Is anyone using the 300 AAC Blk for deer hunting in the woods?

A friend has used one for awhile, 300 whisper forever and now the AAC. He is a big fan of the 125 NBT killing several all with pass throughs and short trails. He switched to the 110 Barnes this year just because.


He has a model 7 bolt gun, 2 AR's and and 2 different 12" contenders in the AAC.


All his shots have been between 10 and 90 yards, big woods, cut overs and logging roads.

looking at one myself, glad you asked...

Search around for articles about deer hunting with the 30 Herrett as fired from a 14" barrel.

I have a question which I hope could get answered. Is the cartridge when loaded with a supersonic 110 grain hunting bullet of lower dB when fired out of a 16 inch barrel than a supersonic 5.56 hunting load? I would buy the damn thing just to reduce the wear and tear on my ears.

Doubtful it will be much quieter, but in general any reduction in velocity and gas volume should make it marginally quieter. You're going from 23-27grs of powder pushing a bullet at 3000fps down to 2100 fps pushed by 10-15grs of powder.
I hunted with a 125gr load last year, but may try cast subsonic suppressed this year (short range from a stand). Suppressed .300 is ridiculously quiet.

Are you looking for CNS shots, or breaking shoulders?

I would want to shoot a 110 grain TSX at 2400 I think.

how about ribcage lung shots....

Putting a low velocity, small diameter bullet with a small chance of expansion through the lungs seems like a recipe for a tracking job I don't want.

I do fine with a 223, my bud has a new 6.8 but we've not killed anything with it yet, I am waiting to see how this works out for him this season.

A 223 with a high speed expanding bullet through the lungs is a different ball game than a subsonic, 30 cal cast bullet.

I like my Daniel Defense V5 in .300, a reliable and accurate shooter. But I'll probably stick to supersonic in the future, unless it's purely a pest shooting situation, with a can.

I have shot one deer with a 125gr Ballistic Tip out of a mildly loaded .30-30, going about 2250 fps, and the damage was impressive. That's about the same velocity you can reach with the same bullet in the .300 Blackout, so that's what I'd probably use for thin skinned game.

I shot a doe with a subsonic 220 Matchking, and a decent blood trail was found, but the doe ran a long way, jumped a fence on to the next ranch, and was not recovered. I may have hit her slightly high, but it should have been a quick kill with a normal cartridge. I also tried the Outlaw State 220gr bullet, which has a semi-flat nose, and a segmented jacket. I popped a small pig with it, at perhaps 25 yards, and there was no reaction. More shots were fired, and it was eventually dropped. The exit wounds looked identical to the entrances.

If one really insists on trying subsonic loads, I think I might move up to the 240 Matchking, which might be less stable at slow speeds from a 1 in 8", and more likely to tumble. It remains to be seen just how consistent the tumbling and wounding would be, however...

I'm at the moment using the Speer 125 gr TNT with Lil'Gun in my Blackout. I may try this load on a Whitetail or two in VA in a couple of weeks. Going to spend a couple of days at my friend place in Nelson County he as over 500 acres, he has a damage permits from the Game Warden to take 30 deer off his property day or night hunting. I'm going to sight my 300 AAC in with both my regular scope and my Gen 3 Night Vision scope. I have QR mounts on both scopes and it only takes a min to swap them out .

I was looking at Nosler's site for another reason, and stumbled across this bullet:

http://www.nosler.com/noveske-bullets/

Hmmm...I bet that one actually works

I gave a AAC Model 7 300 Bkout to my 12 year old niece last year and she loves it!! She has been shooting a 7-30 Waters G2 carbine and she likes shooting this Blackout a lot.. I even got a 10 yr old girl that had never fired a rifle before cutting the bullseye very quickly with it. My niece killed 2 big does with the 125 Gr Btips and I am going to switch her to the 125gr Accubonds or the 110gr Lehigh Controlled Chaos bullet. I love this cartridge and am thinking about getting an AR in this caliber also. Rob

How did the 125gr Ballistic Tips work on the deer? Obviously, the deer died, but wondering about damage done, blood trail, etc.

Was not aware of this one, I'll have to figure out if there are any to be ordered anywhere!

