Looking for suppressor advice

H

Hunley

New member
I have a situation on my hunting club... A hog situation. The first problem is they have gone unchecked, are about 100 in number (on 200 acres), and are currently running the deer away. The second is that I have been asked to cut back on shooting them right before deer season to keep the deer from getting "gunshy" or startling them off the property.

So... Suppressor it is. I am looking at 3 options and need sound advice.

1. Buy a .22 rifle and suppress it. I would probably use CCI Stingers and try to get straight headshots. The sound concerns me though as I've heard they are still kinda loud due to the bullet speeds.

2. Take my Armalite AR and suppress it. This idea appeals to me due to the high capacity, but I'm wondering about audible noise. I've been old it can vary dramatically and don't want to alter my one AR for some stupid hogs.

3. Take my Remington 700 SPS Tactical in .308, thread the barrel, and get a supressor for it. Rate of fire would be drastically lower, but it would be quieter. Just worried about the cost aspect as the 22 would end up running about the same after everything was said and done.

Since I'm new to the Class III world, I'll leave this to you guys to discuss.
 
My thoughts, and I'm new to suppressors myself.

First, make sure suppressors are legal to own, and are legal to take hogs. I'm not exactly sure of your laws, but they may or may not be classified as "game" animals. Suppressors may or may not be legal to hunt with, the laws may be different on private property or for controlling "nuisance" animals. If you do choose .22, it may or may not be legal for hunting. I can't help you there.

The .22 will be the quietest, even with supersonic ammo. I wouldn't care to shoot mild subsonic ammo at a hog and hope for a clean kill, and even the CCI would be marginal in power. Maybe if you could guarantee head shots at close range, like over a feeder, and ambush them.

Your AR would be the easiest to suppress without alteration assuming the barrel is threaded 1/2 x 28. It will have the power to take a hog with the right ammo. The bullet will still be supersonic and it will be louder than the .22. There's just more gas and blast to suppress. There are .22 AR conversions, too.

If you don't want to alter your AR, I wouldn't recommend buying a stock .308 and going through the trouble of barrel threading, etc. It has plenty 'o power for hogs and a wide selection of bullets appropriate for hunting them.

You might look or ask here also:
http://www.silencertalk.com/forum/
(free) registration required
 
Suppressors are legal in Ga. and pretty sure there's no problem shooting feral pigs with them. To be sure though just ask these guys -- they sponsor night hunts for them in Southern Georgia. Neat videos too:

www.jagerpro.com
 
Suppressors

The weapon I use in this situation is my full length supressed Marlin Camp carbine in 45ACP This rifle is so quiet the loudest noises you can hear is the bolt cycling and the bullet hitting the target. Handloads are worked up to give a velocity of around a 1060 ft per second with a 200grain jacketed hollow point bullet.
Velocities are typically about 180 ft per second up on what you would get out of the same load fired in a handgun.
Believe me it is noticable when the bullets go through the sound barrier as you get a little bit of a crack but nowhere near as bad as an unsuppressed round. I get in to within 60 yards of the animal and they don't know what has hit them.
Advantage of the suppressor rifle combo is that with cover the pigs don't know which way to run and you can usually nail a couple before they work out where you are.
Depending on the size of the Pig I would not attempt to shoot one with a .22lr if they are as large as the ones where I shoot as all you would do is PI$$ it off.
 
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I was seriously considering a 9 mm carbine using a suppressor and 147gr. subsonic ammo for nuisance animal work. I figured it would have plenty of power for most animals including deer if I restricted myself to head shots at very close range. I never followed through with the paperwork and ended up selling the carbine.

Not too long after, I bought a .22 lr can and started the paperwork. I wouldn't hesitate to shoot a hog in the head with it. Many a hog has gone to slaughter after being shot in the head with a .22 pistol.

If finances allow, I might revisit the 9 mm concept later. FWIW- professional nuisance guys who do a lot of deer culling seem to prefer head shots using a suppressed 22-250. It virtually guarantees a clean kill and no ricochets.
 
Suppressors

I shoot a 22-250AI but have never really considered it a suitable deer cartridge, don't get me wrong I know guys who have shot deer with a 223 but to put it quite simply there are far better cartridges out there to get the job done. Over here our short shots on deer are about 100 meters and long shots can be close to 500 meters the long shots are getting a little too long for even a 22-250. In those situations I use either my 25-06AI or my 30-06AI.
Cartridges like the 22-250 and the 243 and for that matter most mid to high power rifle cartridges can have the muzzle blast reduced but you cannot eliminate the sonic crack of the bullet going through the sound barrier.
The only way to effectively quieten these weapons is to come up with a cartridge like the whisper cartridge where you have a small capacity case punching out a very long heavy bullet at a velocity close to or better still just under the sound barrier.
A friend, against my advice decided to buy a suppressor for his 270. It was not a good choice of caliber to try and quieten as the suppressor didn't really seem to make much difference to the noise level at all. It was just a plain waste of money as it now sits in his basement gathering dust.
The trouble was he expected Hollywood quiet out of it and that was never going to happen. I would estimate that his suppressor may have dropped the noise level down to that of a normal 22-250 or 243 round being fired.
 
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Dont know if it has been covered but you may wantto contact your local DNR and talk with them about the use of a supressor while hunting.. Not listed in WV regs but it is a no no.. Short ribs in th eslow cooker sounds like a winner though..lol
 
Suppressor

Suppressors for hunting are perfectly legal over here but I understand in the States may be different. Different states may have their own rules regarding suppressors, be interesting to find out. I guess you could say you were not hunting that it was pest control, the fact that you ate the animals had nothing what so ever to do with it, lol::D
 
Suppressors are legal in Ga. and pretty sure there's no problem shooting feral pigs with them. To be sure though just ask these guys -- they sponsor night hunts for them in Southern Georgia. Neat videos too:

www.jagerpro.com
Click to expand...

