Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Building an AR 300 Blackout

Will be my first AR...other than my S&W 15-22

Using an Aero Precision lower.....9T 16" SS Shilen barrel......

Two tone black/sand colors...more info when its assembled...

Tell me about your experiences...load data....have W296..H110

AA9...IMR4227....Rem 7.5's....mismash of 308 bullets...want to stay

in the 135-150 gr range...have 2K formed brass coming from GCG

Brass in TX......LC 1X'd I'm told...ready to load...my dies are

Forster BR FL set w/Lee FCD.....AR will be optics ready..1-4X in mind

If you are not going subsonic with heavy bullets then a 9 twist would be fine. Lil'Gun is another good powder for supersonic Blackouts.

Load bullets to Mag Length 2.25" OAL. I have owned two and both ran flawlessly loaded to mag length.

when I had mine the Barnes 110Vor-TX was "da bomb". I only bought loaded ammo and never bought dies for it, so loading I don't know.

Those powders will all work; 296/H110 will give the best velocity. The Blackout is at it's best with 110-125gr bullets though; the heavier 130-150gr stuff goes bang but is not ideal, velocities are low enough that you can't expect much, or any, expansion with them.

Build it like any other AR, just with a 300 barrel. Do yourself a favor and make sure it has a pistol length gas system and 1:7 or 1:8 twist, if you intend to run subsonics. If you don't plan on heavy subsonics, something like a 1:12 twist is fine.

it will shoot thru a deer, that is all I know.

I wouldn't spend a lot on the lower. The money is best spent on a great barrel.
I'm running a Barnes upper over an older RRA lower. H110 under sierra 110 and nosler 125.

I know it will with expensive bullets with the 110-TACX. How does it perform with 110 Varmints from Nosler or Hornady? My friend has a 9" barrel Blackout and was looking for a hunting load. Wasn't going to spend $35 a box for Barnes. I suggested either 110 V-Max for Varmintgeddon. SPS is selling loaded ammo for $13 a box this weekend so he picked up 10 boxes. Anyone use these bullets or VMAX for deer hunting?

I have no clue why anyone wanting to shoot lighter bullets and supersonic, would pick the 300/221.

Thats a great realm to be running the 7.62x39, and you don't have to buy expensive brass, form brass etc..... and you can even run surplus for making noise...

300/221 is the realm of suppressed subsonics again IMHO.

Good luck with this.

iv'e had a Rock barrel for the round for an AR for a few years now, once I remembered about AR action noise, I just went and bought a bolt gun for the round instead... I'll likely build eventually, but it won't be for super sonic rounds.

why would you worry about how much a bullet costs to guarantee when you go hunting a living breathing animal that the animal is dispatched in a humane fashion? It is totally beyond me why people fret over spending a $2.00 a shot but then spend thousands on guns, rifle scopes, transport to and from, clothing,boots. This has been on my desk for a while, I will share it. Forgot to add smile face.

I don't see a person having any difficulty killing deer with a 125gr NBT at those velocities. At half the price, I'd stick with the NBT's.

With the extra insurance a barnes gives, being I'm human and prone to make a mistake, i"ll spend the bit extra on them almost all the time.

I have had good results in the X39 with the 125 BTs though in the nephews gun. Nothing that really bothers me, but the Barnes gives even more insurance.

I still don't get folks running the little 300/221 supersonic other than the gun writers all hyped the thing up. And hte X 39 is old and boring I guess.

Why fret over $2 per shot out of an AR?

Because in a years worth of shooting 30 and 18 cent ammo the money saved would buy 3 or 4 rifles

practice with cheap!

Who would practice to any extent with expensive bullets of any kind?

I certainly never did other than to verify drop/drift/zero's.

to add, we shot a lot of competition, we never shot the expensive ones except at full distance matches.

200 and even 300 and in, we shot a lot of bulk bullets that would shoot well or just cheaper than match bullets.

Just made sense to do it that way.

if I was only going to shoot 50-100 rounds a year it wouldn't matter. But shooting a lot, we shot others, and simply changed the sight setting going to good. Easy to do.

I have zero's on a 308 for 3 different bullets. And I generally carry 2 types while hunting, depending on how far I might have to shoot...

Mine is a 16" 7.5 twist 5r with a carbine gas system. It shoots great with 208 amax subs or 110 vmax's and 125 nbt's super. For supersonic lighter bullets I've had great luck with pp300mp. I worked up my own loads but you have to be careful because little changes in seating depth can change pressure quite a bit in the little case.

The 125 nbt at 2250 fps worked well on hogs. I also have some 125 accubonds but haven't used them on game. I figured at these sedate speeds the nbt was enough and it seemed to be. The 110 vmax at 2500 is pretty explosive but it would probably work on deer. I've also shot the 130 hornady sp and it shot well too. I haven't tried the 110 Barnes yet but it looks like it works. I think the speer 125 Tnt would be worth trying on game too.

Bb

I hear a lot of people saying that the blackout is really best suppressed and serves little purpose supersonic.
That makes little sense to me. Would the same be said of the Russian?
What about the 30 carbine?
Why not pigeon hole them as well?
The ballistics are all but identical to the 8mm Kurtz.
Should we deny its superior place in history against lesser weapons of the time FOR THAT BATTLEFIELD?

if going supersonic, why go through the fuss of a specialty round, when the X39 works just fine, even with a cheap model one sales upper?

Thats always been my point.

The 300/221 works better suppressed becasue of less case capacity with heavy bullets and thats an issue, best accuracy is almost always better at 100 percent density.

IE I would not liek to try to find subs with a 308 and deal with all that extra case capacity...

Just my take on the whole thing.

I'd use a 30 carbine but my go to 194 lehigh isn't going to get enough powder in that small case I don't think, to get it close to 1000 fps, much less not stuck in the barrel possibly

Again, the X39 has lots of ammo choices, its not a specialty thing. Cheap plinking ammo, easy to load accurate ammo, kills well with 125 bts, and I'm sure with 110 ish X bullets.

Because availability of a variety of .308 projectiles and an almost infinite supply of parent brass.
I think it bears mention that the Russian was born out of the same fire as the Kurtz, the first urban combat theaters.
The need for something with greater killing power than the subgun but less recoil, and carry weight as the battle rifle.
The 556 likewise was born of a previous conflict, Korea. Where the American troops were greatly outnumbered and need to have a large capacity and low carry weight was born.
In each case armies built weapons based on the prior failing and desire to prevent reoccurring issues. And each time missing the mark on predicting future conflicts needs.
The BO is very much an American x39/ Kurtz. Albeit 50+ years late.
The need to project heavy bullets at closer range in urban environments due to the failure of the 556.
I don't thing it's the absolute answer, personally. But its a step in the right direction IF...BIG IF...we are to maintain the Stoner platform.
If we abandon the rifle and build something as innovative as it was, then we can invest in a different concept.
Who knows what that may be.
Perhaps a x47 with a mono-metal...I can't say.
But for now, as an urban defensive round the BO trumps the 556.
As a practical hunting round for medium game at practical distances the BO trumps!PS the 556.
As an interior assault or MOUT round it trumps the 556.
And if needed, yes , as a heavy and suppressed cartridge, it trumps the 556.
In fact, if I was riding shotgun outside the green zone, hunting deer, protecting my home and neighborhood post disaster, assaulting an urban position or serving a HR warrant I'd choose the BO.

you guys are talking me into something dumb like getting a BO carbine. I liked the little round, just not the AR pistol, its report was a lot milder than a 223.