300 BLK AR for large game?

S

serevince

New member
What do you think the limits are for 300 BLK?

Ethical limits, not theoretical.

Mine will be in my deer stand in a couple weeks. Loaded with 125gr NBTs. Max shot in the woods is likely under 50yds.

It's also going with me on black bear hunt next week. If I can get the Barnes 110 TAC-TX before then I'll carry that. If not it's the 125gr NBTs. Self max imposed range of approx 200yds. Most likely under 100yds.

Will be going on a wolf hunt with me in Nov. 125gr NBTs for shots under 300yds. If I find the terrain is offering longer shots than that I'm taking my 7WSM as backup.

Do you think I'm stretching the ethical limits of the caliber? My reasoning is that all of these game are routinely taken with the venerable 30-30 and similiar calibers, with much less sophisticated bullets.

My build has some definite potential. 2-3" 100m groups with the Aimpoint, which is the limit of what I am capable of with a dot. This was intended as a short range gun, but the ease of which I was ringing the 200m and 300m steel has me reconsidering the optic. I am going to try a 1-4x next. Maybe the Leupold pig plex firedot?

SOTA Arms barrel, AP Customs 15" FF tube, Rainier Arms No FA upper. The lower is off my precision 5.56 rifle, pretty vanilla except for the Gieselle NM trigger.
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Can is a Liberty Mystic, not mine, yet!


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Thanks

Vince
 
I'll tell you what, if looks could kill, you'd have no problem. She's a thing of beauty Vince. Lot's of people making ethical kills on deer sized game at 100 yards. Keep the .300 BLK close and it will work well. Best of luck!
 
200 yards on a bear? i wouldnt call that stretching, i would call that shattering.

the 300 whatever you want to call it is NOT a big game round. maybe for little deer at close range, but not beyond 100 yards certainly not for bears.
possible yes, ethical no.
 
Originally Posted By: 6724200 yards on a bear? i wouldnt call that stretching, i would call that shattering.

the 300 whatever you want to call it is NOT a big game round. maybe for little deer at close range, but not beyond 100 yards certainly not for bears.
possible yes, ethical no.

Lol, maybe you should load the data into your ballistics calculator again to double check, while it's not magic it's just as potent as many other rounds considered plenty of medicine for deer and even black bear. Neither animal is considered particularly tough and unfortunately we don't get the truly huge black bears here.

I shoot a lot. I'll wait for the right shot, or I don't shoot.

Don't take my word for it, some people have gotten lucky (repeatedly) and managed to kill some animals with it.
http://www.300blktalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=145&t=79013

http://www.300blktalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=145&t=78037

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I have not seen that particular bullet. Looks interesting. More bullets everyday that are designed to perform similarly.

This is really were the 300 BLK is a sub 100yard proposition. Shoots like a rainbow with the big subs. The good news is it's so quite you can take a couple sight in shots.

Lol, my 03 dealer missed three shots at a rabbit with his BLK up close. (Mechanical offset, lol). The rabbit never moved.

Vince
 
I will be using a 300 Blackout AR for elk season this year in the Oregon coast range. The most important mechanism in regards to terminal ballistics is the permanent wound channel created by the bullet.

Ballistic gel testing has shown the Blackout to offer penetration deeper or equal to than the 303 British and 30/30.

With bullets specifically designed for the 300 Blackout like the Barnes TAC-TX Blacktip(#30811) the Blackout gives 20+ inches of penetration past 300 yards.

The most sucessful hunter I know has filled dozens of elk tags using a Ruger Mini-30 in 7.62x39. The 300 Blk offers better bullet selection and external ballistics than the 7.62x39.


With the 300 Blk bullet selection is much more important and as always bullet placement is the key.

Hundreds of thousands of elk were sucessfully hunted before the advent of the 7mm Magnum or 30/06
 
I cant remember which magazine, but read an article the other day compaing the 300 to the 7.62, which of course has been compared to the 30-30 roughly a billion times. The 30-30 gets a bad 100 yard and under rap even though it carries enough deer energy to around 250 if memory serves, and a roughly 200 yard mpbr on deer sized game.

In close quarters (75 and less) I would take a shot at elk with my 44mag revolver, the 30-30 should put the 44 to shame even with my heavy hand loads.

So logic says the 30-30 and therefor the 7.62 and the the 300 should do the job at longer ranges, proper bullet of course.
 
The 30-30 is no slouch, compared to the cartridges of it's time it was a magnum! But it did suffer from bullet limitations until the Leverevolution line came along. The BLK is a hair short of 30-30, but with a great bullet selection. It's a hair ahead of 7.62x39, but again with way better bullet options for factory loads.

It's no magic bullet, but it has its place. I've helped a friend build one for deer, and plan on adding a handi-rifle in 300 BLK for the kids first deer rifle.

Suppressed (and in SBR form) is where the BLK really shines even with supersonic bullets it's pleasant to shoot without earpro. With subs it'll make a grown man giggle. My braked 7WSM is overkill at the ranges I need for deer and it's LOUD!! I mean people at the range don't like me LOUD, lol. Adding another upper to my stable with cheap brass and bullets was a great solution for me.

One day I'll add a magnum can to my lineup and solve that problem too.

Vince
 
last black bear i shot took 3 338 win mag rounds at 40yds and he was still going. turns out that all three were fatal shots. and i am not talking about downloads, they were full power 225gr hornady bullets that i recovered from the far side of the animal. thats right, 338 win mag that did not exit on a bear at 40 yards!

i dont think 300 aac or whatever is legal for big game in colorado. i own one and though it is impressive for its size, i would not try to take an elk or bear at anything past 50 yards with plenty of time to make a perfect shot.

what was the old saying??? carry enough gun?
 
Originally Posted By: 6724last black bear i shot took 3 338 win mag rounds at 40yds and he was still going. turns out that all three were fatal shots. and i am not talking about downloads, they were full power 225gr hornady bullets that i recovered from the far side of the animal. thats right, 338 win mag that did not exit on a bear at 40 yards!

i dont think 300 aac or whatever is legal for big game in colorado. i own one and though it is impressive for its size, i would not try to take an elk or bear at anything past 50 yards with plenty of time to make a perfect shot.

what was the old saying??? carry enough gun?

I think the old saying is "Aim small miss small".
 
No doubt the .338 is enough gun for anything we can hunt here in in North America!

That's impressive shooting. I imagine he was moving pretty good after the first shot.

Yes there are limitations to the .300 BLK.

I hope I get a shot at a bear this week! If it takes less than 3 shots to bring it down, I'll be touting the .300 BLK as "more powerful than a .338 Win Mag"!
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Wish me luck!


Vince
 
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