60 grain 22LR

truthful

Does anybody have any experience with the 60 grain 22 long rifle rounds that are available? Are they quiet as claimed? Are they accurate? Do they function through an autoloader?

Bert H.

With a standard 1:16 twist, it is very doubtful that decent accuracy can be obtained. That said, I have no personal experience with a 60 gr. 22 LR cartridge.

iwannausername

It is a 22 short case loaded with a big long bullet. They are supposed to be quiet though... if you shoot a lot of 'em give your chamber a good scrubbing before firing regular 22lr ammo thru it...

Aguila also makes the colibri round, lighter bullet, full length 22lr case, also super quiet. Might want to check those out as well.

XXCross

The 60 gr Aguila would not stabilize in either of my 22's.
Quiet yes, accurate no!

Nwcid

You need a 1:9 twist barrel to make the heavy 60gr bullets accurate. Standard .22 twist is 1:16.

beantownshootah

You're talking about the Aguila SSS rounds. ("Subsonic Sniper").

The heavy bullets generally won't stabilize in ordinary .22 rifle barrels leading to bullet tumbling and poor accuracy. You need a fast-twist barrel if you want these to shoot properly.

Supposedly these work well in AR-15 .22 conversions because most commercial AR-15 barrels have 1:9 (or 1:7, etc) twists.

Drop-in 1:9 twist barrels for the Ruger 10-22 are readily available if you want to go that route.

Yes, they will cycle automatic guns.

Accuracy isn't spectacular, far short of match quality, but should be adequate for plinking or hunting at short distances with the appropriate barrel twist. This author claims 1" 25 yard groups:

http://www.jesseshunting.com/articles/guns/category16/66.html

In terms of quietness, there are quieter out there. For example, the primer-only ("Colibri") ammo is literally dead silent from a rifle, sounding just like a dry fire.

Ordinary subsonic .22s from a rifle are already reasonably quiet. If you want silence, you have to use a suppressor. The advantage of these is that unlike CB caps or primer-only ammo, these SSS rounds retain quite a bit more energy downrange.

If you had to use a .22 handgun for defensive use, these might make a good choice as the heavy bullet should enhance penetration.

fordsix

the function in my ruger 10/22 and my AR conversion kits just fine..for best accuracy you need a 1/9 twist... 1/16.22 barrel they keyhole..i shoot them out of a AR with 1/9 barrel but for special applications only

EVILDR235

Can they be shot in handguns safely ?

EvilDr235

amblerrl

yes they function fine. i keep them in my walther p22, accurate enough for a conceal carry and very potent.

Bill DeShivs

They are no more potent than any other .22. The bullet is heavier, but the velocity is lower.
"Subsonic Sniper" is a sales gimmick. The only thing that they do well, is make people spend money.

beantownshootah

quote:Originally posted by EVILDR235
Can they be shot in handguns safely ?

EvilDr235

Yes. . .although why you might want to do this is another story.

Aguila SSS ammo with long bullet and short case (right):


Because of the short barrel, most .22 ammo fired through handguns is already subsonic.

As mentioned above, if you HAVE to use a .22LR as a defensive gun, these are probably a good choice because the heavy bullet should enhance penetration, which can be a significant limiting factor in the effectiveness of small caliber bullets.

But really. . .you're better off picking something bigger for defense if you can. No matter how you load it, the .22LR is just an intrinsically low-powered cartridge, especially from a pistol.

In terms of ballistics, you might expect around 800fps from one of these 60 grain .22s from a pistol with a decent barrel length.

Compare to say, a .32ACP round which will launch a fatter 60 grain bullet at 960 fps. That's 20% more velocity and 40% more kinetic energy from the .32ACP, a round that is itself widely considered to be marginal or inadequate for self-defense.