I stayed away from the .300 BLK for the longest time, mostly out of my stubborness, and refusal to change, even when an item/product has a genuine place and genuine merit.
I couldn't justify having to pay outrageous prices for ammunition, or having to handload bulk amounts of rifle ammunition. Having witnessed first hand, folks trying to save a few bucks and bringing 1500 rounds of their (556) re-loads to a three day carbine course only to have to withdraw, or buy ammunition off of other students due to their own shitty reloads. I didn't want to find myself in the same situation some day. Several hundred rounds that won't work in my gun. And knowing how easy it is to run a batch of ammo that is ever so slightly out of spec if I get overly confident (cocky) and don't maintain an anal retentive amount of attention to detail and QC.
.300 BLK just didn't make sense.
Until I saw it in a configuration that was not only very affordable to acquire.....but also very affordable to shoot.
One shot at a time.
I have not had a chance to get out and really get after it yet as I am still waiting on the arrival of dies and powder. I bought a cheap single stage press solely for this cartridge, and my hopes are that by doing small lots, I will be able to control my A.D.D. and produce quality ammo. My ideal bullets (220 grain) are sold out everywhere, or so it seems, but I did manage to track down Sub-sonic load data for both 175 and 200 grain projectiles which I have now a few hundred.
At VMI MO's SOVA range day, I broke it out during lunch to pop the proverbial "cherry" on this handi little rifle. Using factory 220 Grain subsonic ammunition, an Aimpoint T-1, and standard bullseye pistol target, I fired one round from about 40 yards offhand. Upon inspection, the one round ended up about 2" left of dead center, and given the temperature and overall fine motor skill degredation, I opted out of dialing the zero for gnat's ass precision. Instead, I passed it around to the other shooters, and let everyone have a whack at it with what little ammunition I had. We quickly turned the rifle to our steel targets out in the realm of 50 yards or so. The 220's definitely let you know you hit the target. With authority.
And quiet?
Yuuuuuuuuuuup!
I don't have anything to compare it to. It is louder than my .22LR suppressors, but not by much. Since I don't have any sound measuring equipment, any assessment I make is not technically accurate anyway. But since technical data is not available, I'll stick to colloquial terminology. It is "spooky" quiet. Being a single shot, there is no action to cycle, and being subsonic, it leaves without any crack.
"Spooky".
For the cost, I am very pleased with the results. Further data collection and operational testing will be required, and I am looking forward to it as the weather turns warmer, and I have less environmental conditions getting in my way of accurate and methodical testing.
I was impressed enough with the little AAC/H&R Handi-Rifle in .300 BLK, that I have decided a .300 BLK AR15 was in order.
My Noveske 12" .300 AAC Blackout upper should be here by the middle of next week.....................and I have a lot of work ahead of me converting 556 brass to 300BLK (thank goodness I know where to find some of that!).........cleaning, cutting, trimming, sizing, trimming again, and loading. And a nice new single stage press should hopefully help keep me honest and precise as I limit myself to 50 round lots.
Thanks to my beta testers for confirming my shit eating grin was completely justified under the circumstances.
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Originally Posted by mariodsantana
