silenced 22-250 or 243

G

garryc

New member
An officer at my job who is also a police officer is part of a group of cops bidding on a deer reduction contract for a local city. He will be required to use a silenced rifle in 223 or 243 cal. bolt action. I told him I would build it in 22-250 and use an X-bullet or a partition. The specification is all crainium shots. I told him I'd get a savage action and have a fast twist barrel installed at sharp shooters supply. But I know little about high power rifle silencers other than they need a fed stamp.

How much accuracy loss?
How much does it silence the muzzle report? ( We know it does nothing to the super sonic crack.)
Where do you get it?
Does it require a special license for the smith to install it?

Thanks in advance guys
 
How much accuracy loss?
How much does it silence the muzzle report? ( We know it does nothing to the super sonic crack.)
Where do you get it?
Does it require a special license for the smith to install it?
Click to expand...

Most centerfire suppressors actually tighten-up groups, so call that one a bonus!
The muzzle report is reduced to almost non-noticeable levels. The supersonic 'crack' is 100 times louder than any muzzle report. In a bolt gun, if you were to use subsonic ammo (don't do this with any .223 or .243 when used for hunting) you wouldn't hear much at all...
You can get excellent .223 cans from any number of manufacturers like Gemtech, SWR, YHM, AAC, and Surefire.
You don't need any special license for a 'smith to install it. You need only have him thread your barrel to the specs of the suppressor. The suppressor can then be mounted/dismounted using the threads.
 
Well you probably want a 7" twist .223 and load down 100 grain bullets to 1000fps, and get an available can. The ideal would be a .50 whisper or .458 Socom, as bigger and heavier , if limited to 1000fps, is better!
 
I've never heard of a 100gr 223 bullet. What about a 243 100gr? How would that work on head shots on deer? What kind of load shoots them that slow? How about a 6mm TCU?
 
USDA-APHIS animal control guys use very soft bullets to reduce the down range hazards. X bullets and the like are out. For head shots, almost anything works, so something with a thin jacket is much better. When I worked for them we used a .223 with ballistic tips and a .243 with 55 grain ballistic tips - idea is that if you miss, the bullet will have a better chance of splattering than skipping off. We also used a Q beam and shot at night. One USDA guy in the next state over used a .270 and 90 grain bullets - as of 10 years back he had culled over 1200 deer.

We tried the .300 Wisper and it didn't work very well - not enough energy. The last thing they used for killing urban deer was an arrow rifle - it was a M77/22 with the OD of the barrel turned down to allow an arrow (no nock) to slide over the barrel and used a blank to propel the arrow. Very effective weapon.
 
So guys, build this for him. A quiet bolt action that will pop a deers melon. Gun, silencer and load.
 
If money was no object and as its for culling large herds, for myself I would build on either an FN-FAL or AR-10 in 243 set up for the 85 or 90 grain slugs Nosler part or the Bear Claw..

If not that then a 223 in 1x8 set up like a short barreled sniper shooting the Winchester 64 grain power point
 
Honestly, if you have to go subsonic with the silencer then there's no real reason to use a case with a huge capacity like a .22-250.

What I'd do with that set of requirements (silenced, subsonic, .22 or 6mm) is find myself a rifle that can be customized with a lot of lead and find the heaviest subsonic load I could. Ballistic coeff would be off the charts long but that could mean with the right bullet choice that what you lose in expansion you get back with tumbling a very long, thin bullet.

Anyone got data for a 140gr .22 hornet? :D
 
If you choose to go the subsonic route, be careful with your ammo choice. Some suppressor manufacturers advise against the use of subsonic ammo in the .223 range because of lack of bullet stabilization with heavier bullets. This could result in baffle strikes and do some damage to the suppressor itself.
 
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