes. The suppressor takes about 35dB off the nose, but considering how loud a full power gunshot is, taking 35dB off is still loud enough to damage your hearing. I know someone that hunts with downloaded 308 ammunition, so the bullet comes out subsonic on a suppressed rifle. Very quiet.

IMHO the Aus effective ban on normal people owning suppressors is stupid. They protect your hearing. They stop noise nuisance. Why not have one?

I have a 357 (pistol caliber) rifle. Bullets come out at about 1600 fps. Unthreaded barrel and no suppressor.

That is certainly quieter than an unsuppressed 308, but it’s still plenty loud. I don’t shoot it without hearing protection. I suspect if you were legally allowed to buy a suppressor, had one and got to know it well, then you would be sold on the benefits.

On a full power rifle, the suppressor will reduce recoil and often improve accuracy on hunting & varmint weight rifles. The reduced recoil makes it easier to self spot bullet trace and impact.
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Post by northdude » 20 Apr 2022, 5:30 pm

A few of my rifles are suppressed. My 22 hornet sounds like the crack a spring powered air rifle makes. On the bigger rifles it takes the loud boom out of it when using hi vel ammo
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Re: Bunny cull with 'silenced' rifles

Post by bladeracer » 20 Apr 2022, 5:49 pm

Biscuits wrote:I have a 357 (pistol caliber) rifle. Bullets come out at about 1600 fps. Unthreaded barrel and no suppressor.

That is certainly quieter than an unsuppressed 308, but it’s still plenty loud. I don’t shoot it without hearing protection. I suspect if you were legally allowed to buy a suppressor, had one and got to know it well, then you would be sold on the benefits.

On a full power rifle, the suppressor will reduce recoil and often improve accuracy on hunting & varmint weight rifles. The reduced recoil makes it easier to self spot bullet trace and impact.


I do 99% of my shooting without hearing protection anyway, I only wear "ears" when I'm shooting a lot of centrefire off the bench. Up to a little over 2000fps most rifles don't bother me unless I'm shooting a lot of it, the .204 at 2400fps for example is not at all obnoxious, or the .243 at 2000fps.

We used to be able to own Suppressors, and I bought one when I was a kid in the eighties. But I didn't have the ability to thread a muzzle back then so I never used it :-)

I understand the benefits of less noise, which is the main reason for loading reduced loads. Reduced loads have other advantages though, like reduced stress on the brass, the rifle and the shooter. Unless I need a full-noise load, which is rare, I use a reduced load. Most of my hunting is well short of the maximum range limits of the cartridge I'm using. The suppressor does add length, weight and bulk to the rifle, so a lot of the time I wouldn't want to use it anyway. Stalking deer for example I want the lightest, shortest rifle I can use.
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Post by Border_Bloke » 25 Apr 2022, 8:02 am

bladeracer wrote:I do 99% of my shooting without hearing protection anyway, I only wear "ears" when I'm shooting a lot of centrefire off the bench.....


From the late 1970's to when I stopped shooting the late 1990's I never used hearing protection when hunting or when shooting on our property - only when I was at the range. I was shooting centrefires & shotguns every day back then. I had regular hearing tests as I worked in heavy industry and they couldn't work out why my hearing was getting worse as I always wore hearing protection at work.

By the time I was in my mid 40's I had to spend $6500 on hearing aids as couldn't hear well enough to hold a conversation. Turns out I had been lip reading without even knowing it.

When I moved back south to deer country I started bow hunting. Now I want to start shooting again and a huge issue is how to to protect what little hearing I have left yet still hear enough to hunt or talk to someone. Without my hearing aids I can't even hear my own footsteps in dry leaves.

My advice is NEVER shoot without hearing protection.
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Re: Bunny cull with 'silenced' rifles

Post by bladeracer » 25 Apr 2022, 8:34 am

Border_Bloke wrote:
bladeracer wrote:I do 99% of my shooting without hearing protection anyway, I only wear "ears" when I'm shooting a lot of centrefire off the bench.....


