For what it's worth. some of my results in 300aac and barrel lengths for hunting.

[Benny]

I've arrived at a few loads that I'm comfortable with for our SE GA deer and hogs.
In general about 500ftlbs @ 100 yards is plenty around here on the deer.
Listed below are chronographed loads with various barrels, some of you may find the velocities interesting, others will see it mostly does fit the 25fps drop per inch from 16" to 10" and then 50fps per inch afterwards.
I have found a favorite for the 16" and 7 1/2" AR barrels but nothing really stands out yet in the 11 1/2" single shot pistol.

135gr Sierra HP #2124 with 20.0gr of AA1680 (favorite in 16")
16" barrel @ 1940fps with 850ftlbs @ 100 yards
11 1/2" barrel @ 1800fps
7 1/2" barrel @ 1533fps

150gr Hornady RN #3035 with 19.0gr of AA1680 (7 1/2" favorite)
16" barrel @ 1870fps
11 1/2" barrel @ 1730fps
7 1/2" barrel @ 1483fps with 492ftlbs @ 100 yards

166gr cast powder coated Lee c309-160-R with 18.0gr AA2230
16" barrel @ 1500fps with 605ftlbs @ 100 yards
11 1/2" barrel @ 1371fps

166gr cast powder coated Lee c309-160-R with 18.5gr of AA2230
7 1/2" barrel @ 1315fps

[JeffreyDeGraff]

I’ve been curious if a150gr round nose would be good on deer and hogs out of the blackout. Thanks for posting this.


JTD

[Wolfdog]

I have used that same Lee bullet but gas checked and loaded over IMR 4198 with good results on pigs up to 200 pounds at 50 to 75 yards. Have not tried on deer at this time.

[SAWMAN]

Ya'll most likely will not agree or even like this but understand,it is said with all due respect.
I have been in the 300BLK game for some time now. A close friend and night hunting buddy has been it when it was the Whisper.
IMO . . . the BO is a fine hunting cartridge if used withing certain perameters. Stick with the light bullets. Stick with the most velocity possible. Use a well made,AND well thought out bullet for it's intended purpose. Use a target animal specific bullet.
To get the velocity needed,use as much barrel as possible. Always 16" if possible . . . but NOT <12.5". Velocity drops off pretty fast using pistol powders,and with very limited powder capacity vs bore size. My first two BO's were a bolt gun and a single shot. Both with 16' bbl's. I finally got a gas gun in the form of a Ruger Mini-14. It was used and extremely cheap. It shoots good,however I do not like even the slighest drop in velocity.
There are some fine bullets made for use on game in the BO. Number one is the 110gr Barnes TAC-TX. The Sierra 125gr Pro Hunter is another great bullet if driven fast. The 125gr NosBalTip is another. Give the Hornady bullets designed for the tube fed 30-30's a try. There is a 150 and a 135gr. Both with alot of exposed lead at the nose AND they are HP's.
No lead bullet should be used . . . especially hard lead. They just will not expand at the slower vels. Most "varmint" bullets designed for a 308Win,30-06,and other 308 bore guns will act as a big game bullet at BO vels.
There are tons of good bullets that can be used for big game hunting,when driven fast,out of a 300BLK. Don't go heavy and don't go slow. No need to and the animal deserves better.
The above are my reccomendations after some years and alot of expierance with the 300BLK. My hunting buddy has quite a bit more expierance using the BO on animals,especially deer. I know that he would agree with my above post. His "go to" hunting bullets are three that I listed above.
How you hunt,what you hunt,and your use of equipment is your choice. I respect that. --- SAWMAN

[Benny]

No offense taken or perceived. I do appreciate others experience and input!

I’m away from my computer and a keyboard for a few days so each post is going to be brief.
Some of the recent success with a couple of the loads was with the 135gr and 150gr bullets.
You will note, none of the above loads are near the maximum possible. I’ve gotten away from full velocity loads, one basis for not playing with less than 125gr bullets in a 30cal.

