Subsonic 223

[JohnBoy]

Hello Lads

So I have acquired a new 223, and I have done quite a bit of reading on subsonic rounds (what a rabbit hole that is) but as the threads are quite old, I thought I would revisit.

What I am trying to achieve is to try and reduce the BOOM of the 223. I am on acreage, but I am elevated and the sound travels - You see where I am going with this.

Anyways, I am looking at getting into reloading, so I thought I would ask if there is anyone out there that has done this, or has some info - that would be great.

Cheers
J

[bladeracer]

Hello Lads

So I have acquired a new 223, and I have done quite a bit of reading on subsonic rounds (what a rabbit hole that is) but as the threads are quite old, I thought I would revisit.

What I am trying to achieve is to try and reduce the BOOM of the 223. I am on acreage, but I am elevated and the sound travels - You see where I am going with this.

Anyways, I am looking at getting into reloading, so I thought I would ask if there is anyone out there that has done this, or has some info - that would be great.

Cheers
J

Do you need to go right down to subsonic or merely remove a large amount of the report? I generally run 55gn bullets at 1750fps for very pleasant shooting, while retaining the option of dropping full-power rounds in.

Do you have Trailboss? TB is far and away the best choice if you want to go subsonic. But if you just want quieter then AR2206H is a good choice - you can go subsonic with AR2206H but it's not as efficient as Trailboss.

Very, very few .224" bullets will offer any deformation at subsonic impact velocities so you have to consider them to be FMJ and aim accordingly, head/neck shots only to destroy the CNS. Heavily-reduced loads are really only for close-ranges for me, so shot placement isn't usually a difficulty.

You need to work up subsonic loads in the firearm to ensure all rounds stay below the sound barrier, aim for around 1080fps with an ES of less than 40fps and you should be fine.

Your enemy in this is empty case volume, it makes for less reliable combustion. Heavier bullets work better, they require more powder to make the same velocity as lighter bullets, thus reducing empty case volume. Seat the bullets as deep into the case as you can, while still giving reliable feeding in the firearm - this also reduces empty case volume.

[Oldbloke]

"Do you need to go right down to subsonic or merely remove a large amount of the report? I generally run 55gn bullets at 1750fps for very pleasant shooting, while retaining the option of dropping full-power rounds in."

I'm using AS50n for similar result. You can use most shotgun powders if you have them.

I just cut the tip off the soft point, seems to work.

[straightshooter]

Although bladeracer got it pretty right there are some other factors to consider.
1. A standard velocity rimfire would deliver much the same performance as a subsonic 223. No kidding, and it would be much cheaper to run. Also the muzzle blast from a subsonic 223 will be much louder than a standard velocity rimfire due to the greater volume of powder required..
2. Other considerations.
How many acres are you talking about? You are obviously concerned about potential bother from neighbours.
If a pesky neighbour complaining to constable plod resulted in an actual inspection from constable plod would he deem your property safe to discharge a centerfire rifle?
Is a discharged projectile guaranteed to remain within the confines of your property?

[JohnBoy]

Thanks Lads,

So... For the record, I have not started reloading yet. Still building a list of components that I need to buy. (Happy to take advice on that too) I have been looking at some kits online etc. Lots to learn.

Yes, the neighbours are a concern. Not to mention on I am on the outskirts of town, elevated. I can see the entire population, who will hear it! LOL! Last time I had some mates up throwing clay target, my other mates in the town called me to ask if it was me. Get the picture.

20 Acres - but I am surrounded on all sides by acres.

The projectile will EASILY leave the property. Hence my desire to bring it down a little, but still dealing with the pests I have to deal with.

Cheers
J

[bladeracer]

Thanks Lads,

So... For the record, I have not started reloading yet. Still building a list of components that I need to buy. (Happy to take advice on that too) I have been looking at some kits online etc. Lots to learn.

Yes, the neighbours are a concern. Not to mention on I am on the outskirts of town, elevated. I can see the entire population, who will hear it! LOL! Last time I had some mates up throwing clay target, my other mates in the town called me to ask if it was me. Get the picture.

20 Acres - but I am surrounded on all sides by acres.

The projectile will EASILY leave the property. Hence my desire to bring it down a little, but still dealing with the pests I have to deal with.

Cheers
J

As long as you can legally shoot on the property I would concentrate on the safety rather than the noise, pest control on 20ac is not going to be hours of shooting, it'll be a shot now and then, which isn't going to bother anybody. Build some berms behind the places you expect to, or hope to be shooting. Either build them around known animal hang-outs (wallows, burrows, tracks) or bait the animals into a safe area where you can then shoot them. Or use the shotgun as pellets only travel a few hundred metres when aimed into the sky, when you're shooting along the ground they don't travel far at all.

I was hunting fallow on a friend's property and could find lots of deer but could never get a safe shot. It's essentially a hill top so every shot is likely to sail into the sky and fall in other peoples' property or national park. The one area where I have more hill behind the direction of fire has a neighbour's house on top. Makes it very difficult for me. I know a guy that has taken a few deer there, he ambushes them at one of the dams, but it does require shooting toward the neighbour's house which I'm unwilling to do.

