300 AAC Blackout hunting?

OR_VARMINT_HUNTER · Feb 16, 2012

Any one have thoughs or anyone use 300 blackout for hunting? And if so range and size of game to use it?
Thanks

rsilvers · Feb 17, 2012

Max practical hunting range is about 300 yards.

Twodogs · Feb 17, 2012

The 6.8spc is a far better hunting round. 300 acc is better as a suppressed urban round.

Nwcid · Feb 17, 2012

You do not say if you are running SS or supersonic nor what bullet you plan on using.

If you are running supersonic I would generally consider using it like a .30-30

If you are running SS you run into a few problems. Obviously you are at fixed velocity so you go to heavier bullets. If you are shooting any kind of expanding (non FMJ) bullet due to the slow speed all/most of the energy will dump on the surface (based on my experiences and what I have read). This means you will have little penetration if any to the vital organs (trust me on this one is all I have to say about it). I dont know about OR laws but in WA it is illegal to hunt with non-expanding bullets, but this is a case where you want to hunt with FMJ. The bullet will penetrate the hide but as soon as it does the bullet will tumble creating the large permanent wound cavity, unlike fast FMJ that just leaves a small hole as it passes though. If you read around about this round (make sure you read up on .300 Whisper, .300 Fireball, .300-221, ect since they have been around for more then a year) you should find lots of info on this. I would probably keep my range ~100 yards but I do know first hand a guy that took and Elk at 150 yards using a 240gr SMK.

Nwcid · Feb 17, 2012

sheepdip said:
arent they kind of a puss cartidge as far as rifles are concerned? dont know much about them, just asking.

I guess it depends on what you define as puss and what your use is. Like any other caliber/gun it has its own set of ballistics (which can vary greatly shooting .30 cal bullets from ~100gr though 250gr). Some are fast, some are slow, some have more energy then others, some are quiet some are loud.

If I want to launch a 240gr .30 cal bullet 300 yards and make almost no noise this will be my choice. This gun SS is as quiet as a 9mm suppressed but packs more energy.