22 subsonics?

[marsbars]

I have seen in the store 22 subsonics and was curious to what thier use is as I am not that familiar with all ammo typs

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Cold Steel & Warm Plastic

 

[maxinquaye]

From my understanding, .22 subsonic ammo is handy to make the round more silent. Much of the crack you hear when you fire a gun is the bullet breaking the sound barrier. Ergo, .22 subsonic ammo should be substantially quieter then regular ammo. Screw on a silencer, and the pistol should be VERY quiet.

 

[Andrewh]

I was told (and it may bewrong,) but most 22 ammo is subsonic anyway, and it was just a neat label.

 

[Matt VDW]

Subsonic .22 ammo is commonly used in target shooting. Because a bullet will be destabilized to some degree as it drops from supersonic to subsonic speeds, competitive .22 shooters prefer to avoid that problem by launching their bullets below the speed of sound.

 

[griz]

The high velocity stuff does start above the speed of sound out of a rifle. I think they go around 1200 to 1250 FPS. Out of normal length handgun barrels even the high vel rounds start subsonic (usually below 1100 FPS). Some of the rounds like CCI's stingers are supersonic out of handguns.