Subsonic .22 Ammo

From "Tossing Rocks" by Jesse's Hunting and Outdoors:
"At a time when American shooters crane their collective necks to get a glimpse of the newest and particularly the fastest cartridges on the market I find myself suddenly taken by the idea of s-l-o-w. I’m referring to sub-sonic 22LR rounds and for the past few months they have positively fascinated me. For the longest time they seemed to me to be the ballistic equivalent of a slingshot, and why they seem to work so well was a mystery."
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The author goes on to describe the performance of these rounds in a Marlin 880 and a Chinese JW-15. The subsonics didn't perform well for him in the Marlin's Micro-groove barrel. That is why I am happy to have my ancient pre-Microgroove Model 81. It shoots everything well, substantially better than my 39A Mountie with its Microgroove rifling; and its 24" barrel is noticeably quieter with subsonics than any of my shorter-barrelled .22s. And it stabilizes and shoots the 60 grain Aguila Sniper Subsonic well, which would make it a keeper even in the absence of all its other great qualities. So that old M81 has become my primary subsonic .22 rifle.

The subsonics have worked well for me on a variety of small game, too. I haven't noted any lack of killing power. My grandfather, along with many other hunters of his generation, usually hunted with .22 Shorts. He never found the .22 LR ammo to be necessary. These .22 LR subsonics have more killing power than a .22 Short, while not destroying as much meat as a hi-speed .22 LR. That is a good thing, because those small critters don't have much meat to begin with.