So far, I have not found any one like Grafs or Midway, that lists it

These bullets both super and subsonic are the best i've ever used for the blackout:

http://www.lehighdefense.com/index.php/lehigh-defense-300-game-changer-2

The 125 BTips did ok.. both deer ran about 40 yds but no blood.. didn't penetrate totally.. I am going to load her some 125 Accubonds and hopefully she will get full penetration and better blood trails. My box of Lehigh Controlled Chaos 110gr Supersonics just were delivered at my house.. cant wait to try them out.

What did the recovered Ballistic Tips look like?

I plan to carry 125gr BTs in mine this fall. I thought about the accubonds until I read this guys testing. Sounds like they may be a little hard for blk velocities.

http://www.300blktalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=128&t=88445

I didn't recover the bullet... she shot both of them kind of quartering to her (she hunts a stand where the deer travel a trail) and the bullet ended up in the gut cavity and the way I skin them I don't gut them very often.. lots of tissue damage and if she would have had an exit a lot of blood. Both deer were dead with in 25-40 yds.. I am also going to let her use the 125gr SST.

What I'm getting at is the Bal Tip probably didn't blow up at Blackout speed, so an Accubond isn't likely to net you much besides increased cost. With a diagonal presentation you'll probably catch whatever bullet.

My father shot a few with a 30 Herrett from a 14" barreled Contender handgun. Very Blackout like ballistics. He used the 120-130 grain Sierra and Hornady single shot pistol bullets available at the time. He got exits on broadside hits, and those bullets were softer than today's Bal Tip.

Yeah the Sierra single shot pistol was 135gr in .308 . Man that would be a great bullet to bring back for the blackout. I assume pure lead core so it was nice and soft with a thin jacket.

I emailed Noveske on the Nosler 220gr bullet, and the reply was that it's scheduled for release in the fall.

The 125 Btip didn't blow up.. Im sure if she would have hit them right behind the shoulder.. they would have dropped or got pass thrus. What I really like about this cartridge is the fact that it has very little recoil and muzzle blast.. the kiddos can get very proficient with it easily. Builds a lot of confidence in em.

I"ve put the 125 bt out of the X39 through a big pigs shoulders, around 250, at 75 yards and done just fine. Cal in, nickel size out.

I sent an email today, got no reply. Thats good to know. Looks like a good start.

Wished Barnes would make one that opens like their MZ bullets, around 180 grains and does fine down to 700 fps or so...

We ran that SSP bullet in the 30-30 contender and got zero expansion out of it on some pigs and deer. Was told by Sierra to run it harder... well the load wasn't book max, but not far off max loads, maybe a couple grains. And we tossed that idea out the window and started with 125 barnes and did just fine. I"m not sure why that sierra wouldn't open. But it never did on lung shots.

got the same fall response from Noveske this morning.

Seems late this fall and they expect Nosler to make it easy to buy at that time too! I just hope it isn't factory ammo only... but if it is, we'll try it as need be.

I wonder what a 110gr Nosler Varmageddon would do to a deer's lungs..

Or a 110 VMax?

I'd think that one would work, based on other Vmax kills

Since trying almost subsonic loads in 243, something around 1400 fps IIRC, and 80 nosler varmint BTs, and those performing just like a "normal" deer bullet I think you are onto something with the light varmint ones, they would come close to expanding I'd think at subsonic speeds.

I'd just feel better with a bit more weight behind that, if possible, but high on the list owuld be a way to find a thin jacket 100-120ish grain bullet pushed sub sonic accurately and see what gives.

Thats about the only use I've had for varmint bullets. Though I've been tempted to try 60 vmax in 223 on yotes, but have so many 75 bthps loaded taht work just fine I"ve never bought the 60s yet.

I wasn't thinking subsonic, just something to approximate the 30 Herrett my father used to kill several deer.

I killed one buck with a 300 Whisper Contender Carbine a few years ago with the 110 Gr Vmax.. I wasn't impressed with them.. not much penetration. These Lehigh 110gr Controlled Chaos bullets look mean. I am having a buddy of mine that does hog control on some farms with a 300BK out AR do some testing to see if they really do what Lehigh says.

I'd bet teh penetration would be ok though at subsonic. Most folks don't run subsonic. I don't see the reason much for the whisper supersonic...

