Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Experience with 30 American?

I've been considering options for a heavier AR15 upper for big game. I'd like to stick with common core size to mutiple options in weight, and the cost a little less.

I'm leaning towards the 30 American. It seems to exceed the 300hamr, is similar to the 350 Legend with better bullet selection.

BigNate - I did my own wildcat that is functionally the same thing as the 30 American (a 6.8 SPC case necked up to 30 caliber, using 30 Herrett dies). Case capacity and throat dimensions are probably a little different in mine, but it'll push a 125gr NBT to 2,725 fps from a 20" barrel with good brass life, and a 150gr Interlock to 2,450 fps.

If I were doing it again, I'd probably just go with a 30 American barrel from BHW. Their stuff tends to shoot really well, and you'll find at least a little bit of load data for that cartridge online.

The two rounds on the left are my wildcat loaded with the 130gr Mk319 SOST bullet.

Thanks. I'm just thinking terminal performance would make this a handy deer / black bear / truck gun. Have you taken any game with it?

I have not hunted with mine yet. I built it specifically for that purpose, but have built several others for the same reasons (like the 358 version on the right of the pic above) and haven't gotten to the 30 yet. I do think it will make a great hunting cartridge though, and ballistics are almost identical to the "reduced recoil" Remington 308 % 30/06 ammo.

I've hunted with a 7.62x40 (like a 300 HAM'R) and been very pleased with it. I can't see the .30 american being anything but "mo betta". You get mo capacity, mo velocity and mo power. And it fits in a regular AR too! What's not to like?

OK, if you want a boring factory cartridge, you could go straight 6.8 SPC or 6.5 Grendel and get a little flatter shooting cartridges, but what fun would that be? If you are shooting deer under 300 yards like 95% of us, it doesn't matter anyway.

How bad is case forming? If there isn't much to be gained with the 30 American over the Ham'r then getting factory ammo and skipping the case forming is tempting. I would think a guy should be able to resize standard 6.8 cases, trim to length and load 'em from what I see. I'm surprised Hornady hasn't come out with this as a factory offering.

BigNate, what is holding you back from getting an AR10 in 308? Just curious, I guess. I would add that in states you can use the 5.56, the 62 grain TTSX is a deer killer about equal to the 308 win. I have a 6.8 as well, shoot 95 grain TTSX bullets from it at deer. Velocity, placement, bullet type all seem to be important on deer. I would not be the least bit concerned to shoot a deer or black bear of any size with a 62 grain TTSX over 26.5 grains of TAC 16 inch barrel out to 200 yards. OTOH, it is fun to try the new cartridges, I saw a Ruger AR pistol yesterday in 350 legend, that might be a fun close range blaster.

I have an AR10 in .308W, and a few other choices. It's a couple factors that are driving this.

First, it started with wet weather. I had nothing but blued/wood rifles. While i've done ok at keeping them in decent shape with the likes of BoShield, etc. I've grown tired of completely disassembling the rifle every night. So I started using the AR15 in 5.56 for deer in lousy weather because to me it's another tool, that's already ugly, and it's pretty tolerant of abuse. I wouldn't feel guilty running a hose over it to wash off mud. With the huge influx of people I've found myself more interested in dropping them on the spot, rather than following them after a 50 yard dash or so. There's getting to be a lot of houses closer to good hunting. In fact, the deer seem to be thicker in the developed areas. The AR15 with a 16" barrel is also very handy in the thick. Rarely is 50 yards an issue but there are a couple areas where if it went more than 100, you'd likely have to call the warden to recover the animal, if you can find it.

Second, after using the AR10 a little bit, I don't care for the added weight, and it's a bit awkward feeling. I'm probably going to sell off the 10, and a couple others and get a light weight in a medium caliber at some point, but the AR15 with a bigger bore upper is appealing. So while the AR10 is viable it's a lot less pleasant to carry around.

This leads me to the current larger bore AR15 mental masturbation. I don't get to shoot a bunch of game every year so accumulating experience with a particular gun / load comes slowly. I've been using 64gr Win PP and 64gr Nosler BSB. They do OK, but seem like it would be easy to have a tough time tracking if it's thick and they aren't leaving good spoor. I've shot only two animals with it. One went a short distance but left no trace save for the tracks. One went off the property and onto public, leaving just enough blood to help with tracking, but not enough to be confident. I have a couple boxes of 77gr OTM and Hornady 75gr neither one have I used before at all, on paper or flesh. When the weather isn't terrible I usually grab my .257 Roberts, and when in a more open area the .25-06 has been used quite a bit, but in thick woods where shot's are close and quick, an AR15 with a 16 or 18" barrel that will leave blood to follow for a short distance seems like a good idea.

Could be I just need to shoot a few more to gain confidence in it I suppose.

I agree with you, Nate. The bulk, weight, power & recoil of an AR10 are totally unnecessary for deer.

