I did a quick search on the forum for this but no luck. I keep seeing the word, "subsonic" appear on certain ammo. What does that mean? Is it important?
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I did a quick search on the forum for this but no luck. I keep seeing the word, "subsonic" appear on certain ammo. What does that mean? Is it important?
It means that the bullet travels slower than the speed of sound when the round is fired.
The bullet does not create a sonic boom
+1 It just makes it a little quieter.Quote:
Originally Posted by pgrass101
Used in suppressed weapons. No point in a silencer if there's a sonic boom.:gah:
Patience, please. So, you are telling me that most bullets create a sonic boom when fired? Does the "slower" subsonic bullet decrease the effect of the bullet?
Yes, less muzzle velocity and energy. However when fired from an MP5 in burst or full auto, more than one hit is likely lessening the effect. In .22 the CCI CB is used extensively for pest control where one wants to keep a lower profile.Quote:
Originally Posted by aznav
Subsonic ammo is anything loaded below 1,125 fps which is the speed of sound. If this will effect the performance of the round will depend on the kind of round. .45 ACP is all subsonic as I do not beleive they make anything that will push that fast. Something like .38 super would have to be downloaded a fair amount which most certainly will lower the balistic performance.
In the case of 9mm, standard loads of 125gr and lighter are generally supersonic. The 147gr load is generally loaded at 1,000fps or lower, so is subsonic (but there are supersonic +P loads for that weight, too).
Generally speaking this is just part of the perpetual debate between light & fast vs. heavy and slow for bullet performance. (As mentioned above, there are applications that require subsonic ammo, like using a suppressor.) As far as I know there is nothing particularly magical about a bullet breaking the speed of sound. It is just a matter of higher velocity giving higher energy and harder recoil, so pick your tradeoffs.
just cuts down on one of the three sounds that come from a gun
1. Gun's action
2. Sonic Blast
3. Hot air