300 Blackout Versus 7.62×39
BY Herschel Smith
5 years, 7 months ago
Nothing particularly appeals to me about either cartridge, but if you’re into one or the other, or both, it would seem that the sweet spot is 110-gr BO, with the best accuracy coupled with about the highest muzzle velocity.
On March 12, 2019 at 4:19 am, Ratus said:
So the 300 Blowup is a slightly faster .30 Carbine with a better BC bullet?
On March 12, 2019 at 7:00 am, Heywood said:
300 BO is really quiet when suppressed and retains a lot of pop (which is why I have one). Other than that…..
On March 12, 2019 at 8:40 am, John said:
Very like the comparison between the .270 Winchester vs. 6.5 Creedmoor.
Change for the sake of declaring “new and improved” to make more money.
On March 12, 2019 at 6:47 pm, MTHead said:
For me, the 300 is all about reloading. the case is cheap and easy to make from 223/556 laying around everywhere. Thru my single-shot, I can shoot everything from 95 grs. to 240grs., super or sub-sonic. Heck, find an old box of 220 gr. round nose at a garage sale for $3 bucks, stack in a few grains of whatever powder seems to suit, with a .05 cent primer and bang/grin/do it again!
I love the thing. got an old T.L. can on it. it’s the best survival/ game getter if ever owned!
On March 12, 2019 at 8:07 pm, mtnforge said:
Took me a few years to figure out if .300BO was a cartridge of practical use for me. See, I had deer hunted with a Ruger .44 mag carbine I saved up for bought when I was 16, worked out as a very fine 100 yard and a bit more one shot never fail nice handy rifle. But after 44 years, no pun intended, the lifter mechanism wore out and I couldn’t find parts to repair it. All of a sudden, looking at the ballistics, and the handy simple iron sighted carbine I could build using the .300BO, I went for it.
And what a sweetheart it has worked out for me and my needs. Using Hornady Black 110 grain Amax rounds, its so similar in performance to my trusty Ruger .44 carbine I have had spectacular results on deer, with a 100 yard increase in effective reliable killing range. And a bit more practical real world accuracy over that range due to its flatter trajectory than the 180 grain load I developed for the .44 carbine.
I couldn’t be happier and more satisfied, than if I could convert the Ruger .44 to .300BO. Both are real killers within their range in a handy quick reliable rifle.
For anything else I can not say.
The .300BO carbine I built on a 80% lower goes everywhere with me. I’ve taken 22 deer in my corn on D&R kill permits and 5 during rifle and extra doe seasons. Thats serious meat canned up and in the freezer. My wife makes dog food out of the lesser cuts and scraps from butchering.
In terms on practical, the cost of the carbine, and a 500 round case of the Hornady Black 110 grainers has been fully recouped.
Oh yeah, I machined the barrel for the .300BO from a Green Mountain Rifle Barrel chrome lined AR15 rifle blank. I can shoot standing 3-4 inch groups at 100 yards natural style like I would in the field hunting, consistent 3-4 inch. No fliers.
So it is well within minute of deer vital zone or neck shot. The longest shot I have taken is 264 paces across my back field in a fairly heavy snowstorm, right where the listed on the ammo box label states for bullet drop.
I zeroed the iron sights at 200 yards, which provides 3.2 inches high at 100 years, 13.7 inches low at 300 yards. That is very useful exterior ballistics. Simple to adjust using “Kentucky Windage”, and dead nut exactly as listed on the box. Oh yeah, that is with a 16.100 inch barrel, no muzzle device, a thread protector and an 11 degree muzzle crown.
The Hornady Black 110 grain rounds are heavy crimped, looks like the primer is sealed. I use 10 round Pmag magazines. Troy high end iron sights. An ALG enhanced combat trigger, using the heavier spring for a touch more safety, which I really respect for a hunting trigger.
