What do you know about the new 300 AAC Blackout cartridge?

[Gunner3456]

I'm probably the last guy on earth to hear about this. A 30 cal from an AR-15 winning a match? Have I lost my mind. This is something you can buy??

http://www.gunpundit.com/

www.300aacblackout.com.

Blackout for the Win
October 28, 2011 | Author Murdoc

300 AAC Blackout Used in Win at MultiGun Nationals

Staff Sargent Daniel Horner of the US Army’s Marksmanship Unit used the new 300 AAC Blackout cartridge to win first overall in the Tactical Optics division of the 2011 USPSA MultiGun National Championship, held outside of Las Vegas, Nevada.

300 AAC Blackout was launched by Advanced Armament Corp. and Remington primarily for the military as a way to shoot 30 caliber bullets from the M4/AR15 platform while using standard magazines, but is expected to see a lot of use for hunting, plinking, and home defense as well. The concept of putting a 30-caliber bullet in a shortened 223 case has been done before, but not as an industry-wide standard that anyone can make products for, royalty-free.

More below:

SAAMI, the industry standards organization, adopted 300 BLK earlier this year, and it now has broad industry support- with over 60 companies making products for it. Remington is leading the pack with the most types and highest volume of ammo available – 125 grain open-tip match with a custom Sierra bullet, 220 grain subsonic, and 125 grain AccuTip for hunting, law enforcement, and self-defense.

While this is one of the lowest-cost cartridges to reload for – Remington and AAC recognized that most people are not reloaders – so UMC ammo is planned to be out soon with a price of just $12.99 MSRP per box – substantially less than other cartridges that are a power upgrade from 223. And the use of the cartridge to win the Nationals while qualifying for “Major Power Factor” leaves no doubt about the potential for accuracy and the capability of some major punch.

Robert Silvers, AAC’s Director of Research and Development – and project lead for the platform, explained “People want to hunt with their AR, and 223 may not be legal in their state or they just may not like varmint-sized bullets – now there is a way to shoot 30 caliber from your AR while still using normal magazines with full capacity. Even the bolt stays the same, and all that changes is the barrel.”

Expect to hear a lot more about this cartridge as many more companies announce products at the 2012 Shot Show and throughout next year.

Read More

 

[nubus]

300 AAC Blackout was launched by Advanced Armament Corp. and Remington primarily for the military as a way to shoot 30 caliber bullets from the M4/AR15 platform while using standard magazines...

IMHO AAC developed it to sell suppressors, but I'm OK with that. It is essentially a re-worked 300 Whisper and they are a much better solution than 6.8 for the intended application of the platform. If you load it's cheap to shoot too.

 

[Gunner3456]

IMHO AAC developed it to sell suppressors, but I'm OK with that. It is essentially a re-worked 300 Whisper and they are a much better solution than 6.8 for the intended application of the platform. If you load it's cheap to shoot too.

I wonder if you can make the brass from something else. That seems like a big stretch for a .224 neck. I hate buying new ammo, unless it's about the same price as reloading such as some of the spam cans of foreign ammo. At $13 a box, or $650 a thousand, I'm not ready to dive right in. I think it would be just as cheap to buy a basic AR-10 and 5,000 pieces of surplus brass and components.

I'd lose an AR-15 for .224 because I'd have to change the barrel and have it head spaced, so in my mind there's the investment of an entire AR to make the swap.

 

[nubus]

I wonder if you can make the brass from something else. That seems like a big stretch for a .224 neck.

The cases are actually cut down before neck sizing and the neck/wall of the brass is reduced to .308.
I would recommend a second upper, not converting your 5.56 and share the bolt between the two.
An extra $200 would give you both platforms and cheaper shooting when desired.

 

[Gunner3456]

The cases are actually cut down before neck sizing and the neck/wall of the brass is reduced to .308.
I would recommend a second upper, not converting your 5.56 and share the bolt between the two.
An extra $200 would give you both platforms and cheaper shooting when desired.

Thanks. I like to have a complete gun for each caliber I own. I also try to cut down on the numbers of calibers I own so that my stockpile of ammo can work in more guns. For instance, right now I'm preparing to switch from my .270 hunting rifle to a .308 because of the AR-10.

If I stockpiled this new ammo, I'd want a dedicated gun for it. For one thing, if the SHTF and I needed to hand a friend or group member a weapon and ammo...

 

[Nwcid]

It really is nothing new and there are several threads just on this board about them.

I am not sure which came first but there is the .300 Whisper, .300-221, .300 fireball, .300-223, ect. They were designed to to use all standard parts of an AR-15/M16 other then the barrel. The reason for this is it is very hard to make a subsonic 5.56 round that will cycle the action and when you do you have ballistics about like a .22lr. With the .300 XXX you are putting a 200-250gr bullet down range at under 1100 fps and still getting MOA accuracy at 300 yards with some bullet energy left.

So really unless you plan on running one suppressed I see no point. Sure you can load light supersonic loads in it but why? I only shoot SS ammo out of mine cause if I want to shoot fast .30 cal I will pick up one of my other guns. Really all AAC did is get a wildcat round a SAAMI spec.

