.300 (AAC) Blackout - A sleeper!

[Rumbler]

I made some .300 Blackout a couple of months ago for Talon2. I didn't do any real load development, I just found a recipe, verified it safe in his gun and cranked out a batch for him.

It was not a particularly impressive load, in my opinion. But I didn't have any of what is apparently the preferred powder (H-110).

Last week, the stars aligned - thanks to Marcus - and I got my grubby paws on a couple of pounds of H110. So I started doing some . . . experimenting.

My conclusion? Damned impressive little cartridge.

I only worked on the supersonic side this week but what it is capable of is nothing to sneeze at.

125gr Hornady SST pushed at just a smidgen over 2200 FPS.

Guarantee you that inside a couple of hundred yards or so ain't no beast in these parts, four legged or two, going to shrug off this little thumper. At 200 yards it rings a steel silhouette like a church bell. Makes it dance the hokey-pokey on its hanger.

There simply IS NO comparison to the "ting" the 5.56 causes on the same target.

All in all, it has me convinced it is about the perfect middle ground between the 5.56 poodle shooter cartridge and the .308.

So . . . . my mind is made up. I'm saying goodby to the 5.56 upper, and hello to a .300 Blackout. It is a win-win in my book for sure. :D

[Johnny]

Rumbler,for your info an everyone else Our head monkey in charge an his cornies in the EPA have now shut down the last lead smelter in the USA.thanks to them any lead based bullet will be very hard to get.I.e. pistol bullets,any lead any copper bullets will be extremely hard to come by just trying to give everyone a heads up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[FLT]

Rumbler look at Sotaarms.com they have great prices and their stuff is top shelf. They build aerospace stuff for a living and do the firearms stuff for fun. I have used several of their barrels with great results.

[Rumbler]

Thanks FLT. Jonny, one of the things I am liking the most about the .300 concept is that where there is a will (and willingness to do a little load development) virtually any .308 bullet any other .30 based gun uses, will feed and fly just fine.

I say "virtually" based on my personal lack of research on the VLD/Scenar profile bullets. Though - at this point I don't know - I suspect they would do Ok with the 'pointy' profile, but the overall bullet length could be an issue. There is just not a lot of room for powder in those cut down poodle shooter cases . :( It may be completely possible to negate that issue (if it really is one) by using a different powder.

This is why I love this load development stuff. It is all about learning and problem solving - you can get a pretty good feel for what will work. But ya never really know until you press the trigger the first time.http://www.pic4ever.com/images/clap.gif

[BR549]

I really want a 300 BLK upper for my "extra" lower. Ammo is so pricey though. Rumbler, what's an approximate per-round cost for "plinking" 300 BLK?

[Rumbler]

Subsonic, probably about 18-25 cents a shot.
Supersonic, probably about 35-45 cents a shot.

With that said . . . it is extremely hard to estimate accurately because of the vast array of bullets that can be used. Virtually any bullet that measures .308-.309. And obviously, cast bullets work just fine for subsonics, so those could be "free" (except for your labor cost in casting them). For supersonics . . . the sky is the limit, but "basic" jacketed bullets are not very expensive at all.

[BR549]

The break-through cost is the bitch. I dont have a single reloading tool to get started. Its a lot like buying a fishing boat to bring home "free dinner" - that first grouper costs about $9,000 per pound!

[FLT]

If you buy your supplies ( powder bullets primers ) from DSH they will let you use their reloading room and it's well equipped . They also have a class you can take to learn the basics if you need help getting started. It's a great way to find out if it's something you want to do with out having to buy a reloading outfit.

[YankeeFingergasm]

If you buy your supplies ( powder bullets primers ) from DSH they will let you use their reloading room and it's well equipped . They also have a class you can take to learn the basics if you need help getting started. It's a great way to find out if it's something you want to do with out having to buy a reloading outfit.


Big plus for this method

[Airgator0470]

.30 HRT for the win... I'm getting 2450+ FPS out of the 125 Nosler BT's (16" Barrel) with JUST BEGINNING SIGNS of high pressure... I'm thinking I can get to 2500 FPS without losing a finger... lol.


For those unaware... the .30 Herrett Rimless Tactical, .30 HRT, is based on the 6.8 SPC case sized in a .30 Herrett die, then trimmed to length, and fire-formed. Sounds like a lot of work but really not. Uses standard 6.8 SPC mags, bolt, etc...

I've taken a couple nice bucks with this load... you would think the round would be more popular, but then again, getting a barrel chambered for it is difficult.

[Airgator0470]

Rumbler,for your info an everyone else Our head monkey in charge an his cornies in the EPA have now shut down the last lead smelter in the USA.thanks to them any lead based bullet will be very hard to get.I.e. pistol bullets,any lead any copper bullets will be extremely hard to come by just trying to give everyone a heads up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't think so...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/dec/2/obamas-epa-smelter-closing-will-not-affect-ammunit/

http://sierrabullets.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/sierra-responds-how-will-the-closure-of-the-lead-smelting-plant-affect-sierra-bullets/

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2013/11/last-u-s-lead-smelter-closes-will-this-affect-bullet-production/

The ONLY thing that will cause a shortage is panic buying...

[Billythekid]

I have been toying with building an AR in 300 AAC also. I just have never been impressed with the lightweight 5.56, I like more mass. I'll let Rumbler iron out all the details and then steal his recipe.

[BlueBronco]

I made some .300 Blackout a couple of months ago for Talon2. I didn't do any real load development, I just found a recipe, verified it safe in his gun and cranked out a batch for him.