Why would you want a wildcat cartridge?

That 30 American shoots a 125gr soft point at a shade over 2500fps.

You can get an AR and ammo ready made in 300BLK or 7.62x39...

By all means make yourself happy. I'm glad we have the freedom to choose what we shoot and hunt with. I'm more simplistic, I guess.

Did not have any trouble taking a buck at 100 yards with my 7.62x39 a few days ago. It also shoots a 125gr soft point at 2500fps.


I have an AR10 in .308 as well, and it's not that heavy. A bit more than an AR15, but not much more. It's much more expensive to shoot though. But when you need the extra range and power, a .308 is a nice option.

Made a one shot kill with the .308 last Sunday at a distance of 375 yards lasered.

Nate, the TTSX in the 62 grain will go thru both shoulders at 50 yards on a 150-160 pound buck, I have not had one so shot go more than 25-maybe 40 yards. Try the 62 TTSX no need for the 70, I would recommend a lighter TSX bullet like Ingwe shoots but have no personal experience with it. Shoot one or both shoulders, solid copper, your good to go. The 75 grain Scirroco is stopped by a dead deer, so I have no further use for that one, I am going to experiment with the 62 grain fusion if I get a chance on a third deer (doe)this year. Finally the blood trail is not that great nickel size exit hole, that is the only drawback.

I'm not sure about the 30 American, but that's pretty much what I do with my very similar wildcat.

For "drop them on the spot" performance, I think you'd be pretty happy with the results of the 125 NBT.

I picked up a BCA 16" barrel in 7.62x39 Russian and shoot the 125 Nosler ballistic tip in it.

CFE BLK books loads are going 2600 fps at the muzzle.

It groups 1.5 to 2 inches at 100 yards. I should say I group that.

I was wanting to try it on deer this year but the only deer that I shot with a rifle was with a 25/45 Sharps, all the others were with a bow or shotgun.

I'd bet those loads match my 30 SPC Imp. in a 20" barrel or come very close to it (as mentioned above I'm seeing 2725 fps with good case life).

I have thought about building a rifle like yours and reaming the chamber out to 7.62x39 Improved, or essentially a 30 Grendel. Partly for the straight wall cases that feed better in AR mags, but also there's a bunch of case capacity to be gained from improving that case. Should be able to use regular 7.62x39 as well with the right mags (or just a few rounds in a normal mag). I'd want to start with a .308" bore too rather than .311" or whatever.

Haven't got anywhere past just thinking about it, but it seems like a fun project with good potential.

I’m just not seeing much in 30s that’s truly worth the effort for a few hundred FPS over the 300blk, with 125s. I don’t think any of them is enough ‘more’ than a 110-120gr 6.8 at 2500-2700, to lose any sleep over the effort to shoot the others. I’d probably just grab a 300 upper and go...unless I just wanted to play with loading for ARs vs shooting and killing stuff with ARs.

Yer gonna get kicked off the 68 forum if you keep up that 300 Blk talk.

Personally I've already got 300 Blk covered with a 9" and 16", so I do other wildcats for fun. But a 125 NBT @ 2000 fps from the 9" worked just fine for my son last fall. Anything more is just trying out different possibilities, for me anyway.

cause standard is boring. LOL. Only standard I have in AK is 458 win mag so far. 284 win and 338-06. Kind of stupid in a way. Oh yes I do have a few of my standards too but don't use em much yet.. 308 and 223... But I sure love wildcats for the fun of it.

I don't see anything needed in the whisper round beyond 194s at 1000 fps.

Its alll in what you can deal with. So a few hundred extra FPS with a different bullet might float someones boat. Might kill better. Might not. But as fast as the slow 194s kill I just don't think a supersonic 125 can kill better either. That said I have 30 cal from small to large. Floats my boat too.

Yeah, nothing like hunting with the old 45ACP. LOL

If I was suppressing to hunt with subs, I’d have other considerations.....but I’d doubt a 194 sub will kill as consistently fast as any 110 Barnes or 125 NBT at 2200+ out of a 16” tube...they kill fast, if not instantly. Slooooow bullets are just fast arrows, IME....short range and/or walk the blood trail.

I’m really not a 300BLK fan boy of any sort, and I think a 6.8 is far better for hunting....as is the Grendel, or in some types of hunting, a 223. The BLK is the easiest way to have a 30 caliber for short range hunting in an AR. A 7.62x39 done right is probably better, in most ways, too. It’s just not as ‘easy’ as the blackout. The BLK offers a lot to women and kids with regard to minimized blast and recoil. I’m not likely to shoot much with subs and a suppressor outside of varmints and hogs. Everything else will be supers....suppressed or not. If that’s your bag, go nuts.....but I’ll never buy that subs will kill better than full house loads, no matter how much the sub might expand at the <1k FPS it’s likely to impact at.