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looking for 223 subsonic load

beantownshootah
Does anyone have a subsonic load for 223 they use? I know you can buy them loaded but I like to handload my stuff. Thanks Vernon
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  • beantownshootah
    This is to respond to the locked thread on subsonic .223s.

    First of all, the whole point of the .223 round is that it derives high energy from its super-high velocity, around 3000 fps. Make this round subsonic, and you're basically defeating the whole purpose of having it to begin with.

    A subsonic ordinary 55 grain .223 round is going to be ballistically only slightly better than a .22LR round.

    If thats the kind of ballistics you are after, you'll save yourself a LOT of trouble/hassle if you simply get a .22LR conversion unit for your gun and fire "ordinary" .22s, instead of trying to cook up some fancy subsonic .223 rounds that aren't going to cycle your gun correctly, and are likely to be highly inaccurate to boot.

    While its certainly possible to down-load .223 rounds the problem is that if you reduce the powder charge to the point where the rounds are subsonic, the cases will be too empty to give you reproduceable ignition of the powder inside. At best you'll have really bad accuracy, and at worst, you could get problems with squibs etc. Also, as mentioned, the low pressure from the subsonic rounds won't cycle your gun correctly. While manually cycling the gun after every shot isn't all that bad, having to manually clear stovepipes and/or bad feeds with every single shot is a gigantic PITA.

    You could mitigate these problem a little bit by using super-fluffy powders and heavy .223 rounds (like 80+ grains), but then you'd need a special high-twist barrel to stabilize the heavier bullets.

    Its a lot of hassle for questionable benefit.

    My suggestion is that if you want a "simple" subsonic .223, then switch to .22LR. If you want a more sophisticated approach of subsonic rounds from an AR-15 type platform, only with better terminal ballistics, you can switch to one of the "Whisper" type rounds (which are more or less designed for that exact purpose).
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  • Robin
    Problems like this are solved by the variety of cartridges, firearm design and calibers we have to choose from. Things that can be done and efficency are two very different goals.
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  • beantownshootah
    quote:Originally posted by Robin
    Problems like this are solved by the variety of cartridges, firearm design and calibers we have to choose from. Things that can be done and efficency are two very different goals.

    Of course. If you want a cheap and easy subsonic .22 round, its been "done" already. . .its the .22LR!

    It is worth considering that not everyone has the budget to get any gun they want in any caliber and keep it fed. In some cases, there may be legal restrictions at play as well. Sometimes you just have to take what you have and make it do what you want it to do.

    If you've already got a gun you like, and bullets you like, and cases, and primers, and a reloading setup, its not so cuckoo to want to avoid changing to a totally different platform or caliber for one specialty load.

    In this particular case, .223 is a common round, with lots of guns available, and I can see why someone might want a super-light and relatively quiet round to feed it with for practice, plinking, or use with a supressor.

    Again, the easy "answer" in this case is that a .22LR is pretty close ballistically to a subsonic .223, but cheaper and simpler.

    Alternatively, if you want a subsonic round from an AR-15 that has a little more "ooomph", you could get a 9mm luger conversion then load it with subsonic ammo. Other subsonic alibers are possible (like the "whisper" rounds), but the 9mm conversions are relatively common.

    And lastly, in addition to using less powder, fluffier gunpowder, and heavier bullets, there are also things you can do to a gun to reduce its velocity.

    For example, you can decrease the barrel length, then make up the lost length with a permanently attached barrel extension for legal purposes. You can also mess with the gas system to try and bleed off more gas from the action, and/or port the barrel for the same effect.

    With enough mucking, you could probably build an AR-15 that will deliver subsonic velocity with ORDINARY .223 ammo. The problems here being getting this gimped gun to work reliably and without beating the crap out of the gun.
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