As Straightshooter said, subsonic .223 will be louder than subsonic .22LR, though it is still very quiet once you remove the sonic crack. The jacketed bullets take more power to engrave the rifling than cast bullets do so you'll be burning at least four or five times more powder than a .22LR round. The jacketed bullets have significantly higher BC's than cast, heeled .22LR bullets so the trajectory is flatter, and they generally shoot a little more accurately at longer distances. 30gn to 40gn bullets will use less powder so will be quieter, but are twice the price of bulk 55gn bullets (Gameking/SuperRoo). They're are often designed for lower-velocity cartridges (.22WMR or Hornet) so _may_ perform better on flesh at the lower velocities - I would still use them as FMJ until you determine otherwise though (the damage will tell you whether they're deforming and dumping energy or just drilling holes).

[Oldbloke]

I'm assuming he doesn't have a 22lr

[Wapiti]

Building berms as bullet stops on 20 acres? 10/10 for imaginative thinking.

Whatever you do, you're on the right track trying to keep noise down.

Number one would be to get some kind of relationship going with your neighbours, if you haven't already. Present yourself as the nice friendly respectful bloke that you are, and during the conversation you might gently introduce the issues of the feral animals etc taking your chooks, burying under your tanks whatever, and that you might see using a rifle safely to sort it out. You know, especially seeing as many small holders generally find poisons abhorrent because they have no idea of how the world works. Mention that, not too many will argue.
I'd think that wouldn't be a pretty unreasonable way to introduce the subject. If they aren't on board, nothing will work for you.

If it was me, there's better cartridges that would do the trick, like 22LR. I handload many cartridges for different reasons, but if there's an equivalent that's easier I won't. Old Bloke meanitioned 22LR subs? Most quiet idea...
Even a 22 magnum, a hugely popular calibre with farmers because they know all about how useful it is, might end up cheaper. Especially if you haven't starting handloading and got the gear yet... even one primer alone is 3/4 the cost of a 22mag cartridge, without the same or more on powder, case cost, etc. And 22LR is half that!
Handloading gear can cost more than another rifle easily.
But if you want to handload and cost of the gear broken down over the number of cartridges you'll shoot over isn't an issue, or you just want a hobby, do it!

Don't be afraid of particular handloaded commercial projectiles when driven subsonic not expanding. Plenty of people will repeat that myth until the cows come home, unfortunately because they just repeat the same old internet misinformation. A mate shoots on his small place with a 223, using Sierra Blitzkings and Hornady Vmax's in 55gn. He also uses lighter 223 projectiles meant for the .222, and gets nice mushrooms from them all at slow speed. At full 223 speed, they grenade.
He brings his crazy concoctions out here, and we try them. He shot a fox here at about 40m? under torchlight with one and it worked just like that, probably expanding another 50% of its original diameter. We found it on the far side under the skin. Impressed me. Straight up dropped it on the spot, can't ask for more.
He's got more time than I do.

[Blr243]

Subsonic 223. Roughly 150 pounds of energy. That’s sbout half as powerful as a 22 magnum. What pests are u shooting?

[bladeracer]

Subsonic 223. Roughly 150 pounds of energy. That’s about half as powerful as a 22 magnum. What pests are u shooting?

Depends on your bullet weight, but energy isn't relevant unless it stays in the animal, if it passes through then it is not imparting all of its energy, if it drills straight through it's barely imparting any energy.

[straightshooter]

Thanks Lads,

So... For the record, I have not started reloading yet. Still building a list of components that I need to buy. (Happy to take advice on that too) I have been looking at some kits online etc. Lots to learn.

Yes, the neighbours are a concern. Not to mention on I am on the outskirts of town, elevated. I can see the entire population, who will hear it! LOL! Last time I had some mates up throwing clay target, my other mates in the town called me to ask if it was me. Get the picture.

20 Acres - but I am surrounded on all sides by acres.

The projectile will EASILY leave the property. Hence my desire to bring it down a little, but still dealing with the pests I have to deal with.

Cheers
J

Johnboy
All too often posts such as yours start out with not enough information. Meanwhile the resident experts on this forum will expound their opinions on their ideal solutions to the poster's question without a thought to the wisdom of what the poster actually wants to do.
I think that you understand your problem revolves around your 20 acres and your geographic location.
I presume it safe to assume your immediate neighbours are also on properties as small as yours so it is in your interest to maintain very friendly relations with them. If there is at least one neighbour on a larger adjoining property it might be an idea to approach them to allow you to shoot at vermin with a centerfire or a shotgun that habitually escapes from your property onto their property.
I think it will be in your interest to own a 22 or 25 cal air rifle, a 22 rimfire and a shotgun and in the event of a complaint about noise it will have been the shotgun that was responsible and you wouldn't dream of using your 223 or other centerfire rifle as they are reserved for hunting elsewhere.
I hope you are able to grasp what I am suggesting to you.
Now this is an actual case in my experience.
A neighbour, across the road from my property, on a property of a 1000 acres and 10 kilometers from the nearest village tried to start a pay to hunt operation to supplement his income. The hunts were mostly on weekends. After a few months various neighbours got together to start complaining. The ringleaders were a couple on a 5 acre property adjoining and overlooking the 1000 acre property and another green oriented couple on a 100 acre property about a kilometer away with no interest in any kind of compromise. They ended up getting their way.
Just remember, we live in the land of the free. Which means we are free to do as we are told, or else.

