OK, I know, that's sort of a strange title for a topic, but I have been on a mission to squeeze everything that I can out of my blackout.
I've shot it almost exclusively the last two months and have been doing a lot of loading and testing.
Let me start from the beginning.
My whole intention with the blackout was mainly for a good suppressed HD gun. I have a family that I have to protect and I take their well being very seriously. This includes that if God forbid I have to defend them within the walls of our home. So I want something that I believe will stop a violent attacker quickly and I don't want to burst small childrens eardrums in the process. Especially if barricaded in the same small room.
A secondary reason is for up close brush hunting medium game like whitetail and dangerous game like up to 600 pound black bears.
Lets' face it. Where I live, we deal with a lot of things that a lot of other places simply don't have to worry about. So, personal protection is of paramount importance. Whether inside or out.
OK, now with the back story out of the way, I was rather disappointed with how poorly the 300 blackout initially sounded despite all the internet hoop-la. Even with several different suppressors, it was still rather loud and down right disappointing with factory ammunition.
And trying a few of the most popular powders and reloading my own didn't fare much better either. They were still loud, and one of the most popular powders was not only loud, but was dirty as a cheap motel too.
Since those early experiences, I have been on a mission.
I've gotten a good and inexpensive round worked up from powder coated cast bullets, and while it was an improvement in cost for a plinking round, it still wasn't really all that great in the performance department. So, I'll keep loading them to plink with, but for HD, it was still lacking.
So, with the help of a buddy of mine who has barn-stormed up a load using a fast pistol powder, I have finally been able to tweak the load and my gun enough to get full function and it sounds great.
I'm getting in the upper 1080 fps territory with 240 gr bullets, the powder has full burn in about 6 inches (right near where the gas port is) and lends itself to less ejection port noise and gas, and essentially no first round pop due to being completely burned prior to any gas entering into the suppressor making it much more effective.
The load I worked up for my specific gun was using 240 gr Sierra Matchking HPBT, but I am going to try to do one up for Lehigh Defense 194 gr max expansion lead free bullets which would be the top performer in defense the gun will currently be capable of.
From what I have read and seen of the Lehigh controlled expansion, they get between .75 and 1.0" expansion while retaining all, or nearly all of their mass and up to about 17 inch penetration. And that is while being at subsonic velocities. If I can get it worked up with the #9 or Enforcer powder, should be most awesome.
I have some ramshot enforcer powder coming this week that my buddy said was marginally more quiet than the #9 accurate powder that I am so impressed with, so I'll get to experiment some with Sierra 190 gr bullets and lower the charge and be able to get a working load to experiment with before loading any of the 194 Lehighs because they're so dang expensive. But if I use a handful for testing and fill my freezer and have a mag left over for HD, I don't think I'll be complaining in hindsight.
Just wanted to let a few of you know where I'm at with it. At this point, the gun is a pleasure to shoot. Now if I can get the Lehighs worked up and fully functional, will probably be the end of the rainbow for this gun.
At least until I get the paperwork back and get to make my most intriguing design I have ever came up with that I will be using to make a dedicated suppressor for it when they ever send the paperwork back. But that is a subject for another day.
I've shot it almost exclusively the last two months and have been doing a lot of loading and testing.
Let me start from the beginning.
My whole intention with the blackout was mainly for a good suppressed HD gun. I have a family that I have to protect and I take their well being very seriously. This includes that if God forbid I have to defend them within the walls of our home. So I want something that I believe will stop a violent attacker quickly and I don't want to burst small childrens eardrums in the process. Especially if barricaded in the same small room.
A secondary reason is for up close brush hunting medium game like whitetail and dangerous game like up to 600 pound black bears.
Lets' face it. Where I live, we deal with a lot of things that a lot of other places simply don't have to worry about. So, personal protection is of paramount importance. Whether inside or out.
OK, now with the back story out of the way, I was rather disappointed with how poorly the 300 blackout initially sounded despite all the internet hoop-la. Even with several different suppressors, it was still rather loud and down right disappointing with factory ammunition.
And trying a few of the most popular powders and reloading my own didn't fare much better either. They were still loud, and one of the most popular powders was not only loud, but was dirty as a cheap motel too.
Since those early experiences, I have been on a mission.
I've gotten a good and inexpensive round worked up from powder coated cast bullets, and while it was an improvement in cost for a plinking round, it still wasn't really all that great in the performance department. So, I'll keep loading them to plink with, but for HD, it was still lacking.
So, with the help of a buddy of mine who has barn-stormed up a load using a fast pistol powder, I have finally been able to tweak the load and my gun enough to get full function and it sounds great.
I'm getting in the upper 1080 fps territory with 240 gr bullets, the powder has full burn in about 6 inches (right near where the gas port is) and lends itself to less ejection port noise and gas, and essentially no first round pop due to being completely burned prior to any gas entering into the suppressor making it much more effective.
The load I worked up for my specific gun was using 240 gr Sierra Matchking HPBT, but I am going to try to do one up for Lehigh Defense 194 gr max expansion lead free bullets which would be the top performer in defense the gun will currently be capable of.
From what I have read and seen of the Lehigh controlled expansion, they get between .75 and 1.0" expansion while retaining all, or nearly all of their mass and up to about 17 inch penetration. And that is while being at subsonic velocities. If I can get it worked up with the #9 or Enforcer powder, should be most awesome.
I have some ramshot enforcer powder coming this week that my buddy said was marginally more quiet than the #9 accurate powder that I am so impressed with, so I'll get to experiment some with Sierra 190 gr bullets and lower the charge and be able to get a working load to experiment with before loading any of the 194 Lehighs because they're so dang expensive. But if I use a handful for testing and fill my freezer and have a mag left over for HD, I don't think I'll be complaining in hindsight.
Just wanted to let a few of you know where I'm at with it. At this point, the gun is a pleasure to shoot. Now if I can get the Lehighs worked up and fully functional, will probably be the end of the rainbow for this gun.
At least until I get the paperwork back and get to make my most intriguing design I have ever came up with that I will be using to make a dedicated suppressor for it when they ever send the paperwork back. But that is a subject for another day.