Hello from the UK, .300 subsonic question

[Sid-W]

Hello from the UK :) .
I am interested in the .300 Whisper for shooting foxes.
A subsonic round has a lot of advantages here :- our little island is crowded and generally unfriendly towards shooters, so we like to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible. Suppressors are legal and widely used, in fact I manufacture them myself.

There was an article in a UK shooting magazine which dealt with loading subsonic .308. The writer had severe problems with accuracy, ricochets and bullets not expanding. Eventually he seated the bullets backwards in the case, which worked OK ( he said ) but gave poor ballistic performance.

I am not worried about the non-expansion so much as the ricochet issue.

Anyone help me out ?

The gun will either be a Remy 700 or more likely a UK legal AR-15 ( without gas system, so single shot )

[Quarterbore]

Welcome to our humble home! I am familiar with hunting foxes and I know what you mean about wanting a little expansion but in general I have found foxes to not to be very tough critters when hit, perhaps your oppinion is different?

I find it interesting that you mention shooting bullets backwards as we had a similar thread a month or so back...

As for a bullet for hunting and use at subsonic speeds I would want to try some of the non-match heavy bullets and see what you can find and use. Given that you esentually have a bolt-action you would be able to use something like the 220-gr Round Nose Bullets which may not have great ballistics but they would shoot better then a bullet going BassAckwards. The round nose will also give you more shock when you connect with a fox.

Lastly, it is funny how here in the United States that silencers are highly regulated when other countries actually prefer that shooters use them. I can't help but wonder if there would be more shooting opportunities for some of us here in the States if silencers were made easier to purchase?

Thanks Again for joining and I hope to hear how you make out!

[d-mon]

Originally Posted by Sid-W

Hello from the UK :) .
I am interested in the .300 Whisper for shooting foxes.
A subsonic round has a lot of advantages here :- our little island is crowded and generally unfriendly towards shooters, so we like to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible. Suppressors are legal and widely used, in fact I manufacture them myself.

There was an article in a UK shooting magazine which dealt with loading subsonic .308. The writer had severe problems with accuracy, ricochets and bullets not expanding. Eventually he seated the bullets backwards in the case, which worked OK ( he said ) but gave poor ballistic performance.

I am not worried about the non-expansion so much as the ricochet issue.

Anyone help me out ?



The gun will either be a Remy 700 or more likely a UK legal AR-15 ( without gas system, so single shot )

Hello Sid-W.
I do not know what is your expertise regarding fox shooting (at night? lamping?), but I do not think that the 300 whisper is gonna be your solution, for the following reasons:
-If you shoot 300 whisper subsonic :
You will probably use heavy bullets that:
1) will not expand and therefore are going to wound the fox if not hit in vitals,
2)will limit your shooting distance(to 100m?) because of their banana trajectory
3) will contribute to educate the fox if this one is missed
4) will likely ricochet and be very dangerous, especially nearby urban areas

-If you shoot 300 whisper supersonic:
You will probably use light bullet like nosler balistic tips 125gr or hornady vmax110gr.
These might do the job, but They are so many good calibers dedicted to that task (from 17 HMR or 17remington to 22-250 with 40 gr or 50 gr fast expending tips) which will shoot flater further better and that will have less chances of ricocheting.Specially if you shoot not far from houses.And sound moderator cover a lot of the supersonic bang.

I must admit that shooting subsonic ammo on a pest at a range up to 200yrds can be exiting, but If I was doing it I would limit myself to rabbits, making sure there is a descent but stop behind them, and I think that a 22lr subso with a laser range finder and a good scope with quality taget knobs would do as well.

I would use the 300 whisper only on a safe range only for target...
That is my point of vue, that you might not like, but i am open to discuss it.

Good luke.
Sorry to destroy your dream.
ND

[fspic]

Try the Reload Bulletin Board as they have some entries mentioning this round as used for hunting and a couple suggestions for the .338 version as well. However this board seems to have a larger input on the subject.

There is also a mad Finn who runs a first rate site in English and can provide lots of info on lead rounds and lead rounds in sub sonic apps. He notes the reversed or teardrop round was proposed for "low and slow" loadings as far back as 1888. That might have been a Swedish discovery. He gives a good account of the use of lead alloys, barrel length, etc, use of silencers, etc. Found it - P.T. Kekkonen at gunwriters.com or thereabouts.

If you want to get into the lead bullet subculture try LBT under a lead bullet Google search. They can give you song and story and sell precision dies.

SSK Industries in Ohio is the devloper of this family of rounds and can give you some info on short range hunting applications. However with a suppressor you might be able to reduce the sound to an acceptable level as far as muzzle blast goes. A sonic crack is one thing but people equate noise with muzzle blast.

Silencers are persecuted in Illinois. Our lordship Chicago Mayor Daley and his blow dried governer ally have been dealt setbacks with pro-gun laws being passed over a veto and with the mayor's recent anti-gun efforts going down to defeat or stalemate by his own party members, it is time to flex our muscles in the interests of the environment. We need silcencers! Would get the whiny effeminized suburban fled-the-city twits excited but maybe they would go along with noise reduction.

The whole silencer ban is pretty stupid and goes back to 1934 era gangland criminal legislation. Those never had serious or broad use in crime but neither were they sold like pop corn at gun shops. So when the $200 transfer tax was passed at the Federal level no one said much about it.