Thread: Suppressing a Rossi Puma 92 in 44mag

The bigger the hole the bigger the noise. I have a 450 bushmaster which is incredibly loud despite having fitted an 8 baffles over barrel suppressor.
The weight of the projectile plays a big role as well. If I follow your exemple of a muzzle speed of 1020 ft, you need more powder behind a 300 gr xtp than you do behind a 200 gr soft lead projectile, which in turn produces more gases, and more noise.( the 450bm shoots a factory 395 gr bullets. I could easily reload with 230gr at the same speed with less powder to quiet things down a bit).
You can also reduce your speed ( which reduces pressure, which reduces noise) by going at slower speed. Try some reloads at 800 to 900 fps and you will hear the difference versus the 1020 fps ( with the same projectile). The environment in which you shoot also plays a role on how you perceive the noise : an open paddock versus tight bush for exemple .

The next thing is your trajectory. Try to get the most consistent speed possible. A light crimping can help a lot.
If your max range is 100m, then yes the difference between the calibers you mentioned will be negligible.
But if you want to tackle things further , like between 100 and 200m, I believe that you will have an edge with more aerodynamic bullets like the 300 blackout, or 8.6 BO hand loaded with the appropriate bullets. Around 160m is my own limit in distance for shooting animals consistently . I have played on target further but the grouping is generally not up to my liking , hence why 160m is my own limit.
Last week I shot my 8.6 BO at 300m with sierra SMk. The vertical dispersion was over 40cm high on a straight vertical line . So I know I have a lot more work to do to tighten that group. I had pretty much 15mils of elevations.

One last thing is how tight can you get your groups. The quality of your barrel, your components, your reloading and how good you shoot will determine very quickly what will be your maximum ethical shooting range.