Rob Curtis at GearScout reports on the winner of something called the “USPSA Multigun National Championship”. The shooter, Staff Sergeant Daniel Horner, used handloaded (if you can call loads made by the Army Marksmanship Unit “handloads”) 155gr 300 AAC Blackout ammo and a 20″ upper with a Swarovski scope.
Want to know why he used handloads? I’m just guessing, but it might have something to do with the fact that the promised major manufacturer 300 Blackout ammo for a reasonable price is nowhere to be found. Oh, you’re a handloader? Want factory 300BLK brass? Forget it.
Yeah, I’m looking at you, Remington/AAC/etc. It’s okay, I’m now beginning to understand that you (inexplicably) want this cartridge to die on the vine like 6.8 SPC. In the meantime, forming 300BLK brass from 5.56 cases is getting really old, and the half dozen or so 300BLK uppers I have aren’t being shot much. Oh, I forgot – Remington is putting all its 300BLK effort into loading “match” 125gr ammo for $1.50 a round. That’s really going to help this cartridge take off.
Don’t be a hater just because the department of the navy doesn’t have anyone in the games, lol
The Navy was dead to me when they canceled the rail gun project.
Tell us how you really feel… On a side note, I couldn’t believe it when the Navy canceled the rail gun project either. There have been certain leaps and bounds in technology that have ignited huge blossoms of new knowledge (harnessing electricity, modern combustion engine, the Bessemer Process to create steel, flight, penicillain, etc.) The capabilites and technological off-shoots of a practical rail gun would be incredible.
This is why many of us have ignored 6.8 and .300 Blackout, et al. They may be fabulous loads, but they also came out at a time when shooters are very, very conscious of ammo prices. Of course this lack of demand doesn’t encourage manufacturers to crank out rounds in those calibers, and we have a recipe for failure.
This is why, despite my misgivings toward .223/5.56 ammo, I went with a standard AR chambering, and I am sure that this is what a lot of shooters face. The benefit to performance does not outweigh the significant cost and availability obstacles that go along with whizbang ammo.
Andrew – some very good points. I have been quite surprised about Remington’s heavy .300 Blackout marketing, given that the 6.8 SPC’s marketing was particularly lackluster. It would be interesting to see where this saga takes us; hopefully this will not just become another exotic wildcat caliber.
6.8 is dead? News to me. Is it as popular as 5.56, no. But what cartridge ever will be?
Patience, patience… things are starting to come together. I have next to me 300 rounds of 130gr SOST ammo from Gunn Ammo, apparently made on factory new .223 brass that was resized and trimmed to 300BLK. It goes for 70 cents/rd at AIM Surplus. The Remington affordable load (UMC 125gr) is supposed to come out in November. There seems to be a real marketing push on this, which I never, ever saw for 6.8 SPC, and I’m hopeful that this one will really take off. But even if it doesn’t, being able to convert .223 brass into 300BLK and use standard bolts and mags makes this much friendlier to hobbyist types than 6.8 SPC.
I bought some of the Gunn ammo. I’m not really impressed so far, but we’ll see.
Is that Gunn ammo, is loaded with actual Mk319 Mod 0 SOST projectiles or is it just marketing?
I am certain an AMU shooter is going to be shooting AMU loaded ammo in any regional or national level competition. In this case there is a bigger reason, making major rifle is a balancing act with a case the size of the .300BLK. You need to use mid-weight projectiles, 150-165gr seems to be the sweet spot. With the 155s the Staff Stg. is shooting, he needs 2065fps minimum to make 320pf. 2100fps would give a nice ~5pf cushion, and this is an obtainable performance level.
The 123gr MC is only doing 2315fps from a 16″ barrel, but it will need 2602fps just to make 320pf. I don’t think there is another 300fps to be found in the .300BLK case for this weight of bullet.
I am still waiting on the cheap .300BLK blasting ammo though…
Supposedly they’re loaded with the SOST projos – but I don’t know how effective they are (at range) with this muzzle velocity.
Yeah, I figured they’d use their own stuff. I was mainly using that as a segue to complain about ammo availability.
Russia does not make .300 BLK. Ergo, it will never be popular.
Ironic but very, very true.
Makes you wonder if Grendel is going to come on strong soon, eh?