They don't use suppressors on their hunts.

Best place to ask would be DNR/Game Warden.
 
It is fine

It is okay to hunt with them in GA. I've both looked into to it and talked with people who have done it.

The main thing I'm wondering on is noise. Which is gonna be the loudest?
 
The .22 would be fine if they are in a trap and much more effective than hunting. There are some traps that have the capability to trap many hogs you just have to Google for different designs.

I know, but where is the fun in that. When we do hunt them I set up some game radios I built (photos below) using infrared motion detectors and digital voice recorders. This allows me to “hunt” many areas at the same time. Once the radio alerts, all you have to do is stalk within shooting distance. I bury the bait so deer don’t set off the radio and use pet lenses in the motion detectors so other critters don’t set them off. The best set up I have for shooting them is a suppressed 458 socom pushing 500grain bullet at 1025fps. It’s very quiet until the bullet hits.
 

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There won't be any traps. I see them as pests as they are destroying darn near everything in the hunting club. I just don't want to startle the deer and I'm asking for what would be the most quiet:

1 - Suppressed 10/22 with something like CCI Stingers or Mini-Mags

2 - Suppressed Armalite M15 with standard ammo

3 - Suppressed Remington 700 SPS Tactical .308 with standard ammo
 
AssUmIng equal quality of suppressors, the level of quiet would be 1,3,2.

The 22 may or may not go supersonic (16 or 18" barrel). Mine sounds like a quality spring piston gun.
I think the 308 will be quieter due to the fact of a closed/locked action. Bolt guns are usually quieter than semis when suppressed (no noise from action) This should balance the larger cartridge/powder load.

Joat
 
Go with #2 and get a Gem Tech G5. It comes w/ a 3 lug flash hider that you just replace your stock flash hider. It about as loud as an unsupressed .22LR
 
There won't be any traps. I see them as pests as they are destroying darn near everything in the hunting club. I just don't want to startle the deer and I'm asking for what would be the most quiet:
Click to expand...

1,3,2 or 3,1,2 depending on ammo and suppressor unless you get an adjustable gas block that will shut completely off then 2 could get as quite. A 22lr is almost the last choice I would make for hogs although it would be better than 22 shorts or cb caps. I view hogs as pests too and traping is much more effective than hunting as they are "hunting" all of the time.
 
Supressor

A friend of mine has the ideal combination for pigs it is a Ruger lever action carbine in 44mag. It looks like it is from the same family as the 10-22 but of course is a lever gun, it has the same suppressor fitted as my Marlin but he is shooting 300grain bullets downloaded slightly to put muzzle velocity just below the speed of sound it is excellent on pigs with several large ones being taken at 100 yards plus.
Regarding the Stingers they would definitely be supersonic as I chrono'd some fired out of my Gervarm and they were about 1600ft per second, you might actually be better to consider the Aguila 60 grainers as even though they are travelling slower they are nearly twice the weight of the stinger bullet and would retain more energy when penetrating the animal.
 
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Suppressor

Like I said before there are better calibers to use than .22 long rifle for under 100yards a suppressed 357 or better still a 44 magnum would work well as would some of the smaller rifle centerfires like the 22 hornet, all of these calibers could be suppressed to the sound levels you require. I know for a fact that the the 357 and 44mag will not be totally silent but with the right suppressor and handloads the sound will be greatly reduced. These cartridges will have far more stopping power than a .22lr. Head shots on a pig with a .22lr doesn't always guarantee a clean kill I have witnessed a 130 pound boar get hit it the forehead with a Winchester powerpoint from 30 meters and it didn't even stop it from charging, after the animal was dispatched with a more suitable caliber we decided to try and find the .22 bullet, it hadn't even penetrated the animals scull. I don't know what size the pigs are that you are having problems with at the hunting club but with pigs you always need to plan on a worst case scenario. I have a scar on my left leg caused by a wild boars tusk that required 20 stitches to show what happens when you really pi$$ one off. I made an assumption that the animal was dead, believe me I will never do that again. Just as well my partner was there with her .357
 
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Georgia law regarding feral hogs

There is no closed season and no limit on hogs on private land. Hunting over bait, from a vehicle or at night with a light over 6 volts is prohibited. A hunting license is required for all hunters 16 years or older (except for residents on land owned by them or their immediate family residing in the same household).* Landowners and leaseholders with landowner permission may qualify for a feral hog control permit to help alleviate hog damage and control hog numbers. Permit holders are allowed to shoot from a vehicle, use a 12-volt light and/or shoot hogs in the vicinity of bait. Contact a WRD Regional Game Management Office for assistance
 
Marlin Carbine

Marlin45ACPCampCarbine.jpg









The attached pic is my suppressed Marlin Camp Carbine in 45acp
Favorite load is 6.2grains of ADI AP70 (this powder is also known as Hodgdon Universal) under a 200 grain jacketed hollow point bullet this gives chronographed velocities of around 1050ft per second just keeping the bullets below the speed of sound. I still able to kill a pig at 100 meters and on a still day can group five shots into around 1.5 inches shooting from a rest.
 
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If I may...

An NEF single-shot .45/70 is an inexpensive option, and subsonic ammo is easily loaded. A few different outfits would make you a pretty inexpensive integral silencer for it. Using a 405gr bullet going ~1000fps, you can drop a hog very easily with very little noise.

Total cost can come in well under $800, stamp included.

Just a thought. :)
 
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