Reloading Subsonic Ammo

[folivier]

Used to reload years ago and just looked at my Lee stuff as we get packed up to move.
Funny story while in college. My graduation semester while pulling my punch cards for my schedule my advisor realized I need another PE course to graduate. The only one available that wouldn't mess up my needed classes was an ROTC marksmanship class. At 7am twice a week. Ok sounds like fun. I show up on a Thursday morning wearing my faded frat jersey, hair down to my shoulder, old jeans and hangover. Sarge took one look at me and said I was in the wrong place. Nope, handed him my schedule and said I'm graduating and need this class. He looked disgusted but guess he figured he had no choice since my advisor had called in a favor. After a safety briefing I checked out a really nice .22 High Standard target rifle with adjustable stock and all the bells and whistles. Then went through the 3 stances and shot a 90+. Sarge was shocked to say the least. After a couple classes he asked me to join the competition rifle team. I said do you really want me on the team? looking around at the other clean cut ROTC guys. So I agreed to shoot but just at our local matches since I had too much going on to do out of town matches. Plus I was getting married right after graduation.
Sarge and I became friends. At the matches when the other teams and their sarges would see me he'd say he had to pay back a favor and put me on the team. By the way I was shooting high 90's with an occasional perfect score. Now we were shooting at 50' and the bullseye was the same diameter as a .22 so a bullseye had to be a perfect center shot with no part out of the center. Sarge made quite a bit of money on me using me as a ringer. Ended up being one of my favorite classes.
BTW I grew up shooting a .22 as a kid. Oh yeah, she dumped me two weeks before the wedding! Best thing that could have happened. This year my DW and I celebrate 45 years.

 

[B-Guy]

A1680 and imr4227 behind a 220gr in 300bo gives consistent subsonic w/ 16" barrel. Twist rate is important on the heavys so you don't tumble out the barrel and ruin the can.
I found the suppressed ar action cycling very loud from the gas so bought a bolt action 300bo ruger and it's a quiet setup.[/URL]

Which powder is more bulky A1680 or imr4227? What twist rate and barrel length is your Ruger?

 

[B-Guy]

Used to reload years ago and just looked at my Lee stuff as we get packed up to move.
Funny story while in college.

Great story, I can picture it in my mind. In high school I had long hair, mostly in a ponytail, and now it's a #2 clipper...

 

[Car-Guy]

I was thinking about this thread and it occurred to me that ammo and reloading supply "shortages" have been happening for decades (not years). And when a shortage happens, it seems to last for years at a time. Seems there is a different "excuse" associated with each shortage. (I won't go into that here!) So after a shortage would subsided, I'd stock up since if you keep this stuff dry, it will last a lifetime+. And of course prices kept going up with each shortage. FYI, I can remember buying primers for 99 cents a box of 100 back in the 1970's. Funny, I don't ever recall a "bullet" shortage but maybe I missed that. Anyway, now that I'm in my early 70's, I can comfortably say that I'm set for life in the ammo dept.

 

[old medic]

Yes, I am loading to shoot suppressed. What powder are you using for your 300 BLK suppressed?

I have only loaded up about a dozen rounds over a year ago for the 300 BLK. Notes are hiding someplace. I'm casting 220Gr and powder coating. I'm looking forward to getting the house done so I can devote time to reloading again. At least I got my 100 yard range done.
I have 2 300s. 8.5 pistol and 16 inch rifle. Being on the next-door orchard deprivation permit, Its nice to be quiet at night.

 

[B-Guy]

I was thinking about this thread and it occurred to me that ammo and reloading supply "shortages" have been happening for decades (not years)..

I guess I have been lucky in the past as far as shortages. I have shot more in the last 15 years than than all the time previous to that.

We now live in a rural area and the closest city of 100K+ population is 100 miles away. I stopped at a ammo store just prior to the pandemic and they were having a powder sale. So, I stocked up on my regular powders and primers. Within 6 months you couldn’t find much of anything powder related. It was fortuitous that stopped and stocked up that day. I’m still fairly good except for Trail Boss which I have been out of for to long. This is primary why I started this thread.

 

[d.davis]

Which powder is more bulky A1680 or imr4227? What twist rate and barrel length is your Ruger?

4227 is less volume. Ruger bolt is 1:7. Palmetto upper is 1:8. The palmetto had some keyholing below 900fps during load testing. Once loading was consistent around 1030 I was comfortable putting the can on.

Sent from my moto g power using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[rmcelwee]

It has been a while but I just looked at my notes and I see I used 10-10.8 grains of IMR 4198 for my 200 grain 300BK subsonic loads.

 

[Sconie]

I've found that both Winchester WST (Super Target) and Hodgdon International (H-International----not Clays or Universal) are both good substitutes for Trail Boss.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

^^^^^That makes sense... Why not just shoot 22's? Cheap, no recoil, not loud and no reloading required.

I've been reloading centerfire pistol for over 40 years because it reduced the cost by about 50%.
Now I have problems with my right shoulder and reloading on my Dillon 650 is, literally, a pain. I can still shoot but not reload in volume. Currently switching over to lower cost factory ammo for about 1/3 of my shooting and .22 for 2/3.

 

[B-Guy]

I've found that both Winchester WST (Super Target) and Hodgdon International (H-International----not Clays or Universal) are both good substitutes for Trail Boss.

