Cat's Sneeze Cartridges

SWOS
In Finland where suppressors are completely unregulated, it has ironically been the Finns who
have pioneered a loading technique they call SWOS or Silent, With Out a Silencer. Many detailed
descriptions of this technique can be found on Gunwriters on the Web page, but the basics
will be covered here.
There are many different names for this sort of ammunition but one of the most popular is the
"Cat's Sneeze" so called because the rifle report is no louder than a feline sneeze. A typical cat's
sneeze load utilizes a small charge of fast burning pistol powder and a lead ball crimped into the
case neck as the projectile. The wadding is compressed toilet paper used to keep all the
components in place before firing. According to the designers this round is quieter without a
suppressor than any commercial suppressor and full sized cartridge combination. Needless to say
the ball projectile reduces this to a short range load. A longer range load using a full sized bullet
will result in a louder report due to the increased charge required.
This drawing by the late PT Kekkonen depicts a "conventional" Cat's Sneeze cartridge on a full
sized case. That is if any Cat's Sneeze catridge can be labeled conventional.

Hammond Game Getter

One need not go through a lot of trouble to develop a Cat's Sneeze load when there is a
commercially available version. The diagram below illustrates a system I saw for sale at a local
gunshow. The case head is modified to accept a nail-gun blank which provides the propellant.
The rimfire blank is offset to allow the centerfire firing pin to hit it properly. The projectile is a
pure lead ball swaged to fit the bore tightly. The blanks are available in various power levels to
allow the shooter to tailor the noise level to his distance and velocity requirements.

Contact: Hammond Enterprises Ltd.

Box 41061
Petrolia PO
Edmonton, AB
Canada. T6J 6M7
Email: gamegetr@telus.net

Website: www.gamegetter.ca

I was so intrigued by this little device I had to have one for the 7.62x39 Thumper Project.
However it turns out the 7.62x39 case head is just a little too small to accept the conversion
above. So Mr. Hammond designed a custom Game Getter for me. It uses a small "anvil" to ignite
the 22 blank but otherwise works in exactly the same manner as a regular Game Getter.

The setup that Mr. Hammond sells includes a swage for sizing the lead ball to the bore however I
found that 0-buck shot (50-53 grains) works perfectly in a .30 calibre without being swaged. It is
just one less step to have to do between shots. The buckshot can be pushed into the case neck
with finger pressure. This contraption is loaded into the rifle like a normal cartridge and initiated
by a blow from the rifle's firing pin. After firing, eject the case and use a rod or wood dowel to
push out the spent blank.

.22 caliber nail-gun blanks come in a variety of different power levels allowing a wide choice of
velocity. The bad news being they are about three times more expensive than .22 rimfire
ammunition.. Experimentation has shown that accuracy is highly dependent on velocity with this
system. As can be seen here, the blanks are colour coded and the packages are numerically
coded to power level. #1 is the lowest power level and is Grey in colour. #4 is the highest power
level and is Yellow.
FIVE SHOT GROUPS @ 15 yards

Grey (1.192)
840 fps

Green (1.213) 1150 fps

Yellow 0.811 1380 fps

While accuracy is not stellar, this system allows a reasonably accurate yet very quiet (compared
to a full power load) shot at distances out to about 25 yards without the need to carry a second
rifle. A 50 grain soft lead ball travelling at almost 1400 fps would make a formidable projectile.
With the Thumper's 1:10 twist barrel I would have expected the slower velocities to result in
better groups. The worst groups came from the transonic (Green) velocities and the best groups
came from the (Yellow) highest velocities. As can be seen in the above groups, the 15 yard
Yellow group is fairly impressive for a lead ball being swaged to the bore by the propellant
charge.
Surprisingly the group's impact point did not drop significantly below the point of aim at any
range out to 50 yards. In fact the 50 yard groups were higher than the 15 yard groups, even for
the (Grey) low velocity rounds. Generally the groups impacted from half an inch to an inch above
the point of aim.
The effective range of this Cats Sneeze cartridge is less than a .22 rimfire, but its hitting power is
greater and the velocity (and thus noise level) can be somewhat tailored to the users needs. The
best thing is that a .22 rimfire +P package can be fired from a large calibre centerfire rifle
without the need to carry a second rifle or change sight settings on the primary rifle.
I can only imagine how quiet this system might be fired through a suppressor but I don't think
the words "near silent" would be too far off the mark. Realistically this type of cartridge is a
firearms oddity and will never find a place in tactical arsenals.

Cartridge Adapters

These are cartridges similar to the Hammond Game Getter but allow the use of smaller
cartridges of the same caliber as the host rifle. For example, .22 rimfire ammunition in a
.22 centerfire rifle. E. Arthur Brown Co. EABCO produce cartridge adapters for a number
of different .224 centre fire rifles. Lothar Walther produce many different types of
Cartridge Adapters to fit almost any .224 caliber rifle.

EABCO .22 rim fire Cartridge Adapter

Lothar Walther .22 rimfire Cartridge Adapter

Lothar Walther Centre fire Cartridge Adapter

Different models for use in .30, .32 and .45(.460) caliber rifles

Sub-Caliber Adapters
Most people are aware of the .22 rimfire sub-caliber kits available for various .30 caliber battle
rifles such as the HK G3 and FN FAL. These kits were used by many militaries to reduce the cost
of marksmanship training.
Lothar Walther makes a sub-caliber device to convert large caliber pistols to .22 rimfire and
almost any rifle caliber to either 4mm M20 centre fire cartridges or .22 rimfire.

Lothar Walther .22 rimfire Pistol Barrel Insert

Lothar Walther Rifle Barrel Inserts

4 mm M 20 centerfire cartridges

22 rimfire in calibers from 7mm through .458.

Lothar Walther
4mm Rifle Cartridge Insert The insert, has a self-contained barrel, enabling 4 mm M 20
center fire cartridges to be fired from any rifle. Manufactured for most calibres from .22 Hornet
through .600 NE.