CCI has a very wide variety of .22 cartridges. I recently picked up a brick of CCI quiet-22 to see how it performs. There are many .22 cartridges out there that boast being "hearing safe." However, most of them achieve it by using a much heavier bullet or a lighter bullet with less or no gun powder at all.

Previously, I had been using CCI minimag standard velocity rounds which are subsonic with a speed of 1070 FPS. The quiet version comes in with a speed of 710 FPS. Both use 40 grain lead bullets. I must say I was pleasantly surprised.

I first shot from a Umarex MP5-22 and was amazed at how quiet it was. I'm talking suppressed quiet. The only problem, it doesn't cycle. I tried adjusting the bolt speed, but short of modifying the recoil spring the gun will not cycle the CCI quiet. I also tried the quiet ammo in a Ruger 22/45 pistol and it did not cycle either. Both guns were able to cycle the standard velocity just fine.

CCI advertises the quiet ammo to be up to 75% quieter than standard velocity. I would say it was at least 50% but 75% is pushing it. I only shot it out to 25 yards and it seemed just as accurate as regular ammo. Use of both the SV and quiet ammo in a bolt action rifle is a completely different story. There is next to no report and when I use the quiet ammo with a suppressor the only audible sound is the trigger pull and hammer drop. Even shooting into a soft target like rotting wood will produce a louder sound than the operation of the gun and/or report from the muzzle.

If you want to have some serious fun try the CCI quiet in a bolt action rifle. Even without a suppressor it is quieter than a BB gun.