Which one has greater volume?

When I'm loading for subsonic, I like to fill the case with greater volume for consistent burn rate. If I could fill the case with 80+% this would be ideal. When I loaded with Trail Boss I had a low SD (standard deviation), typically around 22-28 with my .308. this allowed me to shoot steel at 300 yards with good consistently when the wind wasn't bad. I'm not the best at reading wind as it changes over distance, which is more noticeable when shooting subsonic.

 

[B-Guy]

It has been a while but I just looked at my notes and I see I used 10-10.8 grains of IMR 4198 for my 200 grain 300BK subsonic loads.

What was your fill percentage on 300 BLK?

 

[B-Guy]

I've been reloading centerfire pistol for over 40 years because it reduced the cost by about 50%.
Now I have problems with my right shoulder and reloading on my Dillon 650 is, literally, a pain. I can still shoot but not reload in volume. Currently switching over to lower cost factory ammo for about 1/3 of my shooting and .22 for 2/3.

I'm not familiar with the Dillon 650. Is it not ambidextrous?

 

[Car-Guy]

I've been reloading centerfire pistol for over 40 years because it reduced the cost by about 50%.
Now I have problems with my right shoulder and reloading on my Dillon 650 is, literally, a pain. I can still shoot but not reload in volume. Currently switching over to lower cost factory ammo for about 1/3 of my shooting and .22 for 2/3.

I don't reload as much anymore either. For handguns, I never reloaded 9mm since I could buy factory stuff just as cheap (almost). I loaded mostly 357's, 44 mags and 45 acp's. And I still have "bricks" of 22's that I bought for ~$10 each... Of course 22 target stuff gets more expensive but it is worth it if going for tight group accuracy. It's probably been 5 years since I've reloaded any rifle ammo. Still have plenty.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

I'm not familiar with the Dillon 650. Is it not ambidextrous?

It's a progressive, can load up to 650 rds/hr not counting filling primer tubes etc. I've tried left handed, it's very awkward and about the same speed as a single stage press.

.380 ACP and all revolver cartridges are worthwhile to reload. 9mm, not so much.

 

[DuluthGA]

I reloaded for a 41 mag for a few years in the 80’s then put everything away when i stopped hunting. 41’s were expensive and could be hard to find. Got the reload kit out a couple of years ago, looked at every thing and said nope. I’ll just buy factory loads. Scared me to think of shooting or letting one of my grandkids shoot one of my handloads.

 

[rmcelwee]

What was your fill percentage on 300 BLK?

No idea? I never wrote that stuff down on my spreadsheet. It has been a few years since I did any reloads. Waiting to get my new house (and workshop) built so I can start again. Will probably be 3+ years.

 

[B-Guy]

I'm a righty and also have trouble doing most things left-handed, but haven't tried reloading left handed. After surgery on my right shoulder, I'm better doing things left-handed than I use to.

I have a Lee progressive press and maybe get 250 rds/hr. 650 rds/hr is impressive. If I could justify a better press, I would take a look at the Dillon 650. Looks like a solid press.

 

[rmcelwee]

Any of you guys cast your own bullets? I made some for 45 auto rim and some gallery loads for a mosin about 10 years ago but nothing since.

 

[B-Guy]

Any of you guys cast your own bullets? I made some for 45 auto rim and some gallery loads for a mosin about 10 years ago but nothing since.

I have never cast my own bullets, but from what I can see from your picture, those look impressive!

 

[rmcelwee]

I have never cast my own bullets, but from what I can see from your picture, those look impressive!

They turn out pretty ugly because I powder coat them (vs FMJ). I used static to hold the powder on and then cooked them in a little toaster oven. It was pretty fun while it lasted. Now that I have my own place to shoot I never do any more. I'll probably get into it again when I get the house built.

 

[jkp71]

Yes, I am loading to shoot suppressed. What powder are you using for your 300 BLK suppressed?

I load 300 Whisper which is very similar to BO. Sierra 240 gr bullet over 9.5 gr of AA #9 is my go to load. 1040 fps.

 

[B-Guy]

I load 300 Whisper which is very similar to BO. Sierra 240 gr bullet over 9.5 gr of AA #9 is my go to load. 1040 fps.

Roughly what percentage of fill did you have in the 300 Whisper with the AA #9? I’m trying to find something bulky enough to fill up the cartridge as much as possible to get a consistent burn. I will primarily be shooting .308 Win for the time being.

 

[jkp71]

Roughly what percentage of fill did you have in the 300 Whisper with the AA #9? I’m trying to find something bulky enough to fill up the cartridge as much as possible to get a consistent burn. I will primarily be shooting .308 Win for the time being.

I don't recall exactly but probably around 50% as the case capacity is around 20 gr with that big bullet. The goal with the big bullets running subsonic is to get them just shy of the sound barrier.

Of course the supersonic loads running smaller bullets will fill the case more.

 

[B-Guy]

I don't recall exactly but probably around 50% as the case capacity is around 20 gr with that big bullet. The goal with the big bullets running subsonic is to get them just shy of the sound barrier.

Of course the supersonic loads running smaller bullets will fill the case more.

From what data I have found it looks like 50% is about right. Did you use any filler for your subsonic loads with AA #9?