Hatin’ on the 300 BO?

[David Hoback]

Does 300 BO in an AR run cast bullets without lead getting into the gas system?

Just taking a guess… You’ve “heard” from perhaps a trusted friend, or maybe even read somewhere that lead can PLUG the AR’s gas system? It’s a Shooter’s urban myth. Lead can’t hurt the gas system even a little. The AR15 faces the same issues using lead that that any other firearm does. The lead leaves deposits in the rifling lands & grooves. Not to mention any microscopic imperfection becomes “leaded”. That’s all. It’s just fouling, like any other fouling. No, it’s the good ol’, run of the mill Nitro (Carbon) Fouling that “can” plug an AR’s gas system. However, this would take some serious neglect of cleaning & many, many firing sequences to actually accomplish.

 

[DMW1116]

That crossed my mind but I’m more concerned about small shavings or bits going through the gas system and into my face as I shoot left handed. I could see the edges of the gas port cutting off some of the lead and it getting blown into the system and out of the ejection port.

 

[LAH]

Nothing against the round. I'm just a 30-30 shooter.

 

[mcb]

I know a heap of 300 AAC Blackout haters. Met two new haters this evening, here's a picture of the last with one of my 300 BO just for spite.

 

[adcoch1]

Does that count? Doesn’t it have to be pinned and welded?

Yes it has to be pinned and welded, but you can form 1 a suppressor on a barrel and use the overall length of the barrel as the length on the tax stamp. Bingo, one stamp gun...

 

[PapaG]

Only problem is that I think it used to be called "the 300 Whisper."

 

[mcb]

Only problem is that I think it used to be called "the 300 Whisper."

The problem was the guy trying to call it 300 Whisper was also trying to make it proprietary so no one could make guns and ammo in it but him. Thankfully Remington had already learned that lesson the hard way with a few catridges like 5mm Remington Mag and they pushed the cartridge with minor changes to improve it to SAAMI renaming it 300 AAC Blackout.

 

[wesmonster]

I shoot .300bo out of several ARs, a Ruger Am Ranch and a Mini-14.
I works for what I need to do.
If anyone doesn't see the value of .300bo that's fine. Plenty if other great calibers to choose from.
I also have an AR in 7,62x39, great for cheap plinking but the .300bo AR carbine beats it in accuracy at 100 yards. And my 8" AR .300bo pistol gets way more use than my 12" AK pistol.
Over the past few years a lot of AR makers came out with .300bo versions. Brands that were typically only available in 5.56. And when ammo prices shot up after the last panic, .300bo shot up the highest. That's the price of fame, baby.

 

[marksman13]

I hate it. I’ve got one, but I don’t remember the last time I shot it or even drug it out of the safe to be honest. I only built one because a buddy of mine gave me a bunch of ammo after he sold his. It’s not the worst cartridge in the world, but it just doesn’t do anything particularly well other than cycle with subsonic ammo.

 

[someguy2800]

I dont hate 300blk, but I do like 7.62x39 better as the factory ammo is usually cheaper, even with brass x39 ammo. But 7.62x39 in an AR can be tricky sometimes... But if you reload, they cost about the same. The only thing 300blk has over x39 is much better support for subsonic loadings, as x39 subsonic loadings are very hard to find reputable data for.

The big advantage that I see in 300 blackout for the reloader over X39 is that brass for the blackout is incredibly plentiful, either if your buying it, or converting it yourself from 556 brass. Reloadable brass for X39 tends to be difficult to find and much more expensive. Also since 300 blackout generally uses magnum pistol powders, it’s usually easier to find suitable powders for it. There are only a few powders that work well in X39 like 1680, but this is much harder to find, at least for me. This has changed recently since hodgdon released CFE BLK. I can always find that in stock locally. Also on the bullet side of things, of course 308 bullets are much more abundant than .311 bullets, but my x39 happily shoots .308 bullets very accurately.

I think X39 makes more sense if you are going to buy ammo for obvious reasons, or if you need top performance for hunting. If you intend to handload plinking or subsonic ammo, 300 blackout is easier to live with in my opinion.

 

[valnar]

I don't hate it, but I don't have a use for it. I suppose if you were starting from scratch as a new shooter it makes a lot of sense, but if you want to shoot both subsonic and supersonic loads you'd need two uppers/rifles or spend a lot of time re-zeroing your sights.

For us seasoned shooters that already have a 9mm PCC and 7.62x39 rifle of some flavor, I have those uses already covered, and for less $$.

 

[mcb]

I don't hate it, but I don't have a use for it. I suppose if you were starting from scratch as a new shooter it makes a lot of sense, but if you want to shoot both subsonic and supersonic loads you'd need two uppers/rifles or spend a lot of time re-zeroing your sights.

For us seasoned shooters that already have a 9mm PCC and 7.62x39 rifle of some flavor, I have those uses already covered, and for less $$.

Just write down the zero change from one ammo to the other...

