Why use subsonic rounds

Your rifle will still go bang , and none of this quieter ammo is powerful enough for hunting big game much past slingshot range. Still, subsonic ammo does fill an important niche for many hunters and shooters.

At sea level, the speed of sound is roughly feet per second. When a moving object, such as a bullet, breaks that threshold, there is an audible shock wave that sounds like the crack of a bullwhip.

Walney down the road into a fit of agita. Another way is to buy a silencer legal in 39 states , which will greatly muffle those escaping gases. Quietest of all is to use a silencer in tandem with subsonic ammunition, which can reduce the sound of gunfire to a whimper in the rain. Since energy is the product of mass times velocity squared, a slower bullet has exponentially less energy than a faster one of the same weight.

Take your average grain. At fps, it produces 1, foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle. But if you reduce the velocity to a subsonic fps, it produces only foot-pounds. In other words, it turns a. This is one reason why you rarely see subsonic. The Blackout cartridge has become incredibly popular because of its versatility in an equally incredibly popular shooting platform: the AR. You can absolutely shoot supersonic Blackout through your suppressor and see a noticeable reduction in sound signature.

Aside from shooting subsonic. Choosing the right kind of ammo means asking lots of questions. Here are some of the most common ones as they relate to the differences between subsonic and supersonic ammunition. The most common target and defensive loads of 9mm ammo are not subsonic.

Because of the popularity of 9mm ammo, however, there are a number of special 9mm loads that are designed to be subsonic. You just have to look at the specs on the web or the box to see how fast the rounds are traveling. Generally speaking, the speed of sound is 1, feet per second, so anything at that speed or above is considered to be supersonic.

Or, you can be like the rest of us and just use 1,fps as the general rule of thumb for the threshold between subsonic and supersonic. Subsonic is anything traveling slower than the speed of sound, which is generally accepted to be 1, feet per second. So, anything traveling less than that is subsonic. Again, as we mentioned above, you can get very specific and scientific if you want, or you can use sub-1,fps as the threshold between the two. Simply put, yes, a supersonic bullet is louder than a subsonic bullet.

This is because the supersonic bullet is traveling faster than the speed of sound, which produces a cracking sound when it breaks the sound barrier. This means that tightly packed ammo has less chance of losing accuracy or causing rifle damage. The charge amount can heavily impact your shot as well. When paired with the speed reduction of subsonic ammo, a weak charge might only be adding to inaccuracy. By matching your charge to the bullet weight, you can edge the supersonic point and keep accuracy while remaining in the subsonic category.

Subsonic ammunition is gaining in popularity because of the outstanding sound reduction when used with suppressors. Suppressors are typically attached while using subsonic ammunition, and if the round exits the barrel without stability, it can cause a baffle strike. Supersonic ammo is fired fast enough to gain stability early on, so may be a better option to use in your gun.

With many weapons, subsonic ammo is too heavy to use, but researching the way your firearm will react to subsonic ammo can help you find out if they will make a good pair. Log in to leave a comment. Sign in Join. Sign in. Log into your account. Forgot your password? The movement toward effectiveness and velocity, though, has rendered many old, slower cartridges generally obsolete. This relatively recent resurgence is due completely to the rise in popularity of suppressors, and its excellent compatibility with subs.

Subsonic ammo is typically extremely quiet through a suppressor, mild recoiling, fun to shoot, and useful in hunting and self-defense applications.

Suppressor users love shooting subsonic ammo primarily because it lacks the loud crack of supersonic loads. The most important, is to verify that your gun is stabilizing the subsonic bullets before shooting them through a suppressor.

Subsonic loads typically use heavier bullets that may not stabilize with some slower-twist barrels. This can cause a baffle strike, causing serious injury and damage. A few shots through paper are an easy way to verify stabilization.

Another thing to consider is the suppressor itself. An under-pressured subsonic cartridge may sometimes not quiet down well in an over-bored suppressor. For example, a grain, 10mm subsonic load is very quiet with the correct end cap.

But throw a. Finally, understand that unless designed to function specifically with subsonics, many semi-autos will not cycle if the ammunition is simply loaded down. For example, a.