Hello everybody! My first post in this forum!
I have a drilling with a 22 Hornet barrel and I am interested in reloading for low velocities like 1200 fps or even subsonic. Has anybody experienced with such loads?
Thank you.

Yo S,

Welcome Aboard, hope you'll enjoy yourself.

Well I don't know if they're sub-sonic but apprently pretty close to it; sorta like a dull bark.

RWS Hornet brass, Remington 6 1/2 primer, 5.0 grs. Unique w/46 gr. RWS Match HP - it'll put 5 @ 1" at 100 meters.

Always searching for the proverbial Free Lunch and tried the same with copper-clad 46 gr. lead bullets - accuracy so far has been dismal. R&D still ongoing.

Try 6.0 grains of Blue Dot under the bullet of your choice. Probably more than 1200 fps, but it will about equal the .22 WMR. Accuracy has been excellent for me.

Thanks for your suggestions.

I don't know if you cast, but if so, here is somehing I put together a few years ago that is a pure hoot.

Lyman cast bullet 225107, tumble-lubed in liquid alox. Seated unsized over half a grain (0.5) of Accurate Arms #2, and a pellet of cotton to hold the powder against the primer. One hole accuracy at 25 yards, and all you get is a click. You have to blow the cotton pellet out of the barrel! I shoot mine through a break-open single shot.

I tried using an entire grain of AA #2, but that load "popped". I was specifically looking for sub-sonic...

Doubless,

That is very interesting. I don't cast and I am just getting started to reload cartriges. I have reloaded shotgun shells, but I think the rifle rounds are different. Can I use regular bullets?
What happens if the cotton is forgotten in the barrel?
I also heard of a slow reload using red-dot 2 grains?
No danger in leaving a lot of room in the brass?

Silver, to me loading shotshells is a lot more exacting than loading metallic cartridges. Shotgun barrels are pretty unforgiving when it comes to pressure changes, and I don't find that the case with rifle and handgun.

Now, having said that, I would suspect you could try jacketed bullets, but I suspect they might lodge due to the higher friction coefficients of copper and steel. Lead is pretty soft against steel, so it isn't so much of a problem.

And as for the cotton pellet, I am not sure, but you might possibly end up bulging a barrel due to the obstruction. It is pretty remote because I suspect pressure in this plinker is quite low, but the possibility can't be ignored.

Try the jacketed bullets, go up a touch on the powder if necessary, and let us know how it works. Just be quite careful if you do stick a bullet. Make sure to check the barrel after every round and stop increasing the powder charge only at the point where you are at acceptable accuracy, you know the bullet will exit the barrel, and noise is where you want it.

Good luck!