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Love shooting light loads
select-fire
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.22 subsonic out of the Ruger American. Very little difference in Aguila , Winchester or Remington on accuracy.
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I did a piece once (unpublished) about loading the .223 Rem from full throttle all the way down to .22 Short levels, using cast bullets at the lower end. Turned out that the .22 WRF, .22 WRM, and .22 Hornet load equivalents were supremely useful (as are the genuine chamberings). Those WRF designers who crafted that round as a small game cartridge were spot on, I think.
I like that round. (22 wrf) Had a ruger single six that shot better with it than the 22 lr or the 22 wmr
Aguila, CCI, and RWS (in that order) sub-sonics are very quiet in a rifle length barrel. Run them in a suppressed rifle and the only sound you hear is the striker hitting the primer. A bit louder in a suppressed 4" Ruger 22/45 but still totally hearing safe AND amazing accuracy. This little pistol using CCI sub-sonic HP is capable of groups in the 4-5" range at 100 yards(tested using a 4X optic to decrease aiming error).
Rocky, did you cast your own bullets?
I got my supply of cast .22 bullets from somebody else who was kind enough to cast them for me.
I shoot a lot of subsonic/ supersonic CF in 22 cal., 6MM, 30 cal., 8MM and the 45/70 in rifle and all calibers in pistol. I cast all my own and have done so for 45 years. In 22 ammo I only shoot std. velocity, they are more accurate and a lot less noisy.
When deer hunting from tree stands, I used to see a lot of squirrels. Rather than carry a separate gun, I made up some .308 Win rounds with an Alox'ed "O" buckshot crimped in the case mouth over 3.5 Bullseye. They were easy to identify by sight or touch in my pocket, and it was simple to swap a deer round in the chamber for one of those if a squirrel got too brave. Out to 50 yards or so, they were deadly - and quiet.
If they still make them, Speer's little half-jacket 100-gr "Plinker" bullets would be a better choice for very light loads. Hornady used to make a similar bullet. Another very useful load with those is 10.0 Unique in the .308. It's too destructive on squirrels, but for raccoon-sized game, fox, ground hogs and such, it's a dandy. Lacking those factory bullets, a 120 RN cast bullet with a gas check is the ticket.
I have used 38/357 lead bulets in a 35 whelen. 15 gr. 2400. worked great.
If you invest in one of those 'thing-a-ma-jigs' for the end of your deer rifle barrel, you don't have to mess with alternative loads or be concerned about scaring a deer that's just out of sight.
I wouldn't consider shooting at small game while deer hunting but I ALWAYS take any shot offered at coyotes. In a 1 1/2 hour time span while hunting from a stationary blind in 2020 , I saw and shot at 5 coyotes(killed 4) before killing a big 9 point buck who didn't seem to have been disturbed by all the shooting. The PFFTTT-thump doesn't seem to cause much disturbance.
Mobuck, good job son the coyotes. Keep it up.