Which ELEY .22LR Is Quietest Through a Suppressor or Moderator?

ELEY’s answer is any of the subsonic range. That means ELEY subsonic hollow at 305-317 m/s (1000-1040 ft/s) and ELEY contact at 317-332 m/s (1040-1090 ft/s). These are the two cartridges ELEY loads deliberately below the speed of sound, and therefore the two that let a moderator do its full job.

Between them, choose by what the rifle is and what you are shooting at. ELEY subsonic hollow carries the lower velocity band of the pair and is the hollow-point field round, described by ELEY as one of the quietest and most accurate subsonic rounds on the market. ELEY contact is the round-nose cartridge purpose-engineered for semi-automatic platforms, with a softer report, reduced recoil and faster target re-acquisition.

Why Staying Below the Sound Barrier Matters

A moderator works on one part of the noise a rifle makes: the muzzle report, the blast of expanding propellant gas as the bullet leaves the barrel. It captures and slows that gas so the report is far quieter.

What a moderator cannot do is silence a bullet travelling faster than the speed of sound. A projectile above that threshold generates a sonic crack in flight. That is a second, separate noise, created downrange well past the muzzle and therefore beyond the reach of anything fitted to the barrel. Fit the finest moderator available to a high-velocity round and the crack remains.

That is why the velocity band printed against a product matters more than any other specification when you shoot moderated. Subsonic ammunition is engineered to stay below the sound barrier so that the only significant noise left is the muzzle report the moderator is built to absorb. The speed of sound is not a fixed number; it changes with air temperature and altitude, which is why ELEY’s subsonic products are loaded with margin rather than aimed at a line.

The ELEY Subsonic Range

*Group size is used when statistical precision is not required.

For contrast, here is where the rest of the range sits. Anything in this table produces a sonic crack no moderator can touch, or was engineered around a discipline rather than around quiet shooting.

ELEY force and ELEY high velocity hollow share the highest published velocity band ELEY loads. They are excellent rounds for what they are built to do, but they are not the choice behind a moderator. ELEY’s pistol products carry lower published velocities still, but they are engineered around ISSF pistol disciplines rather than moderated rifle shooting.

ELEY contact: Subsonic That Cycles

The difficulty with subsonic ammunition in a semi-automatic rifle is that lower velocity means less energy available to work the action. ELEY contact is engineered specifically to resolve that: a 2.7 g / 42 gr round-nose bullet at 317-332 m/s (1040-1090 ft/s), built to stay subsonic while still cycling a semi-automatic reliably.

It is lubricated with paraffin wax, which ELEY specifies for its semi-automatic and recreation products because it is thinner and harder than a beeswax blend at any given temperature, gives a drier feel, is less prone to picking up debris and does not clog a semi-automatic mechanism. Alongside the softer report, ELEY contact delivers reduced recoil, which makes it comfortable over long sessions and for coaching new shooters.

contact is suitable for pistol as well as rifle, and it is extremely popular in dynamic shooting (steel plate and practical shooting), where a quiet, soft-recoiling round that returns the sights quickly is worth as much as the noise reduction. Kurt Grimes, a Grand Master in the United States, has won multiple world championships shooting it.

ELEY subsonic hollow: The Quiet Field Round

ELEY subsonic hollow is a 2.46 g / 38 gr hollow-point loaded to 305-317 m/s (1000-1040 ft/s) with a published group figure of 43 mm*. ELEY describes it as one of the quietest and most accurate subsonic rounds on the market, offering unequalled expansion characteristics: short penetration with outstanding stopping power, the essential features for vermin control. Like ELEY contact it uses paraffin wax, keeping the drier handling characteristics that suit field use.

It is designed for standard rifle barrel lengths, which is worth knowing if you are building a moderated rifle around it.

What ELEY Does Not Publish

ELEY publishes velocity bands, not sound measurements. There is no ELEY decibel figure for any product, and any comparison quoted in decibels would depend on the moderator fitted, the barrel, the rifle and the measurement standard used.

[ELEY TO ADD: any sound-level measurement data ELEY holds for ELEY contact and ELEY subsonic hollow, including the moderator, barrel length and measurement standard used, if ELEY wishes to publish a decibel comparison.]

The Bottom Line

For the quietest shot through a moderator, shoot any of the ELEY subsonic range. ELEY subsonic hollow carries the lower published velocity band at 305-317 m/s (1000-1040 ft/s) and is the hollow-point field round, designed for standard rifle barrel lengths. ELEY contact is the purpose-engineered choice at 317-332 m/s (1040-1090 ft/s) for a semi-automatic rifle or pistol that has to cycle as well as stay quiet, with a softer report and reduced recoil.

ELEY ammunition is supplied in 50-round boxes, 500-round bricks and 5,000-round outer cases. Stockists are listed at eley.co.uk/retailers.

Whichever you choose, the published band describes the product, not your barrel; the figure printed on your box is the mean velocity of that batch measured across four barrels during proofing, so check it and buy consistently from batches you have verified. The firearm, the ammunition and the shooter are the Triangle of Success, and in moderated shooting the barrel carries more influence than usual.