Long Range Subsonic loading

[Blancoalex]

Like to hear anyone's tips and tricks on creating Long Range Subsonic loads. After some my research I would say greater than 100yds. Have been pretty successful out to 300yds with 22LR subsonic so a high BC bullet should extend this range. For me this will be for "fun" shooting for now! Below are some things I have found so far:

reload to bench rest standards
choice of powder used
neck tension
crimping
drilling larger primer flash hole to aid in reduced powder charge ignition
filler to hold powder close to primer
proper barrel twist for the bullet used
proper rifle handling because of SLOW bullet time in barrel

Thanks

 

[Kansaswoodguy]

Bullet energy will be extremely low past 100yds with subsonic ammo of any type and expensive to fool with. Honestly I'd switch to pellet rifles for this endeavor much much cheaper to shoot.

 

[ButterBean]

Bullet energy will be extremely low past 100yds with subsonic ammo of any type and expensive to fool with. Honestly I'd switch to pellet rifles for this endeavor much much cheaper to shoot.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ X-2 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[Deleted member 115360]

375 raptor or bigger. You can get an effective 200y subsonic round if the b.c. is really high. Bullet weight is really all that matters. You can't affect speed, so b.c. carries speed further. Higher weight, longer bullet, higher b.c., the further you can carry energy when launched below the subsonic threshold.

But, at the end of the day, why? What are you doing that you need it?

 

[asd9055]

I am sure I do not know what I am talking about, but in my mind long range subsonic sounds like an oxymoron. I hope I learn something new though

 

[new2mud]

Actually there is very little energy lost in subsonic rounds from 100-300 yards. For a .30 cal 190-grain bullet, we're only talking about 50 ft-lbs energy loss. Very different than supersonic.

Now keep in mind that with subsonics we're not starting with a massive amount of KE to begin with!

 

[Deleted member 115360]

Actually there is very little energy lost in subsonic rounds from 100-300 yards. For a .30 cal 190-grain bullet, we're only talking about 50 ft-lbs energy loss. Very different than supersonic.

Now keep in mind that with subsonics we're not starting with a massive amount of KE to begin with!

Energy isn't the factor, because there is no energy to begin with. That 190gr bullet you're talking about drops 40"+ at 200y with a 100y zero. That's untenable for any real hunting application. When you push out to a 350gr bullet, that becomes 6" at 200y.

 

[new2mud]

I realize this is a hunting forum, but OP did state he was interested in exploring for fun. Not hunting. I've shot thousands of rounds of subsonic, and it is indeed fun. Especially suppressed and with kids. And a 40" drop at 200 yards is quite easy to dial/hold for—what's far more critical is knowing exact range to target, since the difference between 175 and 200 yards is nearly 20" drop!

 

[Deleted member 115360]

I realize this is a hunting forum, but OP did state he was interested in exploring for fun. Not hunting. I've shot thousands of rounds of subsonic, and it is indeed fun. Especially with kids. And a 40" drop at 200 yards is quite easy to dial/hold for—what's far more critical is knowing exact range to target, since the difference between 175 and 200 yards is nearly 20" drop!

You're right that I made the assumption that he was thinking of a hunting application. That's where my head always goes automatically. I've looked into these ballistics pretty extensively, and what I mentioned was the conclusion I came to for a hunting application. Animals are never static of course, and like you mentioned, a difference of 25y makes a 20" difference in drop. I had looked at the same scenario as the OP though, to see what it would take to make a reasonable 200y subsonic hunting setup.

 

[brcfo_outdoors]

I toyed with a subsonic 308 load back when I actually tried to reload. Heavy, round nose bullets were the key with big surface area powder like Trail Boss. Fun just to try, but ultimately the 210 grain bullet I think it was dropped something like 9 feet at 300 yards.

If you really want a dedicated "long range" (read 300 yards) subsonic gun, maybe look at something chambered in 300BO which is meant to be loaded and shot subsonic as opposed to trying to dumb down a standard cartridge.

 

[Kansaswoodguy]

^^^^
Or the big bore straight wall cartridges

 

[asd9055]

My only subsonic experience is with 300AAC and I understand how quickly they drop! I don't want to get in the physics, and I am nit talking about remaining energy, just trajectory! I still hope to learn something new!

 

[new2mud]

I toyed with a subsonic 308 load back when I actually tried to reload. Heavy, round nose bullets were the key with big surface area powder like Trail Boss. Fun just to try, but ultimately the 210 grain bullet I think it was dropped something like 9 feet at 300 yards.

If you really want a dedicated "long range" (read 300 yards) subsonic gun, maybe look at something chambered in 300BO which is meant to be loaded and shot subsonic as opposed to trying to dumb down a standard cartridge.

Primary limitation with subsonic in .308 Win is typical 1:10 barrel twists (on the fast end) limit the ability to stabilize the 220 or heavier bullets at subsonic speeds. I've had some hit paper targets already yawing (!!)

The 1:8 or even faster twists commonly found in 300BLK stabilize these heavier bullets better.

But subsonic out of a suppressed centerfire bolt gun will make even your die hard velocity-freak shooting/hunting buddies giggle like school girls. You can't help but grin.

 

[SammySTW]

There are a lot of subsonic haters here!

1000 yard shot with subsonic 458 socom, shooting a 570 gr Lehigh Defense bullet:


Same people shooting a deer at 450 yards with subsonic 458 socom: