300 BLK OUT ammo question

TxPigKiller

New member
I built a 300 for my Dad for a pig gun. He is no Dan Boone these days and mainly wanted an AR because he didn't have one. I really wanted to use the 190 gr FTX Hornady factory loads, but not having a "can" the gun won't cycle.
I moved to Hornady 110 gr Vmax and those are smokers! But I would like a "lighter" load that is pig worthy.
Questions are:
What factory load are some of you guys using?
What experience do you guys have with the Hornady 110 Vmax?
 
My buddies and I have killed a bunch with Remington Hog Hammer. They'll go straight through them most of the time unless it's a decent sized pig. I wasn't very impressed with Hornady 110gr v-max performance on hogs.
 
Originally Posted By: willy1947

Nothing wrong with 190gr, check you gas port.




yup.

with a properly configured gun those should cycle just fine, even unssuppressed.

can you give us some more details on the firearm in questino - who makes it, what barrel length, gas port length (i'm guessing carbine), what spring/buffer combo, etc

the more info you provide the easier it'll be for folks to help you work through your issue.
 

One of the 300 uppers I own is a Stoner 16" it is a side charger.
It has a pistol gas system. MidwayUSA and Stoner made this for subsonic ammo.
I also have 10.5" for my can, Specwar 7,62.
That is a Midwest Handguard.

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I think the V max wouldnt be suited for hogs as well as a Barnes TTSX or similar bullet. My initial thought is that the V max is designed to expand rapidly, perfect on coyotes, p-dogs and the like. I would try some loads in the 120-150 range if you want factory loads. A quick search has Federal blue box 120 grain for less than $1 per round or a Sig Sauer Elite Hunting 120 grain for just over $1 per round. I haven't tried any of these loads and so I cant tell you which to go with, but those are probably what I would start with. Let us know what you end up deciding on as it might help a lot of people with the same question.
 
Originally Posted By: UTAHVTXI think the V max wouldnt be suited for hogs as well as a Barnes TTSX or similar bullet. My initial thought is that the V max is designed to expand rapidly, perfect on coyotes, p-dogs and the like.

that info would be accurate if you were discussing .308 or 30.06 speeds... which is what those were originally intended for.

however at 300 blk speeds (2250 fps or so mv) the 110gr vmax acts more like a traditional bonded cup & core hunting bullet - that being on deer / hog sized targets it mushrooms, not the violent expansion the vmax is typically known for when used at full velocity.

the TTSX as a 300blk hunting bullet is likewise not going to work right at 300 blackout speeds... it needs 308 (or better) velocities to expand properly. at the impact speeds we can expect out of the blackout, there's a very solid chance that the bullet will just icepick its way thru and not expand at all. you might get some expansion if you hit a particularity hard piece of bone, or possibly get a tumble out of them - but thats putting a lot of faith on a maybe.


Quote:I would try some loads in the 120-150 range if you want factory loads. A quick search has Federal blue box 120 grain for less than $1 per round or a Sig Sauer Elite Hunting 120 grain for just over $1 per round. I haven't tried any of these loads and so I cant tell you which to go with, but those are probably what I would start with. Let us know what you end up deciding on as it might help a lot of people with the same question.

both of those loads - the federal and the sig - should perform as expected - an engineered copper bullet is easy to control expansion and weight retention.

the "gold standard" round for hunting with the 300blk is typically the barnes Tac-TX 110gr "blacktip". That was the first bullet specifically built to feed and function as an expanding hunting bullet for the caliber. They also offer it in a 120gr bullet as well these days.



HTH take some of the confusion out of this caliber.
 
@PlantOne

Thanks for the correction. In my head I was meaning that 110 grain load but obviously it did not come across that way and could have led to more confusion.
 
Originally Posted By: pyscodogI shot the 123 grain Remington factory ammo that WalMart sells.I think its Nosler brass. Shot really well in a bolt rifle.

the only factory ammo i'm aware of that walmaart sells for remington 300 blk is a 120gr offering - barnes bullet and barnes brass, produced by barnes and and stuffed into a Remington green and white box.

the original ammo had barnes headstamps on it - but recently they switched it to RP heeadstamp. i dont recall exactly when the changeover date was but it was within the last year or two. i would not be shocked if there was still some old shelf stock out there with the Barnes headstamp on it still.

that ammo however is not loaded with a hunting bullet. yes it'll kill stuff but so will an FMJ - or a 22lr for that matter - with good shot placement.


they do not unfortunately sell the bullet as a reloading component
frown.gif
 


If you buy any Remington 220 grain subsonic in the Green and yellow box.
It may be on recall, they replace 8 boxes of mine.
 
