300 black out

[bear foot bowhunter]

hey guys what experience do you have for with 300 blk hunting , reloading ext. . i have a .308 and looking for something a little Less daunting( for land owners ) , lighter to carry and OK for teaching new shooters . was thinking .223 but the everything ive read is kinda pointing towards the 300 harder hitting about the same recoil quieter and about the same price, probably thinking ruger ranch but not sure yet . any input would be much appreciated

[bladeracer]

hey guys what experience do you have for with 300 blk hunting , reloading ext. . i have a .308 and looking for something a little Less daunting( for land owners ) , lighter to carry and OK for teaching new shooters . was thinking .223 but the everything ive read is kinda pointing towards the 300 harder hitting about the same recoil quieter and about the same price, probably thinking ruger ranch but not sure yet . any input would be much appreciated

Why not just load the .308 down for those scenarios?
Only advantage to .300BLK is they run a much tighter barrel twist to stabilise big bullets at low velocities.
But you can load .308 down below subsonic if you want to.

[bear foot bowhunter]

mainly for the fact , the majority of properties have permishon to shoot on are smaller and you mention .308 they have a mini hart atack . secondly i would like to be able to carry a bit more ammo or just lighten my day pack

[nightforcenxs]

i asked this question to a aus federal police officer high up about the round and he said the round was used by there snipers because of its low velocities it wouldnt exit and hurt others but personally i wouldnt bother you can easily load your 308 with 150gr soft points and trail boss from ADI and i dont think it would be that much lighter in carrying rounds surely you wouldnt need more then 50 or 60 rounds on you at one time because after a couple shots most animals are gonna run but i could put money i could drop anything with a .223 the 300 AAC blackout would drop just as good with correct placement

[Oldbloke]

You own a 308, the 300 Blackout is just another 30-30. Invest your money in reloading equipment if you dont already have it and load a 150 gn back to about 2000 fps. Easy peasy. You can set your self up for about $250 lee kit + lee dies, $45. What would a new rifle cost? Or buy a just a cheap lee loader for $52

$250 http://www.midway-australia.com.au/bran ... ision.html

$45 http://www.midway-australia.com.au/bran ... t=featured

$52 http://www.midway-australia.com.au/bran ... t=featured

Ammo will be about half price or less

[Mitch]

Ive got a blackout and love it.

Those who haven't really given it any time bag it with no experience

[southeast varmiter]

I have one for dogs on a property I clear, outstanding. Laser accurate unlike low load 308.
Can't recommend it enough.
135 gr sierra hp's 18 gr 2205

[sandgroperbill]

The 300blk has its place, and the ranch would suit it nicely. I reckon it'd double as a decent pig gun

[bladeracer]

Ive got a blackout and love it.

Those who haven't really given it any time bag it with no experience

Nobody is bagging 300BLK, we're just trying to help someone make a decision

Do you have a .308 as well?
I'm sure that a 300BLK does exactly what it should, but the question is, if you already have a .308 would you replace it with a 300BLK, and why?
And presumably if you already own a .308, will a 300BLK do everything you currently use your .308 for?

Personally, I'd get both of them.

[Mitch]

Ive got a blackout and love it.

Those who haven't really given it any time bag it with no experience

Nobody is bagging 300BLK, we're just trying to help someone make a decision

Do you have a .308 as well?
I'm sure that a 300BLK does exactly what it should, but the question is, if you already have a .308 would you replace it with a 300BLK, and why?
And presumably if you already own a .308, will a 300BLK do everything you currently use your .308 for?

Personally, I'd get both of them.

Funny you say that as i did have a 308 yes. I purchased my 300blk while i had the 308. The 308 ive now sold and use the blackout instead.

Awesome accuracy (single hole at 100, never missed a pig out to 300)
Short barrel
Huge variety of projectiles that work well (unlike the 308)

[happyhunter]

.

[Mich]

mainly for the fact , the majority of properties have permishon to shoot on are smaller and you mention .308 they have a mini hart atack

You just need to use a different title.

You don't have a .308

You have a sub-sonic .30 calibre

[bigpete]

I think it has its place especially for what he wants. Plus,speaking from experience, its not that simple to just download your 308 to subsonic levels. And as has already been said,its basically a 3030 or 7.62x39 in power levels

[bladeracer]

I think it has its place especially for what he wants. Plus,speaking from experience, its not that simple to just download your 308 to subsonic levels. And as has already been said,its basically a 3030 or 7.62x39 in power levels

Almost all of the 300BLK ammo I've seen is supersonic so you don't need to go subsonic, sub-2000fps is sufficiently close I think.
But I shoot every rifle I own with subsonic loads with no problems at all, none.
In fact, my 6.5x55mm is so far shooting best with a 95gn VMax 1200fps load, I'm still trying to build a full-power load that shoots as well.

