Quietest Bolt Gun Subsonic Load 220gr?

[tallburnedmidget]

Hi everyone. I did a bit of searching on the forum and I could not find a definitive answer and basically wound up with more questions than answers. I read over the following thread in it's entirety but did not find what I was looking for viewtopic.php?f=141&t=80833&hilit=quietest

I figure with the powder shortage there may be some powders around that would be great for an extremely quiet suppressed subsonic bolt gun round.

Also lets please leave out the cycling discussions since a bolt gun does not care about AR cycling issues

So on to the point:

Does anyone have any very quiet subsonic loads worked up for 220grain (lets say SMKs) or similar weighted rounds?
I would prefer the answer to be in the form of:
"Yes.
-Type of gun
-XX inch barrel
-using XX grains of XX powder
-X.XXX OAL
-annealed yes/no
-crimped yes/no
-XX decibels
- XXXX fps",
however I will take any answer that doesn't fully fit the mold such as "XXXX powder seemed louder than YYYY powder to the ear when shot one after the other and my dog seems to agree..., etc."

The bolt gun and load information I plan on developing a quiet load against is:
-Converted Savage Axis bolt gun
-BGF 16.5 inch sporter contour barrel
-1:8 twist
-220grain SMKs
-Remington 7 1/2 or CCI 400 primers (I have both on hand)
-LC brass annealed 1.350 length (I believe that is the length, too lazy to get up and measure right now)
-Light factory crimp
-AAC 762-SDN-6 suppressor
-target fps, 990-1040 fps
-powder: TBD quietest powder identified in this thread and the mercy of the current powder market

Thanks in advance for your input

[yondering]

The quietest load will be one that has low muzzle pressure. This is done with a fast pistol or shotgun powder. The powders commonly used for subsonic AR loads create a much louder load than you need in a bolt gun. You'll also want a low flash powder for that quiet load. I've used 5-6gr of Unique for heavy subsonic loads, it's pretty quiet, but you can probably use a faster powder for an even quieter load. With Unique, subsonic 300 Blk loads are a good bit less than full pressure, so there's room for improvement. I don't know if you can get there with something like Bullseye, but it might be worth a try.

[tallburnedmidget]

Hodgdon TITEWAD is the fastest powder I can likely get my hands on. I found some unverified internet load data for 300 Whisper using the Alliant Red Dot (http://reloadersnest.com/detail.asp?Cal ... oadID=4725) which is the next fastest powder after TITEWAD.

If anyone with QuickLOAD would like to pop in a 220g SMK load for 300BLK at about 1020 fps that would be wonderful

I don't know much about the use of TITEWAD other than it's a shotgun powder and "a little goes a long way" according to my Hodgdon manual. I will keep searching around to see if TITEWAD would be viable for an extremely quiet subsonic bolt gun load.

Others please chime in

[tallburnedmidget]

[EDIT: WARNING using "The Load" and still going conservatively created loads that were WAAAAY unsafe. Had to pry the case out of my bolt, replace the extractor, ejector, and their springs to get the bolt back to 100% functioning. You should know that "The Load" was created based on the .308 cartridge and does not translate all that well with the 300BLK round and Red Dot. I cannot speak for Trail Boss powder but I would suggest doing some major research using any non-published powder in an attempt to create a super quiet round like I am attempting. Hope this helps]

Sweeet I can get my hands on 1 lbs of Alliant Red Dot from a friend at $16! I also did a little more research on formulating a subsonic load using case capacity and I read up on "The Load". Couple the research with the "unofficial" 300 Whisper Red Dot load I found, I am confident I can safely work down to a subsonic Red Dot load for my bolt gun.

Any advice on this approach is much appreciated. Thanks

[Dweezil]

Just as a point of reference: I'm using 6.5 grains Red Dot in 7.62x39 hand loads behind 180 grain Rem-CoreLokt .303 bullets for my subsonic load (16" Handi Rifle barrel) Averaging 950-980 FPS. Burns clean and ridiculously quiet with an AAC Cyclone.

[tallburnedmidget]

Just as a point of reference: I'm using 6.5 grains Red Dot in 7.62x39 hand loads behind 180 grain Rem-CoreLokt .303 bullets for my subsonic load (16" Handi Rifle barrel) Averaging 950-980 FPS. Burns clean and ridiculously quiet with an AAC Cyclone.