Originally Posted By: Plant.OneOriginally Posted By: willy1947

If you buy any Remington 220 grain subsonic in the Green and yellow box.
It may be on recall, they replace 8 boxes of mine.




i checked their website and i cant find anything on it. and google is coming up u bupkis with answers for anything related to 300 blk recalls, or remington ammo recalls in general

https://www.remington.com/support/safety-center
http://www.ammorecall.com/category/ammunition/

Last year when I was using the Remington 300 ACC ammo that was marked subsonic. It was not subsonic. I called Remington, I had 8 boxes that they replaced. They sent me a shipper and I set the ammo back to them. Then they sent me a case (10 boxes) of 300 acc. I was told that the ammo I had was military or Police ammo. And that Cabelas should not have it for sale. Here a copy of a letter that was sent to sent to me.
Sorry I did not tape my phone conversation. I also posted this last year. It was nice they sent me 200 rounds of free ammo.

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Here is a picture of the free ammo Remington sent me.
When you are nice to people nice thing happen.
That is it on the left-hand side.
The Lady was very nice to me.


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If I were to speculate while you got replacement ammo yeah we can't find a formal recall on it is because it's purely performance-based and not a safety related issue. That stuff has a horrible reputation for being notoriously inconsistent and not only causing the kind of things that you experience but also cycling issues in many many many different firearms.
 
You guys are a wealth of knowledge. The 190s were my top pick for the gun but it wouldn't cycle. It's hotter than a rocket with the 110s, actually put in a heavier buffer just to slow the action down.
I have no idea how to make a gas port adjustment. The equipment was bought from Model 1 Sales in TX, perhaps they can help me out.
Thanks again for all your input.
 
Originally Posted By: TxPigKillerYou guys are a wealth of knowledge. The 190s were my top pick for the gun but it wouldn't cycle. It's hotter than a rocket with the 110s, actually put in a heavier buffer just to slow the action down.
I have no idea how to make a gas port adjustment. The equipment was bought from Model 1 Sales in TX, perhaps they can help me out.
Thanks again for all your input.

if its a 16" carbine gas barrel - that heavier buffer is probably part of the issue. not necessarily.. but probably.

general rule of thumb for a 300 blackout is as follows

pistol gas = standard spring and h2 (4.5oz) buffer
carbine gas = standard spring and carbine (3oz) buffer


the 110 vmax factory loads are known to be a touch on the hot side. hornady loads them for zing. so if you're running a pistol gas barrel - its very common for them to be over-gassing that config.

however with your inability to run the 190's unsuppressed i'm guessing you have a carbine gas upper/barrel.

if thats the case - i would want to check gas block alignment first and foremost. especially if it was cycling too fast with the 110's where you felt the need to go to a heavier buffer system.

what you'll be looking for is a nice clean carbon ring around the gas port. if the carbon ring intersects the gas port - you've got an alignment issue. this is a random pic from the web of a properly aligned gas block and the carbon ring i described

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this pic is one where you can see the ring is touching the gas port. this one is close enough to normal that its probably not a prioblem, but touching the edge like this is not what you want. anything more and you definatly have a problem

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the other thing i'd want you to check even before that is if you have a leaky block. if your gas system is leaking - you'll know it... it tends to leave carbon trails quite readily. again here's a couple example pics pilfered from random places on the web

leaking twoards the end of the barrel
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a pretty extreme leak towards the chamber side
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you sometimes even see it just on the gas tube itself, not at the barrel
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if you see any signs like this, i would start there and address those issues - i bet you'll get that upper running if thats the case.




if you do pull the gas block to check the alignment, while you're in there measure the gas port for us. knowing that measurement may help us provide you with a good solution - again assuming that the port is properly aligned and you dont have a gas system leak.


hth
 


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