Suppressed .300BO Kit recommendation

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edwardware

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I've searched through the archive and I don't see a recent answer, so:

I've been asked to recommend a .300BO AR-15 rifle and suppressor kit for taking southeastern deer, from a stand, within 100 yards, preferably ~$2k all told. The BIG back yard is legal to hunt, but it would be nice if the neighbors didn't know.

I know enough to spec' the rifle (flat-top, adjustable gas, suppressor-ready threads,etc), but I know very little about the commercial suppressor market. .300BO only is fine, weight isn't an issue.

So what's a reliable entry-level, .300BO suppressor for hunting?
 
This will be an off the wall suggestion but look at AAC's new Jaeger-30 suppressor. (https://www.advanced-armament.com/Jaeger-30_p_752.html) is a 300 Win Mag rated 30-cal can. It is very affordable ($449.99 MSRP) and will work very nicely with 300 BO and give you room to go up in cartridge if you want. It is a fairly light can being a titanium primary expansion chamber and then an aluminum tube and mono-core. It was designed as a hunting can.
 
The CGS Hyperion would be a great choice, but it's expensive. Like more than TBAC expensive.

That said, if you're hunting with it, you'll be using supersonic rounds, so the cans which perform really well with subsonic ammo are not as much a requirement. I don't think you could go wrong with a YHM Resonator or Rex Selentium MG series, which are very wallet friendly.
 
Why? Using a super round defeats the purpose. I would have expected a subsonic round to be perfectly suitable inside 100 yards. Isn't it?

A lot of people are going to argue that sub-sonic 300 BO is not sufficient for deer. You will have to do your research to find good ammo that is sub-sonic, accurate, and still expands at those low impact velocities. It is out there but you will have look for it. Even with a good bullet/ammo you only going to have ~540 ft-lbs or less of energy to play with. That will not leave much margin for error. Personally I would and have hunted deer with sub-sonic 300 BO although I have not yet killed a deer with it. I have killed a few other things with my 300 BO, suppressor, and ammo and it has worked well so far. If I ever do get a chance on a deer it will be done so only with very high percentage shots. A shot I might have risked with my 450 Bushmaster or 270 Win might require me to pass on if I am using my 300 BO.
 
Why? Using a super round defeats the purpose. I would have expected a subsonic round to be perfectly suitable inside 100 yards. Isn't it?

Sure, if you like wounding animals.

The objective with a suppressor for hunting it to make the weapon hearing safe. The animals are gonna hear the shot loud & clear whether it's low 120 dBs or mid 130s. Furthermore, with supersonic rounds, you have a better chance of confusing them because the sonic crack will be louder than the shot. With subs, they'll be able to tell where it came from and go the other way.
 
Sure, if you like wounding animals.

The objective with a suppressor for hunting it to make the weapon hearing safe. The animals are gonna hear the shot loud & clear whether it's low 120 dBs or mid 130s. Furthermore, with supersonic rounds, you have a better chance of confusing them because the sonic crack will be louder than the shot. With subs, they'll be able to tell where it came from and go the other way.

The coyote I missed this summer with a sub-sonic had no idea were I was after the first shot. The shot missed him hit the ground about 15 feet behind him and that is what he heard and thus came running right at me. I missed two more times at he started jinking back and forth as he ran. He never new I was there.
 
The animals are gonna hear the shot loud & clear whether it's low 120 dBs or mid 130s.
In this case, it's about the neighbors hearing it. . . and having a cool toy. It would however by highly undesirable to have to go retrieve the deer from the neighbor's pasture. . .

It seems that a subsonic .300 blackout is going to be roughly equal to a 180gr 357 mag round. Sounds like you're saying it's not enough to quickly knock them down. How about the .45x caliber subsonic choices?
 
The problem with subsonic 300 AAC isn’t energy so much as transferring it. The bullets loaded in subsonic ammo are heavy, but they are not really engineered to expand at the 1000fps or less impact velocity, so what you likely get is a .308” hole drilled through the animal. With a lung hit a motivated deer could run a very long way before it finally bleeds out.

If you MUST shoot deer with subsonic bullets then consider a 450 Bushmaster or (even better) 458 SOCOM. Or just go supersonic with the Blackout and accept that you’re going to be a little louder.
 
The problem with subsonic 300 AAC isn’t energy so much as transferring it. The bullets loaded in subsonic ammo are heavy, but they are not really engineered to expand at the 1000fps or less impact velocity, so what you likely get is a .308” hole drilled through the animal. With a lung hit a motivated deer could run a very long way before it finally bleeds out.

If you MUST shoot deer with subsonic bullets then consider a 450 Bushmaster or (even better) 458 SOCOM. Or just go supersonic with the Blackout and accept that you’re going to be a little louder.

This is not completely true. There are several makers making good 308 bullets specifically engineered to expand at subsonic velocities. Hornady, Lehigh, and Maker Bullets and I have probably missed a few newer makers.

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This is a 220 gr REX from Maker Bullets it was fired subsonic into one gallon milk jugs filled with water at 50 yards. It split the first two wide open, made a very ragged hole through the third, and was found in the forth milk jug. 100% weight retention

I fired one into a 12 oz Gatorade bottle and it was clear from the exit hole it had already expand from that little amount of water.

Results on armadillos last weekend also showed excellent expansion even on such tough hides as that.

Certainly not all 308 bullets are right for 300 BO subsonic loads but appropriated bullets are available and work well.

45 caliber rifle cartridges loaded subsonic can easily double the energy of 300 BO subsonic. This would certainly broaden your margin of error but it's not quite as easy or cheap to do as 300 BO.
 
I have a blackout, but I keep wondering why. Even subsonic they're loud out of an Ar (to the shooter) and I have no faith in my ability to kill with it. It can be done, but not by me. In supersonic form, it's a lot better, but, as long as you are supersonic, why not go with a much better round like a 6.5 grendel or a 6.8 SPC?
But I'd do a bolt gun in 6.5 with a resonator in the end and call it done.
$500 can
200 tax
300-600 rifle
Up to $700-1000 for a scope and ammo if you do t want to save the extra money.
 
Bullet selection is huge when shooting heavies that slow.

Shooting a super at a critter makes bullet selection much easier. A suppressed super will sound about like a 22 to someones ear.

So if you dont think they will notice a single 22 shot from a few hundred yards away, supers are fine. If you need Hollywood quiet, spend the $$$ on Lehigh bullets or something like them.
 
How about the .45x caliber subsonic choices?

Unfortunately, the big bores just don't suppress as well. The bigger the caliber, the bigger the suppressor bore needs to be, and the faster the gasses escape. Subsonic .450 BM, .45-70, etc. is just about as loud as supersonic .30 cal, end generally more offensive at shooter's ear. Unless you use a cumbersome monster of a can (think 2+" OD and 14+" long), those rounds are gonna be over 135 dBA, on par with full power .308/.30-06 through a decent ~1.5" OD 8"-9" long .30 suppressor.

I don't know what your neighbor situation looks like, but my end of the neighborhood I live in is fairly rural, my immediate neighbors on 4-5 acres and I'm on 7. I fire full power rifle rounds out back on a regular basis and it doesn't bother any of them. Decibels attenuate by 6 for every doubling of distance, so 135 by the time it gets to a neighbor's place two or three hundred yards away is not very loud. 135 dB measured at 1 yard attenuates to 88 dB at 200 yards, which is about the volume of toilet flushing. If they're inside the house and windows are closed, they can't detect the shot at all.
 
Unfortunately, the big bores just don't suppress as well. The bigger the caliber, the bigger the suppressor bore needs to be, and the faster the gasses escape. Subsonic .450 BM, .45-70, etc. is just about as loud as supersonic .30 cal, end generally more offensive at shooter's ear. Unless you use a cumbersome monster of a can (think 2+" OD and 14+" long), those rounds are gonna be over 135 dBA, on par with full power .308/.30-06 through a decent ~1.5" OD 8"-9" long .30 suppressor.

I don't know what your neighbor situation looks like, but my end of the neighborhood I live in is fairly rural, my immediate neighbors on 4-5 acres and I'm on 7. I fire full power rifle rounds out back on a regular basis and it doesn't bother any of them. Decibels attenuate by 6 for every doubling of distance, so 135 by the time it gets to a neighbor's place two or three hundred yards away is not very loud. 135 dB measured at 1 yard attenuates to 88 dB at 200 yards, which is about the volume of toilet flushing. If they're inside the house and windows are closed, they can't detect the shot at all.

I worked-up a 450 Bushmaster subsonic load and using my friend's Hybrid 45 (still saving for a big bore suppressor for myself) it sounded pretty good. Almost as quiet at my 300 BO pistol. Yes the big bore does make it harder to suppress due to the larger aperture in the suppressor but the exit pressure is so low from a big bore rifle length barrels that it sort of compensates for the larger aperture. It only takes 16.5 gr of propellant to push a 405gr bullet to 1050fps in my 20-inch 450 BM. The muzzle exit pressure is roughly 1000 psi when the bullet exits. My 300 BO load uses only 10.2 of propellant but due to the small bore area is over 2500 psi at the muzzle of a 16-inch barrel and closer to 4000 PSI from my 9.5 inch barrel. Again if you take the time to work up suppressor friendly loads the big bores can be pretty quiet. And the down range performance also increases 450 Bushmaster is pushing nearly 1000 ft-lbs at the muzzle sub-sonic.

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405 gr bullet in 450 Bushmaster sub-sonic
 
My 300 B-O is a Ruger American ranch. It wears a silencerco omega. I cleanly took a deer with it last year (it crashed within view of where it was standing when it was hit). I highly recommend the Hornady sub-x for this application, to a max distance of 100 yards.
 
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