subsonic loading for cf rifles

jimmy milnes

Well-Known Member
Hi all
Thinking of cutting back on my rifle collection a bit but still want the same versatility I currently have, so basically my plan is along the lines of two rifles one deer and fox which I have already in my 6.5 / 47 bergara barrel t3 and then one all rounder for vermin ie. Crow rabbit magpie fox etc..... However a phone call five mins ago has made me have to think a bit because I just had a mate from a farm I shoot asking if I can sort out a rabbit explosion in his mum's garden, so if I was to cut back on numbers of rifles id need something to cover this angle, my immediate thought is 22 cf but can any be loaded up subsonic with say a nice light vmax or the like
Kind regards
Jimmy
 
Hi all
Thinking of cutting back on my rifle collection a bit but still want the same versatility I currently have, so basically my plan is along the lines of two rifles one deer and fox which I have already in my 6.5 / 47 bergara barrel t3 and then one all rounder for vermin ie. Crow rabbit magpie fox etc..... However a phone call five mins ago has made me have to think a bit because I just had a mate from a farm I shoot asking if I can sort out a rabbit explosion in his mum's garden, so if I was to cut back on numbers of rifles id need something to cover this angle, my immediate thought is 22 cf but can any be loaded up subsonic with say a nice light vmax or the like
Kind regards
Jimmy

anything can be loaded subsonically, not an ideal silution and still way more expensive than a £100 .22lr and a £5 box of subs
I have some subsonic .243 load data using BluDot
subsonic VMax defeats its purpose as well as it is designed to expand at over 1400fps IIRC
 
anything can be loaded subsonically, not an ideal silution and still way more expensive than a £100 .22lr and a £5 box of subs
I have some subsonic .243 load data using BluDot
subsonic VMax defeats its purpose as well as it is designed to expand at over 1400fps IIRC

Cheers bewsher
Get ya point about the vmax and at subsonic speed not expanding properly, yeah a cheap 22lr would make sense and im currently running an hmr but was wanting to loose a slot hense the question, how do you find the 243 at sub speed ? What bullet do you use and what kind of range do you get still retaining good accuracy
Regards
Jimmy
 
Cheers bewsher
Get ya point about the vmax and at subsonic speed not expanding properly, yeah a cheap 22lr would make sense and im currently running an hmr but was wanting to loose a slot hense the question, how do you find the 243 at sub speed ? What bullet do you use and what kind of range do you get still retaining good accuracy
Regards
Jimmy

never tried them to be honest
I have the BluDot but the .243 is ..... in a state of rebuild....and has been for a while!
The data is interesting
all with 87gr SP

previous owner of the data used it sub 100yds but I imagine the drop is fierce between 50-100!
 
actually!!
​rough figures suggest a 50yd zero is only 2.4" down at 100yds!!


500.01-
75-2.39
100-6.96
 
Every hunter should have a .22 rimfire; it simply fills gaps in range, cost, efficiency and relative safety that are left by CF.
Sounds like fun reloading CF to fill the gap, but then you lose out on bullet efficiency; time better spent shooting bunnies with a 22!
 
Hi all
Thinking of cutting back on my rifle collection a bit but still want the same versatility I currently have, so basically my plan is along the lines of two rifles one deer and fox which I have already in my 6.5 / 47 bergara barrel t3 and then one all rounder for vermin ie. Crow rabbit magpie fox etc..... However a phone call five mins ago has made me have to think a bit because I just had a mate from a farm I shoot asking if I can sort out a rabbit explosion in his mum's garden, so if I was to cut back on numbers of rifles id need something to cover this angle, my immediate thought is 22 cf but can any be loaded up subsonic with say a nice light vmax or the like
Kind regards
Jimmy
To load subsonic, you need to run a fairly heavy for cal bullet, you need to try and keep the energy up, you lose so much by running slow, so a heavy bullet helps keep what little energy there is.
The yanks have done a fair bit with sub 5.56 running a 90 gr bullet through AR platforms.

The problem with loading very slow rounds is the chance of your bullet not clearing the barrel, with disastrous results if you don't notice, and put another through.

There is a fair amount of friction you will need to overcome with jacketed bullets, better to use cast. I had a load using bullseye under an 87gr vmax, lubed with alox. Fun, but not much real use, ricochet worse than .22lr, and that means 87gr falling from the sky as opposed to 40 from a .22.

Subsonic .308 has its uses, it has the weight behind it to do the business on foxes, same as a subsonic load in my 444 using 280gr cast boolits, but again, limited use mainly due to the lack of mod on the 444, ever seen a .44 cal moderator ?

Also, the .300 whisperers and the like run a short barrel to keep the speeds down and consistency up, normally 16" or less, you also need a fast twist to help get the required spin to stabilise the bullet too.

As a guideline, 5.5gr of bullseye under a 175gr .308 in a 24" barrel gives approx 1050fps, try at your own risk.

Regards

​Pete
 
One I made earlier - 444 moderator;
Complete444modSmall.jpg
 
Hodgdon lists 8 grs of Trailboss with a 100gr pill for a subsonic .243 load. Trail Boss has become a go-to powder for subsonic loads here, as it requires much more volume than standard powders (grains look like little doughnuts). Less chance of a double charge and/or erratic ignition/detonation.
 
Hi I have played with subsonic loads in my 223. The accuracy was rubish target looked like I had fired a shotgun at it! went back to the 22 r/f cheeper and accurate.
Guess not what you were after but that was my experiance.
 
I shoot sub-sonic in both my 308s and my 300 Blackout, for indoor target use (25-30m) I use 115gr "Soupcan" or 168g Loverin cast boolits.

I've used Trailboss and found it pretty good, my current load for the 115gr is 4.9g of Viht N310 in the 308s and 3.4g in the 300 Blk. These give MVs of 980fps for the 308 and 1020 for the 300 Blk. Accuracy is pretty much a single raggy hole.
 
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