WildWeasel
Active Member
.223 subsonic hits about as hard as .22 subs. Not impressive. .223 is loud. A suppressed AR is about as loud as an unsuppressed.22 firing supers.
To add to this; in most 223 and 556 AR setups, subs also turn it into a bolt action... You could get an adjustable gas system lightweight buffer, bolt carrier, etc, but then normal shells are hard on the system.
Sound wise, I've shot thousands of supers out of a 16" 10/22 outdoors, and unless I'm near a building, I'm fine. In my very limited experience shooting my brothers Optimus on 223 ARs outdoors, the 10" pistol you'll still need ears for sure, the 16" is fine for a handful of rounds but starts to get loud, and the 20" was 'hearing safe'. End cap swaps made no noticeable difference (.30 and 223) Note this is seat of the pants, not tested, and my hearing may have already been affected from other stuff... However, just wanted to share my experience. My plans are to get a Rugged Radiant for my 16" 556 and 300 blk, and a 556 K can on my 20" 556. Just need to figure out how it works if I get orders to a state that's worse than here...