300 aac bolt guns

[yoteassasin]

Well, your assumption/implication that I am a nerd in his parents basement sitting behind a computer rather than getting his knowledge and experience in the real world is far from accurate my friend. But I do get why you might assume that. Those call of duty games brought a whole new generation to the gun world when they turned 18.

That said, most of what I know about 300 blackout is from the internet. Because the round is new. It is post "my time". Post my youth when I was deployed to the far reaches of the world to combat famine and genocide. In my day it was pretty much all about 5.56mm and 9mm.. For a special few it was about the 7.62mm. We didn't go looking for alternatives, because we didn't need them. What we had worked. It was what we were issued and all we knew.

No, I didn't grow up on a ranch. That would have been nice. I did not grow up hunting either. Dad was scared of mom, rightfully so, and mom said no. My gun knowledge is not from that world. I grew up in suburbia, and most of what I know about guns I learned from my time in the military. As well as what I learned by taking courses afterwards. It is all from a how do I stay alive in a ____ storm perspective. Not a what will keep the wolves from eating my flock perspective. Not everyone born in my perspective got it from TV, the inernet and videogames.

But I do appreciate the explination above for your preferrances and background. Thank you. But I am still not clear on what game the 300 blackout is best for and when it would be superior for hunting than other rounds. That was what I was hoping someone could explain. Not that I really need to know. I won't be doing it myself any time soon. I'm just curious.

You missed my assessment ... Bigggly . It was simply an observation regarding the way the question was framed ... the jist of my reply was to say the 300 is best for me when I think so, and some times it's not ..
It's quiet , small , cheap to load , smaller guns are nicer to hike with , it's just right ... for now

[tacticalcity]

You missed my assessment ... Bigggly . It was simply an observation regarding the way the question was framed ... the jist of my reply was to say the 300 is best for me when I think so, and some times it's not ..
It's quiet , small , cheap to load , smaller guns are nicer to hike with , it's just right ... for now

300 Whisper/Blackout was designed as a solution to a military problem. It was and is part of the search for a more effective alternative to 5.56mm by those who belived the 5.56mm was failing to stop too often in the field. The ability to make it quieter when suppressed is what allowed it it become successful when so many others failed and faded away. So it seems only natural to me to frame the questions about the round from that perspective. But again, given my background, to me it almost always seems natural to approach a subject like this from that perspective.

I guess cheap is relative. I can't find it to save my life right now. It certainly seems expensive as heck. But the same is certainly true of 308. Heck, it all seems pricey these days.

223 seems, at least to me, cheaper and easier to find at the moment. Between the change in the laws regarding ammo and the havoc COVID has waged on the supply chain find ammo is not easy anymore.

As far as quiet goes. Is that compared to 223 or 308? I own an upper chambered in 300 Whisper/Blackout. But that is a relatively new purchase. I have yet to find any ammo for it instock anywhere. So I have yet to be able to experience it and compare it to other rounds in real life...yet.

Your tips/knowledge is much appreciated.

[yoteassasin]

I guess cheap is relative. I can't find it to save my life right now. When I do it is expensive as heck. But the same is certainly true of 308...which is far more expensive.

223 seems, at least to me, cheaper and easier to find at the moment. During our one day of freedom I found a bunch of greentip 5.56mm and ordered every penny of it I could afford. But there was no 300 blackout to be found in stock anywhere. Haven't seen much of anything worth purchasing on the shelves in the local stores in a long while. Not that I venture out much anymore. This COVID mess has changed my shopping and social habbits big time.

As far as quiet goes. Is that compared to 223 or 308? I own an upper chambered in 300 Whisper/Blackout. But that is a relatively new purchase. I have yet to find any instock anywhere. So I have yet to be able to experience it and compare it to other rounds in real life...yet.

Your tips/knowledge is much appreciated.

[tacticalcity]

Sound is a product of both speed (sonic boom) and the explosion ( powder burn )
Generally speaking rifles use slower burning powder than pistols ( to generate pressure) well most loads for the 300 use pistol powder and it is completely done burning by the time the bullet leaves the barrel . Making it quieter , and I have 308 bullets and pistol powder .. so in my world it’s cheaper .

Forgive me, I am new to this. I assume the subsonic rounds are going to quieter than the non-subsonic rounds?

I'm told the design of my rifle is best with lighter non-subsonic rounds. 145gr or less. Due to the carbine length gas tube the heavier rounds don't feed as well. So I assume I am going to be loud no matter what? Am I wrong?

I apologize for hijacking the thread a little. I know I am straying off topic. Can't help it. You've got my curiosity stoked. Quiet would be nice.

[MongooseV8]

Yes same as a 45acp vs 9mm. Typical 9mm loads break the sound barrier while typical 45acp rounds do not. 9mm will be louder in most cases.

[deckhandmike]

Why not just shoot .308? I like small calibers for hunting but I use 5.56 and 6.8spc. If I had a bunch of .308 bullets I’d just shoot 308.

