Did the .300 Blackout (BLK) Die Out?

[drop_point]

Absolutely.

No where in there did I say going mainstream killed the popularity.

I said it killed the cartridge.

All the magazine articles, all the hype was directed at about 25% of the cartridges capabilities. May be less with some of the newer bullets now available due to the popularity.

If you have played with the cartridge, and look at half the posts in any given thread like this are "you can't do this" posts. Any one who has spent much time with the cartridge know they are false, because they have been doing it.

That's why going mainstream killed the cartridge potential. Too much false information taken as gospel. Largely do to factory ammunition tailored to cycle an AR and fit in a magazine.

Still not seeing how it is "killed".

Handloaders can still do what they did before, yet we have more tech for the round. Its thriving, not "killed".

 

[gsardokla]

Seems you hardly hear anything about the .300 Blackout anymore. There was a time it was burning up the web -- even the 300 BLK forum is pretty dead. Has it been passed over?

Still in use by at least one Tier 1 JSOC unit

 

[MGYSGT]

I like to shoot suppressed with it.

 

[wedgy]

I think the 300 Blackout crowd moved on and bought 6.5 Creedmoors

 

[300_whisper]

The only thing worse than the .300BO is the 6BR, 6dasher, 6.5x284, 30BR, and 6PPC.

Also any cartridge that ends in weatherby.

 

[Cbashooter]

Realistically no new cartridges needed that weren't around 40 or 50 years ago.
It's all marketing.

 

[GetReal]

Realistically no new cartridges needed that weren't around 40 or 50 years ago.
It's all marketing.

I'm liking 6 ARC. AR magazine length cartridge, semi platform, 105 gr, going 2750. What would have done that 50 years ago?

 

[Cbashooter]

I'm liking 6 ARC. AR magazine length cartridge, semi platform, 105 gr, going 2750. What would have done that 50 years ago?

It's so darn close to the PPC just a barrel twist barrel twist rate and throat would probably be pretty darn close. My statement was made slightly in jest by the way.
Many of the older cartridges performed just splendid. Modern bullets and twist rates/throating would be all the they would need.Over 25 years ago I was in LE Wilson's old shooting tunnel. He had a cartridge next to the 6PPC called the 6mm Krag short/short(rimless).They were near identical! With a "?" Saying What new cartridge... That note I believe said the cartridge was from the late 1950s.

 

[Sandstorm]

shoots those 125 SST's in one ragged hole

What Wes said right here.
Mine shoots the 125 SST's amazingly small for a gas gun....blows me away when I get used to the trigger
again after shooting my F-Class stuff with a Jewel trigger.

 

[300_whisper]

The only thing worse than the .300BO is the 6BR, 6dasher, 6.5x284, 30BR, and 6PPC.

Also any cartridge that ends in weatherby.

No one took the bait, I see. You guys are all learning…lol

 

[rwj]

No one took the bait, I see. You guys are all learning…lol

Too subtle…

 

[Ray123]

Still shooting the 300 Blackout along with lots of other cartridges...hadn't noticed any trends....but trends are unimportant to me. I shoot what I like, 380ACP, 17 Remington, 6 dasher, the ARC, 6.5 Creed, or a 308, all the way up to the 50 BMG... and every now and then, I shoot the popular .223.
Do you really stop shooting a cartridge when it loses its place in the popularity contest?

 

[Minshooter]

How about a 30 Major(Grendel)? Can be loaded up or down, feeds well from an AR and it shoots well enough to own the smallest 100 yard 5 shot group record. The Stewart version was a mere .015" shorter, IIRC.
3000fps from a good bolt gun with 110-125gr bullets is possible. The USAMU proved it reliable and it makes major power factor(hence the name) in USPSA 3 gun matches without breaking bolt lugs. That was its original intent, btw.

YES!
And this is exactly how the cartridge should have been designed, or even with the slightly smaller 6.8 SPC
case head. Either version would totally eliminate ever being chambered and fired in a .223 AR.
I have 300 BO's, AR and bolt, but strongly dislike any potential of joining the ka boom club,
or, even worse, the possibility of someone else "borrowing" my equipment/mag/ammo and doing it.
My BO mags and rifles -even the bolt gun, plus ammo cans and ammo boxes, all have red bands painted around them. Red/Red - or no shoot.

Some people who think they know better comment that I'm overly cautious, but like the Tee Shirt says,
"Before you start something, consider there are reasons I'm this old".

 

[SecondsCount]

300 isn't dead and won't be for a long time. It has lost some popularity but it was popular enough that a lot of shooters own one.

That said, I don't own one and probably never will. Nothing against the cartridge but I like speed, typically in the 22 and 6mm caliber loadings.

 

[rebel]

I own 4. 1 stamped ,special purpose as mentioned before. But my favorites are the single shot and the CZ 527. Nice tool to have in the groundhog/critter deprivation toolbox.I shoot near homes at times and have had the law called on me, though I have written permission. It's really not worth the drama if you can take care of business quietly. A 190 Hornady loaded subsonic won't ricochet and plunks critters nicely. There again a 90 gr. XTP does the same thing. One of my favorite loads. No, not a long range round but 100 yard capable.

 

[Adam in WI]

A 190 Hornady loaded subsonic won't ricochet and plunks critters nicely.

Really? I thought big, heavy, and slow were the biggest offenders in terms of ricochet...

 

[rebel]

They are. the 190 Hornadys expand reliably and don't do that.

 

[rebel]

So much misinformation about this incredibly versatile round. Tacitly , as said a special round for special folks. That in itself is something to think about. For our purpose, the ability to achieve 30/30 or better ballistics from a bolt gun makes it a legit close woods hunting round. I have killed a NC buck at 98 yards with a sst 125 hand load. He died 30 yards from where I shot him. It's really about where you put that bullet at the speed it will work. I have a friend that uses 300 BLK like a bow, all subsonic, all within 50 yards. His kill rate is 100 %.

 

[dellet]

They are. the 190 Hornadys expand reliably and don't do that.

But that’s the beauty/curse of the cartridge. The Hornady is pretty resistant to ricochets, I’m sure you can skip it down a concrete road pretty well, but it’s plows dirt like a graboid in Tremors.

Take a 220 SMK and it penetrates the average bullet proof glass at subsonic speeds.

It makes the slow heavy bullets over penetrate arguments real fun if someone only has experience on a few bullets. The cartridge reputation suffers, because someone used the wrong bullet for the wrong application.

 

[Sandstorm]

That in itself is something to think about.

Some folks need some help in that dept it seem Rebel....lol