Carteach and I just tried the same ammunition, Aguila SSS. His results were not positive — poor accuracy with bullets not even stabilizing. My results were a result of considerable research and quite positive.
I tried SSS in a couple of pistols but the results were mixed. I decided that the solution would be to fire it through a .223 upper with CMMG conversion kit. Turns out people have done that with good results, as the faster twist barrels provide decent accuracy. However, my goal was to have a quiet round and SSS isn’t quiet when fired from semi-auto rifles. The short case means that the gas comes out of the ejection port quite early in the cycle.
While searching the web, I noticed that several owners of Mossberg 144 rifles shoot SSS with good accuracy. While the twist rate is supposed to be the same as with other .22s, something about that gun makes it work better. I have a 144LSA and tried the 60-grainers unsuppressed first. Accuracy was excellent at 25m, with no keyholing noticed. After I fired ten rounds to verify stabilization, I put the AAC Aviator suppressor back on and tried again.
Accuracy from kneeling at 25m remained excellent, with all holes touching. I fired it at 75m also but I was not firing on paper. Instead, I had a pop can on top of a steel post. It seems the point of impact moved slightly to the right relative to 40gr bullets, once I corrected for that I could ring the steel consistently. I only hit the can once out of ten shots, so I have no idea just how much drop it had at that distance with 25m zero. 5-6″ drop seems likely. It might make sense to replace the 4x Leupold with its duplex reticle with the upcoming Primary Arms 4x with BDC chart and just learn which hash mark corresponds to which distance.
The point of this whole exercise was to try out a relatively effective load (50% heavier than most subsonic .22s) in a bolt action and check accuracy (passed) and the noise level. SSS is already fairly quiet without a can from such a long barrel, but with the suppressor it was QUIET. It was quieter than “Hollywood quiet”. It made as little noise on firing as clicking of a mechanical pen, just lower in pitch. Certainly quieter than any air gun I’ve encountered. The sound of the bullet hitting the earthen backstop at 75-80m was far louder.
SSS is dirty ammunition. But it is super quiet and apparently fairly effective on impact. Might make a low-budget alternative to subsonic .223 loads.
The only supressed gun I ever got to shoot was with this ammo. A gunsmith I knew was building a 10/22 for a local law enforcement agency (he was not allowed to actually tell me which, but I knew the cop testing it with him. It was for eliminating pittbulls at dope houses). He was at the local indoor gun range testing it when I walked in. I happened to have a few boxes of this in my shooting bag, and a few 10/22 magazines loaded with them. I can confirm that it is really really quiet. It was surprising to me.
I have shot a fair amount of this ammo through a Marlin 925R with an AAC suppressor on it. It was quite accurate through that and being a bolt gun it is very quiet. Given that it must stay subsonic I would expect that it would be more effective with the heavier bullet. However, I have only shot paper and exploding targets with it.
We run an introductory shooting event each year at a friends 4th of July party. The shooting position is near the pool and there are people nearby behind a fence so we only us suppressed firearms. It is fun for a new shooter without hearing protection to be able to hit the exploders, especially on the 4th. 🙂
I have a Sig Mosquito that I can put the same suppressor on. I have not been happy at all with the trigger on the Sig and it does not shoot all that well in general. I need to spend some more time diagnosing the problems. It may be that it does not “like” this ammo.
Also, the Aguila SSS 60gr has been Very reliable. I don’t remember ever having a misfire and that is unusual for run of the mill rim fire ammo.
You might want to check with about using Aguila SSS. I know that Gemtech strongly recommends against it because of the stabilization issues you raised.
Apparently baffle strikes are highly likely.
I know someone who has used it for pest control on deer in a bolt gun with a suppressed barrel. It is quieter than a pellet gun, and head shots drop them where they stand.
Thanks for the info, Oleg. I’ve long been intrigued by this load, & now it looks as though my first suppressor purchase will be for .22LR. And maybe one of those new Savage .22s with the factory-threaded barrels to attach it to.
I’ve had good results with Aguila 40gr subsonics, excellent results with CCI. Current Remington subsonics seem to be junk, with terrible QC and lots of misfires.
I’ve fired these out of a S&W 15-22, got about 1.25″ groups at 50 yards; tried them in a Martini and got tighter groups, about 1″. On the other hand, I’ve tried them in a couple of other bolt rifles and the accuracy was fairly awful, with 1-2 out of every ten keyholing at 50 yards. I can’t tell you why, but some rifles flat hate the stuff and others do quite well.
And the Remington bulk-pack .22 Golden Bullets haven’t been anything to write home about the last couple of years, either. I gave up on one box and wrote Remington; they sent me a shipping label to return the remainder of the box for testing. I’m happy to say they actually gave a real answer about the testing: bad priming problems, though didn’t specifiy exactly what. AND sent me a check to reimburse me for the cost of the box. So they’re aware of problems, hopefully they’ll work it out.