[Oldbloke]

Sounds like he is on small properties so just needs respecable accuracy. Perhaps cast lead projectiles doing about 1300 fps. They are fairly quiet. Can use shot gun powders to load.

[bear foot bowhunter]

thanks guys, for all the replies , dam im still in two minds the hole reload for the 308 sounds good , but the 300blk is looking more and more like what im looking for . is there any mag conversion for the ruger or another rifle that may take ar mags . $90 for a plastic 5rnd mag sounds like crap and i more than likely will lose the first one

[Gamerancher]

Gee, the more things change, the more they stay the same. The North American Bison herd was almost exterminated with rifles shooting lead bullets @ 1200 f/s.
O.K, they were larger than .30 cal.
I prefer to refer to my .30/.221 as a 300 Whisper.( as originally designed.)

[gunnnie]

The 300BLK is a unique cartridge as in it was designed for a specific purpose and in that it does well. As for a garden variety hunting cartridge, well, it will always cause derision. I own one chambered in the Ruger American Ranch rifle and love it. I initially bought the rifle on a whim, $465 for a new rifle - who wouldn't?
I had to wait about 7mths before the shipment came in but that was ok as I was in no rush.

I picked up a Millet 1.5-6x Marksmans scope and set of rings ready to fit. I also grabbed a few boxes of Outback 125gn SMK, 125gn Woodleigh factory to begin the testing and run in process. I also chased up dies, cases, projectiles in the 110-125gn weight range and Lil'Gun and Win296 powders.

When the rifle finally arrived, it was prepped and off to the range. The SMK factory loads proved to be the best, with groups of sub .5MOA @ 100M off the bench. The Woodies were also pretty good with an average of around .8MOA. My reloads were just under or just over MOA, so there is some work to be done in load development there.

I'm also looking to get the trigger down to around the 1.5-1.75Lb, which with the Ruger trigger system, will be easy and safe. Not to mention the benefit to accuracy potential.

The bolt is smooth straight out of the box but no doubt will smooth out even more with use.

The rifle comes to the shoulder well, is light, short and points well. Which suits what I planned for the rifle as I wanted something light to carry for close range work on small to medium game.

A lot of detractors will carry on about the negatives of the round and say it is only worth having if you can use it with a suppressor. That's fine, but ask them if they own one and use it often or just exactly what did they expect from it and under what situations & game targeted did they use the cartridge. Some folk's expectations are often way outside the realistic capabilities of the cartridge.

At the end of the day, the decision will boil down to just exactly what you want and what you expect from the rifle/cartridge. Only you will know the answer to this question and it is not unreasonable to say that even then, you may not fully know until such time as you've used said rifle/cartridge.

Weigh up your pros/cons, what you're wanting and want to use it for. Will you reload for it (best way to get the most from the cartridge), What restrictions do you have in where you're shooting/hunting, any financial restrictions etc.

The cartridge has a niche roll and should not be expected to be the one-gun/cartridge wonder. Used in the right situations, with the right load and against the right target, it will excel.

Otherwise, consider expanding your options..... good luck with you decision.

[bear foot bowhunter]

can anyone give me a idea of what these are capable of hunting , load, range , animal ext.

[Oldbloke]

Dont own one. But ballistics suggest pigs, goats, perhaps fellow out to about 150 meters

[gunnnie]

Have spoken at length to an SSAA CWM member who has used the cartridge exclusively for the past few years. He has had great success with it on a wide variety of game from fox/cat right through to fallow deer. As such, there's no reason why you wouldn't be able to successfully target medium pig and goat as well.

As for range, he works on trying to keep his shots to under 200M. This is not an unreasonable range and expectation. If your intended targets are at greater ranges than this, then maybe stalking skills need to be improved or another more suitable cartridge should be considered.

Personally, I am working with pills in the 110-125/130gn range. I did pick up some of the Lehigh Controlled Chaos 68gn pills but have yet to work up loads with it. If you stick with the lighter 30cal pills pushed at the best possible safe velocity and place your shots, you'll find the cartridge will suit your needs.

The 125gn Sierra Match Kings are very accurate in my rifle but dare say not the best for thin skinned game as I'm not sure of adequate expansion. The 125gn Woodleigh may perform better being a soft point, but I can't quantify this. I've also picked up a box of the Sierra Hog stopper 135gn HP's and am keen to see if these will be both accurate and expansive on game.

