Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 300 AAC BLACKOUT.....6.8SPC all over again?

Looking through the Savage website, and saw this. Intruging in that it sounds about perfect for my 9 year old's first deer rifle, BUT, am thinking this will be a flash in the pan like the 6.8 was. Had one of the 6.8's in the 700 LTR that was a dog as far as accuracy goes. Imagine I would be better served getting him a 7-08, developing a reduced load and calling it good.....Any one messed with this cartridge?

It's a Whisper by another name... AR platform selling point.... Consider it a reduced 308 load...

Would vote a mild 243 for 9 year old and rock on....... Unless of course your looking for an excuse

W

My 6 year old is looking to grow into a 260 Rem.

Though it's not the most common berry on the bush (like the 243 is) it's a sweet pickin' and teamed with a 100 gr. Nosler Partition at a starting level of around 3000 fps the recoil will be pretty mild.

The the 6.8 spc and 300 AAC (whisper), it's a fad just waiting to fade I'm afraid.

Yep, they are just a flash in the pan.

Get the boy a .250-3000 or .257 Roberts. They are cool cartridges and not like every other kids' on the block.

Nothing wrong with either the .250-3000 or .257 Roberts, but the .260 Rem is as readily available, if not more so, and has more upside potential than either of the quarter bores - bullets with better BCs available with the 6.5mm bore for long range if he goes in that direction and heavier bullets like the 140 gr Partition are available if he wants to go after elk with his .260 Rem. Again, the .250 and .257 Roberts are great, but if you're getting someone a rifle that they can grow into, the .260 Rem is an obvious choice.

Get him a 7-08. However, the 6.8 is not a flash in the pan in the AR platform. Ballistics in a 16" barrel are virtually identical to the 250-3000 in rifle length.

Not thinking that any of the AR platform rounds are "flashes in the pan."

The changing of the guard is already happening (happened already among younger shooters) from old-school military (bolt action) to new-school (AR).

The Blackout looks like it will be a fun round with definite usefulness in the hunting fields.

Considering who was behind development of the 6.8, I'm not sure it's a fad, nor will it disappear quite so easily. While a niche round, it performs its job exceptionally well within that niche.

There is a key point here - AR rounds go with the AR platform. Other than the .223/5.56 NATO round, for what reason would an AR-based round be considered better in a bolt action than the non-AR-based rounds chambered for bolt actions? If you want to start someone with an AR (e.g., for adjustable length of pull with an adjustable stock), then one of the AR-based rounds would make sense. However, if you're going the bolt action route, I think a .260 Rem or a 7mm-08 (or .243) would be a better choice for a first deer rifle.

When people figure out that 300 Blackout will actually chamber in some situations in a 5.56 or .223 chamber it will fade fast. A few more kabooms and it will indeed lose its luster.
6.8 on the other hand rocks.

The Blackout's primary purpose is a subsonic round that will reliably cycle the AR15 platform and provide better downrange ballistics than a 9mm. It's supposed to be as easy to suppress as a 9mm.

The hunting round (non subsonic) is the ballistic twin of the 7.62x39 with a 125 grain bullet. It's very weak for hunting since most 30 calibers are built for 308 to 300 win mag speeds. Sending a 150 grain bullet at 2000 fps doesn't give you much range if you consider a minimum impact speed of 1800 to reliably expand a bullet.

I mean let's not forget we are talking about a .223 case modified to throw 30 caliber bullets. It's not going to be a barn burner. I think the 6.8 SPC is a much more effective hunting round. Just my opinion.

I have a 6.8 in an AR and I like it very much. Mine is accurate and deadly. Not sure that I'd want a 6.8 in a bolt gun but each to his own

I wonder if its over gassed when shooting supersonic ammo?

Because your rifle wasn't accurate, the round sucked?

"Flash in the pan". Name another round in the past decade that has had as many bullet manufacturers develop more specific bullets for it than the 6.8spc has?

Barnes, Nosler, Hornady, Remington all have multiple bullets specifically designed for the 6.8, in fact they use "6.8" instead of ".277" purposefully to target that market.

I'd be willing to bet 6.8spc rifles, uppers/barrels sales the past 4 years would shock some here that think the world revolves around bolt actions only.

