The bullet drops about 2 inches at 100 yards, 4 inches at 200 yards, 1 foot at 300 yards, 2.5 feet at 400 yards, and 5 feet at 500 yards. As a general rule, then, you want bullets to maintain as much of their velocity as possible. Magtech Full Metal Jacket Subsonic 200-grain 300 Blackout, Magtech Full Metal Jacket Supersonic 123-grain 300 Blackout. This unique cartridge, not surprisingly, has a varied grain weight range. With an impact velocity of more than 2,200 fps, the Hornady SP bullet achieved a frontal diameter of more than .50 inch when shot into gelatin. With a magazine follower designed around the varying profiles of .300 BLK, a larger cut for rounds to exit the magazine, and feed lips that are equally engineered for the spectrum of bullet shapes, a dedicated .300 BLK magazine is truly the way to go. Most people rarely shoot at targets more than 300 yards away with either 5.56 or 300 Blackout. and 5.56 NATO loads. The nose of the bullet is made of solid aluminum and the base is made of solid copper. I recommend first to try slower powder, I had the exact same problems with mine. Whether you're using a 7.5-inch, 10.5-inch, or even 16-inch barrel, sub-sonic .300 BLK vastly outperforms 5.56 NATO when fired from a suppressed rifle. When objects move faster than the speed of soundaround 1,100 fpsthey produce what sounds like a small explosion, known as a sonic boom. PRESCRIPTION 7Bullet: Berger 190-grain VLD HuntingPowder/Charge: Accurate 1680/12.2 grainsPrimer: Federal Small RifleCartridge Overall Length: 2.22 inchesMuzzle Velocity: 1,187 fps. First, a bit of history on this odd cartridge. It's probably just the block shifted out of place. Andrew Betts served with the Arizona National Guard for over 12 years, including a tour to Afghanistan. Worth the price if your lifes on the line, though. You see where this is going, dont you? I was shocked. It should work reliably when using low-powered (subsonic) or high-powered (supersonic) ammo with or without a suppressor. . The unknown issue many .300 BLK shooters are combating without even knowing it is their 5.56 NATO/.223 magazines will not reliable feed all grain weights and bullet profiles of the .300 BLK. They do not detail the comprehensive training, procedures, techniques and safety precautions that are absolutely necessary to properly carry on similar activity. The alternative to not using an actual .300 BLK magazine is to employ a 5.56 NATO/.223 magazine and then exercise more than stringent ammunition management to ensure a failure does not occur. The bullet expanded the widest of any I tested and pushed to 15 inches, where it exited the bottom of the block. The 300 Blackout shooter is getting 30-30 performance with about one-third the powder and slightly less recoil. In this article, youre going to learn . Imagine dumping a pile of money into a rifle and having it shoot some loads nearly 4 MOA!- I was that guy- something I seldon experience during the load development process. Keep in mind, that its wildcat predecessors like the .300-221 were known to be fairly accurate with the right twist rate. Fired from the MPW carbine, the six supersonic handloads produced an average 10-shot group size of 3.30 inches at 100 yards. This significantly bumps up the muzzle energy without exceeding the speed of sound. That person was Bill Wilson of Wilson Combat with his 7.62x40WT. The Hornady Full Metal Jacket Frontier 300 Blackout ammo is their value target practice cartridge, but since its Hornady its more than good enough for classes and competition. Whether youre looking for 300 Blackout ammo for plinking and practice, classes and competition, hunting, or home defense, youll find a winner on this list. by jFlacoS Sun Dec 29, 2013 9:59 am, Post I subjected these .300 Blackout handloads to a testing protocol similar to the one I used to evaluate the factory ammo. Most barrel makers and benchrest shooters will tell you the best accuracy for a given bullet is obtained with a twist rate that just stabilizes the bullet. There are a few facts worth noting about this data: In other words, the 300 Blackout beats the 5.56 like its a 9/11 hijacker locked away in Guantanamo Bay. JavaScript is disabled. This table shows the velocity of the three bullets weve discussed so far at six different ranges. It cycles fine with supersonic ammo. Over the past few years, Aero Precision has made a name for itself, especially among AR-15 builders. When combined with a suppressor, 300 Blackout ammo can give you one of the most powerful, nearly silent rifles you can have. Group size was halved to a respectable measurement of around 2 inches. The recovered diameter (RD) was measured