Hoot, the suppressor quiets down the muzzle blast, but dies nothing for the sonic crack the bullet makes, so yes subsonic loads are needed to be really quiet. It's amazing what a good suppressor will do for supersonic loads, though. I can shoot quite a bit of .223 or .308 without earplugs, while using my can. It's about like shooting supersonic .22's out of a rifle. Not quiet by any means but a heck of a lot quieter than without the can! For hunting, a suppressor is great because you don't have to worry about hearing loss or messing with ear protection. We just got hunting with suppressors legalized here in Indiana and I can't wait to go after coyotes and squirrel with a couo of suppressed rifles! We have a few 'rifle' calibers legal for deer hunting, but I don't have a suppressor set up to handle any of them (unless I loaded my .357 down lower than I want to for deer hunting.)

I'll have a few rifles set up for my suppressors in MO this fall if you two were planning on making that get together again. You are welcome to try out anything I have!

I took a Handi Rifle youth model in 7mm/08, and Advanced Gun Works cut and threaded the barrel at 16 1/4 inches. I wanted it short enough to fit where it lays and used a youth model so I didn't have to cut the stock. I wasn't interested in subsonic, and was more interested in better down range ballistics that a 300 black out / whisper gives. Accuracy requirements were minimal: Minute of Pig to 250 yards. I like to shoot centerfire rifles when they sound like a 22 LR High Speed. Using my 30 cal Jet suppressor. I did not want it in a black rifle caliber. I wanted it in a caliber with acceptable ballistics that I could walk into any Academy or Walmart and buy off the shelf. Academy and Walmart here still have 7mm/08 on the shelf and they are stone cold out of all black rifle calibers. Best I can research and figure even at 16 1/4 inches it should still better 7x57 ballistics by a small margin. Good enough for piggies. I don't like the taste of deer meat and deer don't offend me like hogs, and haven't shot a deer since 1992. But I have ample evidence that it would work on them. That is a 4x Leupold that is ex bellum libris Hargrove from a few years past. Supposedly we have had about 10 inches of rain in the area of the ranch in the last week, but I do intend to shoot it for the first time this weekend.