300 Blackout accuracy and performance questioned?

[Brice63281]

I have been contemplating building an AR in 300 BLK for a while now and recently decided it was a good idea because I could use yet another hunting rifle.

Well, my plan is to purchase a complete upper and build a stripped lower. I have been trying to make up my mind on which one to go with and decided to stop at a well-known store to see what they had to take a look at in person. I didn't see anything on the wall so I asked the gentleman behind the counter if they had anything in 300 BLK and he went to check. He came back after talking to the owner with an explanation of why they don't have anything in stock. The response was that there have been a lot of issues with the performance and accuracy of the 300 BLK round. He said the manufacturers have not been able to produce a weapon with repeatable and consistent grouping with the rounds and that the distributors are not carrying the products either because of the issues. He also mentioned that Savage and others have stopped producing products for that round.

This is the first time I have heard anything like this. I realize the 300 BLK is a relatively new round and not the best choice for long-range distances but I thought it was an accurate round at distances of 250-300 yards or less. Am I missing something? Can anyone provide some feedback on this for me?

 

[user 71]

I know savage gave up on it because of inaccuracies through their bolt guns but I haven't heard of others.

I think that a lot of accuracy issues may be related to the wide number of weights in the bullets. IIRC, you can get everything from 90 grains up to 220. It seems to me that a single rifling rate (or twists) may not adequately cover the whole range.

Also, 300 was intended to be a sub-300 yard cartridge versus some of the more extreme ranges with 223. Just my $0.02...

 

[Dixietoolz]

I went into a large gun store here in Middle Ga on Tuesday and one of the employees approached me. I told him that I was looking for 300 Blackout ammo and he looked at me like I had lost my mind. It took me 3 tries to convince him that their was a round called 300 Blackout and by the time we got down to their last employee he finally stated that he had heard of it because a buddy of his was shooting that round. None in stock of course. Plenty of parts and ammo available online but Im waiting on the Academy to open its doors on the 24th here so I can start loading up. Alot of misconceptions about this round but I havent heard of any accuracy problems.

 

[jglenn]

I run 125 gr bullets through mine and it fine. these are are supersonic rounds. Barrel is an AR Stoner SS with 1 in 8" twist

the 1 in 8 is pretty much std for the round, so it may have some issues with other weights or Styles of bullets

I actually shoot quit a few 125 7.62X39 bullets in it and these are .310 is dia.. no issues at all. cheap to shot too

 

[Brice63281]

Thanks for the feedback. I just want to make sure I don't make a mistake trying to use this for hunting.

 

[Laxguy59]

Savage used incorrect barrel twists, not even a worthy experiment to judge the round.

 

[DES365]

I have a 16 and 9 inch and both run excellent and feed all ammo I put in them. Go to Bullseye in Larenceville, they have the biggest selection outside of getting it straight from AAC in Lawrenceville.

 

[57fairlane]

Savage used incorrect barrel twists, not even a worthy experiment to judge the round.

Exactly . . . there was on thread on silencertalk that went into greater detail but savage didn't bother listening to Silvers or anyone at AAC and did a 1:12 (I believe) twist rifle and then had problems with it.

 

[tywest]

ON Savage

300 AAC Blackout Chambering Cancelled:Some time ago, Savage announced it would be chambering the Model 10 Precision Carbine in 300 AAC Blackout. Since that time, we have tested many variants of this cartridge in various barrel lengths and rates of twist. This exhaustive testing left us quite unsatisfied with the accuracy we were able to get from the subsonic loads in this chambering. Accuracy with the lighter, faster loads in this caliber was actually quite good. But we believethe real value in this cartridge lies in the use of subsonic loads for suppressed rifles. Therefore we have decided to scrap the project.It is our understanding that pushing these heavy, slow bullets presents challenges not found in typical loadings and that our experience is not unique. Subsequently, many in the industryhave simply adopted a lower standard for accuracy for these subsonic loads. While this does seem reasonable and we don't criticize any in our industry that have taken this approach,it just won't work for Savage. Our brand was built on accuracy and we are too protective of our reputation for building the most accurate factory rifles available. We would rather walk away from this opportunity than sell a product that requires an explanation.

 

[Brice63281]

Thanks for the info.