in inches across the face of the bullet in two spots and represents the average of those two measurements. One new winner* is announced every week! With that out of the way, lets look at the bullet drop of the 300 Blackout. Are you running a can with your subsonic and are the subs factory or handloads? I took out the carrier bolt assembly, and re-oil it and still the same problem. Their higher B.C. The point is that if you are going to choose a rifle sized weapon, you ought to use ammunition that can do rifle sized work. To get down to the nitty gritty; live rounds are "being left" in the chamber. For example, you cant increase the weight of a 5.56 bullet to more than about 70-grains before it starts causing problems. By the time both bullets have traveled about 500 yards, theyre moving at almost the same speed. And what are the external ballistics for subsonic 300 Blackout? With some loadsparticularly those using the 125-grain Nosler AccuBond and 150-grain Nosler Ballistic Tipthe bullet would migrate forward in the case when the cartridge entered the chamber. Written By Michael Crites Licensed Concealed Carry Holder Reviewed by Reloading 101: Measuring group size and converting to MOA, Remington 700 SPS 243 Win to 6 Creedmoor conversion: Budget precision rifle, Designed to bridge the gap between 308 Winchester/7.62 NATO and 50 BMG, the 338 Lapua Magnum (8.670) has developed an impressivefollowing with long range shooters. For all intents and purposes, a good maximum range for supersonic 300 Blackout ammo is probably around 300 yards. A 300 Blackout bullet fired from a 10.5-inch barrel has almost the same muzzle energy as a 5.56 bullet fired from a 16-inch barrel. Discreet Ballistics also went to great pains to ensure that the bullet was as accurate as possible when fired through a suppressor, which is their modus operandi. Later, I wondered if it was possible to do something with supersonic handloads that would change the game. A metal grip frame, slide ports and a red dot cut are just some of the new features. Jones chambered T/C Contender handguns for these rounds and called them Whispers because he was keeping muzzle velocities below the speed of sound. It will eject the spent brass, but not pickup a new round. Before we go any further, its worth spending just a moment to get acquainted with the 5.56, as well be comparing it to the 300 Blackout throughout this article. With a 16" barrel and mid length gas system it 'should' be able to cycle using subsonic ammo even without a can. .300 AAC Blackout - Wikipedia or do any combination of those things . The second a bullet leaves the muzzle of a gun, gravity begins pulling it toward the ground. The 300 AAC Blackout was designed to achieve energies similar to the 7.6239mm Soviet in an AR-15 while using standard AR magazines at their full capacity. This process provides substantially more neck tension, and when employing the technique with the .30 Rem. Cycling problems with my 300 Blackout - AR15.COM Not the best for accuracy. In many ways, this bullet has similar characteristics as the 5.56its a light weight, extremely fast moving bullet with a lot of muzzle energy. While the bullet is obviously much larger, the parent case is 5.56mm so it will fit into the chamber. If you don't want to complete a build, however, Aero Precision also sells completed rifles. This is the perfect balance of barrel length for high muzzle energies, they say, without making the gun front-heavy and awkward to shoot. and itll shoot without any other modifications. On some well-known and established forums, youll note the majority of load development occurs at short ranges with 50 yards being common and 25yard groups appearing at times! The advantage of 300 Blackout is if the shooter wants an AR-pattern rifle or pistol that is easily suppressed, they can use a common magazine and typically only need to swap an upper receiver. Lining up and Picking Sides - A WW3 Story. AR. The more energy a bullet imparts to a target, the more damage it causes, and the likely it is to kill someone or destroy something. Thats not a bad tradeoff when you consider the terminal ballistics of 300 Blackout vs 5.56 (which youll learn next). Its also moving considerably slower from the get-go, though, and experiences more bullet drop as a result. It penetrated more than 32 inches in gelatin and showed no expansion. The only downside of these cartridges is the cost$1.8 per roundwhich makes it expensive to practice with this ammo. PRESCRIPTION 1Bullet: 110-grain Sierra HPPowder/Charge: Hodgdon Lil'Gun, 20.0 grainsPrimer: Federal Small RifleCartridge Overall Length: 1.89 inchesMuzzle Velocity: 2,402 fps. This effect is known as bullet drop, and its basically a measurement of how much the bullet deviates downward from a straight line to the target. 