subsonic 223

[snowpro440]

does any one have any info on reloading subsonic 223 rounds ? I asked around and no one that sells silencers that have 223 subsonic ammo will tell how it is made. I have been reloading for years and never seen any info on this other than another site was saying 2-3 grains of red dot and the bullet seated out as far as you can . any help would be appreciated

 

[taliv]

use search. you should find plenty of threads about it here. many powder companies publish data for subsonic 223.

 

[ants]

You may or may not be disappointed, but it's worth trying just for your own satisfaction. I tried three for 55g fmj bullets:

Alliant offers a max load of 14.0 grains of 2400, at a velocity of 2,685 fps. But that's more than twice the speed of sound, so it's not subsonic. That load would not cycle any of my AR-15 rifles or carbines. Just not enough gas to unlock the bolt and move the carrier. I even went up to 14.5 grains and it didn't move the bolt one bit.

Hodgdon offers a load of 3.1 grains Titegroup at 1,064 fps, and another load of 3.2 grains Clays at 1,060 fps. Both are below the speed of sound and feel like shooting a 22 short. But neither one came close to cycling the bolt. The bolt didn't even budge one tiny bit.

Please report back to us if you actually test a handload below 1260 fps and it successfully cycles the bolt.

 

[Griz44]

Hodgdon offers a load of 3.1 grains Titegroup at 1,064 fps, and another load of 3.2 grains Clays at 1,060 fps. Both are below the speed of sound and feel like shooting a 22 short. But neither one came close to cycling the bolt. The bolt didn't even budge one tiny bit.

Hmmm... any of these rounds will shoot fine in my Rem 700ADL.... The bolt still cycles just fine...

OK, so what difference does it make if it is a bolt action rifle? <grin>

 

[Seafarer12]

Because it is subsonic, I would work up a load with the heaviest bullet my barrel would stabalize. The only ones I have seen on Hodgdon only has them for the 55 grainers.

 

[snowpro440]

223 subsonic

I was not trying to cycle the action ,i just didnt want to build too much pressure ,. and be able to achieve some accuracy with less noise and be able to install a silencer when it gets through the paper work approval, trying to find loading data to make subsonic. thxs

 

[ants]

If you're not cycling a semiauto, you should be good to go with the Hodgdon loads. The low velocity makes them drop pretty quickly, but you'll deal with that. Just be careful metering small loads like 3.0 and 3.1 grains, although both Titegroup and Clays meter well for me.
At very slow velocities, I would think you can stabilize a lighter bullet better than a heavier one, but maybe snowpro440 can experiment with that.
Here are other threads on the subject:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=354375&highlight=subsonic
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=308063&highlight=subsonic

 

[coloradokevin]

excuse me for asking... But, other than for giggles, what would be the point in this anyway?

Seems like if you make a .223 subsonic, you've basically turned it into an expensive .22lr, albeit with a slightly heavier bullet (perhaps by 10 grains or so).

Is the purpose of such a venture just to make ammunition for suppressed weapons, or does this actually serve a larger purpose that I am missing?

('cause my .22lr ammo is still cheaper)

 

[Seafarer12]

Well with a light bullet thats all you have but if you had a 80 grain bullet at 1050 that would have a little more punch. If I was going to build a subsonic 223 I would get a 1-7 twist barrel and run the heaviest bullet I could sabalize. Running a 55 grain bullet wouldn't be much point, might as well run 22lr subsonics.

 

[Afy]

I use a suppressor with my .260 Remington and so far Federal Gameking ammunition.

The report is silenced to below .22LR non suppressed levels.

I also use a suppressor on my .22 as well, which is very quiet except with Stinger type ammo.

 

[BattleChimp Potemkin]

I am not responsible for your actions and results but here are mine:

55gr Prvi FMJBT
3.1gr Titegroup, Check hodgdon's site for accurate details, such as OAL as I cant remember it (Im at work and not next to my manuals and notebooks).

What I do remember:
20" AR, doesnt cycle the action (have a good charging handle, when fired, you heatr the bolt rotate a little then click back forward), about at quiet as the Aguila 60gr SSS (shot them with no hearing on and didnt have ANY discomfort, a fart would have been louder) however with slightly higher velocity (I got 1015 on my Chrono as the fastest). All rounds left the barrel. About a 2" group at 50 yards (irons). They shoot low at closer range due to, well, an AR's higher sights.

Awesome fun round, very quiet, cheap to make (relative to factory cold loaded munitions), fun like a gallery load! The neat thing is with my 1/9 twist barrel, there are no accuracy issues as with a .22 conversion kit as the twist rate is good for bullet weight (unlike the lighter stuff). I will keep 20 of these with blue marker on the headstamp in my SHTF bag as a squirrel/rabbit load.

What I want to try next is to see how different bullets will act. Maybe I can get a Vmax to expand rather than fragment, then I may be onto something . Enjoy! I love the idea of "cat's sneeze" loads and will be trying it with reversed boattailed heavy bullets and Unique for 7.62x54R.