I built my own a few years ago



BTW, not sure why you would "lose an AR-15 for .224", AR-15 barrels are headspaced on the barrel not the receiver. So if you wanted to you could swap barrels out as you wanted to. I to am a fan of dedicated guns though so I understand, I have several AR's.

 

[Gunner3456]

OK, I just did a whole bunch of reading. Its ballistics and bullet are almost identical to an AK-47. However, It's extremely accurate, most reporting less than 1 moa. That's impressive.

I also went to AR-15.com and read up on 7.62x39 (AK-47 caliber) uppers. Their accuracy also is very good - most around 1 moa.

So for me, I'd have to consider ammo cost.

The main difference I see is that with the new Blackout cartridge, absolutely all you have to change is the barrel and ammo. Mags, bolts, everything else works. With the AK ammo, you have to change the barrel and bolt (might as well get a complete upper?) and you need new mags. Payback would be quick with ammo costs if you don't reload, or choose to buy some spam cans.

An AK or Blackout is definitely more shocking and penetrating within its range than an AR 5.56, but I don't know if the distance trade-off is worth it.

 

[Gunner3456]

It really is nothing new and there are several threads just on this board about them.

I am not sure which came first but there is the .300 Whisper, .300-221, .300 fireball, .300-223, ect. They were designed to to use all standard parts of an AR-15/M16 other then the barrel. The reason for this is it is very hard to make a subsonic 5.56 round that will cycle the action and when you do you have ballistics about like a .22lr. With the .300 XXX you are putting a 200-250gr bullet down range at under 1100 fps and still getting MOA accuracy at 300 yards with some bullet energy left.

So really unless you plan on running one suppressed I see no point. Sure you can load light supersonic loads in it but why? I only shoot SS ammo out of mine cause if I want to shoot fast .30 cal I will pick up one of my other guns. Really all AAC did is get a wildcat round a SAAMI spec.

I built my own a few years ago



BTW, not sure why you would "lose an AR-15 for .224", AR-15 barrels are headspaced on the barrel not the receiver. So if you wanted to you could swap barrels out as you wanted to. I to am a fan of dedicated guns though so I understand, I have several AR's.

Thanks for the info. I've never swapped an AR barrel so thanks for the head space info.

After all of my reading and report above, I'm just going to stick with my AR-15 5.56 and my favorite - 55 gr which I have lots of. Then I'll just stick with my AR-10 and as I said, I'm going to switch hunting calibers to .308 for compatibility.

 

[rsilvers]

It is for people who want to shoot 30 cal from an AR15. No suppressor is required. Unlike 7.62x39mm, it uses normal bolts and normal magazines.


Even S&W is coming out with a rifle:

Smith & Wesson M&P15 in 300 Whisper, 300 BLACKOUT :: Guns Holsters and Gear
300-blackout/

 

[CamoDeafie]

is that very similar, in fact, almost the same as the mid 90s ".30 Grendel" that later developed into 6.5 Grendel? I was reading up about the .30 Grendel/Gremlin/7..62x36 cartridges and was informed that its a pure wildcat cartridge for getting .30 cal bullets into .223 brass developed by bench shooters... regardless...this looks interesting..hmm...just swap a barrel and then you can use the 220 gr heavy bullets for short range massive trauma work....or for suppressed as it'll travel at subsonic speeds...hmm.. this is an idea...and the ammo will be available with a SAAMI spec....that makes it easier to cough up the cash for the barrel swap or upper swap lol.

 

[Redcap]

 

[Buko]

I know I want an upper in 300 BLK. Had my eye on this for quite some time...

 

[mjbskwim]

What do I know about the 300 blackout?
If loaded correctly,it is very accurate
There are tons of bullet weights for it
You can make the brass from 223 brass
You can buy the pre made brass
You can buy more 300BO loads commercially,every day
There are plenty of uppers to choose from.
You can (CAN) just change the barrel to make your AR a 300 BO (but as nubus said,a complete upper is the bubblegum)
I know a few people that have them and have shot very tight groups with the caliber
I do want a 300BO upper when I have the money.

Oh, and if loaded right,it has better ballistics than the 7.62X39

That's all I know of the 300 Blackout

 

[mjbskwim]

I believe what you are trying to say here is

google is your friend ???

 

[CaughtSteelin]

I agree google is your friend. I spent 8 hrs today looking up this cartridge. First time I have really heard about it also. Figured I could easily dump $2-4k into this if wanted to. Which I am seriously considering doing (tired of the over-the-counter firearms now)...it would be a very sick gun afterwards. But am also thinking about waiting until I can find someone who has one and bribe them into letting me run a few mags thru one first. Since then again there is other calibers that may have better options as well.

From what I saw, would be semi-not expensive just to do a basic build if you all ready have an AR. My price was more towards from the ground up using top quality parts and adding a sbr and 'can' to the mix (which the gun seems to be made for). Also the brass looks fairly easy to cut and re-size or just spend some money and buy it from someone else. IDK might have gone off subject, but it's just what I have taken from my research on the blackout.