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JD0x0 · February 7, 2014, 06:02 PM

Heavy subsonic essentially = pistol like wounds, with WAY more penetration. You're going to be poking .30 caliber holes and not much more.
Light supersonic bullets will essentially give you the power of a 30-30 or 7.62x39 with expanding projectiles. Generally an impact velocity over 2000fps is needed to cause hydrostatic shock, which can destroy or damage organs that aren't directly in the path of the bullet, which a subsonic bullet just wont do, even with more impact energy than a standard pistol caliber. That energy essentially turns into penetration. If the subsonic bullet is able to expand, it'll simply make a bigger nastier hole but still wont perform like an expanding bullet at 2000+fps.
The only downside to the supersonic bullet is the sonic crack, which isn't terrible, compared to the initial blast of an unsuppressed rifle. Suppressed guns with supersonic bullets still can be surprisingly quiet, and it's going to be a lot quieter than an AR in .223 unsuppressed.

Edit: here's a pretty good example of supersonic versus subsonic in 300AAC. Very quiet, even with supersonic, if you ask me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZbxz6ORXFo

February 7, 2014, 06:02 PM	#4
JD0x0 Senior Member Join Date: January 30, 2013 Posts: 1,037	Heavy subsonic essentially = pistol like wounds, with WAY more penetration. You're going to be poking .30 caliber holes and not much more. Light supersonic bullets will essentially give you the power of a 30-30 or 7.62x39 with expanding projectiles. Generally an impact velocity over 2000fps is needed to cause hydrostatic shock, which can destroy or damage organs that aren't directly in the path of the bullet, which a subsonic bullet just wont do, even with more impact energy than a standard pistol caliber. That energy essentially turns into penetration. If the subsonic bullet is able to expand, it'll simply make a bigger nastier hole but still wont perform like an expanding bullet at 2000+fps. The only downside to the supersonic bullet is the sonic crack, which isn't terrible, compared to the initial blast of an unsuppressed rifle. Suppressed guns with supersonic bullets still can be surprisingly quiet, and it's going to be a lot quieter than an AR in .223 unsuppressed. Edit: here's a pretty good example of supersonic versus subsonic in 300AAC. Very quiet, even with supersonic, if you ask me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZbxz6ORXFo Last edited by JD0x0; February 7, 2014 at 06:07 PM.