How noisy is the action on a semi auto?

1198neo

Member
I'm interested in a .22lr for controlling the rabbits on my land. With large magazines and semi auto fire, the Bradley Arms .22 AR / Lantac type rifles look good, but having never heard one in action, how much louder due to the automatic loading action is one when compared to say a Ruger 10/22 with the rotary magazine or just a plain bolt action.
For target shooting at my local club, the extra noise isn't an issue but hunting rabbits at night it could be.
Which ever I get, it would be moderated, my .17hmr shooting supersonic ammo has a real loud "crack" which sends them running for cover, a quiet .22 doesn't startle them as much.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
Thanks
Neo
 
The big "giveaway" with any rifle in a situation where stealth is required is not noise but movement. Thus the quest for the holy grail of a self-loading sniper rifle which only the Russians with the Dragunov really achieved. It is the movement of the right hand from trigger to bolt knob and back again that can give one away.

I have fired some self-loading .22RF rifles with modern moderators. And some indeed indoors. The noise they make is not that great. As the feeding of the new round stops any idea that there might be a slam as the action closes.

Certainly a bolt action turn bolt or a Martini action will in theory be the quietest of all. But again I'd choose elimination of that hand to bolt and back to trigger movement over and above any consideration of noise if you fit a modern quality moderator and not a bit of auld scrap steel tubing aka a Parker Hale moderator!

The quietest self loading .22RF with a modern quality moderator (not P-Hale's auld steel tubing) was the BSA Ralock. As the action is entirely self contained and actually ejects INSIDE the action block of the weapon. This was virtually totally silent beyond a score of yards.
 
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I'd probably prefer the sleek lines of 10/22 over AR-15 type, and 10rd factory mag should prove adequate. 10/22 and rotary magazines are usually as reliable as 22LR can get.

Semiauto seems a bit noisier for the shooter but a bystander won't usually notice any difference. Beware though, brass is flying and may cause some issues.
 
I don't like semis unless you have a LOT of rabbits to shoot and aim to shoot them like a Steven Seagal movie scene

As far as movement vs noise is concerned I don't have a problem with cycling the bolt using the back of my thumb and extracting the brass manually (I don't shoot enough rabbits in quick succession and need to keep the brass off the golf course) with barely visible movement

you can happily shoot several in a group with a very dim lamp and a good moderator

but you could always use one of these:
DIY .22 Brass catcher

semis allow maintenance of sight picture which is more difficult with a bolt action.
Thats the key difference IMO
 
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IMO once you have made the move "down" (in sonic noise terms) from .17HMR to .22 the measurable benefits of one sort of action compared to another are very small, and likely to be irrelevant in the real world, where your own noise and movement will be key. So it will pretty quickly come down to whether you really need the extra magazine capacity etc.
 
Using Subs and a decent moderator on my 10/22 Deluxe, (the one without the barrel band), left the noisiest thing being the 'clack' of the action cycling and hitting the bolt buffer pin. Fitting a replacement Delrin buffer has eliminated that, making it an extremely quiet and accurate semi-auto bunny basher.

Plenty of 10/22 parts on eBay including bolt buffers from several resellers: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ruger-10-...ng_ShootingSports_ET&var=&hash=item2589e5740b
 
Thanks for your comments, much appreciated.
I spoke to Mark at Bradley Arms this morning and he hasn't made any .22 versions for a while and probably won't until Summer, so I'll not be able to get one of his anytime soon. He was very honest and did say that not all 22 ammo will cycle the bolt and until fully run in I may find it fails to load sometimes.
Neo
 
Using standard Winchester subs, cycling the action, failure to load correctly, or jams have never been an issue with mine. I strip and clean the action reasonably regularly, (and magazines less frequently) as it gets a fair bit of usage. Maybe I've just been lucky.
 
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can you explain this?
I am intrigued[/QUOTE

Both moderators and subsonic ammunition have an affect on the gases and hence the recoil which cycles the action on a semi auto some semi's seem to suffer badly while others not at all.

