Sub-sonic hunting: hand-cycle or auto-cycle the action?
Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2022 4:49 pm
Hey folks,
It's been a while since I've posted. Since the last time I did I got a can, so I've been doing some load development with the Hornady 175 gr Sub-Xs (probably would have gone with the Maker Rex 200s, but they've been out of stock on the non-expanding load-dev bullets and I got impatient. Plus, I have a threaded-for-suppressor .308 Win bolt gun with 1:10 twist and these will work in that as well.)
I have worked up two promising loads in a 10.5" upper with a right-side charging handle (more on that in a bit.) The first is 9.9 gr of IMR4227 and the second is 5.7 gr of IMR Red. Both give reasonable sub-sonic velocities and both are accurate in my upper. The former cycles the action just fine, but on that account is quite a lot louder (while still being hearing safe.) With the latter I turn off the gas and it is pellet gun quiet, which I love.
So, the question is, which to use during this year's deer hunt? I gravitate toward using the quieter load -- there's the sense that I'll be better equipped for a follow-up shot if the first one is quieter. But then of course I'm in a position of having to hand cycle the action, which is not so bad logistically with the side charging handle, but may sort of defeat the purpose.
As I think back, ironically on all four hunts during which I bagged game with 300 Blackout -- whether deer or hog -- I either took or could have taken follow-up shots. In one of those hunts I got a triple! So even shooting supers, maybe even supers through the can, does not automatically take way that possibility of follow-ups. Maybe shooting supers through the can is what I should be doing (third option)?
I'd value your individual and collective advice.
It's been a while since I've posted. Since the last time I did I got a can, so I've been doing some load development with the Hornady 175 gr Sub-Xs (probably would have gone with the Maker Rex 200s, but they've been out of stock on the non-expanding load-dev bullets and I got impatient. Plus, I have a threaded-for-suppressor .308 Win bolt gun with 1:10 twist and these will work in that as well.)
I have worked up two promising loads in a 10.5" upper with a right-side charging handle (more on that in a bit.) The first is 9.9 gr of IMR4227 and the second is 5.7 gr of IMR Red. Both give reasonable sub-sonic velocities and both are accurate in my upper. The former cycles the action just fine, but on that account is quite a lot louder (while still being hearing safe.) With the latter I turn off the gas and it is pellet gun quiet, which I love.
So, the question is, which to use during this year's deer hunt? I gravitate toward using the quieter load -- there's the sense that I'll be better equipped for a follow-up shot if the first one is quieter. But then of course I'm in a position of having to hand cycle the action, which is not so bad logistically with the side charging handle, but may sort of defeat the purpose.
As I think back, ironically on all four hunts during which I bagged game with 300 Blackout -- whether deer or hog -- I either took or could have taken follow-up shots. In one of those hunts I got a triple! So even shooting supers, maybe even supers through the can, does not automatically take way that possibility of follow-ups. Maybe shooting supers through the can is what I should be doing (third option)?
I'd value your individual and collective advice.