Quiet please! 22 Ammo test in progress

[Tech Ninja]

Sure shooting is fun but sometimes I just don't want to deal with the noise.

A suppressor is financially out of the question.

So what other alternatives are there? How about 22 CB ammo?

Aguila Colibri primer only
Aquila Super Colibri primer only but a bit more primer
Winchester Long CB Match primer only
CCI Quiet-22 a standard cartridge with powder

And for comparison:

CCI Subsonic
CCI Standard

Lets shoot it with a Mossberg 142A equipped with a Weaver 4G. Yes it's old but so am I.

The top red dot is the POA. Shooting from 25 yards results:

Looks like Colibri is useless at 25 yards. Three rounds hit more than 10 inches low.

Super Colibri had better results but still not great.

Long CB Match and Quiet-22 are pretty good.

But look at CCI Standard Velocity, no wonder everyone thinks it's great. Because it is.

So what's the noise level of the rounds?
Colibri is about as loud as snapping your fingers.
Super Colibri is just a little louder.
Long CB Match is about the same as Super Colibri.
I fired all three of these with out hearing protection.

Quiet-22 however is just loud enough to need hearing protection, at least if you are going to fire more than one round.

As always your results in your rifle may vary.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

Subsonic rounds should be quieter since you won't have that small sonic boom crack with each round.

Have you ever tried foam ear plugs? I find them to be the least annoying hearing proteciton out there.

 

[firesky101]

If you can get them to stabilize, I have great luck with the Aguila SSS 60gr. I shoot them out of my AR conversion with 1-1.5" groups at 50yds. Very quiet.

 

[twofifty]

air rifle?

You could look into a quality air rifle.

With practice, the pellet's low velocity (i.e. long barrel dwell time) helps to increase follow-through. More follow-through is good for all rifle shooting.

 

[WardenWolf]

Good info, and a neat old rifle. What a nice looking .22.

 

[justice06rr]

Nice little test. That is a sweet 22 rifle also!

 

[MedWheeler]

Yep. I used to shoot CB caps out of a rifle a few years back, when I lived in a part of the city where I could get away with that. Not much louder than a yardstick on a desktop, if even. Shot 'em from a Stevens 89, and from a Taurus M94. It was fun; held me over between range sessions.

 

[RCArms.com]

That rifle is old school beautiful.

 

[Remllez]

Gotta be careful shooting low power rounds out of a long barrel....Make sure the slug makes it outta the barrel, you don't want a squib messin up that nice old rifle.

 

[bannockburn]

Thats good advice from Remllez as a friend of mine was shooting Aquila Colibri out of a .22 pistol and some of the bullets didn't make it out of the barrel.

 

[Gunnerboy]

I use nothing but 22 CB longs for my "pest" exterminating, does great for rapid shots on mulitple targets.

 

[bhk]

I shoot these rounds quite a bit off my patio offhand into a bullet trap about 15 yards away. In reality, I could shoot a 30-06 from my patio and no one would give a hoot. I do find, though, that I sometimes get great pleasure out of shooting these quiet cartridges.

I save the good stuff (subsonic target rounds like CCI Standard, Lapua, Ely, etc.) for my 50 yard bench. For patio shooting, I have settled on CCI Quiets and CCI CBs. I think they are the cleanest shooting of the sub 800 fps rounds, and are about as quiet as my Beeman R-9 air rifle. Both are sufficiently accurate for this close-range offhand shooting.

 

[StrawHat]

The CCI, CB Longs from the 26"barrel of my Ruger 77/22 make no sound except the bullet impact. Yes, it is lower on the target than when using standard rounds but that is why I have adjustable sights. Not had much luck with the Aquilla SSS rounds, quiet but not what my barrel likes.

 

[thefish]

I have a similar mossberg and I shoot CCI CB22 shorts. About as lous as a pellet gun. Check them out. Walmart has em.

Have a box of the "quiet22" but have not shot them yet.

 

[K1500]

I found the CCI Quiet to hit to POA out to 30 yards. I did not think it required any kind of ear protection, the noise of the slug striking the steel target was louder than the report. Out of a handgun it DID require ear protection.

It would not fully cycle a 10-22, but I am sold on it for other uses. It would not fully penetrate a 2x4 SYP on the flat, even at point blank range, so it is probably limited to small pests and rabbit/squirrel size game at most.

 

[razorback2003]

Who is selling the CCI Quiet ammo? I have looked at Wal Mart and Bass Pro and cannot find it.

 

[Blackstone]

A question from a Brit - do even .22lr suppressors fall under NFA?

 

[ssyoumans]

A question from a Brit - do even .22lr suppressors fall under NFA?

Yes.

 

[7thCavScout]

That rifle is old school beautiful.

+1 I really like that old Mossy!

 

[bergmen]

Nice Test!

Thanks for posting this, very valuable. We live on a small farm (3 acres) surrounded by plots about the same size and up to 5 acres. We are out of the city limits but the houses are close enough that shooting can disturb the neighbors.

They all know that we need to control pests at times so I use my Single Six with CB caps or .22 shot shells. it works fine in the barn for rats and the neighbors don't even know. This info adds a lot to my choices.

Dan

 

[bikerdoc]

Now this is the kind of thread that makes me proud to be member. Good discusion with great info.
My patio shooting is about 10 to 15 yds and mostly with standaed velocity ammo and Aguila 60 gr for pest control.

22 shorts also have a place for some fun plinking.

 

[MBane666]

CB Longs out of my T/C Contender are quieter than my pellet rifle. I'm going to have The T/C barrel threaded for my old Tac-Sol .22 silencer, then it ought to be pretty close to dead quiet.

Michael B

 

[22-rimfire]

I like the CCI SV LR's. They are one of my favorites. I buy them at Dicks for the most part when they have them in stock. You can get quieter rounds, but seldom as accurate on average.

Look into the CCI CB shorts and CB Longs.

I have read that CCI Quiet is hitting the Walmart shelves now. At first they were miss priced at $6.97 or something. I believe they are supposed to be $2.97/box. I have not shot any, but I read that they aren't as accurate as many would like. But your target shows okay accuracy.

 

[Mobuck]

I tried/tested several brands of low noise 22 ammo last year before and during trapping season. Accuracy/point of impact was not real important since most shooting was within 5'(except the skunks).
Super Colibri was quietest but failed to penetrate the skull of large coons and was not accurate enough to effectively kill a skunk at 10'. It also failed to feed if loaded more than 3 in the magazine.
Winchester subsonic seemed almost as loud as HV. It fed from magazine but functioned inconsistently.
I was looking for a round that wouldn't fully operate the slide on the semiauto pistol I use. That way I knew the chamber was empty between traps. The Win ammo reloaded the chamber randomly so I had to check the chamber after each trap.
Remington C-Bee is my choice. Adequately accurate, big effective hollow point, reasonable noise level, and does not reload the chamber(at least not any of the many I've shot).

 

[ActionJax]

+1 on CCI shorts.

If you have a bolt-action rifle with a tube loader like my Marlin 981 TS, it'll shoot 22S, L, and LR. What a deal. The shorts are EXCELLENT for new shooters -- very quiet and non-offensive. Just re-align your scope first, so they'll hit something...