SILENCER SATURDAY #38: 38Spc Vs 300BLK

Did you chrono those wadcutters? 750fps is going to be out of a 4 inch barrel. Out of a 16 inch barrel it is likely traveling around 950fps. I think you were pointing out at the end that a hunting 38 special round is going to be pushing 1000fps. I think? Or you meant 300BO would be compared to a sedate 750fps of the 38spc.

Besides that, a wadcutter isn't remotely comparable to a .300BO. At a minimum, compare 158gr RN, or better yet, 180gr .38sp to .300BO.

IMHO, at moderate ranges, a heavy 38sp round is going to hit harder than a .300BO round is. You've got a larger diameter bullet and a 180gr SJHP .356 diameter bullet (38 special) or soft lead flat point is going to be a lot more devastating than a 190-220gr .308 diameter bullet. At least within about 100 yards. Which should be about as far as you should possibly consider hunting with a subsonic bullet of these calibers.

IMHO (again!) the other thing to consider is the ethics. Sure, you CAN hunt with subsonic, suppressed ammo, but it isn't as effective as supersonic rounds. Period. It doesn't cause as much trauma, the wound channel typically isn't as big, it doesn't shoot as flat, it has more wind drift, etc. One of the few applications I can see if relatively close range hog extermination (not hog hunting) where you need to ensure they don't hear you at all.

A 110gr .300BO supersonic round is much more likely to kill a deer and kill it faster than a 220gr subsonic is. And it is still very hearing safe with a suppressor. A .357 158gr SJHP is much more likely to kill a deer and faster than a 158gr wadcutter.

The plinking thing...yeah, you can get .357 magnum cheaper than .300BO still. You can load for .357 cheaper than you can load for .300BO. .38spc, way cheaper. I can find it for $12-13 a box online. Call it 23-26 cents a round. .300BO is a lot more...especially if you want subs. .60 cents a round is pretty typical. I do like that prices have been steadily coming down on it.

Reloading, I can do .38sp 158gr semi-wadcutters @~760fps for about $7 a box (out of a 4" revolver). Roughly 14 cents a round. I can also reload that brass so many times my grandkids will probably still be reloading that same brass when I am long and dead.

I'll admit I don't own the reloading gear for it, my neighbor does. I've got a single stage, he has a progressive. Savings or no savings, I use my single stage for the stuff that saves me a LOT of money, or I want precession. So I reload 6.5 Grendel, .30-06 Garand, .308 and 7.62x25 (when I can find my brass. Damn M57 tosses it in to the next county) on my single stage. I take my tumbled and deprimed brass to my neighbors and reload my .223 and .38spc on his progressive once a year. Crank out a few hundred rounds and drink a 6-pack when we are done.

I have 223/5.56, 300 BLK and 7.62 x 39 in ARs, and use the same suppressor on all three. None of them are whisper quiet like I can get with any one of my six 22 LRs and while they are technically hearing safe, who the heck wants all the hassle if people a half mile away know you are shooting like shown here, above 125 db..
Lately many people have gone to the lever guns in 38/357 for this very reason. The Rossi model 92 with 16 inch barrel appears to be the platform of choice, try finding one. Marlin just started making the model 1894 CST, supposedly with threaded barrel, at $1,100 MSRP, try finding on of those also. The Marlin of course is EZ to mount scope so you can see over the can, LOL.
So, while I am moving toward the Rossi 92 in 357, and I am also eager to try the little Kel-Tec Sub 2000, gen 2 in 9mm. The 147 grain bullets are pretty common even in training rounds. According to ballistics by the inch, the Federal Hydro Shocks exit the little Sub 2000 at 1,086 fps about perfect. They leave at about 400 foot pounds and still have about 320 foot pounds at 75 yards, with about a 4.5 inch drop, so while never a deer gun, IF IT IS QUIET, then certainly OK for coyotes, turkeys, javelina, bobcats, turkeys, and smaller varmints. and of course that 320 foot pounds to 75 yards is about the same as a standard speed 9mm point blank.
Do not get me wrong, I love suppressed and spent a bunch of money already on guns and cans. And even with supersonic rounds, the 150 grainers in the 7.62 x 39, are still a little less annoying with the can. So, I may try to kill deer with my AR this year with the can hanging on it.
Also, there have been several comments about the Ruger bolt gun in 7.62 x 39, does anybody here have any actual measurements of suppressed rounds from that gun? I killed a huge deer with a mini-30 and got full penetration with a 2 inch exit hole. The ruger bolt gun looks like the perfect platform for suppressing that round.