 

[dieselchief]

lets see. uses cheap magazines, cheap brass, a powder i already have for both 44 mag and 410 shotgun, can mount a scope on it. doesn't ring my ears, doesn't piss off the neighbors like a full size cartridge would.
....uses bullets left over from a bunch of other 30 cal rifles i have. recoil is mild,(a 68 year old fudd). duh.

 

[wesmonster]

Same mags & bolt is also a big factor in .300bo popularity. I know someone who wanted a better deer round than 5.56 but as cheap as possible. He bought a .300bo upper minus bcg and uses his existing bcg. He only hunts with it so he buys like one or two boxes of ammo a year. At the range it's 5.56 all the time, then when hunting season rolls around he'll bring out the .300bo for a half mag's worth of shots to make sure his optics are still dialed in, and that's it.

I've got ARs in a half dozen calibers and while most were pretty simple to get to a reliable place, .300bo is hands diwn the easiest variant caliber to jump in to.

 

[gotboostvr]

It's an excellent cartridge, as long as it's capabilities match your requirements.

It does a few things better than 99% of cartridges, and other things about as well as the other couple dozen popular, intermediate sized, 30cal carbine cartridges.

Being said, I've got a barrel, a lower and other parts, a few boxes of ammo and even an appropriate suppressor, and no real plans to add them all up.

 

[mcb]

My two favorite subsonic loads. Maker 220gr REX on the left for hunting, Berry 220gr plated spire point for plinking.

Yesterday after checking zeros on my two deer rifles I was ringing a 6-inch gong at 100 yard with my 5-inch 300 BO (the pistol in the earlier post with the armadillo) going 9 of 10 shots using a red dot and 3x magnifier. The armadillo was killed with the bullet on the left, the REX is an exceptional expanding subsonic bullet.

I dug this one up, with the help of a metal detector, from another armadillo I killed earlier this summer. The expansion and weight retention is spectacular.

 

[gotboostvr]

If I had some land that needed patrolled for critters that needed more than a 22lr, I think a 300blk would be just the ticket.

Although, my AR9 would work almost as well and be cheaper to feed.

 

[FL-NC]

My 300 BLK is also the RAR. It is a great little rifle, like every Ruger product I have ever owned, it works just like advertised and is very accurate. I have taken a couple of deer with it using the Hornady Sub-X. These deer went down quickly, but the blood trail was not impressive. Mrs. Fl-NC lost a deer despite a well-placed shot at less than 30 yards with the sub-x, with very little blood on the ground to follow. Despite a long search with a dog, no deer. The next deer she shot with it was at a similar distance from the same blind with the Barnes round, (after having made the required adjustments on the scope). Again, perfect shot placement, but with this deer crashing about 50 yards from where it was shot. The wound damage was impressive, but very little blood deposited on the way to where the deer crashed. So 3 out of 4 deer were recovered, using 2 different rounds- 1 premium subsonic, the other a premium "fast" round. The common denominator in all 4 deer was a unimpressive blood trail. This combined with the jungle-like thick vegetation here in Fl make the 300 BLK "not my favorite". Its bad enough tracking a deer crawling with a flashlight through the thick stuff they tend to run into after being hit, but without a decent blood trail, its not so fun and the chances of successful recovery start piling up not in your favor. Just my experience with it on deer, but I wouldn't hesitate to use it on pests. Any deer hunting Mrs. Fl-NC does in the future will be with a 243, just for the blood trail. Every deer I ever shot with it that wasn't DRT leaked like a faucet.

 

[jdh]

Back when it looked like the HPA was going to pass I got a deal on a Mini14 in 300. A 220 grain bullet at just about 1000 fps does sound kinda familiar to another carbine I lost in a fire. Since I haven't been able to replace the Camp 45 the Mini seemed like a possible replacement. That coupled with the lighter supersonic loads being close to the Mini 30 lost in the same fire it seemed like a two birds, one stone situation.

 

[mcb]

My 300 BLK is also the RAR. It is a great little rifle, like every Ruger product I have ever owned, it works just like advertised and is very accurate. I have taken a couple of deer with it using the Hornady Sub-X. These deer went down quickly, but the blood trail was not impressive. Mrs. Fl-NC lost a deer despite a well-placed shot at less than 30 yards with the sub-x, with very little blood on the ground to follow. Despite a long search with a dog, no deer. The next deer she shot with it was at a similar distance from the same blind with the Barnes round, (after having made the required adjustments on the scope). Again, perfect shot placement, but with this deer crashing about 50 yards from where it was shot. The wound damage was impressive, but very little blood deposited on the way to where the deer crashed. So 3 out of 4 deer were recovered, using 2 different rounds- 1 premium subsonic, the other a premium "fast" round. The common denominator in all 4 deer was a unimpressive blood trail. This combined with the jungle-like thick vegetation here in Fl make the 300 BLK "not my favorite". Its bad enough tracking a deer crawling with a flashlight through the thick stuff they tend to run into after being hit, but without a decent blood trail, its not so fun and the chances of successful recovery start piling up not in your favor. Just my experience with it on deer, but I wouldn't hesitate to use it on pests. Any deer hunting Mrs. Fl-NC does in the future will be with a 243, just for the blood trail. Every deer I ever shot with it that wasn't DRT leaked like a faucet.

