Slow and Quiet 22 Hornet Loads

[MM]

I have been experimenting with trying to develop a slow, quiet and accurate ( under 50 yards) Hornet load. Mainly something for backyard practice but also capable to hunt squirrels with. I bought some Barnes 30gr. Varmint grenade bullets to reduce any chance of ricochet. So far from 1.9 grains up to 2.2 grains I have had bullets stuck in the barrel.
Starting at 2.3 grains up to 3 grains I have not had a bullet fail to leave the barrel. MV for 2.3 grns is 643.8 fps up to 3 grns at 1443.1 fps. The problem is all the loads are way to loud way louder than a 22 RF even louder than a 22 mag. I keep reading that people are using 1.9-2.2 grains of Trailboss for super quiet loads but I can’t get the bullet to leave the barrel.
I am thinking of trying a primer only with a 22 air rifle pellet and see how they shoot at 25 yards. How well would this work on Squirrels? Would it make sense to add a very small charge of Trailboss like something under 1 grain? How do you seat the pellets, by hand or using the seating die?
Any advice greatly appreciated.
Matt

[SPEEDY]

I use 2.2gn of trail boss with a 40gn semi hacketed 22mg projectile for subsonic loads in mine, anything less then 2.2 grains and you get a bullet stuck in the barrel, even 2.2gn could get stuck if it's just a bit under.
That's with a K95 with a 24" tube and a 1:16" twist barrel.

The biggest limitation with slow loads in the hornet is that 1:16" twist, if it had a 1:14" twist I could more easily do it with a 50gn pill.

I prefer 3gn now, it's not subsonic but it's still pretty damn quiet, about on par with a 22lr shooting CCI quiet ammunition, but with a heavier pill and more velocity.

If you want the subsonic load then make sure that you weight each charge very accurately as any more then 2.3gn and its supersonic, any less then 2.2 exactly and you risk getting a pill stuck in the barrel.
The best bet is to find a short fat 50gn pill that will stabilise from the hornets slow twist barrel, if you do then let me know, I'd love to try an easier to load subsonic load for the hornet with a bit more room for error.

Oh BTW, the 2.3gn load shoots well under 1" at 50m.
2.3 grain is the charge for fully jacketed projectiles, but I've got a few hundred of the semi jacketed Winchester HP 22mag pills that I want to use up before buying cheap 40gn HP bullets.

The velocity I get with 2.2gn and the 22mag pill is 1030fps, there seems to be a lot of speed difference from different hornet barrels for some reason, or possibly from different cases, I use PPU for my quiet loads and Lapua for my hunting loads. But the Lapua seems to be a faster case, possibly a tad less capacity in it.

I've also shot copper plated .22 airgun slugs from cases with a magnum pistol primer from the hornet, great for rats out to 15m, but I wouldn't use then on anything else.

[MM]

Great information Speedy thank you. 2.3 grains works well but it is way louder than CCI 22 quiet ammo and about like a 22 magnum but it sounds like a loud crack not so much like a typical gun shot. I might play around with a heavier bullet but I don’t think that will reduce the noise level.

[SPEEDY]

It will reduce the velocity, if it's easier to shoot it subsonic then it's easier to get it quiet.
What gun are you shooting it out of, barrel length and twist rate.
I think that plays a part in it, I'd say my full power hornet load isn't much louder then a 22 mag as it is, I don't know if there's such a thing as a quiet barrel, but mine seems that way.
I've also found when loading down in it that my experience doesn't line up with some loads I've seen online, velocity is different, noise is different.
I also used a sound forwarding device when testing as well as without, it definitely made a much bigger difference to the noise when I had it on although I don't use it any more.