The above 135gr load with the 16” barrel rifle at 100 yards on a 100 pound deer impacted broadside just below the backbone just rear of the shoulder. Exit wound was the size of a golf ball, shrapnel found in the spine and skin. No bullet to access, only shredded jacket. But a dead deer! As my very happy grandson said “I killed him right where he stood!”

The 150gr load with the 7 1/2” barrel pistol at 75 yards on a 100 pound deer impacted just behind the shoulder just missing the heart, exiting at the liver with a golf ball size wound. The exit was so close to the stomach cavity that it did rupture the membrane separating the stomach area from the lung area, allowing the wound to close from internals attempting escape. Recovery of deer was less than 25 yards from impact location. But a dead deer!

I prefer a full mushroom effect and full energy transfer (if possible) with all my loads. I’ve lost a few deer from too much velocity in a 30’06 and 150gr Nosler, they exploded on impact. Others had poor penetration and massive trauma, I was not impressed, went back to Remington PSPCL but I now am having to swap again due to their unavailability.
The few deer and hogs I’ve killed with the 125gr Sierra HP used in a 30-30win made me wonder why they worked. Being still unsure of this bullet at 30-30 velocities, I’ve not found interest in trying them with the 300aac but might. Past 150gr Nosler experience made me wonder if the 125gr Nosler “might” perform well at 300aac velocities. But I’ve not had a need to migrate away from the 135gr Sierra HP, which is now considered a varmint bullet.

The cast powdercoated tests were more of a fallback mechanism in case (once again) my preferred bullet availability becomes diminished.

I’ve killed many deer with the .223rem and suitable 55gr bullets but was not at all happy wit the exit wound. Neck shots became the norm. My preferred 55gr bullet is once again out of production so I had to replace it with a 65gr but have not hunted with it in the 3 years since arriving at a good load. Same thing happened with my 7mm Rem Mag as far as finding a suitable bullet only to be discontinued later.

So I’ve had a little experience with my prejudgment of the 300aac as far as hunting.
But then again this is based on our small deer, around here 125 pound live weight is considered pretty good, 175 pounds is considered a monster.

[Benny]

My real interest was to arrive at a firearm that was about the same as having a semiauto 30-30.
I bought a semiauto .308 and moderately loaded it with 150gr round nose bullets. Groups were 3/4” @ 100 yards. Effective shooting distance over 250 yards was no problem.
Then I started looking at the 300aac.

Based on the little available data and ammo (at the time) I felt I might be able to come close to what I was trying to do all along.
I got an upper, that quickly dictated needing a dedicated lower, then the pistol bug bit me so I got the 11 1/2” single shot pistol, then I “needed” the 7 1/2” AR pistol.

Now Wilson Combat comes out with their 300 HAM’R.
Exactly what I was trying to do 4 or 5 years ago.

[SAWMAN]

How about a 7.62X39. It is about as close as you can get to a 30-30Win. What I do not like about them is bullet selection. Completely different brass with the size of the neck a real disadvantage.
Not a 30cal but the 6.8SPCII pretty much puts me where I want to be between a 5.56/223 and a 308Win.They don't seem to loose as much with the shorter bbls also. I have a Mini-14(18"),and two AR's,one 18 inches and the other 10.5 inches.
The 300HAM'R would surpass the 30-30Win but I prefer to allow other people to "test the water" before I jump in. --- SAWMAN

[SAWMAN]

I have two AR/308's. One has a 16" bbl with adjustable gas.
With it I can shoot all bullets pretty much exactly how fast as I want to shoot them. Using the Hodgdon formula using H4895 ONLY I can duplicate 30-30 vels. Check out the Hodgdon site for reduced (60%) loads.
I have 4lbs of H4895 for this purpose only.
(Follow directions exactly) --- SAWMAN

[Benny]

There’s two things I ain’t gonna do. Reload for a 9mm or the AK round.
Well 3, throw the 270win in there too!

I guess I should never say never. My wife came home with a 9mm Ruger so I bought one too to test the factory ammo with a chronograph against my prejudice.

Thanks, I’ll review the H4895!

[Eric Feral]

Oh the 150gr round nose soft points do amazing things to critters and barriers.

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