300 Blackout Reloading

Joe97448 · Apr 29, 2015

Anyone reloading for the 300 Blackout with a bolt action (not AR)? Share results.

JustShoot · Apr 29, 2015

More precision POA with slower rate of fire, Quieter with firing of subsonic Rounds with suppressor .
.

Greenbug · Apr 29, 2015

Mine really likes 11.5 grains of AA1680 pushing a Sierra 220 SMK. 1050 FPS at my 4000 ft of elevation and just dumps them all in the same hole. With the can it sounds like disconnecting an attachment from an air compressor, quieter than most air guns. The 220 grain bullet hitting something hard downrange is quite loud however...

Joe97448 · Apr 29, 2015

Greenbug, what kind of bolt rifle, barrel length, rate of twist?

Joe97448 · Apr 29, 2015

Iv'e got a Ruger American, 16" barrel. 10.5 gr of A1680, 1000 fp, 208 gr Amax. 2" group at 50 yds. Seems like it should do better.

Greenbug · Apr 30, 2015

Joe97448 said:
Greenbug, what kind of bolt rifle, barrel length, rate of twist?

Full custom built on Remington 700 action. Wayne York from Oregunsmithing built it, then I shipped it to Christensen arms and had the barrel carbon fiber wrapped, it has a 1:7 twist cut rifle barrel 18" threaded for my can. Had it built back in 2003 before the Blackout was even the Blackout (300 Whisper chambering). Not really into posting pictures, but maybe you can imagine what it looks like... I put a Vortex Viper PST 2.5-10x32 FFP on it.

Joe97448 · Apr 30, 2015

My Ruger is just as out of the box, Leupold 2-7 scope. Shoots good with 110 and 125 reloads. Most are an inch or better at 100 yd. Best is Sierra 110 HP with 18.5 gr W296 at 0.35". Just doesn't like the lower velocity subsonic rounds, 90 -110 gr with 4.7 - 5.2 gr of Trail Boss. 208 gr with 10.5 gr A1680. Groups range from 1.5" to 2.5".

JustShoot · May 16, 2015

Joe97448 said:
My Ruger is just as out of the box, Leupold 2-7 scope. Shoots good with 110 and 125 reloads. Most are an inch or better at 100 yd. Best is Sierra 110 HP with 18.5 gr W296 at 0.35"..." Just doesn't like the lower velocity subsonic rounds, 90 -110 gr with 4.7 - 5.2 gr of Trail Boss " . 208 gr with 10.5 gr A1680. Groups range from 1.5" to 2.5".

-
If your choosing to shoot the light weight bullets Sub-Vel . like 90 to 110 grn. weight .
I would ditch that Trailboss for filling them .Trailboss is ok to 'Fill Case Volume' like (example) .308 Win. cal. and subsonic Vel. .

Trailboss is Not the best choice & I figured out years ago that TB profoundly Sucked bigtime for accuracy in the small volume cartridge like, 30-221 Rem./Whisper /BLK with subsonic Vel. loads.
For the light weights .30 cal. . Use a faster burn rate traditional pistol powder like Viht N320 or RedDot or similar on the same burn line . with starting powder drop of ( 4.0 grn. to 4.5 grn. )
Plus you need to use a firm Crimp after seating on subsonic loads. I like Lee collet crimp . Crimp will greatly improve the consistency and reduce group size .

Also the traditional faster burn powders behind the 'lightweight' .30 bullets will produce less expanding muzzle gas on the burn & is quieter plus if your using a suppressor it makes it's job easier to trap the expanding muzzle gas for quiet .
.

spectra · May 16, 2015

I just picked up the Ruger also. I need top get it out and see how it likes my reloads that work in the AR and go from there.

Joe97448 · May 17, 2015

Thanks for the info, JustShoot. I'll try crimping the loads. I looked on the burn chart and Trail Boss is #19. VV320 is #24, a little slower. Red Dot is #8. I might try something in between and see the results. I tried Trail Boss because that was the only powder tested for light subs on the 300 Blackout forum.

JustShoot · May 26, 2015

Joe97448 said:
Thanks for the info, JustShoot. I'll try crimping the loads. I looked on the burn chart and Trail Boss is #19. VV320 is #24, a little slower. Red Dot is #8. I might try something in between and see the results. I tried Trail Boss because that was the only powder tested for light subs on the 300 Blackout forum.

-
I coming back to this thread on this subject .
Anything but the Trailboss for the lightweight .30 cal is good . basically anything you are using to load 9mm or 45acp is GTG in a Boltgun . Or a AR if you got a Adj. shut-off gas block .

I think you are right in what I read .
I would now suggest even a faster burn than the Vthv n-320, like you are talking about . The Reddot or little faster for subsonic loads .
I am shooting the .30 110 Speer HP's right at this moment . With 4.5 grn load of n-320 / @ 1040 / 1050 fps . I have shot the 90 xtp's also .
I went out last night after dark with the NV pvs14 on my head to check just how much residual burn I could see coming out of the suppressor muzzle end on firing out the 16" barrel on boltgun . I could see some ignited fluff on the burn exiting suppressor with NV on . So I would say even little faster is better for more complete burn before bullet exit . Also little faster would be even little more quiet with less expanding muzzle gas for suppressor to trap .

just be careful loading & ( imho ) & with my actual loading of . I would not move above the 135 or 150 bullet grn. weight with the ( non-Magnum ) fast burn pistol powders, as Pressure does sneak-up real fast .
for note also in this conversation, I am shooting ( Vhtv N-320 ) with suppressed 16" 8- twist . & using 90 to 110 grn. .30 cal bullets .
.

Cannonsville69 · Feb 15, 2020

JustShoot said:
-
If your choosing to shoot the light weight bullets Sub-Vel . like 90 to 110 grn. weight .
I would ditch that Trailboss for filling them .Trailboss is ok to 'Fill Case Volume' like (example) .308 Win. cal. and subsonic Vel. .

Trailboss is Not the best choice & I figured out years ago that TB profoundly Sucked bigtime for accuracy in the small volume cartridge like, 30-221 Rem./Whisper /BLK with subsonic Vel. loads.
For the light weights .30 cal. . Use a faster burn rate traditional pistol powder like Viht N320 or RedDot or similar on the same burn line . with starting powder drop of ( 4.0 grn. to 4.5 grn. )
Plus you need to use a firm Crimp after seating on subsonic loads. I like Lee collet crimp . Crimp will greatly improve the consistency and reduce group size .

Also the traditional faster burn powders behind the 'lightweight' .30 bullets will produce less expanding muzzle gas on the burn & is quieter plus if your using a suppressor it makes it's job easier to trap the expanding muzzle gas for quiet .
.

After reading this I tried Red Dot in 100gr, 110gr, 130 and 150gr, found some loads that give 950-1000Fps . I can confirm what he's saying. Consistency went up, SD went down and it seems to not be sensitive to a half full case. It was also a bit quieter than Unique for the same projectile and velocity. Trail boss still does well with the 150gr but Red Dot is giving me better results with 100-130gr projectiles. Red Dot turned my Ruger American 16" bolt into a tack driver.