Velocity /speed of sound and .22 bullets.

[treeman]

We all agree standard velocity .22 bullets are more accurate than High velocity. Ok !
The reason we are told is that the accuracy is lost when the bullet drops through sound barrier back to sub sonic it becomes unstable and less accurate.
What I want to know is if the standard and high velocity are equal in accuracy till that point.

[A-R]

That depends more on your rifle's personal preferences than anything else. They (22's) are usually very choosy about their diet.

What is quite clear, is that the wind drift of subsonic bullets is much less than that of the HV stuff, even if the bullet is exactly the same.

Empirical testing will give you definite answers.

[Paul]

The trans-sonic zone is a huge source of instability for projectiles of all kinds.

[Pirate]

One of my .22s exhibits a marked preference for HV above SV or Subsonic ammo...

Single data point, I know

[A-R]

The trans-sonic zone is a huge source of instability for projectiles of all kinds.

Which is why 50m is generally used to determine a 22's accuracy. At that distance, most HV and hyper-velocity bullets will not be too far into the trans-sonic zone yet.

The SV loads are somewhat of a problem, since they often leave a rifle barrel very cose to sonic speed, leading to some bullets leaving above and some below sonic. Shooting them with a good supressor will quickly show this variation, as some will give a sonic crack and other just a "pffft".

[treeman]

It seems I know now that I don't know and that you lot know that there is not a answer.

[pre 64]

Treeman...i had to read that a couple of times to understand.

You now know what we don't know because we did not know what you knew when you asked what we know about what you didn't know.

All makes sense now.

[Paul]

All makes sense now.

(k)no(w)...

[da_asassin]

Treeman...i had to read that a couple of times to understand.

You now know what we don't know because we did not know what you knew when you asked what we know about what you didn't know.

All makes sense now.

Yay!
Well done.
Succinctly explained

[PCfanatic]

I get a feeling that manufacturers do pay much more attention to detail when making SV (target) ammo. As, in theory, SV and HV should have the same accuracy till the HV goes through the sound barrier.

I have shot with HV ammo that I get better groups with at 100 meters than from certain SV ammo. So I would say that the quality of the ammo matters a lot.
I have standardized, and only buy subsonic ammo for my rifle. Not even SV ammo, just subsonic ammo. They tend to be more accurate that any SV round in my rifle.