Gidday Guys

Today while I was going around my traps I came across a lot of stag sign that was very recent and showed frequent use of a track leading to neighbouring farm land.

It is quite legal for me to shoot the deer on my side before they cross the fence to the farm and ethically acceptable to do so.

The problem lies in the fact that the cockeys house is about 200 metres away and I don't want to put him offside with big bangs going on. I know I would be upset with someone letting fly with a highpower within a couple of hundred metres of my home.

I was thinking that I could get a moderator fitted. Ballbags (Robbie Tiffen) will do it for about three hundred. That gave me the idea that with a subsonic load it would be totally silent. Maybe a 140 gr Partition or a 160gr Sierra SMP lumbering along at about 1000fps would do the trick as the range would be no more than 50 metres.

Then another thought hit me (I know three thoughts in a day no wonder my brain was overheating), would I need a moderator at all?

Would the load be adequate, would it be quiet, would it work?

What are your thoughts and what loads would you suggest?

Thanks for your help putting me right.

Happy Hunting

Hamish

With a moderator/suppresor installed the only audible signature is the sonic boom which does not reveal direction. You could down load around 2000fps so your hunting bullets still performed out a 100 meters and one shot noone would even look up much less know direction. It would sound about or a little less than a 22 long rifle. H4895 is a great powder for this. Or a similar load with no moderator would work too.

Perry

Most hunting softpoints will not expand at all at 1000fps.

I would also expect the heavy bullets to not stabilize at 1000fps.

Go for brain shots and use any bullet that stabilizes and gives good accuracy. Whether thats a light varminter or a heavy SP that acts as a solid doesn't matter as you only need 2 or 3" of penetration.

Hamish,

The bullet choice for that kind of situation would be a Ballistic Tip.. she will open at very low speeds...

Getting you down to say 1500 fps would be no problem and the bullet will still penetrate and expand.. many other bullets loose their ability to expand unless you are using lead bullets, at that low of a velocity..

I have no experience with silencers, but I can definitely set you up with some accurate loads and bullets that would perform down in the lower velocity ranges...

a lot of the various varmint bullets would also perform at those lower velocities and penetrate quite well....because you are not exploding them with high velocity...

and not to undermine Perry above.. I still think H 4895 sucks for accuracy consistency...one load will be a tack driver and then you switch it up or down a fraction of a grain and it throws them all over the place...

powders in the 4198 burn rate and faster are far better choices...

for 1500 fps and lower, pistol and shotgun powders perform the best...

Gidday Guys,

Thanks for the tips.

Yesterday while rushing around my traps I spooked three deer through being too tied up in getting more traps on the ground.

The load I have decided on is 42.2 gr H4350 over a 140 gr partition as out to 100 metres I don't have to change the scope from my normal 120 gr load.

I spoke to the cockey (farmer) in the house. He said no worries and thanks for letting us know you are about.

I am heading out there again in the morning but I will take a little more care and this time some more of those big Rakaia Reds are going into my freezer (famous last words).

I am still thinking about the moderator though as they apparently tame the rifle down in all respects.

Happy Hunting

Hamish

I use a 22K Hornet with a sound moderator. I shoot 45gr SP bullets at around 2800fps. Still get 1 inch groupin at 100 yards with the sound moderator on.

You can hear the impact of the bullet. The shot sounds like 22 short.

Good luck

Gerhard