From the late 1970's to when I stopped shooting the late 1990's I never used hearing protection when hunting or when shooting on our property - only when I was at the range. I was shooting centrefires & shotguns every day back then. I had regular hearing tests as I worked in heavy industry and they couldn't work out why my hearing was getting worse as I always wore hearing protection at work.

By the time I was in my mid 40's I had to spend $6500 on hearing aids as couldn't hear well enough to hold a conversation. Turns out I had been lip reading without even knowing it.

When I moved back south to deer country I started bow hunting. Now I want to start shooting again and a huge issue is how to to protect what little hearing I have left yet still hear enough to hunt or talk to someone. Without my hearing aids I can't even hear my own footsteps in dry leaves.

My advice is NEVER shoot without hearing protection.


I have tinnitus but my hearing is actually very good still. I never used hearing protection when I was a kid, but most of my shooting then was .22LR and 12ga, centrefire (.222, .243 and 6.5x55mm) would have been less than 5000rds over three years. In my twenties I would go to the pistol club on my own and burn a couple hundred rounds of 9mm without hearing protection.

Riding and racing motorcycles for more than thirty years, and working on building sites (roof carpenter) did more damage to my hearing than shooting ever has. When I'm shooting something high-intensity I tuck my left ear in behind my shoulder which knocks the edge off the the blast, my right ear is directed away from the shot so doesn't get most of the noise anyway. If I'm going to fire thirty or forty rounds of high-intensity load development I'll wear electronic muffs.

I advise everybody to protect their hearing, but I won't force it on anybody except kids. Adults have the right to make their own decisions.
Last edited by bladeracer on 25 Apr 2022, 10:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by bigpete » 25 Apr 2022, 9:53 am

jwai86 wrote:
bladeracer wrote:I don't get why anybody buys centrefire ammo instead of making their own.

I don't have much more space inside my rented unit to put down something like a reloading press. I also have doubts about whether the interior space has sufficiently low humidity to prevent issues with powders and primers.


Got room for a coffee table ?
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Re: Bunny cull with 'silenced' rifles

Post by bladeracer » 25 Apr 2022, 10:12 am

bigpete wrote:
jwai86 wrote:
bladeracer wrote:I don't get why anybody buys centrefire ammo instead of making their own.

I don't have much more space inside my rented unit to put down something like a reloading press. I also have doubts about whether the interior space has sufficiently low humidity to prevent issues with powders and primers.


Got room for a coffee table ?


Don't even need that for a Lee Loader, I used to sit on the floor and punch them out.
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Post by Oldbloke » 25 Apr 2022, 12:28 pm

To get started this is all you need in your chambering.


https://www.ebay.com.au/p/2256571355

https://www.bunnings.com.au/craftright- ... x_p5820733 to store ammo, powder, primers etc

And a plastic or wooden hammer.
And a bench or table as mentioned.
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Post by duncan61 » 25 Apr 2022, 12:38 pm

I have culled a golf course for rabbits.I found winchester z to be expensive and after 50 metres a hold over is needed out to 75 metres.4X scope on a bolt action.Subs were way better but not on a quiet still night.Wait till there is a bit of wind rustling trees and I have had rabbits cry like a small child.Its all about not being seen or heard
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Re: Bunny cull with 'silenced' rifles

Post by Oldbloke » 25 Apr 2022, 7:56 pm

duncan61 wrote:I have culled a golf course for rabbits.I found winchester z to be expensive and after 50 metres a hold over is needed out to 75 metres.4X scope on a bolt action. Subs were way better but not on a quiet still night.Wait till there is a bit of wind rustling trees and I have had rabbits cry like a small child.Its all about not being seen or heard


Do you recall the ammo? Hollow points or solids?
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Post by on_one_wheel » 25 Apr 2022, 8:01 pm

bladeracer wrote:
bigpete wrote:
jwai86 wrote:
bladeracer wrote:I don't get why anybody buys centrefire ammo instead of making their own.