Perhaps. It would be nice to have some other options, though the Grendel is not my personal favorite.
Completly agree until people can buy 300BLK ammo in Cabella’s at a reasonable price, this caliber will die a slow death, like all the other wonder calibers.
Love the title, best laugh this week.
I think everybody is missing your point. Despite the continued effort on the internet to point out the silver lining, so far, all I see are the clouds of smoke and mirrors.
As for the cost of ammo, if all someone does is shoot dirt, stick with milsurp and enjoy the taxpayer subsidized benefits. Or, get a progressive reloader and don’t be subject to if and when Palmetto has another gonzo sale at 5.69 a box.
I’m buying a reloading press. After all, the AMU does, and if they can invent the 6.8 and make match winning ammo in .300BO, why would I even want to buy the lame Fudd ammo off the shelf?
I like the ideal of the 300 Blackout, but the cost of the ammo is a deal killer for me.
.223/5.56
.308
Don’t think anything will ever top these, only time will tell though. If it cost a dollar a round, it won’t get shot much.
The entire point: military adoption and taxpayer subsidized costs mean issue cartridges can be had cheap. After all, the machinery is cranking out millions of rounds annually, and the alternate calibers, not 10% of that. Maybe even all stacked together.
Of course, most competitors in the upper tier are either sponsored with free ammo or reload on progressives set up to put out reliable, accurate, and not that high powered action ammo. Best accuracy and function are usually 5-10% under max loads anyway. Choosing the projectile and powder has it’s benefits. And “shooting dirt” means you can optimize certain things, not accept military standard and be stuck with it.
All that doesn’t have much to do with the REAL American marketplace for ammo – hunting whitetail deer. That market war is going on right now for the AR, and the exact reason why so many are trying to cut a piece of the pie for themselves. $1 a round ammo means nothing to these guys, they don’t shoot more than a few boxes a year. If it was something they did every weekend, they aren’t stupid, they shoot something cheaper.
If anything, the point of this is that Remington got a lot of cooperation and interest out of the AMU and Army. From their perspective it’s a PR coup that can help build some credibility for the cartridge. Nonetheless, what it needs is what Andrew pointed out, and the same for the 6.8 – there’s no ammo on the shelf where that buyer can get it. People are a bit lazy, waiting 5 days for SSA to ship a box Fedex for the extra 9.95 won’t cut it when deer season starts tomorrow. That’s where the hunter will pick what he can get, and where push comes to shove. It’s going to take a lot of shove to squeeze something off the shelf to make room for either.
Just got a micro-7 by AAC in a 300 blackout. It shoots about an inch and a half at a hundred yards with 220 gr. factory ammo. If your worried about about money you’re gonna reload. 223 brass is cheap and you can make your own brass.. powder charges are dimunitive..you can shoot fat and slow or lean and fast. Kill whatever. In my mind very versitile. Use a can (suppressor) or not. Shoot in a PDW ar-15 platform or bolt gun. It’s a great concept for hunting, self defense or playing with. Heck if one gun did it all…We’d all only have one gun. that’d suck. If expense was our limitation we’d shoot 22lr. Use your imagination. I want one of everything.
6.8 is far from dead.
No. But Remington did leave it to die.
Agreed, 6.8 is far from dead and grendel is not in the same category (SBR purpose built round). I think 300 BLK will do well, but I really don’t know why anyone would want to run 6.8 or 300 BLK on a 16″ or longer gun. That being said, I doubt if it will ever gain traction like a caliber that is supported by the military and a bbl length that doesn’t require NFA paperwork.
Basically, if price is your issue, then get a full sized rifle and shoot 308 or 556, if you want an SBR and the best performance possible get a 68 or 300blk. The good thing about 300 BLK is you can just run 2 uppers (556 for close training).
From the data I have seen on the Gunn ammo, the ballistics look very similar to the AK and SKS round, yes, the 7.62X39Russian round. That is to say, that just like the 7.62X39Russian, the .300 Blackout has a rainbow like trajectory past 200 yards. If you already handload ammo and had an AK, I would look into loading 7.62X39Russian cases with very heavy bullets to make them subsonic. Then buy a muzzle/flashhider adapter to accept a 7.62 muzzle can from say Yankee Hill Machine. Sounds to me like so much re-inventing of the wheel.