These rounds do dire damage at all ranges from the 364 step shot down to 50 feet. The close in rounds literally pull the plug on deer. They act dead before their legs give out and hit the ground. I’m shooting them in the neck right above the withers, or a heart shot. Any quartering angle works. Even at 264 paces, the 110 grain pill is a through and thru. Punches clean thru ribs on exit. These WV Deer dont get much above 225lbs, most are about 175, except for a few huge does, they are around 250 dress hanging. The excellent forage and mild winters probably make them large like that.
How this carbine would be for combat and its killing power, I can only guess. But if the results on deer are any gauge, I would not be adversed to using it as such a weapon. It produces almost the exact effects on deer as my Ruger .44 mag Carbine did. So maybe what the .300BO rounds is is a .44 mage shot out of a rifle length barrel with a flatter trajectory and improved 100-200 yard range capability. Nothing wrong with that. In the close mountain terrain & boreal rain forest I live in, except for hay pasture, 200 yard shots in the woods is a very long shot. It is too thick with undergrowth and tree boles for further clear sight allies.
I hope that is of good help with others in deciding if you want to run the .300BO.
I posted a piece on the carbine on my humble blog if anyone wants to check it out.
https://mtntopforge.wordpress.com/2018/05/21/practical-personal-observations-on-the-ar-platform-300-blackout-truck-gun/
On March 12, 2019 at 11:39 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:
Both 300 Blackout and 7.62×39 Russian fall within the same general exterior ballistics ballpark as the venerable 30-30 lever-gun cartridge which has taken so many deer over the years, and much other game to boot.
300 BO/300 Whisper came about as a result of a request by special operations forces for a round which would perform well-suppressed and at sub-sonic velocities, as well as in supersonic form. Those same personnel had asked for a cartridge which would be readily-adaptable to existing platforms – such as the M4/M16 – firing 5.56×45 NATO ammunition. 300 Whisper/BO uses the same lowers and same magazines as any typical M4 carbine; all that is needed to convert is to substitute an upper chambered in 300 BO and the user is good to go.
In supersonic form, the cartridge – as the previous post notes – has found a home in the hunting community as a highly useful general-purpose cartridge akin to the 30-30, but which is fired from a modern SLR instead of a lever gun.
The 7.62×39 has not attained the following in the States and North America that it has in Europe, but it remains popular for reasons of economy – factory 7.62×39 from Tula and other foreign manufacturers remains just about the cheapest rifle ammunition around. 5.56×45 NATO and .223 Remington are cheap at $7/box of 20 cartridges, but not as cheap as 7.62×39 – which can be had two dollars cheaper per box.
Broadly-speaking, most of the 7.62×39 is far from being match-grade ammunition; 3-4 moa is considered typical accuracy. But one can spend an afternoon at the range without breaking the bank – which is no small thing for someone on a budget or who has a group of people to supply.
In contrast, the prices for 300 BO factory ammunition remain fairly elevated, in particular specialty types of cartridges. As the chambering becomes more-widespread and popular, prices will probably drop somewhat – but that has not yet happened in this neck of the woods. Unless you “roll your own” and reload, 300 BO simply isn’t yet economically-competitive with its Russian counterpart.
All three cartridges – 30-30 Winchester, 7.62×39 and 300 Blackout – fulfill an important niche in the firearms world – namely, for an economical rifle cartridge of tolerable power, tolerable accuracy and modest recoil which can be used by less-experienced shooters, beginners, and those who want less-recoil for whatever reason. And all three embody the saying “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”
CZ – the very well-respected Czech manufacturer of firearms – makes a nice bolt-action in 7.62×39. People who own them swear by them and appear to like them quite a lot. Once, I dismissed those folks – but lately have been wondering if they don’t have something worth looking into. If nothing else, my wife would enjoy the caliber for hunting and find the recoil manageable.
On March 16, 2019 at 3:57 am, Dan said:
The 300Blackout was designed with suppression in mind. That means big slow bullets at close range. It does this VERY well. For everything else its at best adequate…..and at times comes doesn’t get the job done. To compare it to other calibers is essentially pointless as it’s like comparing a Jeep to a Mustang. Neither is very good in the other’s bailiwick.