Subsonic/quiet loads 444 and 303?

[Canuck Bob]

I am loading for a 444 Marlin and 303Brit and want to load ammo quiet enough to shoot without ear protection while on plinking hikes in the field.

I have been studying this for awhile and am ready to start with the 444. The 303B is on order and will take some months to get here.

My expectations are good 50 yard accuracy and reasonable 100 yard accuracy. WW CB's of 240+ grains is the plan.

[webfoot10]

I tried 12 grs. of titegroup in my 91 mosin nagant under a two hundred gr. 314299
boolet, Your boolet being heavier I would start around 10 grs TG. Or Reddot. and see
how it shoots. !2 grs. TG in my mosin 91 will hold a three in group with the iron sights
at 100 yds. I use a pinch of dryer lint to hold the powder against the primer, Your choice
as some guys don't like any fillers.Nice mild load. webfoot10

[waco]

id try 429649
mine weigh out at 345gr
i load mine in the 44mag but would work well for you
should be easy to keep subsonic

[dale2242]

In my opinion, there is NO load that is quiet enough to shoot without ear protection. Not even 22 rimfire. Some ear damage will occur with the quietest of gunfire. I am speaking from experience . Take my word for it, ALWAYS use ear protection....dale

[Canuck Bob]

In my opinion, there is NO load that is quiet enough to shoot without ear protection. Not even 22 rimfire. Some ear damage will occur with the quietest of gunfire. I am speaking from experience . Take my word for it, ALWAYS use ear protection....dale

Reluctantly my research would agree. Well that is ok because now I will bump up my loads to stay fully supersonic for my max intended range. A much flatter trajectory compared to subsonics.

[Suo Gan]

I shoot mouse fart loads all the time without hearing protection. My wife who has the hearing of a cat cannot even hear them inside the house. They are less loud than my supersonic air gun, and about like that of a cb cap. Those quiet loads are so fun to shoot. It saves your supply of powder, reduces fatigue on the firearm, brass, and I shoot light boolits with them too. Did I mention squib loads are fun? Did I mention they will not kill a rabbit deader than need be with your deer rifle? I keep my full house hunting loads in the rifle while hunting. If I see a rabbit or grouse I can slip in a mouse fart load and not come home skunked. If you aim at a critter in a tree, your miss will not kill someone in the next county either. I don't know, but there are a heck of a lot of reasons to load down.

Try searching for squib, mouse fart, and cat sneeze loads.

[Canuck Bob]

Well I want nothing to do with cat sneezes or squibs but a mouse fart load does strike my fancy. I'll do some more searching.

[303Guy]

Well, Canuck Bob, it may be true that no gunshot is quiet but the quieter it is the less damage it will do. I wear earplugs sideways. Like that, I can still hear clearly but a 'quiet' gunshot does not hurt. This means I can shoot with suppressed full power loads. A load that is as quiet as a suppressed full power load is 18.1gr AR2205/H4227 under a 208gr boolit in a 303 Brit carbine (not too short). Not sure how that would translate into 444 Marlin but with the high expansion ratio of the 444 it should be 'not too bad'. Don't underestimate supersonic crack and boom and the noise an impacting boolit makes. (Sideways earplugs don't give anywhere near the protection of properly inserted earplugs). Have you considered TrailBoss?