It was not a particularly impressive load, in my opinion. But I didn't have any of what is apparently the preferred powder (H-110).

Last week, the stars aligned - thanks to Marcus - and I got my grubby paws on a couple of pounds of H110. So I started doing some . . . experimenting.

My conclusion? Damned impressive little cartridge.

I only worked on the supersonic side this week but what it is capable of is nothing to sneeze at.

125gr Hornady SST pushed at just a smidgen over 2200 FPS.

Guarantee you that inside a couple of hundred yards or so ain't no beast in these parts, four legged or two, going to shrug off this little thumper. At 200 yards it rings a steel silhouette like a church bell. Makes it dance the hokey-pokey on its hanger.

There simply IS NO comparison to the "ting" the 5.56 causes on the same target.

All in all, it has me convinced it is about the perfect middle ground between the 5.56 poodle shooter cartridge and the .308.

So . . . . my mind is made up. I'm saying goodby to the 5.56 upper, and hello to a .300 Blackout. It is a win-win in my book for sure. :D

Have you played around with 6.8 SPC II, yet?

[Rumbler]

Yeah. Charlie and JD both have them. Charlie's is suppressed.

Just didn't do it for me. Though I have to admit that seeing Charlie ride around on a golf cart sniping squirrels out of the trees with a suppressed AR was quite a sight to see. He must have "poofed" about 8 or 10 of them in a row.

[Rumbler]

Oh! And . . . .UPDATE:

I now have in my grubby little hands a .300 blackout.

CMMG SS heavy barrel 16" with a 1:7 twist and an Aero Precision lower.

. . . I just love thick barrels. At least when I do load development. :cool:

[BlueBronco]

Yeah. Charlie and JD both have them. Charlie's is suppressed.

Just didn't do it for me. Though I have to admit that seeing Charlie ride around on a golf cart sniping squirrels out of the trees with a suppressed AR was quite a sight to see. He must have "poofed" about 8 or 10 of them in a row.

I never saw a .223/5.56 do a squirrel any good, lol. With a 6.8, probably wasn't anything left but ears, tail and toenails. Scavengers were probably like, day-uuum.

[Rumbler]

The result . . think of a dandelion in the breeze. "POOF!" and it is just not there anymore. Nothing but little tufts of fur floating on the breeze.

By the way . . . . I am officially depressed.

I have some 168 and 175 grain match bullets in .30, and some H110. So I made the first batch of supersonic ammo for my gun. Damnit. I hit on a good load with both bullets right away - first try. Velocity was right where I expected it to be, no bulging cases, flattened primers, gun cycled flawlessly, even locked the bolt back when the magazine got empty. Impacts threw berm dirt up in the air three feet.

I was soooo bummed out.:pde:

So this morning I went and got some 230 grain .30 cal Bergers, some A1680, and some magnum small rifle primers.:hypnotized:

[FLT]

Where did you find the A1680? If you don't mind my asking.

[BlueBronco]

The result . . think of a dandelion in the breeze. "POOF!" and it is just not there anymore. Nothing but little tufts of fur floating on the breeze.

By the way . . . . I am officially depressed.

I have some 168 and 175 grain match bullets in .30, and some H110. So I made the first batch of supersonic ammo for my gun. Damnit. I hit on a good load with both bullets right away - first try. Velocity was right where I expected it to be, no bulging cases, flattened primers, gun cycled flawlessly, even locked the bolt back when the magazine got empty. Impacts threw berm dirt up in the air three feet.

I was soooo bummed out.:pde:

So this morning I went and got some 230 grain .30 cal Bergers, some A1680, and some magnum small rifle primers.:hypnotized:

With the bullet weight, you are going the direction folks usually go for subsonic loads. However, you are doing they way would be inclined to.

[Rumbler]

I figured if I couldn't have any fun at one end of the spectrum (supersonic) maybe I can have some at the other end. :p

[BR549]

I dont get it, why depressed?
The result . . think of a dandelion in the breeze. "POOF!" and it is just not there anymore. Nothing but little tufts of fur floating on the breeze.

By the way . . . . I am officially depressed.

I have some 168 and 175 grain match bullets in .30, and some H110. So I made the first batch of supersonic ammo for my gun. Damnit. I hit on a good load with both bullets right away - first try. Velocity was right where I expected it to be, no bulging cases, flattened primers, gun cycled flawlessly, even locked the bolt back when the magazine got empty. Impacts threw berm dirt up in the air three feet.

I was soooo bummed out.:pde:

So this morning I went and got some 230 grain .30 cal Bergers, some A1680, and some magnum small rifle primers.:hypnotized:

[Rumbler]

Because I didn't get to experiment !!


I LIKE experimenting. :p


On the plus side . . . .


I did load up some 230gr bullets this morning early. They are AWESOME. My Gawd if they had had those in Somalia the skinnies would have been getting simultaneous entry and exit wounds. Them suckers must be about an inch and a half long! They would have had boat tail sticking out the front and hollow point sticking out the back at the same time!

Those I am going to get to experiment with. They are subsonic for sure, JD didn't even need ears to shoot them out of his unsuppressed 300 AR. And they hit like a ton of bricks!! They even eject just fine. But the bolt doesn't *quite* go back far enough every time to strip a new round out of the magazine. Three out of five, yeah, but no joy with two out of the five. The bolt closes and locks, but not with a cartridge in the chamber.


I can dang sure fix that !!!! Mo'pawder! Mo Pawder! :banana: