300 blackout was a mistake

I regret getting on the 300BLK bandwagon. It sounds better on paper than it really is. About the only advantage I see it having over 7.62x39 now is the ease of use in an AR platform. That's nice & all, but between the lengths I have to go through to make SURE I don't mix mags w/ 5.56, along with the fact any accuracy gain I might have seen is made moot since it's basically a 200-yard gun, I'm no longer feeling the love. I could have bought 2 good AKs for the same price as one top-tier AR. On the upside, it won't be hard to get rid of these days. On the downside, it will be nearly impossible to replace.

Anyone else drink the 300AAC kool-aid & get indigestion?

 

Nope, I don't have a can.... so absolutely no other reason to have one.

Sell it quick, still lots of fanbois out there that haven't figured it out yet.

 

I think it has its positives in an SBR, which is why I bought one. I only shoot supersonic. And the more efficient burn of the larger bore helps the muzzle pressure go down, which is easier on the ears and sinuses.

If the 6.5 Grendel was made with a standard bolt face and able to use the same parts as a 5.56 then this would have been a winner

 

Well no wonder.

It's a cartridge that makes a no-papers, PDW-ish size weapon civilized sounding, and it's practical for cast bullets to boot.

I can't think of a reason to buy a premium AR in .300BO. . . the cartridge limits anything that 'premium' might get you. $500-$600 is about right. It's the wrong answer for everything you were apparently looking for; it's the right answer for a working guys PDW.

I think you bought the wrong one.

 

Couldn't have said it better if I tried. Come to think of it, I did try - and failed. Hats off for stating my problem so succinctly!

Not the wrong one, though. The right answer for me, in retrospect, was an AK. Mag compatibility w/ 5.56 ARs around is a negative, not a plus. Optics past red dots are pointless, so flat-top rails have little luster. A pistol is never as much pistol as it could be when you have a fixed buffer tube. I have little love for AKs - which is probably why I sold myself so readily on 300 - but it seems a more appropriate tool for the role of a rifle-caliber PDW or brush gun. I could reload for either - the difference being - I only have to for 300.

 

This is what I've always said about the .300 BO. No other logical reason to have one IMO.

 

At conversational distances, in small confined quarters, as a SBR with a can shooting heavy subsonic projectiles.... it's probably the sh it.

But I get really tired of the "it's 308 ballistics in a 223 package" story.

And when I see two loaded mags sitting in proximity to each other, one 300 wspr, the other 5.56 I get kinda nervous.

 

16” carbine, I’ll take 7.62x39 any day of the week.

but for HD it’s hard to beat...

9” 300 BO with a can
110gr Barnes TacTX @2,050 FPS
Or
200, 220 gr Makers Bullets subsonic

 

I've got 300 BLKs in 16 and 10 inch, and love them both. I built them for my wants/needs and they fit. My 5.56 ARs only use 30 round mags, and my 300s only use well-marked 20 rounders. No problem.
If any of you 300 haters have any factory subsonic ammo for sale, please let me know. I'd be happy to unburden you.

 

If you want to sell it, let me know. I’m applying for a suppressor

But no, I’m not paying stupid high panic prices. I won’t get my stamp until March at the best

 

Or maybe a Ruger Mini?

I follow your reasoning here. Last fall I had some determination to buy three AR lower receivers while they were cheap, "just in case," but I just couldn't muster enough desire for anything I could build with them and never did buy the lowers just for posterity's sake. Now it's too late -- at least for a while. The one AR-style gun that I could possibly see myself truly appreciating would be a pistol or SBR in 300 with a suppressor and a piston (no buffer tube) -- ala the MCX Rattlers. But that's a lot of money and NFA paperwork for a house gun. I could put the $3K to $4K in capex plus the training expense for carbine classes (at least another few thousand dollars) all into training with my handgun and get a better result for my real needs. So I talked myself out all of it and the 300 altogether.

I'm also not a fan of rails. While I see the point of them -- they make perfect sense -- I don't want them because I don't change my optics. I'm never changing out my optics or adding or subtracting "accessorization." I want to setup a gun with a sight, and I'm almost always going to want the sight as close to the bore as possible. I understand why some people want quad rails, straight stocks, and high-mounted multiple optics, but I don't. I'm willing to train to fight with an erector set, but if I'm buying, I'll do it differently.

I already hinted at how I preferred the piston (no buffer tube) receivers for "pistol" PDW's and besides the piston AR's, there are also AK's and Minis. I have a bolt gun in Grendel and that cartridge does everything I could ever want in a non-handgun. I'd love to see an obtainable AK or Mini in Grendel. I know they made some Mini's in 6.8 SPC for a while, and that's cool but I'm already vested in Grendel. Since the Grendel has the same bolt face as the 7.62x39, it seems like it should be an easy chambering for an AK or Mini-30. I don't really expect everyone to "see the Grendel light" though. A lot of people did "get it" but now things are moving on and it's more about 6 ARC at the moment and I know Ruger or Arsenel/Krebs/WASR/etc. aren't going to chamber for every new cartridge that comes along. Probably people will say there's no reason to chamber for these cartridges in guns like the AK and Mini that can't shoot accurate enough for the range you'd gain. So I'm sticking with my bolt gun until something more compelling comes along. 300 isn't it.

 

I was very close to buying a 300BLK upper, but decided at the last minute at the checkout page, to go against it. Sure, it's easily suppressed and works well out of a short barrel, but the cons out weight the pros. With all this craziness going on, should have gone ahead and bought it and traded it off for something else. For now, my 16" carbine will work just fine and have plenty of ammo for it.

 

I fought the 300 BLK crowd forever. Buddy of mine gave me about 500 rounds of premium 300 BLK ammo after he sold his rifle. That was enough reason for me to start an SBR build. I do think worrying about mixing up mags is a silly reason to regret a certain cartridge. I have 5.56, 6.5 G, 6.8 SPC, 300 BLK and 458 SOCOM rifles sitting in the safe. Never been close to mixing up ammo. All of my rifles and mags have different color furniture and mags, so that makes it pretty easy.

As far as the round itself, I’d never have gotten onboard without all that ammo being gifted to me, but it’s fun for what it is. I shoot it suppressed and that’s really what it was designed for. It’s never going to replace any of my other cartridges for hunting purposes, but it’s a cool round. Variety is the spice of life.

 

Have a 16” and an 8.5”. Luv’em both. Yeah maybe not a 500 yard gun but the 16” is so precise at 50 yards that I want to take the 4x scope off it, put something stronger on, and see what it would do at 150. The 8.5” is my bedside gun. Red dot and front end laser, ready day and night. I use bright yellow bases on the 300BO mags and keep then in entirely separate places than the 223s. No 308 suppressor, but I like the thump of the round too much to suppress it. Both my 300s, total builds, were under $650 total.

 

For home/property defense, it's perfect, with a short barrel, subsonic ammo, and a can (which is in the works). No better round, at 25 - 150 yards......self-defense distance.

 

got one for component shortages that last years... H110, 2400 and 30m1c bullets are a lot easier to get than h335, and 55fmj's.biggest advantage over AK? 21c/shot, and reloadable Haven't seen the 7.62 that cheap in 17 years. Better accuracy too . VMax makes it a 400 yard rifle. I spent about $640 on it. Game legal in WA., and that was part of the appeal. Happy with the cal. Rifle weighs 6.2lb with an empty magazine, vs 8.5 for the lightest AKM's

 

For me the only reason to own a 300 blk is to use it like a 22 LR but with a lot more power. I use only subsonic. They really work well on varmints in the yard. I would not like to be without one.

I also reload so it is very cheap with free 223 brass, pistol powder, and inexpensive 168 grain bullets.

 

I like my AR and just got a Ruger American Ranch a couple months ago. With the Ruger American Ranch I can shoot subsonic cast bullet loads for well under $.10 a piece. For a load that’ll function in a AR I’m right around $.10 a piece.

If I didn’t reload and cast my own bullets the other rounds mentioned would probably be just as good but the cartridge is super efficient and much easier/better for shooting cast bullets compared to 5.56. For plinking at 50, 100, or 200 yards it’s a great round. For home defense I’d take the subsonic round over the concussion from a 5.56 round.

 

I've had 2. A 16" unsuppressed that I hunted with 125 grain supersonics, and an 8.5" that I out a can on. I'm really not that enthused with it either. The 16" was fine for pigs and deer at East Texas distances. But the 8.5"........well, it's a nice sized package but with supers the velocity maxes out at 2000fps, and drops pretty fast. I was having bullet expansion issues at 100 yds. So I went with Barnes tac-tx bullets, but they"re SO expensive. I just find that I never reach for it. If I'm going hunting, I grab the 16-inch 6.5 Grendel. If I'm going to the range to just plink around, I grab the 8 inch 9 mm upper. If I didn't have a bunch of components and loaded ammo, I'd dump it in a heartbeat in favor of a shorter Grendel barrel.

 

300 blackout definitely has positives, they just might not apply to you. It sounds to me like you bought it for the wrong reasons in the first place. You mentioned an accuracy gain. 300 blackout is an accurate cartridge but no more so than 5.56 or 7.62x39 and never has been. I've never heard anyone suggest that it was. Also you mentioned 200 yard range. Nobody should ever be buying a 300 blackout if long distance shooting is in the cards. Its not a target round, its not a cheap range plinker, its meant to offer more terminal effectiveness at short range from short barrels than a 5.56 and also to shoot heavy suppressed bullets. Thats it.

 

I guess it depends on your expectations and the entry/operating costs.

I wasn't an early adopter, but when the price of a complete rifle dropped to under $500, I got one to use for shooting suppressed subsonic.

I already had a .30 cal can and more 5.56 brass than I'll ever use, so pretty much the only other thing I had to buy was a Lee 230 grain mold and I was in business.

My lead is free and I get almost 1000 rounds from a pound of 2400.

Except for the sound of those big bullets THWACKING into the backstop, it's almost as quiet as my suppressed 10/22, but a lot more fun to shoot. I love taking folks that are unfamiliar with suppressed weapons out shooting, LOTS of grins and giggles.

I never bought into the hype of "almost 30-30" or even "almost 7.62×39" power and I don't really care. I've got better hunting and defensive weapons.

 

300 in Magpul 5.56 in GI problem solved

 

I put my 300 blk together 3 years ago for under $450 when AR parts were cheap. I separate and label mags so no issue there. Just got my can this month. I wanted a pistol caliber carbine in an AR and got what I wanted plus. No complaints at all.