I bought a .300 Blackout upper for my AR, from CMMG. The possible uses to me were:

1. home defense with the heavy bullet subsonic loads, and maybe small game with the same

2. subsonic suppressed loads, if you have a can

3. supersonic loads 110gr to 125 gr that approach the .30-30 in power.

It has so far proven perfectly reliable, using standard AR magazines. I did learn that the recommended OAL of 2.09" is dead wrong in my rifle. Group sizes were cut in half, and it ran just fine running a 2.23 OAL with 220gr Sierra Matchkings. It is around 1.5 to 1.75" MOA, with the first handload I tried, which was much improved over the factory loads, so I am hoping I can make it even better.

Wilson's 7.62x40 gets a little more velocity. In a fast twist barrel it might do everything the .300 Blackout does with more umph on the top end.

It is a niche cartridge for an AR with a suppressor. It also can double as a kids deer rifle supersonic as there is no recoil to speak of. It is designed to use surplus 5.56 brass as the parent case without complicated neck turning and it is SAAMI approved so no trademark issues. I built one up because I bought a can and really it does not silence the 223 very much. Still playing with it...

Yup, really like my 300 BLK. 125-130 grain super sonic are fun to shoot and out to 150 or so will be effective on coyotes.
Just a barrel from CMMG at $200.00 and Lee dies and I was ready to go.
130 grain Speer at about 2100 fps into water at 100:


I like colored tips:

You can buy factory loaded 85 grain TSX in the 6.8SPC which is very similar to the 250 Savage, i.e. 85-87 grains at about 3000 FPS, so did not some folks used to shoot elk with the 250 savage once upon a time??? To me the BO is a cool little cartridge focused on silencer use, a 1-8 twist for long bullets running slow, big gas port and carbine gas tube in a 16 inch gun and pistol gas tube in SBR's for subsonic powder loads, its set up to run those big bullets nice and slow. One big advantage is that it uses true 308 caliber bullets, uses a standard 5.56 bolt, and fits into a standard AR magazine, and it does shoot supersonic so why not unless the 1-8 twist scares you! IF the 300 BO catches on in a big way with police departments and military for special applications maybe the bean counters at Rem will stay the course, who knows for sure?? OTOH Bill Wilsons 30 cal has to use special magazines from what he says on his website. If you have to change to special magazines and/or the bolt head and if you are primarily a hunter the 6.x cartridges, or maybe Bills x40 or an AR set up for the 7.62x39 are all out there. Silver State Armory makes some really hot 6.8 (and 5.56) ammunition, for those that do not reload, ammunition is not going away. Most people that walk into a store to buy an AR15 do not have hunting in mind when they buy one, that's why the 223 outsells the 6.8 by 10-1, then most people don't want to hunt with one because the one they buy is set up to do something else (catch-22). Who knows what Remington will do in the end, but lots of folks still shoot the 6.8, lots of new rifles are chambered for it, even Ruger chambers their little Mini 14 in 6.8. I bet the 5.56, 6.X or 7.62 x 39 cartridges would surprise many regards what they are able to accomplish.

I guess I am just not an AR guy (yet). They just hold no appeal to me. Never said the 6.8 sucked, but the LTR in that caliber did. the 6.8 in a bolt gun is probably equivelant to dropping Toyota Prius motor in a Tundra......yeah, it will work, but it will not meet its full ptotential. I guess if you are a black rifle guy, then you keep up with this stuff. 6.8 was the talk all around the gun world for a while, now it seems to have fell into the 'niche' market, probably much like the 6.5 Grendel and the 50 Beauwolf.
I did a ton of research on the 6.8 before I picked up the one I had. I reloaded for it, and while there was hardly any recoil with that gun, I just could never get it to shoot worth a flip. I tried numerous powder and bullet combos. Messed with it for several months, and finally decided to move on. I really thought it would be the ideal round to get my son started deer hunting, but I was disappointed in the accuracy out of the rifle I had.

My best friend sends me about 4 emails a day with links to the Blackout. His tactical weenie is going crazy over it. The "operators" use it so it's the biggest thing in the tactical community right now especially with "AAC" name on it. He wants to build a short barreled AR15 with a suppressor for it. He has several full auto lowers and suppressors already so this new round is making his pants go crazy.

I really don't see the point unless you are going to suppress it and shoot subsonic. Otherwise, it's pretty much a 7.62x39.