.300 Blackout gel test: 200 gr subsonic REAPR

[Andrew Wiggin]

Link to test video

200 gr subsonic REAPR fired from 8" 1:7" AR into calibrated 10% ordnance gelatin, with and without four layers of denim.

BB calibration: 597.3 fps, 3.6"

The sun was not co-operating so impact velocity was not recorded on either shot. I intend to test this some more but I only have a few so I didn't want to "waste" any on just a velocity.

On the denim shot, the projectile passed completely through the 14" gelatin block and six water jugs. The projectile was not recovered.

On the bare gelatin shot, the bullet passed through the 14" gel block and stopped before entering the first water jug. It measured 0.972" x 0.623" and weighed 199.3 gr.

Bear in mind that this is a subsonic load intended for discrete hog hunting so as not to spook cattle. It is not intended for defense.

 

[Mobuck]

I lit off some handloads using 208 grain A-Max @ around 1050 last weekend. Extremely accurate from the 1-7 twist. Bullet performance on water jugs not awe-inspiring to say the least. Slight upset on #1 & #2 and drilled a hole through the remaining stack before being lost in the backstop.
I'm sure they wouldn't improve the health of the target animal but the critter might take quite a while to die. If recovering the game is important, I'm going to stick with faster bullets.

 

[Andrew Wiggin]

Yeah, this is the best performance I've seen to date on subsonic .300 Blackout. It just isn't all that formidable.

 

[skizzums]

AMAX 208gr does not expand AT ALL. just a .308 hole as far as you line it up. it is designed for accuracy as with all the amax bullets.

hornaday menions nothing of it's terminal ballistics, not sure why people turn to these in hopes of a SS hunting/defense round, it's not the intentions of the design at all.
http://www.hornady.com/store/30-Cal-.308-208-gr-A-MAX/
there is a thread going on at the moment about 300 benefits/or unbenefit. one company that stands out for sub-sonics, besides the very pricey and well known Lehigh Defense, is outlaw state bullets. they have a lot of talk on 300BLKtalk with a lot of satisfied testers, might wanna look them up. I also would love to find an actual third-party test of the Nosler/Noveske 220gr Round-nose HP, surely it has to have some good points with those names behind it, but then again the V-Crown you could assume the same with unsatisfying results

great test though, looks pretty satisfactory.

 

[Andrew Wiggin]

Thank you. I'll look into them.

 

[¤_Ozark_¤_Hunter_¤]

So as a hunting round how do you feel about the cartridge and how loud is it?

 

[Andrew Wiggin]

I was wearing earpro and I don't have a .30 cal can do it isn't really fair to judge loudness, but I don't think it was any louder than a 9mm, .40, .45 service size pistol.

I'd say that this ought to be a pretty effective round, compared to other pistol rounds. Probably a good choice for javelina, deer, and anything but nookular powered hogzillas.

 

[¤_Ozark_¤_Hunter_¤]

Ok my problem is a I have sensitive ears so I have to wear hearing protection.

 

[Andrew Wiggin]

Makes sense. I recommend you continue to use earpro with this ammo.

 

[Sharkbite]

Guys,

There is a ton of info specific to this cartridge on 300blktalk.com.

You'll find me there under the same screen name.

Shooting SUBS with a good can, in a hunting situation (min # of rounds fired) i would not use earpro. Shooting SUPERS in a SD/HD situation, i would not use earpro.

Shooting either in a range/training situation i WOULD use earpro. I dont think ANY ammo/can combo would qualify as "hearing safe" according to OSHA or any other organization. Most rock music or construction zone is not "hearing safe" to those standards.

I gotta say that my 300blk bolt gun with SUBS in it sounds like you dry fired the gun. The clang of the steel tgt at 100 yds is louder. People actually stop and come over to see what im shooting.

It IS louder out of an AR, but still pleasent to shoot without ears

 

[taylorce1]

Watched the video and have to say I'd have to do a lot more testing before I'd say that's a good hunting bullet. The second shot the bullet performed like I'd want a hunting bullet to perform. The first shot is the one that didn't impress me since the bullet didn't open up and acted just like I'd expect a solid to. From your very limited test I'm looking at 50% failure rate from that bullet.

 

[Andrew Wiggin]

The test is admittedly a small sample size, but the first shot was through denim, which is what caused the failure.

 

[taylorce1]

How are you 100% sure denim caused the failure? How often have you done the test with these bullets through denim and what is the percentage of failure due to denim. Like I stated earlier two bullets shot is not a test by anyones standards.

 

[emcon5]

AMAX 208gr does not expand AT ALL. just a .308 hole as far as you line it up. it is designed for accuracy as with all the amax bullets.

Have you actually tested any? While they don't appear to have been designed for that, they are explosive on varmints (in particular the .224 75gr and .264 140gr AMAX).

 

[Andrew Wiggin]

How are you 100% sure denim caused the failure? How often have you done the test with these bullets through denim and what is the percentage of failure due to denim. Like I stated earlier two bullets shot is not a test by anyones standards.

I'm not 100% sure of anything and I agree that two bullets is not a statistically relevant sample size. It's actually a sample size of one, really. Each variable should be counted separately.

I am not advocating for or against the use of this ammunition of any particular purpose, merely stating my opinions based on past observations. It is common for the 4LD test to cause a failure to expand in bullets with a narrow cavity, especially at relatively low velocity. I could only get 10mm 200 gr XTP to expand at about 1,250 fps when fired through 4LD and that has a much wider cavity.

I don't know if I'm allowed to link to other forums, but there are photos and video on another forum of this bullet being used on hogs. The owner of that forum developed this ammunition and sent it to me for testing. I also tested a 125 gr supersonic version, which obviously was more effective.

 

[taylorce1]

Link all you want, but I've seen other forums use of these bullets by Maker. I'm interested in the bullets for sure since they are about the same cost Barnes and they have both Super and Subsonic offerings. It's not like the bullet that didn't open up wouldn't have killed whatever game it hit, just that it wouldn't kill as fast as the second bullet.

 

[Andrew Wiggin]

I concur. Have you noted any other bullet failures in cases that did not involve denim or heavy bone?

 

[skizzums]

Have you actually tested any? While they don't appear to have been designed for that, they are explosive on varmints (in particular the .224 75gr and .264 140gr AMAX).

i have tested many, 300blk even on water they dont expand. i would imagine if you add a smaller projectile and an extra 2000 FPS into the mix, anything will expand. but that same amax in .224 isn't going to expand at 1100fps. but the blackout wont get it to expand under any achievable speed.