I'd rather have an X39 if shooting supersonic in the AR

I see a big need for the Bkout/Whisper in supersonic form.. it has very little muzzleblast and recoil. That translates into an awesome kid deer rifle. In my neck of the woods a lot of people set their kids up with either a .223 or a .243 as their first deer rifle. I do my best to try and sway them the other way.. every time a youngster shows up at my farm with a .223 I know if they shoot..we are in for a long track job. The last one took an hour and a half with a behind the shoulder shot on a big doe.

In fairness, the 110 VMax wouldn't be my choice for deep penetration.

Something along the lines of a 168-180 gr BTip, at 1700-1800 fps would probably dig deep, but not have as much tissue damage as a 110gr VMax.

I think there is still a lot to learn about using the 300 BO on deer, regarding bullet choice, velocity, terminal ballistics, and the faster twist rate.

X39 filled that niche easily for lots of kids around here. AND plinking ammo was cheap....

No way I'd go whisper just for that use, well if I wanted a can on it yes.

If you have to track with a 223 you better rethink bullet choice or shot location. Same with 243. I've had more bang flops with 243 than with ANY other round, including a lot of mags and even ran light and fast in some of them to see if it mattered.

Hour and a half to find a deer means shot location was behind the shoudler, but how far... or piss poor bullet choice.

A .243", 95 grain Ballistic Tip went right through a 300 pound hog I hit amidships. I'm not worried about lining up on a big doe with one.

The doe was shot with a 60 Gr Partition and was hit behind the shoulder.. not much blood and we have clear cuts that at nite are a wooley booger to find a deer or hog in. I have killed a ton of deer in my life.. not an expert.. but have never witnessed a bang flop with a .223 or a .243.. and I have loaded everything from .85gr Sierra up to 100gr Partitions.

Behind the shoulder bang flops are hard to guarantee. A few 300 mag shooters on my lease will attest to that.

High shoulders and clip the spine, then a 243 has plenty of bang flop power.

Especially with a Berger VLD. Between the spine and all of those large vessels (Vena Cava, Descending Aorta) when that Berger grenades it'll git 'er done.

243 with 80 grain soft point WW ammo would flop em no where near the spine.

I got chewed out if I got close to the spine as a bit more and I"d ruin meat... same with shoulders.

Not saying that all agree with that, but its how I was taught. 243 and 6mm accounted for untold deer from 3-4th grade onward for me... at least 3-5 a year..

the 300 was no better and actually a worse killer in some ways.

But I shoot 308 a LOT nowdays. I like what it has to offer. But the 257 wtby is getting a 2nd look due to some unknown bullet issues with the 308 the last 2 years that I finally got figured out...

300 whisper will be the ticket this fall, excepting probably have the 257 along if I find have to make shots over 150 yards...

My camp mate's 257 Weatherby loaded with 100 grain Interlocks is the closest thing to a bang flop machine on our lease. The deer that have gone anywhere but straight down were shot on the move and their forward momentum carried them a few feet.

Run 100 ttsx in ours. Have yet to see a bang flop that wasn't related to a quick shot, generally on the other side of 300 yards and made a mistake and clipped the spine on 2 different deer.

But they don't go maybe 20-30 yards or so usually. Not hard to find typically. I think the fartherest I"ve seen one go has been around 70.

Bang flops are a result of shot placement typically, but fast rounds can do it even if not on the CNS but fairly close.

The .270, as much as folks bash it, has always given bang flops for me. That said, when stand hunting, I've noticed when I shoot something with a .300 Savage or smaller, deer will show up again after a relatively short period of time. Light off 60 grains of powder (especially out of a 22" barrel) and you may not see a another deer for a day or two. YMMV, of course.

bang flops are almost always a result of shot placement.

I agree mostly with that statement. The only thing that makes me disagree with it to some extent was a long streak I had with the 150NBT at 3125fps from a 7RM. Killed a pile of critters with that combo and it was lights out on rib hits. Granted they were toast inside, so I felt there was enough trauma to disrupt the CNS. We all have our own experiences to go on and that just happened to be the death ray type combo for me after hundreds of kills with various carts/pills. Even after a bit of a wildcat hiatous and all sorts of wiz bang mags, there's just something about that old combo I can't seem to replicate often. YMMV

Sounds like FMJs possibly.