Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 300 AAC

In a Ruger Ranch with 4X Bushnell scope
Thought I would give the Hornady I/L round nose a spin .
Setting on 17gr lil gun .
Figured the low velocity range of 30/30 they were designed for might make them a good 100 yd deer load .
Accuracy runs about 3/4” on three shot groups that go from clover leafs to 1.5” .
Shot a doe broad side just behind elbow of shoulder exited a couple inches low behind elbow .
A downhill shot that took the heart out , deer bled heavy , ran about 25yds and folded .
Exit wound after skinning was about three fingers .
Trauma to surrounding tissue , lungs , was not jellied like it would have been from a larger cartridge .
Entry and exit encountered ribs .
Seems to be a good performer in the little rifle .
Kenneth

Nice work, but we want pics!

In northern Virginia the 300blk seems to be growing in popularity for deer hunting, often with suppressed firearms. I don't use one, but hear that they perform well on the deer in the area. I often wonder how widespread the trend is.

I bought an RAR in Blackout a few years ago when there was a bill on the table that would have certain rifle cartridges legal for deer here and slapped an old Japanese Tasco 4x on it. The bill ended up stalling out, but I ended up liking the rifle enough to hang onto it. The thing carries very nicely and is a blast for plinking.

I'm shooting 110 Barnes TTSX and Speer 125 TNTs over CFE BLK out of it. I haven't shot any deer with it, but even at the puttering velocities I'm pushing them at (just under 2000fps with both bullets 10' from the muzzle), either one of those bullets knocks the snot out of coyotes at short ranges. The expansion on the TNTs is pretty erratic, but I'd feel comfortable taking a deer out to 100 yards with the TTSX.

A good many people that I know have used them . Most of the ones I have talked to are using the 110-125 gr bullets .
They claim good success with them .
I have had good accuracy with just about every bullet from 110-220 gr .
I have it loaded with 110 tacs when rifle season comes back , have a 20 acre tract I hunt in Culpepper county that keeps me at 30-60 yds .
Cracked a few ribs about a month ago and appreciate the low recoil .
Ribs is a reason I haven’t been back , the drag is all uphill and it caused a rough nights sleep .
But Saturday opens bow season and in the woods I’ll be , but on this property I can get a vehicle pretty close if I drop one .
Anxious to try the 110 tacs and also have some 125gr pro hunters loaded .
Be interesting to experiment with the little gun when rifle season comes back .
Good luck to everyone this year , Kenneth
Edited it to say I intend to keep shots 100 yds or less . Espeacially the 150gr , figure that’s probably getting close to the bottom velocity the bullet was designed for .
Might borrow a chrono and see what I’m actually getting .

I picked one up at a good price. I mainly shoot cast bullets out of it. I thought it would be cheap practice, but after I bought it powder and primers disappeared.
I have enough loaded to hunt with it, and loan it to a friend's son to take his first deer.
I had trouble getting one of the round nose bullets to feed from the magazine, but I'll try the Hornady rn a try.

I think they are a very useful rifle. My want list is just too long to spend $1k on one.

Some years back, I had one of the little Rugers chambered for the blackout. I loaded 125 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips for it. My son shot a hog in Texas and I killed a whitetail in Kentucky with it. Both were bang flops. The 300 Blackout is a useful little cartridge.

You can find them a lot cheaper than a grand. My RAR was around $450.

Or get A Ruger or howa in 7.62x39 and have rifle that shoots almost the same ammo for fraction of the price.
Unless you have to be tacti cool

I went with the Blackout over the 39 because I almost exclusively handload, and bullet choices are far wider in .308 than .310.

Well, as long as we discussing/comparing the 300 AAC and 7.63x39 (I've owned two, big fan), what caliber bullets are most of you hand loaders shooting in their 7.62. With the 7.62 being .309-0.311" SAMMI, are you using .308 bullets in your 7.62? I had a Ruger M77 in 7.62 and when I called Ruger, they said my barrel was .308 bore, not sure if I believed the person on the ph but I shot .308" bullets without problem.

I reload as well but not the x39.
In my case, my cz 527 Shoots the cheap stuff too good, to fart around with hand loads.
If I want shoot further than 200 yards, I can pull out rifles suitable for that.

Those CZs are nice. I almost went with one because I would have preferred iron sights, but I liked the trigger and safety better on the RAR. I may end up putting a front ramp and a rear scope rail mounted sight on the Ruger eventually.

My 7.62 X 39 Ruger American Ranch Rifle's barrel slugs .3105" and shoots handloads with both .308" and .311/.312" bullets equally well. Three shot groups at 100yds run about an inch. I haven't tried 150gr or heavier bullets yet.

When shooting the 308. Do you get faster FPS? Vs .311/12

Have Barnes first samples of the BLK and still unfired. I don’t hand load now and ammo is just barely showing up and still pretty unreasonable. I’ll have to find a few boxes when I finally shoot it’s matching 556 brother one day. Only been 7 years, range is 5 mins away,,,, someday I’ll put its scope on and go maybe. I hear Andrew Barnes builds accurate guns too. Shame they collect dust here. No Semis in PA for big game and not as youth friendly as NC.

Works in Florida

I have a RAR in 300blk that I load the 110gr tac-tx at 2400fps with h110. It is a handy and wonderfully accurate gun that has performed flawlessly on our small Va deer. I hunt in areas where 200y is a long shot and I feel comfortable at that distance. It has become my primary deer rifle.

I really like the 110gr tac-tx in the 300blk. Penetration and expansion are great to 300+ yards, farther than I would ever shoot it at a deer. The 150gr blackout specific gold dot has been good as well, but I haven't found any lately.

Never noticed any difference in the velocity.