Can a PCP be more quiet than my current .22?

[MT3]

I have a .22 CZ rifle, heavy barrel with a Surefire suppressor (Tax stamp of course). I use Eley subsonic hollow point ammo which I find is very accurate, consistent and quiet to a point. I am using this rifle for squirrel control up to 150’, and while I’m not in a city, I have a bleeding heart neighbor who has threatened to call game and wildlife. This would constitute hunting out of season most of the year.

The semi-quiet report of my CZ still causes my neighbors dogs to go nuts and start barking, thusly alerting the neighbor. I’ve tried multiple subsonic ammo brands, and this one is the best. I have no experience with a PCP, so my basic question is can I find the right PCP setup that is quiet to the point my neighbors dogs wont go nuts? If I have the most quiet setup already, my search into PCP’s would be basically pointless.

 

[beerthief]

FOR 150 FEET or 50 yards , a lower power PCP would be fine (in the 550 or 600 FPS ) and a springer with a moderator would be perfect .
HW 50 would be a great choice , and less expense . A PCP with a tube air supply is easily hand pumped . OR if a $1500 budget is yours I would go with a Huntsman Revere and a hand pump or small compressor .

 

[DaveSa]

I have a similar setup with a Vudoo / Switchback and I would imagine that your existing setup is pretty quiet but I think you could do a bit better in a PCP.

I would avoid a semi auto like a Leshiy as the mechanism adds some noise and the barrels are shorter and focus on a bolt action with a threaded barrel that allows you to try a variety of moderators.

I have had good results with my Impact Air and extra baffles.

Of course getting a .177 would help as you would need less air but a .22 has more variety of guns/pellets.

I would say your needs would be better suited to a PCP as well - less than 50 yds, back yard - where a traditional .22 LR has more weight to the projectile, and more velocity ( in general ) - I use my Vudoo out to 200 yards. With a PCP you could adjust the rifle for less power relatively easily for backyard and still be able to bump it back up if you wanted to shoot 100 yrd at the range

 

[WNYBill]

Dogs may react to the air rifle/PCP too. Their hearing is many times better than ours and they hear different frequencies too. They will hear the air escape and maybe even the pellet in the air. Tough to fool the dogs!

 

[ctshooter]

I have a bleeding heart neighbor who has threatened to call game and wildlife. This would constitute hunting out of season most of the year.

To be honest - with you writing this here - it sounds like you are asking us how to help you break the law in your location as squirrels are not pest and considered hunting? Try this - don't break the law...

 

[Mr.Brocock]

Set up a range in your back yard and shoot, shoot, shoot. Before work, lunch time, after work.
Get the dogs used to the sound of a suppressed pcp. After a while, it's game on...

 

[JimNM]

To be honest - with you writing this here - it sounds like you are asking us how to help you break the law in your location as squirrels are not pest and considered hunting? Try this - don't break the law...

100% agree.

Airgun Nation does not allow discussion of how to break ANY laws. Ethical shooting/hunting/pest removal is the bread and butter of AGN.

 

[karl_h]

@MT3 you may want to try CCI 22 long 29 gr subsonic ammo at just over 700fps in a rifle, it is stupid quiet in a bolt rifle with a suppressor, much quieter than my uragan .22 pcp at just over 20 foot pounds at the muzzle. If they are accurate in your 22, it will be much cheaper than getting into PCP's, around 11 dollars a box of 100. If you really want to spend money, find yourself a good early 1900's winchester pump gallery gun made specifically for 22 shorts, won't chamber longs/long rifle, very accurate, and with a tiny suppressor that was available with them long before the NationalFirearmsAct it is the quietest I have ever heard in my life. Shot a friends that his great grandfather had bought around 1910, shot it indoors and just a click from the firing pin hitting, and a very quiet whoosh of gasses coming out of the tiny suppressor on it, that suppressor was less than 1/2 inch diameter and no more than 2 inches long with about 5 or 6 small stamped spring steel baffles in it. Standing back about 30 feet behind, barely even heard the firing pin hit and no other sound at all, this indoors.

​

 

[Gerry52]

YES!

 

[Spartan]

Don't know where you are in the world, but you might be able to get a permit to reduce the squirrel population when out of hunting season. This would keep you legal if your jurisdiction allows rifles (air or PB) to be used under such a permit. And then your local Karen wouldn't be able to interfere with your business, at least not from a legal standpoint. I get such permits once or twice a year and it is very easy in my jurisdiction. Really just a three minute phone call to my DNR to explain the situation and then they email me the permit usually that same day. Call whatever office is in charge of your local wildlife.

 

[3Crows]

I have a .22 CZ rifle, heavy barrel with a Surefire suppressor (Tax stamp of course). I use Eley subsonic hollow point ammo which I find is very accurate, consistent and quiet to a point. I am using this rifle for squirrel control up to 150’, and while I’m not in a city, I have a bleeding heart neighbor who has threatened to call game and wildlife. This would constitute hunting out of season most of the year.

The semi-quiet report of my CZ still causes my neighbors dogs to go nuts and start barking, thusly alerting the neighbor. I’ve tried multiple subsonic ammo brands, and this one is the best. I have no experience with a PCP, so my basic question is can I find the right PCP setup that is quiet to the point my neighbors dogs wont go nuts? If I have the most quiet setup already, my search into PCP’s would be basically pointless.

