Freedom Munitions Subsonic 9mm Round-up: 147 Grain Standard Versus 165 Grain HUSH
While Freedom Munitions has offered subsonic, 147 grain 9x19mm ammunition for quite some time, the company recently introduced their new “HUSH” line of subsonic product. One of these new offerings is a 165 grain 9mm loading that pairs new brass cases with FMJ pills from Freedom’s sister company, X-Treme Bullets. The HUSH line also uses faster burning powder that is supposed to be quieter than the type used in their standard 9mm products. Intrigued, I had to see if the 165 grain HUSH 9mm was worth its considerable premium (roughly $7 per box of 50 rounds).
One of the first things I noticed about the HUSH ammunition is that it is right on the reliability borderline for use with handguns. By this I mean that it barely has enough power to cycle most pistols’ slides. With my USP at the range, I found the ammunition’s lack of power to be a real issue when I was not using my Octane 45 and any sort of looseness in my wrists consistently resulted in stovepipe failures. If I rested the frame of the USP on a sandbag, most of these malfunctions could be avoided, but obviously such a “fix” is not really practical. Because of these challenges, I would stick to using the HUSH ammunition in pistol caliber carbines only. On the flip side, I’ve had very few issues with the Freedom Munitions standard 147 grain product.
Both loads run out of gas relatively quickly at range. Even out of a carbine, expect effective range to be limited to 100 yards at best. Beyond that, drop will be measured in terms of feet, not inches.
Practical accuracy is more or less the same with both the 147 grain and 165 grain offerings. At typical pistol ranges (inside of 25 yards), one inch or smaller groups really shouldn’t be an issue for skilled shooters. Overall accuracy and consistency of the Freedom Munitions products seems to be on par with most other non-match, non-defensive, commercial range loads.
One thing to note is that some firearms may struggle to stabilize the longer, heavier 165 grain bullet. I experienced no stabilization issues while using my USP or Beretta M9, but my experience does not speak for all handguns. Make sure your firearm does not keyhole with this ammunition before using it with a suppressor!
At this point, most folks are probably wondering how the 165 grain HUSH ammunition sounds in comparison to its 147 grain stable mate. In all honesty, the difference just is not very noticeable. In confined or wooded areas, some people may find the 165 grain loading to be a bit less intense, but unless the two types are loaded into the same magazine most will struggle to detect any difference. This is evident in the video embedded below. For that test, the first five rounds were the 165 grain HUSH ammunition while the second set of five rounds was standard 147 grain subsonics. Those looking at the HUSH product for ultimate sound reduction may be disappointed to hear that it does not offer overwhelming improvements as compared to the cheaper 147 grain ammunition.
Ultimately, I simply cannot recommend Freedom Munitions’ 165 grain HUSH 9mm for casual handgun shooters. Some people with pistol caliber carbines might appreciate the low recoil and ever so slightly quieter report of the 165 grain cartridge, but most enthusiasts simply will not hear a difference. When we also consider that the HUSH ammunition has reliability problems when used with some popular handguns, the choice to stick with Freedom’s 147 grain option seems quite clear to me.
9/20/2016 Update
When I first reviewed this ammunition, I noted that it wasn’t all that much quieter than standard 147 grain subsonics. That was based on my experience with the HUSH through my Beretta M9 and HK USP pistols. I also found it to be on the reliability borderline with a tendency to weakly eject. I stated that the 165 grain pills might work better with a subgun or carbine, but I didn’t have one to test at the time. My ultimate judgment was that the ammo wasn’t worth the asking price.
Recently, I revisited the ammo while using Silencer Shop’s custom MP5 from Brethren Armament. Through the Bowers VERS 9S, the HUSH ammunition was incredibly quiet. It also happened to be noticeably better than other loads I tried. In my estimation, Freedom’s 165 grain load is probably two or three decibels quieter than factory 147 grain ammunition, which is just enough to be noticeable. Reliability over a rather limited 100 round sample was also superb.
I’m still not sure if the HUSH ammo is worth the ~50% premium over Freedom’s standard 147 grain FMJs, but it definitely is the quieter option. If you own a 9mm carbine, I suggest grabbing some and trying it for yourself.
An information security professional by day and gun blogger by night, Nathan started his firearms journey at 16 years old as a collector of C&R rifles. These days, you’re likely to find him shooting something a bit more modern – and usually equipped with a suppressor – but his passion for firearms with military heritage has never waned. Over the last five years, Nathan has written about a variety of firearms topics, including Second Amendment politics and gun and gear reviews. When he isn’t shooting or writing, Nathan nerds out over computers, 3D printing, and Star Wars.