I thought some of you might be interested in the following.

We got a sound pressure meter, set it on PEAK read, and put it on my right at about the level of the receiver as I fired those shots.

1. CCI QUIET 22 101.6 DECIBELS
2. FIOCCHI SUBSONIC 105.9
3. ELEY SUBSONIC 104.7
4. RWS SUBSONIC 104.6
5. AGUILA SUBSONIC 106.5

6. ELEY TENEX MATCH AMMO 103.8
7. LAPUA MASTER M MATCH AMMO 103.5

8. CCI STINGER 111.2

I installed a silencer on the rifle, and got the following.

1. CCI QUIET 22 90.6
2. FIOCCHI 94.1
3. ELEY 93.8
4. RWS 92.3
5. AGUILA 94.2

6. ELEY TENEX 93.2
7. MIDAS 92.9

8. STINGER 105.2

Very interesting. What rifle and barrel length?

Rifle was a Sako P04R with a 21 inch barrel.

Even with the silencer hearing protection would be a good idea. I never realized even the quiet .22 ammunition is so loud.

Jerry Liles

Hmmmmmm. If I use sub-sonics with a silencer all I hear is click-thunk. I do not have any means of measuring how many decibels that might be.I do agree that most brands are louder than advertised.

Ole Miss, I think that you NOTICE the click thunk because the sound of those events have been masked before, but, the noise is still there, and the click thump does not make 90 db!
Peter.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
I thought some of you might be interested in the following.

We got a sound pressure meter, set it on PEAK read, and put it on my right at about the level of the receiver as I fired those shots.

1. CCI QUIET 22 101.6 DECIBELS
2. FIOCCHI SUBSONIC 105.9
3. ELEY SUBSONIC 104.7
4. RWS SUBSONIC 104.6
5. AGUILA SUBSONIC 106.5

6. ELEY TENEX MATCH AMMO 103.8
7. LAPUA MASTER M MATCH AMMO 103.5

8. CCI STINGER 111.2

Were these .22 LR?

I just got my .22 can out of jail (SWR Warlock II). It is a real hoot to shoot (lots of fun for those who don't speak Southern USA).

Anyway, I have a single shot bolt .22 I was considering having the barrel threaded. It shoots shorts, long, and long rifle 22.

In times past I bought .22 short CBs. They were real quiet, even without a can. I see they are still available. A .29 gn bullet at 710 fps.

Love to see what these are suppressed.

Took out my Savage bolt action 22lr and my Sig Mosquito and shot them both with RWS Sub Sonic ammo and my Gemtech suppressor. Not a scientific test but the noise did seem less than suppressed supersonic ammo. however the Sig did NOT cycle reliably with the RWS. I have oiled the slide and rails and will try it again just to see whether that makes a difference.
Peter.

In my own testing of several brands of subsonic .22LR, suppressed, I found that SK-Jagd SS-HP shot extremely well, giving match grade (1 hole) accuracy at 50 yards. It was far superior to Eley SS-HP, even though all my rifles shoot extremely well with Eley Tenex and select lots of lower-grade Eley match ammo.

The SK SS-HP was also noticeably quieter than the other brands. However, in hunting, the HP did not expand, and there was no improvement in terminal effect. So, I just switched to Eley, and the flat nosed Eley EPS works a bit better than RN on small game.

Likewise, I've had superb results from SK-Jagd High Velocity Hollow Point. It has turned 2 very mediocre rifles into reliable sub-0.5" performers at 50 yards (average of 6 or 8 consecutive 5-shot groups.) Both had been extensively tested with 13-16 types/lots of good ammo, including multiple lots of Tenex. I've found this SK HV-HP ammo far superior to any other HV ammunition I've tried, and it's a staple for hunting here.

Hope this helps!
John

I am partially deaf after much of a lifetime shooting, so I cannot offer much. But I have seen my late friend shoot sub-sonics in an old .22 he had just restored. A bullet stuck in the barrel, halfway between breech & muzzle. My friend did not observe a hit, so he loaded another cartridge and fired again. The impact bulged the barrel & destroyed accuracy.

A second friend shot Remington (or perhaps Aguila) sub-sonic, At the shot, we did not see a hit. Remembering our late friend's experience, we looked at the rifle. The front half of the bullet had just emerged from the muzzle. A follow-up shot would have ruined another barrel. We no longer shoot sub-sonics, simply out of regard for our rifles.

It is necessary to be very careful when shooting the sub-sonic stuff. Make sure you see every hit. If you do not see a hit, or if you forget to look, inspect the barrel.

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:
Took out my Savage bolt action 22lr and my Sig Mosquito and shot them both with RWS Sub Sonic ammo and my Gemtech suppressor. Not a scientific test but the noise did seem less than suppressed supersonic ammo. however the Sig did NOT cycle reliably with the RWS. I have oiled the slide and rails and will try it again just to see whether that makes a difference.
Peter.

Mosquitos are very picky about what they will run with. Once you find what they like life is much easier.

The noise levels posted in the first two posts are way too low. This is the result of improper testing with the wrong kind of meter/microphone or excessive distance from the muzzle. You should expect about 140 decibels from a rifle shooting subsonic ammo and as low as 110 decibels with a good silencer attached.

If the meter can't respond as fast as 20 micro-seconds, then it is useless for measuring the short duration impulse noise of a gunshot.

Check out http://silencertests.com/results.htm and http://www.smallarmsreview.com....cfm?idarticles=2340

Saeed, that's why I shoot .22 CB if I am trying to be quite. You'd be surprised what the little CBs will do. I've killed a lot of possums and a few feral cats with them.

I bet some or all of your "subsonic" ammo is actually exiting your barrel at supersonic speed.

wistrapper, I have shot the Mosquito with a variety of target and HV ammo. My purpose was to see if the subsonic ammo plus the suppressor made a noticeable difference. It seemed to, but the failure to cycle made it a single shot, which is not what I want. I have not rerun the test but will do so in the next few days just to satisfy my curiosity. It may be that I have to settle for plain old target ammo.
Peter

Saeed,

I'd like to know more about the specifics of the testing.
I shared this with a nut-job audiophile friend of mine and he asked a bunch of questions. I say he is a nut job because he spent $7k on a needle for his phonograph, 14K on a set of speakers, builds all his own amps, using only silver wire and solder, etc... anyway he started to explain this stuff to me but I only partly get it.

Humans don't hear db, or sound pressure they hear phons. Depending on the circumstances of the test, indoor, outdoor, proximity to hard surfaces, and even temp and humidity can influence the db count but not affect phons. Plus there is no benchmark test of the sound level of the gun being dry fired. That produces sound as well, which need to be factored into the results.

While I think this is a nice beginning benchmark, from what I understand, it doesn't tell the whole story.

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:
wistrapper, I have shot the Mosquito with a variety of target and HV ammo. My purpose was to see if the subsonic ammo plus the suppressor made a noticeable difference. It seemed to, but the failure to cycle made it a single shot, which is not what I want. I have not rerun the test but will do so in the next few days just to satisfy my curiosity. It may be that I have to settle for plain old target ammo.
Peter

Ok I got ya. Misinterpretation on my part. I hope you are able to find a sub load with reliability. If you find one would you be kind enough to share it with me? I really like that Mosquito, dandy pistol