Have you tried CCI Quiet Segmented? Yes, even without a (legal) suppressor they are more quiet than my Marauder. The .25 Marauder is slightly more fpe. Even with a "noise thing" on the Marauder the CCI Quiet Segmented is still less noise. I imagine with a (legal) suppressor on your .22 rimfire with the CCI Quiet there would be very little noise.

Maybe your neighbor needs to mind his/her business. Pesting squirrels that are doing damage to property is not hunting.

 

[jland48]

To be honest - with you writing this here - it sounds like you are asking us how to help you break the law in your location as squirrels are not pest and considered hunting? Try this - don't break the law...

to be honest--Neighborhood squirrels have no natural enemies and need to be controlled pest wise.

 

[Motorhead]

Also as a point to make note of:
We who shoot PCP's and many having very quiet ones ...... The IMPACT NOISE on the squirrels will wake any neighboring dogs right up !!
The noise of impact far exceeds the muzzle clap in nearly all instances with a decent pcp / ldc combo.

 

[MrP]

Assuming for the moment there are no legal issues here…. The one that seems the most likely is to do enough daily target shooting that the noise doesn’t stand out

 

[Ta-Ta Toothie]

Boy, it is sure nice to live in a rural area.

 

[JimD]

A quick google search put the unsuppressed 22lr at 130-140 db and a suppressed 22 lr still 110-120 db. PCPs can definitely be quieter than that. I measure mine at around 85 db. But they still cause dogs several houses away to bark sometimes. That happens mostly when I am target shooting and firing quite a few shots. A single shot does not normally cause them to start up. My two sub 20 fpe guns (Benjamin Marauder Pistol and P35-177) are quieter than my 30-50 fpe airguns. 50 yards would be a really long shot for the sub 20 fpe guns, however. Drop would be more and the energy at impact would be low. Enough with really good placement I think but placement would be more difficult because of the distance. Lighter pellets also have even lower bc (and all pellets are really low) so wind drift will be more. For 50 yards I would want at least a 30 fpe airgun. My preference would be for a 25 caliber tuned to over 40 fpe. But those can still be down around 85 db. My P35-25 is tuned to almost 50 fpe and is still relatively quiet.

But the simple answer is PCPs can easily be quieter than a suppressed 22lr. I don't know about 22lr with really low power like CB caps. You could try those first. I think it will be pretty hard to get an airgun that can reliably hit a squirrel at 50 yards much quieter than 85db. But that is a lot lower than a suppressed 22lr with normal ammunition.

What Scott (Motorhead) said is also true. The impact of the pellet will be around 85 db (that is what I measure for impacting paper targets on my target trap) so even if you get the gun lower you will still have that. On squirrels it seems to me that some impacts are louder than others. Probably depends on exactly where they are hit. Loud ones might be 90 db.

 

[AirShot]

Get a better supressor for your .22, would be the easiest.. If the squirels are a menace and on your own property you shoukd ve able to reduce rheir population legally. I can do so here in my state with a permit. Can you legally discharge a firearm in your area ? If so then tell the neighbor to mind his own business, but if not allowed, check on airgun laws as well !! I choose to live in areas that are compatible to my hobbies and interests and have had to move on ocassion to maintain those rights !!

 

[3Crows]

As cold as it was today, I had an opportunity to shoot a Marauder .25 tuned to about 52 fpe and my pre-War Remington single shot Target Master with CCI Quiet Segmented. I chose the Target Master because it is accurate and the long barrel helps with noise. I find it to be a draw as to noise level between the two. I was shooting the Marauder with a "noise thing" and the Remington is an old timey non-threaded .22 rifle.

CCI Quiet Test:

CCI .22 long rifle Quiet test | Blog | Pyramyd AIR

Tom GaylordWriting as B.B. Pelletier This report covers: CCI Quiet CCI Quiet Semi-Auto CCI Subsonic Hollowpoint Discussion Remington model 37 Rangemaster Ruger 10/22 rifle CCI Quiet accuracy CCI Subsonic Hollowpoint accuracy Quiet Semi-Auto accuracy Summary When I started reporting the sounds...

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CCI Auto Quiet is louder and will cycle a 1022, most of the noise is the bolt cycling and this with a 16.5 inch barrel, also non suppressed.

There is another CCI .22 round that is interesting, especially if one has a legal suppresor. And it is CCI Suppressor ammo. It is 970 fps with a 45 grain hollow point. Slower than Subsonic and slower than Standard Velocity CCI. It cycles the 1022 and also shoots great from my other several .22 rifles.

 

[RickH]

Assuming you can do this legally maybe try some 22 shorts or cb caps. Low power so I don’t know the effective range but probably quieter. As for pcp, I have a Benjamin Maximus that’s pretty quiet. By all means check local requirements for your area.

Rick H.

 

[tunzuf]

In a 22 rf the barrel length has a lot to do with how quite your sub sonic ammo is. For noise suppression the longer the better. I have a non suppressed 22 rf that is no louder than my fx 500 on low power.No real advantage stealth wise one from the other. Don't run sub sonic in a semi auto you will go from low to no power.