300BLK pistol. Failure to Eject. - TNGunOwners.com 4 Reasons .300 Blackout Is a Terrible Choice for Home Defense. Its legal and effective for killing deer (in many states its illegal to hunt deer with 5.56 ammo). .300 Blackout (BLK) vs. 5.56: What's Best For You? views and opinions of Springfield Armory. When seconds count and the police are minutes away. Click here to find out. He wants to be able to run subs while he waits on his can. Jones envisioned with the cartridge's predecessor, the .300 Whisper. Now if only theyd chamber it in a lever action rifle! Its hard to find a cartridge that does this better than the Discreet Ballistics Selous Machined Expander you just learned about. Because if that bullet keeps going after cutting through a bad guy theres no telling who it might hit. Another reason as to why a dedicated .300 BLK magazine would be beneficial is the markings on them. .300 Blackout pistol failure to feed issues - AR15.COM I also learned in my research that virtually all 300 AAC Blackout pistol builds utilize: a pistol length gas system, a lighter, carbine weight bolt carrier group (BCG), and a lighter, carbine weighted buffer in order to cycle sub-sonic reliably. Often referred to as simply .300 BLK, it is simply a close cousin of a .223 Rem casing (technically .221 Fireball) that has a .30 caliber bullet placed in its upsized case mouth. To establish accuracy potential and velocity boundaries, I fired one, 10-shot group at 100 yards with each load. Because velocity is critical to performance, this load should be a great match for an SBR. The only time when increasing the barrel of a 300 Blackout beyond about 9 inches or so would offer a significant advantage is when youre taking shots longer than ~300 or so yards. And, because 300 Blackout bullets are pointed instead of flat-nosed or round-nosed like 30-30 bullets, they are more efficient, more aerodynamic. I found somebut not allHornady and Remington brass had crimped primers. Bullets in the Barnes Triple-Shock family typically need more velocity than traditional cup-and-core bullets to expand, and the .300 Blackout just does not generate a lot of velocity. As weve already covered, a well-designed subsonic bullet can be quite lethal, but its never going to cause as much damage as that same bullet moving at supersonic speed. Copyright 2023 | Privacy and Disclosure | Curation Policy | DMCA Policy. Although .30 Rem. The 300 Blackout (pronounced three-hundred black out), officially known as the 300 AAC Blackout or the 300 BLK, or 7.6235, is a rifle cartridge designed to be fired through AR-15 rifles with shorter-than-average barrels. With the 210-grain Berger VLD Target handload, four of the 10 rounds were above the speed of sound even after reducing the powder charge. That might seem like a lot, but remember this is specialized hunting ammo. Two reasons, case capacity and barrel twist. In short, the 300 Blackout is definitely worth investigating. I have a CMMG 8.5" barrel. Its literally how much bang you get for your buck. Short Barrel 338 Lapua Magnum Load Development Results, 300 BLK load development: 125, 135, 175 and 220 SMK with H110 and IMR 4227, Accuracy testing a 16 carbine: Daniel Defense Hammer Forged Barrel, Refreshing a poorly machined Remington 700 action, 223 Remington/5.56 NATO, velocity versus barrel length: A man, his chop box and his friends rifle, Replacing a plastic recoil pad on a shotgun, USMC M40A5 Build- Part 3: Receiver Truing, Fortune Favors The Brave.Even When Outnumbered, Customizing the 1911: countersink and flush cut slide stop pin, 6 Creedmoor barrel length versus muzzle velocity (31 to 17 inches). In 2011 AAC filed with SAAMI so the 300 Blackout could be chambered and loaded by anyone. Remove the gas block and look for off-center carbon ring where the block meets the hole in the barrel. Wish someone told you this before? This means smaller powder charges and faster powders. Why Your .300 BLK Won't Work - The Armory Life No one doubts the deer-killing performance of the 30-30, and the 300 Blackout can match or exceed that. Itll reliably kill deer, hogs, and people within those ranges, too. Cutting long grooves down the nose of the bullet, an area known as the. Copyright Ron Spomer Outdoors document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) Technically, the only proper names for the cartridge are the 300 AAC Blackout or 300 BLK, but most people refer to it simply as the 300 Blackout, so I did the same in this article for the sake of simplicity. If it's