Thanks for the info. The more information I can get the better. So far, all info seems to be lining up to what I am expecting. I just need to do go get the powder, load up some rounds, and fire them during a day that isn't raining. This weekend was nothing but on again, off again rain.

[Whole Bunches]

I've tried Bullseye, WW231, Unique, and AA#5 in my Remington 700 16" 300 BLK with 220gr SMK's. I too was looking for quieter subsonic suppressed loads. While I could certainly get subsonic velocities, non gave the accuracy of good old A1680. Of course, all were quieter, but with no accuracy they were no good for me. Sorry, I can't give you any data, as I tossed all the targets and data as they seemed to be of no further use. I did note the following: It didn't take much of an increase in powder to cause flattened primers. I also tried H110 and 2400, but A1680 beat them all for accuracy. Interesting in that the same A1680 load shoots fine in my Delta Co Arms 10.3" AR upper.

The load I'm now using in the Remington 700 is 12.0gr A1680, LC formed brass, no anneal, no crimp, CCI 400 primers, 220gr SMK, 2.2" oal, 1055fps at 70 degrees and 3' from chronograph with Gemtech Quicksand suppressor mounted. Groups a touch over an inch at 100yd.

I understand your goal. I use Unique for subsonic loads in my Handi Rifle with USGI frangible bullets, and it is much quieter to the ear than loads with the slower powders. Alas, my Remington 700 doesn't like the frangible bullets. I've had great results with Unique and Berry's plated 150gr flat nose bullets at subsonic speeds in both the Remington and the Handi. Also Alas, Berry's is not making them at this time, but will make them when they are caught up with the demand for their other plated bullets.

I'm not saying, "Don't try." I'm saying I wasn't able to succeed using 220gr SMK's.

[Retooferab]

N110 and little gun are quiet and accurate but not as quiet as faster powders. I'm going to do some testing of faster powders soon and will post my results.

[farm use]

I havnt tried it yet, but have heard some mention of using trail boss.

[tallburnedmidget]

I've tried Bullseye, WW231, Unique, and AA#5 in my Remington 700 16" 300 BLK with 220gr SMK's. I too was looking for quieter subsonic suppressed loads. While I could certainly get subsonic velocities, non gave the accuracy of good old A1680. Of course, all were quieter, but with no accuracy they were no good for me. Sorry, I can't give you any data, as I tossed all the targets and data as they seemed to be of no further use. I did note the following: It didn't take much of an increase in powder to cause flattened primers. I also tried H110 and 2400, but A1680 beat them all for accuracy. Interesting in that the same A1680 load shoots fine in my Delta Co Arms 10.3" AR upper.

The load I'm now using in the Remington 700 is 12.0gr A1680, LC formed brass, no anneal, no crimp, CCI 400 primers, 220gr SMK, 2.2" oal, 1055fps at 70 degrees and 3' from chronograph with Gemtech Quicksand suppressor mounted. Groups a touch over an inch at 100yd.

I understand your goal. I use Unique for subsonic loads in my Handi Rifle with USGI frangible bullets, and it is much quieter to the ear than loads with the slower powders. Alas, my Remington 700 doesn't like the frangible bullets. I've had great results with Unique and Berry's plated 150gr flat nose bullets at subsonic speeds in both the Remington and the Handi. Also Alas, Berry's is not making them at this time, but will make them when they are caught up with the demand for their other plated bullets.

I'm not saying, "Don't try." I'm saying I wasn't able to succeed using 220gr SMK's.

That's a lot of great info. I have been doing a lot of work with my Mosin Nagant 91/30 and it has hogged all of my gun time keeping me from playing with my 300 blk, but that will change soon.

From what I read, Alliant Red Dot is bulky and will fill the case quiet a bit which supposedly will help when formulating a subsonic round. If I remember correctly, A1680 provides the same type of benefit. I think I can get my hands on some Trail Boss should the Alliant Red Dot accuracy testing be a failure. In any case I'm trying to get the fastest burning powder (I can get my hands on) that provides consistency and accuracy. It is good to know about your experience with all of those other powders. I can maybe try some combos you haven't should red dot fail me. Thanks