[bladeracer]

Building berms as bullet stops on 20 acres? 10/10 for imaginative thinking.

Why would berms be any different on a 20ac block than a 5ac block?

[bladeracer]

A neighbour, across the road from my property, on a property of a 1000 acres and 10 kilometers from the nearest village tried to start a pay to hunt operation to supplement his income. The hunts were mostly on weekends. After a few months various neighbours got together to start complaining. The ringleaders were a couple on a 5 acre property adjoining and overlooking the 1000 acre property and another green oriented couple on a 100 acre property about a kilometer away with no interest in any kind of compromise. They ended up getting their way.
Just remember, we live in the land of the free. Which means we are free to do as we are told, or else.

What were the complaints about, noise, or the business he was running?

[Maxjon]

I can only speak for hardcast subsonic loaded bullets. Trailboss works, but so do just about all fast burning pistol/shotgun powders north of AR2205 in burn rate, including 2205, if you can find any...

[straightshooter]

A neighbour, across the road from my property, on a property of a 1000 acres and 10 kilometers from the nearest village tried to start a pay to hunt operation to supplement his income. The hunts were mostly on weekends. After a few months various neighbours got together to start complaining. The ringleaders were a couple on a 5 acre property adjoining and overlooking the 1000 acre property and another green oriented couple on a 100 acre property about a kilometer away with no interest in any kind of compromise. They ended up getting their way.
Just remember, we live in the land of the free. Which means we are free to do as we are told, or else.

What were the complaints about, noise, or the business he was running?

I don't think any of the neighbours knew about the pay to hunt operation.
I had a friendly relationship with the manager who had been a part time professional shooter in the district as well as being able to see the shooters camp site about 3 kilometers away from my front door.
The neighbours' principle complaint was the volume of shooting on weekends particularly at night.
I don't know where and how the complaints were directed but I do know the manager was dismissed and the non resident children of the deceased owner put the property up for sale.

[bladeracer]

I don't think any of the neighbours knew about the pay to hunt operation.
I had a friendly relationship with the manager who had been a part time professional shooter in the district as well as being able to see the shooters camp site about 3 kilometers away from my front door.
The neighbours' principle complaint was the volume of shooting on weekends particularly at night.
I don't know where and how the complaints were directed but I do know the manager was dismissed and the non resident children of the deceased owner put the property up for sale.

Must've been a whole lot more shooting than hunting happening.

[Wapiti]

Hence my suggestions regarding making sure all is kosha with your neighbours, regardless of what cartridge you'd like to use.
Mate, nothing is going to matter otherwise.

The resident "experts" as they are lovingly described to put them down somewhat, from what I see here are only trying to give out their experiences and suggestions... Something in there just might appeal or provide an idea to work with...
As a forum, you're going to get differences of opinion and all should be welcome as things to mull over.
Maybe it really is my inbred lack of cognitive ability, but it seems to me that contributors here are addressing the issues and circumstances of the OP...

[Wapiti]

Building berms as bullet stops on 20 acres? 10/10 for imaginative thinking.

Why would berms be any different on a 20ac block than a 5ac block?

Mate I think it is a great idea. You could build a MX track to cover for the fact that the berms might provide bullet butts too. Or even hide you walking around with a rifle from the neighbours.
Cost? Council dramas? Again, noise and neighbourly relations and bias. Unfortunately.

[Wapiti]

I don't think any of the neighbours knew about the pay to hunt operation.
I had a friendly relationship with the manager who had been a part time professional shooter in the district as well as being able to see the shooters camp site about 3 kilometers away from my front door.
The neighbours' principle complaint was the volume of shooting on weekends particularly at night.
I don't know where and how the complaints were directed but I do know the manager was dismissed and the non resident children of the deceased owner put the property up for sale.

Must've been a whole lot more shooting than hunting happening.

I reckon the same thing.
You'd think, with some supervision and management, that could've continued and could have been completely acceptable.

[bladeracer]

Building berms as bullet stops on 20 acres? 10/10 for imaginative thinking.

Why would berms be any different on a 20ac block than a 5ac block?

Mate I think it is a great idea. You could build a MX track to cover for the fact that the berms might provide bullet butts too. Or even hide you walking around with a rifle from the neighbours.
Cost? Council dramas? Again, noise and neighbourly relations and bias. Unfortunately.

You don't need to conceal the fact that you're shooting, you just need to ensure that your shooting is safe. Rose is involved in a local bookclub, basically a bunch of the neighbourhood women (I don't think there are any men it the group currently) read a book every month as an excuse to bake cakes and spend an evening together gossiping about everybody, sometimes they even mention the book they read. They can all hear me shooting all the time so I usually get a mention.

Yep, it's probably worth finding an alternative if your lawfully-allowed shooting is just going to cause an awful neighbour situation. Convincing your neighbours to join in would be a great start