by Jim Dickson
A 318-pound wild hog caught in a live trap by Georgia trapper Marty Adams
and instantly killed by one Quiet-.22 segmented hollowpoint to the brain.
The innovative new Quiet-.22 from CCI enables the shooter to get the quiet of a silencer’s report without having to buy a silencer covered by the NFA of 1934.
Remarkably, this new round delivers a 75% lower perceived noise level than a standard .22LR. This is possible because once the volumetric capacity of the exploding primer and powder gasses has been met in the bore their velocity is held back by the bullet in front of them. As long as the bullet is subsonic you can get very low noise levels out of a standard velocity .22 with an extra long barrel. CCI has used a light load to reach the volumetric capacity more quickly and deliver very low noise levels. The reason this will work with a .22 and not a .45 at the same velocity and barrel length is the difference in the ratio of bore size to barrel length.
Sound is measured in decibels and each increase of 10 decibels means the sound is 10 times louder. When firing the new CCI Quiet-.22 from a 6-inch pistol barrel there is only 74 decibels of noise and from a standard rifle barrel there is only 68 decibels. Compare that to some famous silencers. The WW2 British DeLisle carbine in .45 ACP had 85.5 decibels. A CCI standard velocity .22LR out of a 3½” barrel registers 160.7 decibels. A good silencer can lower that to 130 or even 118 decibels, still a lot louder than the new Quiet-.22 we have here.
To put this in better perspective, a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun is in the high 90s, and high powered .177 or .22 air rifles are 115 decibels. Chainsaws, firecrackers, and sirens are in the 100-140 decibel range. 80 decibels is a scream, 70 decibels is a vacuum cleaner, and 60 decibels is normal human speech.
Hearing damage starts at 85 decibels if the noise is long term. OSHA allows no more than one exposure to 130 decibels per 24 hour period and 140 decibels is the safety cut off for impulse noise.
As you can see the CCI Quiet-.22 ammo is a stupendous success in the noise abatement department.
CCI’s Quiet-.22 are loaded in
standard .22 LR rimfire cases.
Now let us look at the ammo and its performance. There are two bullet types with each weighing 40 grains: the 960 Quiet Segmented copper plated HP with MSRP of $6.95 and the 970 Quiet Round Nose lead bullet with a MSRP of $3.95. The segmented hollowpoint breaks up into three equal pieces for maximum shock power on rats, squirrels and rabbits. It penetrates five inches into ballistic gelatin, so it is a perfectly tailored small game round. The round nose lead bullet is the penetrator, going 11 inches into ballistic gelatin. That’s more than many .38 specials and only one-inch shy of the 12-inch minimum for the FBI Protocols for penetration developed for law enforcement shooting felons behind makeshift barricades.
Velocity levels are well maintained with a muzzle velocity of 710 fps dropping to 673 fps at 50 yards, 656 fps at 75 yards, and 639 at 100 yards.
Energy levels stay good also with a muzzle energy of 45 foot pounds dropping at 50 yards to 40 foot pounds, 38 at 75 yards, and 36 at 100 yards.
Trajectory based on sighting in at 100 yards would be 6.0” high at 25 yards, 8.9” high at 50 yards, 7.0” high at 75 yards and 0.0 at 100 yards.
Accuracy from a SAAMI accuracy barrel is very good. At 25 yards the lead round nose averages .665” groups while the segmented hollowpoint averages .858” groups. This is the proper way to test ammo for accuracy. Grabbing the nearest .22 may give widely varying results. I have seen a famous make and model .22 shoot only 7-inch groups off a benchrest 
with match ammo. Obviously you don’t want to test ammo with that one.
This ammo makes target practice a lot more pleasant for both the shooter and any bystanders. It enables you to shoot where the noise would otherwise prevent you practicing. Many suburban pests that heretofore only had to fear air rifles are now in jeopardy and that includes the pet-killing coyotes that are now plaguing so many people.
The 40-grain Quiet-.22 Segmented Hollowpoint
load is probably your best choice for small
game and pest control.
As a hunting round the Quiet-.22’s will kill anything that the more powerful and louder .22s will, but they will not do it as dramatically as the .22LR CCI Mini-mag. Are they adequate for small and medium game? I have never thought anything less than the .32-20 should be used on small and medium game as the .32-20 is a much more humane killer than any .22.
It is not possible to make a more perfectly balanced small and medium game cartridge than the .32-20, yet cartridge price trumps everything for most folks.
Today the perfected small and medium game cartridge has become just a memory for most hunters as the more expensive .32-20 has been replaced by the .22LR.
Because of the reduced velocity the Quiet-.22 ammo may or may not have enough power to cycle your semi-auto .22. It all depends on the individual gun. Hand-cycling a .22 is no big deal though. Manually operated .22 users do it all the time.
Trappers are the group that has needed the Quiet-.22 more than anyone else. You have to dispatch coyotes and wolves or whatever you have trapped, yet the noise is often a problem disturbing wildlife and anyone in the area. Having someone call the police or game warden every time you legally put down a trapped animal is more than a trapper can put up with. Air rifles have not delivered the promised results for some trappers that have tried them. Silencers require jumping through all the hoops ATF requires for purchase along with payment of a $200 transfer tax on op of the cost of the suppressor. Most people are afraid of owning anything so strictly regulated as an NFA Act-covered weapon lest some overzealous law officers overreact to them. That leaves the Quiet-.22s as the only answer for most trappers. It won’t let you down.
For a field test I had noted Georgia trapper Marty Adams try it out. Marty traps about 40 coyotes a week and is held in the highest respect by the local wildlife biologists at the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. He found that the segmented hollowpoint killed quickly and efficiently with head shots. One shot is all that is needed. He even killed an 85 pound pig with one brain shot. The lead round nose penetrated but did not do enough tissue damage for quick humane kills. The round-nose should not be used on live targets.
The Quiet-.22 offers a realistic legal way to circumvent the unconstitutional restrictions on silencers for .22s. It enables the shooter to protect his hearing and avoid disturbing the peace when he is shooting. That’s a good thing for all concerned. CCI is to be commended for this innovative contribution to the shooting sports.