ejecting okay where does the spent brass land? Theyre designed to lock onto the gun and then push fresh cartridges into the inside of the gun so they can be chambered and fired. This is particularly true at longer ranges, where bullets begin to drop faster and it becomes harder and harder to predict where they will land. Scientifically, logically, and anecdotally, its a winner, and Im going to show you why in this article. Their 300 Blackout ammo is a little pricey but still affordable, and they were one of the first companies to start producing the cartridge after it was invented. Handloading the .300 AAC Blackout - An Official Journal Of The NRA That's it. There are many different kinds of pistols out there, and whats right for one person might not be right for you. The 3 Best 300 Blackout Uppers You Can Buy - American Arms That bullet is more blown open than a T-1000 after a run-in with Arnold Schwarzenegger. A 300 Blackout was not used to take this feral hog, but its parent case, the 221 Fireball, was! I know Noveske makes good products, but maybe you got an out-of-spec barrel. Eotech solved this problem when they created the dual zeroed XPS2-300 for the 300 Blackout caliber in both super and subsonic. . and opinions expressed on this website are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the Remember, one of the main selling points of the .300 Blackout is that all of the parts are the same as your 5.56mm rifle, except for the barrel. Worth it to buy dedicated .300 blackout mags? : r/300BLK - Reddit You will increase the muzzle energy of the bullet, but each additional inch of barrel beyond 9 inches results in less and less of an increase in muzzle energy. However, the 130-grain TTSX did not, mainly because the heavier bullet could not achieve as much velocity. In this case, your best bet is to look for 300 Blackout ammo in the range of 75 to 150 cents per round. . If you want to use subsonic ammo for classes, then go with their Hornady A-MAX Black subsonic ammo. I like my 300 BLK, but see it for what it is. I will try some other loads and see if I can keep sub and still cycle. Other factory ammo and reloads with CCI 400's were 100%. What's the load data? Hornady is known for being more or less the top dog of quality ammunition. Even after handloading, I still believe subsonic shooting is the forte of the .300 AAC Blackoutjust as J.D. There are many different theories on what makes the best hunting ammo. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Although theyre quieter, subs are also have significantly worse external and terminal ballistics and often dont have enough energy to make the gun operate properly. Being a Prepper is Getting More Expensive. Springfield Saint Victor 300 BO Issue? | The Armory Life Forum You can legally own one gun on paper, but have the ability to fire many different cartridges through it, because the lower is the only part of the gun thats regulated or tracked by the government. This is certainly the prominent selling pointof the cartridge, but one of the areas the 300 BLK will sometimes lack is accuracy. You can get terminal performance beyond the reach of currently offered factory ammo from .300 Blackout handloads. So if you enjoyed this, would you share it on Facebook and Twitter? This makes the 300 Blackout one of the most versatile and convenient cartridges you can shoot. Assuming it takes two shots on average to kill most game, including missed shots and the occasional berzerker boar that needs a mag dump, that means youre only spending $3 to 6 per animal. You can substitute a smaller-caliber expander ball, or you can de-prime in a different step with a universal de-primer. Founded by Frank Galli in 2000, Snipers Hide has been offering informational videos, podcasts, and other support to its users in one location. If you want to shoot it through your AR-15, all you have to do is buy a 300 Blackout upper, load up your regular AR magazines with 300 Blackout ammo, and start shooting. Quoted: A properly gassed .300blk pistol should run most sub/super loads with and without a suppressor using a non adjustable gas block. And all you have to do to shoot 300 Blackout is buy a 300 Blackout upper, slap it on your existing AR-15, load up your regular AR-15 magazines, and start shooting. Subsonic ammo is lower-powered ammo that only propels bullets to just below the speed of sound. You might be able to hit something further than that, but dont count on it. All in all, its probably a better cartridge for killing deer than 5.56, so not only is it legal its also preferable. Ruger American Ranch Rifle 300 Blackout - Gun Tests Savage Axis II 300 Blackout - Gun Tests