I don't have much more space inside my rented unit to put down something like a reloading press. I also have doubts about whether the interior space has sufficiently low humidity to prevent issues with powders and primers.


Got room for a coffee table ?


Don't even need that for a Lee Loader, I used to sit on the floor and punch them out.


I'm still running a lee loades for 2 calibers, I can fit all my reloading gear including the beam scales in a small single compartment toolbox
During the winter months I set myself up on the dining table
and smash them out with a hammer :thumbsup:
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Re: Bunny cull with 'silenced' rifles

Post by animalpest » 25 Apr 2022, 8:26 pm

Alas Winchester Z ammo is no more. CCI Quiet is a heavier pill and almost as quiet.

I loved using the Winchester sub hollow points. Good killers. We have been doing a golf course and those are the go to ammo
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Post by on_one_wheel » 25 Apr 2022, 9:57 pm

animalpest wrote:Alas Winchester Z ammo is no more. CCI Quiet is a heavier pill and almost as quiet.

I loved using the Winchester sub hollow points. Good killers. We have been doing a golf course and those are the go to ammo


I just bought 4 packs of Winchester Z from my LGS
They didn't mention that it won't be available soon and the packaging has been updated since my previous batch.
If it's no longer available, I might buy a couple of cartons... assuming they have the stock
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Re: Bunny cull with 'silenced' rifles

Post by bigpete » 26 Apr 2022, 10:12 am

bladeracer wrote:
bigpete wrote:
jwai86 wrote:
bladeracer wrote:I don't get why anybody buys centrefire ammo instead of making their own.

I don't have much more space inside my rented unit to put down something like a reloading press. I also have doubts about whether the interior space has sufficiently low humidity to prevent issues with powders and primers.


Got room for a coffee table ?


Don't even need that for a Lee Loader, I used to sit on the floor and punch them out.


Absolutely true. I have 2 bench mounted presses and a hand press and a couple of lee loaders and scales and powder thrower and dies for about 6 different calibres and powder and primers etc and I can fit all that in the area my coffee table takes up lol. So being in a rental and " not having enough room " to reload doesn't make sense
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Post by duncan61 » 27 Apr 2022, 6:42 pm

Oldbloke wrote:
duncan61 wrote:I have culled a golf course for rabbits.I found winchester z to be expensive and after 50 metres a hold over is needed out to 75 metres.4X scope on a bolt action. Subs were way better but not on a quiet still night.Wait till there is a bit of wind rustling trees and I have had rabbits cry like a small child.Its all about not being seen or heard


Do you recall the ammo? Hollow points or solids?


Winchester Subsonic Max Ammunition 22 Long Rifle (22LR) 42 Grain Subsonic Hollow Point (HP) (50pk) excellent ammo.Most shots were about 30 foot
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Re: Bunny cull with 'silenced' rifles

Post by duncan61 » 27 Apr 2022, 6:48 pm

As a younger man before needing glasses with a 4x32 scope you could watch them blink.I have no recollection of ever missing brain shots.I would creep around in the rough as they were usually digging up the greens and set up on a bipod.On moonlit nights no torch required at that range
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Re: Bunny cull with 'silenced' rifles

Post by animalpest » 27 Apr 2022, 8:11 pm

Winchester Z ammo was made in Australia. Alas, .22 ammo is now made in USA and none of it is as good as it was.
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Re: Bunny cull with 'silenced' rifles

Post by deye243 » 27 Apr 2022, 9:30 pm

animalpest wrote:Winchester Z ammo was made in Australia. Alas, .22 ammo is now made in USA and none of it is as good as it was.

You got that right my beloved winny subs and power points are crap and have been for about 5 or more years it is the main reason I sold my 22 and now I just use my 17HMR .
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