Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles 300 Blackout pistol for Hunting?

I am finishing up a build on a 10.5" pistol. I didn't build it with the intentions of hunting, but I like the look of it I thought why not. I will be in WV in a few weeks and there are a few places I hunt there with my 44 mag pistol and I see no reason why a 300 blackout pistol couldnt hunt the same areas.

What bullets would you use out of a pistol given its ballistics? I obviously will lean on the lighter side (110 barnes, 110 hornady). My biggest question is would the 110 gr VMAX work on deer from a pistol? Given it will be slower so it may not "explode" as much?

They'll work if you put it in the right place. Think archery type shots. Behind the shoulder or quartering away.

Perfect. I do a little archery hunting up there too and that is usually the mental approach I take when hunting with a handgun anyway. Thanks

few years back my son shot several there with a 300 black out one year. I have to send him a message and ask him just what bullet he was using..

Hard to beat the 125gr Sierra Prohunter.

If I were doing that, I’d at least take a look at one of the copper bullet loads designed for that cartridge, like Lehigh Defense etc. They should work at BO velocity and offer fragmenting and penetration. You might not get the perfect angle.

Good luck. Sounds like fun (for you!)

boy said he used factory Winchester ammo. deer season XP 150 grain..

I'm not at all familiar with that I haven't used factory ammo in many years and the only reason he did there was he was kind of last minute that year...

Yeah that is kind of how this one is going to wind up being. I hadnt planned on taking it but I just like it so much I hate to not use it this year. I appreciate the info those factory loads are pretty easy to find in a pinch

[url=https://palmettostatearmory.com/aac-sabre-blade-black-tip-300-blackout-110-grain-20rd-box-ammunition.html][/url]


I think these would work well, supposed to be good, though I have personally not tried them yet...Joe

I've got a couple 300BO's but haven't hunted with them. But anyhoo, this Barnes 110gr TAC-TX always gets solid reviews. The bullet is available for handloading as well.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1001895644?pid=430384

Unless you're shooting them out of the 300 HAM'R.

bill wilson had this to say about the 125 pro hunter in the 300 hamr. safe to assume even less expansion in a blackout.

"The current production Sierra 125gr SBT PHs are pretty tough, don't expect a lot of expansion like the original gave. BUT, they are super accurate."

I just picked up 4 boxes of the Barnes 110s and will hunt deer later this year with them from a 10.5” barrel. I’m going to check my scope on Thanksgiving and see how they work out 200 yards. Thinking about having them a tad high at 100 but will see how they are on paper.

I bought the 110 vmax bullets loaded by AAC. FYI for all you guys Palmetto State armory has them on their webssite for $11.99 for 20. Pretty solid bullet all around for that price.

hmm. What have I done wrong all these years. Thats the way we try to place shots with any weapon. Well except the black bear I shot with my sig 365. Did feel that the 9mm might work best through the skull.

All I've ever used has been subs 194/198 lehigh. They kill quickly. A buddy used one of mine for his daughter. All they ran were 110/115 Barnes supersonic factory ammo. Caveat this was in 16 inch barrels. I suspect both types ammo would be fine with a few inches less barrel.

I have three of the 300 Blackouts. One rifle with 16 inch barrel and two pistols with the 10.5 inch barrels. I shoot Sierra 110 gr HP and its unreal how well they shoot. I tried the Hornady 110 gr Vmax and they shot like crap.

Sierra's are hard to beat.

I shot several pigs with my .300 Ham'r last year, using Speer 130gr HC FN and 130gr HPs. They both worked great!

My 13yo son is going with me, this year, and I loaded some Speer 125gr TNTs for my .300 Blk for him to use. Guys seem to love that bullet in the .300 Ham'r, so I'm betting they'll do just fine in the Blackout.

Just for grins, I'm going to try some Hornady 135gr FTX bullets in my .300 Ham'r. I always gotta tinker with something...

as the deer where I live are more impressed with velocity than bullet mass, and the subsonic BO is about a 45 ACP in all but width, I would be reluctant to poke holes in a deer with it anywhere there was a good brush cover that would aid in the deer running off to die unfound. Then I was less than impressed with a supersonic 110 grain tsx shot through a small buck right behind the shoulder at about 20 yards. Made a hole going in and about a 25 cent piece going out. Deer ran off, and I had to look for it the next morning, it had run about 95 or so yards, and actually doubled back on itself... Someone will always point out "well it worked" but my intuition more than science tells me based on results from everything 300WSM, down to 5.56 that the BO while it will work, is not optimum in my opinion for certain situations, its a cartridge designed to be suppressed and the supersonic version is just OK. A 62 grain tsx from a 16 inch carbine, has a more noticeable and immediate effect and on bigger deer than the bo. Just my opinion, for what its worth all of this at 200 yards or under.