Yeah, I am not sure I would hunt deer even with my favorite subsonic 300 BO bullet, the Maker REX. I have seen lots of examples of success with that bullet on deer but the margin for error seem pretty tight compared to other cartridges. I hunted deer with 410 slugs that have more energy (but less range) than subsonic 300 BO and that margin for error required lots of care on my part to pull that off successfully. I have killed a heap of armadillos with my two 300 BO pistols but I have also lost a few into their holes. I am pretty sure most of those died relatively quickly but I would rather see them DRT than to run off and suffer. My deer rifles (also AR's in 450 BM and 30 RAR) are dramatically more effective on the armadillos compared to 300 BO but they are big heavy noisy guns and my 300 BO pistol is so coinvent and easy on the ears. That said, if you ever want to split all 9 bands on a 9-banded armadillo a classic Texas heart-shot with a 450 Bushmaster and a 275gr TSX will deliver satisfaction.

 

[earlthegoat2]

I’m not into pistol length ARs and that seems to be the only type of AR available when 300 Blk is the cartridge. Beyond that, it doesn’t interest me and I only use LH bolt guns anymore so it just isn’t worked into the cards for me.

I don’t hate it but I will not hesitate to call it useless….for me.

 

[mcb]

I’m not into pistol length ARs and that seems to be the only type of AR available when 300 Blk is the cartridge. Beyond that, it doesn’t interest me and I only use LH bolt guns anymore so it just isn’t worked into the cards for me.

I don’t hate it but I will not hesitate to call it useless….for me.

Yeah if I was going to do a long barrel 300 BO (I do have a 16-inch but it never gets used now that I have a 9 and 5 inch) to maximize ballistics I think I would just step up to 300 Ham'r. You sacrifice the ability to go subsonic but you gain a nice step up in super sonic performance with medium to light 30-cal bullets. But its hard to beat 300 BO for that sweet subsonic 30 cal experience especially in a manual action.

 

[jmorris]

It took awhile for me to get good results with it but that particular (110 gn TAC Tx) bullet finally made it work for me.

 

[Masonlaw1]

My 300 BLK is also the RAR. It is a great little rifle, like every Ruger product I have ever owned, it works just like advertised and is very accurate. I have taken a couple of deer with it using the Hornady Sub-X. These deer went down quickly, but the blood trail was not impressive. Mrs. Fl-NC lost a deer despite a well-placed shot at less than 30 yards with the sub-x, with very little blood on the ground to follow. Despite a long search with a dog, no deer. The next deer she shot with it was at a similar distance from the same blind with the Barnes round, (after having made the required adjustments on the scope). Again, perfect shot placement, but with this deer crashing about 50 yards from where it was shot. The wound damage was impressive, but very little blood deposited on the way to where the deer crashed. So 3 out of 4 deer were recovered, using 2 different rounds- 1 premium subsonic, the other a premium "fast" round. The common denominator in all 4 deer was a unimpressive blood trail. This combined with the jungle-like thick vegetation here in Fl make the 300 BLK "not my favorite". Its bad enough tracking a deer crawling with a flashlight through the thick stuff they tend to run into after being hit, but without a decent blood trail, its not so fun and the chances of successful recovery start piling up not in your favor. Just my experience with it on deer, but I wouldn't hesitate to use it on pests. Any deer hunting Mrs. Fl-NC does in the future will be with a 243, just for the blood trail. Every deer I ever shot with it that wasn't DRT leaked like a faucet.

Mr FL-NC, I have read and appreciated your posts here for several years. I don’t disagree with your observations, although 4 doesn’t make a sample set. Two years ago I shot two smaller bucks with a 308 GSR from Ruger using 150 grain soft point deer loads. Hit the first one high in the shoulder at 12 paces. Snap shot on a rutting buck who stopped for a second, giving me a shot. Fell in his tracks but gave me 45 seconds of death I hate watching. Second was a double lung heart shot. He ran like a scalded dog into thick underbrush. While I found him 40 yards from the hit, I got lucky he died where he did, otherwise I could have looked all day. Deer, like people, don’t always do what you would expect when shot. If used properly, I think the supersonic 300 is every bit of the gun a 243 is under similar conditions. But we could just be arguing Ford versus Chevrolet. Individual preference biases memory. Thanks for commenting.

 

[jmorris]

These deer went down quickly, but the blood trail was not impressive.

That was my experience as well, until @mcb suggested the 110 Barnes projectile.

They began to be DRT after that. Moving ~ 2000 fps @ 50 yards. Most of the nighttime impacts are around that distance for us.

It stopped being blood trails after that and turned into the spot they dropped from.