So, today at the Nashville Appleseed, I decided to take a few minutes out to test the accuracy of my Tactical Innovations TAC65 .22LR suppressor. I put up a 25M drill target, which is a 1/4" grid with 1" squares. Mounted at 25 meters, this makes them 1 MOA grids with 4 MOA squares.
My suppressor was mounted on my Ruger 10/22 with a Tactical Solutions fluted bull barrel. I shot five rounds of ammo for each target square. All shots were taken at 25 meters.
The first round (lower left) was a control round using no suppressor and five rounds of CCI Mini Mag hollow point, 36gr, 1260 FPS. At 25 meters, I was able to achieve a 2MOA group, or about 1/2".
My next group (upper left) was with the same ammo but with my suppressor attached . As you can see, the spread is approximately double that of the unsuppressed group, or about 4 MOA. There is also a slight drop in the center of mass.
The third and fourth groups (top right and center, respectively. The bottom right target was an unrelated exercise.) were both shot with the suppressor attached and using Remington 22Subsonic 38 gr hollow point, 1050FPS. With the subsonic ammo, the groups are still approximately the same MOA spread, but there is significantly more drop, even at only 25 meters.
I wish I had had the opportunity to test a few other types and brands of ammo, but I was under a time constraint. What I take from this exercise is that while a suppressor is an extremely awesome toy, using it for hunting (were it permitted in Indiana, obviously) would take some considerable practice to maintain an accurate point of aim. Taking a varmint or a coyote at 100 meters would be difficult at best, given the unpredictability of the bullet flight path. However, I still recommend picking one up if you have the means, as it is very satisfying to hear "click, thwip, thump!"
My suppressor was mounted on my Ruger 10/22 with a Tactical Solutions fluted bull barrel. I shot five rounds of ammo for each target square. All shots were taken at 25 meters.
The first round (lower left) was a control round using no suppressor and five rounds of CCI Mini Mag hollow point, 36gr, 1260 FPS. At 25 meters, I was able to achieve a 2MOA group, or about 1/2".
My next group (upper left) was with the same ammo but with my suppressor attached . As you can see, the spread is approximately double that of the unsuppressed group, or about 4 MOA. There is also a slight drop in the center of mass.
The third and fourth groups (top right and center, respectively. The bottom right target was an unrelated exercise.) were both shot with the suppressor attached and using Remington 22Subsonic 38 gr hollow point, 1050FPS. With the subsonic ammo, the groups are still approximately the same MOA spread, but there is significantly more drop, even at only 25 meters.
I wish I had had the opportunity to test a few other types and brands of ammo, but I was under a time constraint. What I take from this exercise is that while a suppressor is an extremely awesome toy, using it for hunting (were it permitted in Indiana, obviously) would take some considerable practice to maintain an accurate point of aim. Taking a varmint or a coyote at 100 meters would be difficult at best, given the unpredictability of the bullet flight path. However, I still recommend picking one up if you have the means, as it is very satisfying to hear "click, thwip, thump!"