Not a very technical explanation but that's the jist of it.
 
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The noisiest thing about semi auto .22's is generally the operator swearing at it! If your heart is set on a semi auto I would have a look at Anshutz, I had an old one years ago and it was totally reliable.
 
can you explain this?
I am intrigued

I was wondering about that as well.

I can appreciate the reduced effect that subsonic ammo will have on cycling the action due to the reduced charge. But how does a moderator increase the chances of a jam? With a simple blowback action such as a .22 semi-auto, doesn't the recoil of the cartridge case that cycles the action depend on the expansion of gases in the barrel under pressure. When the bullet exits the muzzle that expansion effectively ceases to have any effect, irrespective of whether or not a moderator is fitted - I would think it possible that a moderator could in fact slightly extend the period of influence of the expanding gases beyond the muzzle by restricting them in a minor fashion. Or does it in some way promote faster evacuation of the gases from the barrel, (some kind of venturi effect maybe?), thereby reducing the recoil effect?

Any thoughts?
 
I can't see it either as the gases have, surely, vented away from the bullet as it exits the rifled part...the TRUE barrel?

The only circumstance would be on a long recoil system self-loading .22RF built like a Browning A5 shot gun where the barrel itself also moves under recoil. And I am not aware of any .22RF being built like that...ever!

In fact I'd reckon that the recoil on a .22RF which is simple blowback and NOT gas operated will have begun ever before the bullet has exited the rifled part...the TRUE barrel.
 
Back to the original question, I was just out with my 10/22 (it has a polymer bolt buffer fitted) and after shooting a rabbit it's definitely noiser listening to the impact of the round in the rabbit than the bolt slamming back. The noise of the bolt is affected by the round though. CCI ammo is very reliable and clearly more powerful as it cycles every round and is noiser but then not quite as accurate whilst Ely Subs are far more accurate and noticeably quieter (less recoil) but then often don't cycle as well. Obviously the 10/22 wasn't designed with subsonic ammo in mind but you can upgrade many parts to get it working well with subs. I love to tinker and modify things so a 10/22 is perfect for me, however if you want something shooting sub one inch groups at 50m out the box then I'd look elsewhere.
 
I have never personally heard a quiet one.When I have been out with my pal I have always come back with more rabbits than him with his auto but that may be down to me being more accurate
 
I have never personally heard a quiet one.When I have been out with my pal I have always come back with more rabbits than him with his auto but that may be down to me being more accurate

Definjtely agree. My mates CZ bolt .22 is no louder than my old Air Arms PCP rifle.
 
Adding a moderator to a semi Auto increases the chances of a jam, more so if you are also using subsonic ammo.

Total rubbish. A .22 operates on blowback caused by the recoil of the cartridge. If anything the addition of a moderator will increase the pressure in the barrel as the gases are no longer vented straight into the atmosphere. If anything it should reduce the chances of a jam.
 
Guys, I am not an expert on this but my take on it is this, a moderator cools and slows down the gases behind a bullet thus reducing recoil, reducing the recoil also reduces the effectiveness of the blow back system, for the same reason various combinations of subsonic ammunition result in unreliable cycling of firearm actions, some manufacturers of subsonic ammunition use heavier bullets achieving lower velocity's in order to ensure that as a result of increased bullet mass there is enough energy to cycle the common blow back action.

Don't shoot the messenger guys as I say I'm no expert ,there is a quite a lot been written about it if you have a mind to look for it, some of it conflicting don't blame me though if you have a long grey beard by the time you wade through it.
 
Good answer, but as enfieldspares has said, (better than I did), it's the bullet's time in the TRUE barrel that has influence on the pressure of the gases and hence bolt operation in a .22RF simple blowback action. Any moderator attached to the end of the barrel is superfluous to that requirement and has no influence. Subsonic ammo, yes different brands can have a marked effect on reliabilty so try as many as it takes to find the one that works in your rifle, but moderators I can't include in the equation.
 
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