I will caveat the above para by saying I have yet to trial any of the factory rounds or my reloads on game yet! But am going off data and images seen from the above mentioned contact.

[in2anity]

300BLK always reminded me of a chubbier 30/30, only that you're not limited to flat-nose bullets. It's a .30 cal, so I reckon you could experiment with pretty much any 30 cal projectile through it, ranging from light-and-flat, to heavy-and-parabolic. Having this kind of flexibility really intrigues me; I'd love to see how a 300BLK bolt would handle cast-lead over something like Trail Boss or AP70N. Then at the other end of the spectrum, try something like a 168 HPBT .308 match round over a hot mid burn like AR2208 or AR2206H - they could be some very accurate loads with a bit more reach I'd guess.

It has a pretty tight twist on it which explains how it can stabilise a heavy 220gr; that'd gel fantastically with something like Trail Boss around the ~1100fps mark. It'd certainly pack a reasonable punch for a subsonic load - not a deer load, but certainly capable of taking on medium game.

Long and short of it - due to its flexibility, it'd make a great plinking round that you could really scale up for added reach or hunting purposes. And given it's a standard .30 cal, it gives you a lot of handloading options so it could also be pretty cheap to run.

[happyhunter]

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[bladeracer]

I thought the idea of the BLK was a cartridge suited to subsonic loading for auto and semi auto firearms?

I think the idea was just to get a heavy thump out of the AR platform.
Subsonic heavy bullets is just an option that works well also due to the tight twist.

[in2anity]

I thought the idea of the BLK was a cartridge suited to subsonic loading for auto and semi auto firearms?

I think the idea was just to get a heavy thump out of the AR platform.
Subsonic heavy bullets is just an option that works well also due to the tight twist.

This. All said, there's not really anything you can do with the BLK that you can't do with a 308 - the main difference is that the cartridge is more compact and thus more appropriate for an AR (which is where its origins stem from). And given the nanny country we live in, this pretty much invalidates any benefits such a compact cartridge offers (because ARs and silencers are illegal).

Sorry, but If you buying your first .30 cal bolt, you'd couldn't turn away from a nice 308. Shame really.

[Oldbloke]

Back to the start here. The 308 can be made to do what the 300 BLK does, no problems. As they are the same calibre I with a difference in velocity seems unnecessary to have both.

Just a little off subject but relevant examples

EG. I am using 15 grains of AS50N in my 3006 giving me about 1550 fps with a 180 gr cast bullet. I'm believe you could use the same powder for normal bullets in the 308 too.

I am also using AS50N to give me light hornet loads in my 223 using copper jacketed bullets.

[Boomstick Bonanza]

If you don't mind casting your own bullets you can load a blackout subsonic for next to nothing, If you do, they are expensive compared to some .223. They hit really hard, good for foxes and the Americans tell me pig (would easy drop a roo out to 300yds I reckon but the round drops like a stone) Great with a can on them to really keep land owners happy, can always use some of your 308 bullets for some supersonic loads should see you out to 400-500yds. subsonic needs a 1:9 min to stabilize.

[in2anity]

If you don't mind casting your own bullets you can load a blackout subsonic for next to nothing

Or you could just pick yourself up some coated projectiles from:

http://www.hrbc.com.au/

OR

http://www.westcastings.org/

OR

http://www.topscore.com.au/

Although I've had a few accuracy issues with .30 cal coated projectiles; I thinking lubing them might be the answer though... (work in progress)

[bladeracer]

If you don't mind casting your own bullets you can load a blackout subsonic for next to nothing

Or you could just pick yourself up some coated projectiles from:

http://www.hrbc.com.au/

OR

http://www.westcastings.org/

OR

http://www.topscore.com.au/

Although I've had a few accuracy issues with .30 cal coated projectiles; I thinking lubing them might be the answer though... (work in progress)

What do they cost?
The only reason to shoot cast lead is their cost, seems pointless to buy them?

[Aussier]

The 300BLK is a unique cartridge as in it was designed for a specific purpose and in that it does well. As for a garden variety hunting cartridge, well, it will always cause derision.

A cartridge is just a cartridge, I don't think anyone cares about the thing itself. The vibe that surrounds it, mostly in US circles, is what's a bit weird.

If it suits your purposes get one, that's no different to any other rifle.

You can't help but roll the eyes a bit though when some knob bought one because it's "cool" and with the sub-sonic .30 cal tells themselves they're an honorary member of the SWAT urban sniper team