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Just looking for the most quiet regular 22 pistol.
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Does it have to be a "pistol", as in semi-auto, or is a revolver an option?
I ask because...
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Subsonic ammo is what you want then.
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+1, but low-powered ammo sometimes won't cycle the action of a semi--auto. A revolver doesn't care, hence the question.
CCI Quiet-22, CB caps, Aquila Colibris, .22 shorts- they'll all work flawlessly in a revolver.
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Longer is quieter. I have a bolt action .22 rifle with a 24 inch barrel and it isn't nearly as loud as my buckmark pistol with a 5" barrel using the same loads.
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Not necessarily. It's not quite that simple.
High-velocity and hyper-velocity ammo is usually loaded with slower-burning powder that creates more muzzle blast when fired out of a short pistol barrel. However, a longer barrel will allow the bullet to go supersonic, which will cause a telltale "crack" even if the firearm is suppressed. For example, only the hottest hyper-velocity loads will actually go supersonic from my 4" S&W M18, but high- and hyper-velocity loads have noticeably more muzzle blast than a standard-velocity or subsonic load due to the type of powder.
I've read that most .22LR loads achieve maximum velocity somewhere between 14" and 18" of barrel length, and that longer barrels actually
reduce muzzle velocity due to friction- this is probably the reason for the perception that the 24" barrel is quieter. FWIW older .22 rifles often had longer barrels because (a) this enhances sight radius, making the gun easier to shoot accurately over iron sights; (b) many buyers
believed that a longer barrel would render the gun more powerful; and (c) let's face it, they look good.