I’ll probably end up with another one, just because. However, I have a 10.5” 7.62x39 and a 13.5” 5.56, that’ll both likely do the same job and maybe do it better. I’d definitely shoot whatever gave me the highest velocity and good exits. The hammer is probably the better mousetrap, and I’m stocked with 6.8, so I should probably just jump a 12.5” in that, and get out of other stuff save the 5.56….for hunting.

Did you use the normal 110 tsx. If so that’s exactly what I would expect from a mono running way slower than designed. Haven’t popped one with them yet but people have reported great results from the Barnes 110 vortex, tacx, or whatever they call it. No argument that a 223 cant do just as good though. Hopefully have real world data by the end of the weekend.

I do hear that those Tac-TX for 300BO can really wake it up. I haven’t loaded/tried any, but I do have a couple of boxes of component bullets waiting. I’m tempted to test a few in the 7.62x39 for accuracy in my bore.

hi the black tip tac load from barnes is all I shot in the gun when I had it. Even supersonic it sounds a few dB lower than a 16 inch 5.56 in the woods, and it was fun to play with, the barnes factory 110 grain bullets would group into an inch at 100 yards, so no hate for the load or the cartridge, it pokes holes in stuff just fine, just my subjective opinion that a faster bullet creates a faster effect in sub 200 pound deer.

No argument there. Plus I think breaking shoulders is almost mandatory. In general I’d much rather a 6arc or 6.5 Grendel than the bo.

Big, trophy game in rough terrain, sure. For most whitetail hunting though, there’s no need. I eat my deer and avoid the shoulder as best I can. My last 10+ deer shot with a 250 savage behind the shoulder averaged traveling 30 yards after a single shot.
I’m currently waiting on my Form 1 to clear, but next year I will see how affective the BO is under 100 yards through the lungs. I don’t expect a lot, but it seems the deer I’ve shot suppressed traveled less after the shot anyway, so maybe it evens out.

I like eating them but I like having them drt even better. lol

Drove my dad crazy when I was younger. Used to tell him that I hunted hard enough before the shot, didn’t feel like hunting for him after too.

Part of that is due to me being color blind. Damn near impossible for me to follow a blood trail.

Well, when I hunted Louisiana, I made sure not to track them….head, neck, or shoulders on a mounter. It’s thick tracking in much of the south, but the coyotes and hogs on my buddy’s place would eat half of one before you followed the blood trail out.

110 Tac-tx worked well for me this season. 16 barrel, but I'm not pushing them very hard ~1980fps through the chrono.

Exit hole on a behind the shoulder shot from 20-25yds. It came to a stop from a brisk trot, just stood there looking around for a couple seconds, walked 10-15 yards really slowly and keeled over. I don't even think it realized it was hit.

That ammo works well on hogs in both my 300 BO rifle & pistol.

The color blind is tough. My BIL is. Has bowhunted his whole life. And figured it out.

Finding em after the shot completes the event for us. Part of the work. Really really enjoy it. Dog makes it simple now but I miss it.

I've trailed em in thickets like you hunted in. Heck I trailed a wounded brown bear recently in a tunnel of alders and had to kill it while on hands and knees at 30 feet. Its part of hunting.

That said I don't much fault folks for doing it their way. Except waste of meat. That still bothers me. As for DRT shoulder shots unless you are actually shooting CNS do not always give you DRT. Double lung shot deer can live from time to time. Neck has a lot of room for error and a smaller target than the brain pan. The brain pan you have to be really careful, only shoot when the head its all the way up and eyeliner or higher aim.

I know you’ve mentioned a few times really enjoying the trailing. Wish it were so for me but I’ve stopped trying to force it. Agree on the shoulders not always being drt but I’ve never had one make it out of site with both shoulders trashed.

i shot 4 deer with my 16 in bo and one with an 8.5. bullet for all of them was the barnes tssx thats designed specifically for the bo. deer were shot between a 100 and 200 tards. internal damage was way above the belt for that little round and i had exit wounds in all 4. 3 dropped in there tracks. one with the 16 took on leap and piled up. also was one of the most accurate bullet of any tpe in both guns. the 16 put 5 into 3/4s of an ich at a 100 with a 9x scope. 8.5 did 2 in but that was with a burris 3x ptism. im sure a scope would have cut that in half. it convinced me. i shoot mostly cast in mine but keep a couple hundred of those loaded up for serious work. sad thing is they wouldnt work in my 300 hmr

Oldest boy finally got one with the 300 BO. Barnes Vortex 110 gr factory load out of a 16” bolt gun. Chrono’d around 2250fps iirc. Lung shot on a broadside doe. 80 yard death run, lots of blood, nice size exit. Eager to bust a shoulder.