[sigstroker]

Yes, subsonic is quieter than supersonic but it's still not quiet. Fire a .45 if you want proof.

[ar15barrels]

Forgive me, I am new to this. I assume the subsonic rounds are going to quieter than the non-subsonic rounds?

I'm told the design of my rifle is best with lighter non-subsonic rounds. 145gr or less. Due to the carbine length gas tube the heavier rounds don't feed as well. So I assume I am going to be loud no matter what?

Your choice of a rifle that does not run reliably simply makes it so that YOUR rifle will not be as quiet as a rifle with a pistol length gas system which will run subsonics.
Even still, those 145's at 1700fps that you can run are WAY quieter than 55gr bullets at 2800fps.

[ar15barrels]

Won't run in subsonic.
Burns way more powder than you NEED to do the job at hand.
Makes way more blast than you NEED to do the job at hand.
It doesn't take much to kill small dogs.

[ar15barrels]

Yes, subsonic is quieter than supersonic but it's still not quiet.
Fire a .45 if you want proof.

If you are talking about a typical 230gr 850fps hardball type load from a 5" barrel, that will typically have about 2800psi while a 240gr subsonic 300 blackout from a 16" barrel will have 2100psi at the muzzle.

It's the pressure at the muzzle that determines how loud the gun will be.

The 240gr 300 blackout has 594 ft-lbs of energy at the muzzle while the louder 230gr 45acp has 373 ft-lbs of energy at the muzzle.

The further away from the muzzle you go, the bigger the spread of energy between the two because the 240gr 30 caliber does not lose nearly as much energy as the 230gr 45 does as it flies.

[tacticalcity]

Your choice of a rifle that does not run reliably simply makes it so that YOUR rifle will not be as quiet as a rifle with a pistol length gas system which will run subsonics.
Even still, those 145's at 1700fps that you can run are WAY quieter than 55gr bullets at 2800fps.

Is that it won't reliably run anything? Or is it that it won't reliably run subsonics? I was under the impression the later was the case. Which is fine for me. Since I don't have a suppressor. Only pain is that finding 300 blackout is hard enough. Finding specific grain 300 blackout is even harder right now.

It's a $700 upper I bought on whim ($639.99 + shipping off Gunbroker). Not exactly a choice as much as nothing else from S&W was available thing. Certainly not a life choice. LOL.

I have yet to find ammo in stock to test the darn thing out. I did pour a little bit more money into it replacing the ugly YHM hider and putting a longer forend on it. But I still have the original parts should I ever decide to sell it. Figure $800 total invested if I had to guess? Not including all the bells and whistles that would just be transfered to a different upper should I decide to sell it.

Thanks for the explination about noise differences. Had no idea. It's nice to know.

[ar15barrels]

the ruger American doesn’t seem worth the $500 everyone wants for it ..

It's a sub $700 upper I bought on whim.

So your upper was almost $200 more than a complete rifle that will work with any 300 blackout load sold...

[tacticalcity]

First, sorry I hijacked your thread OP. Did not mean to.

In response to the above post:

Apples and oranges. Semi-auto vs. bolt action. Plus would not have met my particular and unique needs then or now.

I needed an upper for my S&W complete lower I already owned and wanted it to be from the same brand. This was and as far as I know still is the only S&W AR Upper available on the market. I don't think S&W makes just uppers anymore. I thought about going used but none were available at the time. So it was this or nothing. And who knows how long this would have even remained an option? Enventually they'll be sold out and gone forever.

It is also, as far as name brand uppers go...pretty darn affordable. My other uppers cost well over $1000 each. Both of which I got onsale after drastic markdowns.

I did not and do not need another bolt action rifle. I wasn't buying something for the sake of getting a 300 blackout rifle. I just wanted to complete my rifle I already own. Now I'm trying to learn more about what I found/own.

I am not advocating the OP buy what I bought. I am also not advocating semi-auto over bolt action. That's just what I happen to own.

But then again, you hate my bolt action rifle too. While I couldn't be happier with it.

[ar15barrels]

I needed an upper for my S&W complete lower I already owned and wanted it to be from the same brand.
This was and as far as I know still is the only S&W AR Upper available on the market.
Now I'm trying to learn more about what I found/own.

Stick with full speed loads from 110 to 150ish grains and your bullets will behave just like a 30-30 or 7.62x39 bullet would.
If you reload, there are a couple very specific powder/bullet combinations that can be made to run subsonic in a carbine gassed 16" 300 blackout barrel.

[tacticalcity]

Stick with full speed loads from 110 to 150ish grains and your bullets will behave just like a 30-30 or 7.62x39 bullet would.
If you reload, there are a couple very specific powder/bullet combinations that can be made to run subsonic in a carbine gassed 16" 300 blackout barrel.

Thank you for the info. Never went down the reloading route. Just don't have the space for the equipment. Don't think I have the patience to do it right either. Maybe when I get older I'll learn some. Seems like a fun way to fill those retirement hours.