CMV
Member
In the very near future I will start working on a subsonic 300 BLK load and I'm not sure where to start. I intended to use the Hodgdon data with W296 and that's why I selected that powder for my standard loads - there was data for both standard velocity and subsonic published with that powder.
But further research/reading & that may not be a good choice for everything I want to do.
This is what I'm looking for out of the load:
1. Reliably cycles an AR with 16" 1:8 barrel w/o opening up gas port. Rifle has carbine gas, carbine buffer & spring, non-adjustable gas block. I want this rifle to still cycle standard loads.
2. Suppresses well. Here's where I'm a little unsure. I think I'm at odds because I want a faster powder to suppress better but a slower powder to cycle better.
3. Accurate suppressed & unsuppressed. Suppressed may be a non-issue and just "accurate" is what I'm looking for. I've seen POI shifts, but not groups opening way up just from screwing on a can (that wasn't attributed to obscuring the sights on a pistol). But I've never played with a suppressed .308 so don't know.
4. Available & moderately priced bullets. I was planning on 220 gr Sierra MK HPBT to go with the Win296 powder & Hodgdon website load data. But at ~$45/100 & rare as hen's teeth right now I'm wondering if there's a good substitute. Something like a Hornady 208 gr HPBT Match or A-Max maybe? I won't be hunting with these so don't care much about any performance characteristic beyond consistency/accuracy. I really like every Hornady bullet I've used for everything else so far and I think they're a good balance between cost & performance in general. But I'm open to whatever works.
5. ??? There's probably more that I'm not considering yet. You guys who have been through this already can fill in some blanks for me I'm sure. This will be my first attempt at a subsonic load. I guess my .45 ACP & 147 gr 9mm are subsonic, but I wasn't reducing loads to get them that way.
If anything I have on hand will work, great, but I suspect I'll be shopping. For powders I have H335, Win296, Win231, & HS-6. For bullets I have 125gr Sierra HP Match & Hornady 150 gr FMJBT
But further research/reading & that may not be a good choice for everything I want to do.
This is what I'm looking for out of the load:
1. Reliably cycles an AR with 16" 1:8 barrel w/o opening up gas port. Rifle has carbine gas, carbine buffer & spring, non-adjustable gas block. I want this rifle to still cycle standard loads.
2. Suppresses well. Here's where I'm a little unsure. I think I'm at odds because I want a faster powder to suppress better but a slower powder to cycle better.
3. Accurate suppressed & unsuppressed. Suppressed may be a non-issue and just "accurate" is what I'm looking for. I've seen POI shifts, but not groups opening way up just from screwing on a can (that wasn't attributed to obscuring the sights on a pistol). But I've never played with a suppressed .308 so don't know.
4. Available & moderately priced bullets. I was planning on 220 gr Sierra MK HPBT to go with the Win296 powder & Hodgdon website load data. But at ~$45/100 & rare as hen's teeth right now I'm wondering if there's a good substitute. Something like a Hornady 208 gr HPBT Match or A-Max maybe? I won't be hunting with these so don't care much about any performance characteristic beyond consistency/accuracy. I really like every Hornady bullet I've used for everything else so far and I think they're a good balance between cost & performance in general. But I'm open to whatever works.
5. ??? There's probably more that I'm not considering yet. You guys who have been through this already can fill in some blanks for me I'm sure. This will be my first attempt at a subsonic load. I guess my .45 ACP & 147 gr 9mm are subsonic, but I wasn't reducing loads to get them that way.
If anything I have on hand will work, great, but I suspect I'll be shopping. For powders I have H335, Win296, Win231, & HS-6. For bullets I have 125gr Sierra HP Match & Hornady 150 gr FMJBT