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SBR and Pistol. Is it the only smart way to go for 300blk?

With the price reduction in AR platform based firearms, I began to really consider looking at 300blk. I'm considering this for home defense purpose and read some pretty decent things in regards to ballistics, etc. Nothing earth shattering but, good none the less. I also read that going with a full length setup is pretty much a waste of barrel as the powder will have already burned up, not allowing for velocity benefits of a longer barrel. Also, another point of 300blk is for suppression.

Is all of this true? While a full length barrel may no hurt anything "still assuming it's a pistol length gas system", adding a suppressor to the length hurts maneuverability. With all of this being said, tax stamps, and suppressor, the cost for the rig increases quite a bit. Is it worth it or am I thinking too far ahead? I tend to do that.

I love mine, it's an AAC 9" barrel with a form 1 integral suppressor - total barrel length is 13.5" with the can.
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I believe it was worth it, as I've enjoyed every step of the project and the gun is fun to shoot. Here are a few things I've learned:

1/ Even subsonic suppressed, it's still loud. The noise depends on your surroundings. Out in an open field it sounds much quieter than in the woods. A 9mm sbr will be quieter, and a 22 even quieter than that. The great thing about the AR platform is that you can SBR one lower and build as many short barreled uppers as you want for it with no additional stamps.
here's my 22lr upper on the same lower:
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2/ If you want minimum noise, go with a bolt action/single shot/lever action. If you reload and are using a bolt action, there's no need for 300BLK as you can easily reload equivalent subs in .308 and 30-06. My bolt action 30-06 suppressed is quieter (subsonic) than my semi-auto suppressed 22lr. With a bolt action there's nothing to cycle, so you can use a much wider range of bullets. I load 147, 168, 175 and 220 grain subs and all shoot well out of my 30-06 (1/10" twist).

3/ Where the 300 blackout really shines is in switching from subsonic to supersonic. Yes you can do this with a 9mm sbr too, but the energy/velocity difference between sub and super 300 blackout is much greater. Supersonic it can be equivalent to 7.62x39 ballistically. Subsonic it is equivalent to 45ACP (with less drag due to the smaller diameter). Are you going to be in a combat situation where this matters? I hope not. But it is really nice to switch from subs to supers and back at the range without dinking around with gas settings etc. etc.

I say go for it. And build a 6.8 sbr upper too. And 9mm, 22lr, 6.5 grendel, hell why not 50 beowulf too. They are all awesome in their own ways. And when your wife complains about the $$, tell her to talk to her friend whose husband has a car hobby.
 
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