Need help deciding on 300 BLK SBR

[pilotranger]

Hello,
I'm new to this forum and need some help/advice on my next AR purchase. Sorry for the dumb questions in advance.

I own a BCM AR15 16" 5.56 rifle that I use for range/home defense and possible hunting in the future. I really like that rifle and have been thinking of adding to my armory another AR platform type of rifle.

Currently reading and researching the 300 BLK caliber and looking at a 12.5 SBR rifle from CMMG. My questions are:

1. Do I have to use subsonic or supersonic ammo with the 300 BLK? Can I just use regular 300BLK ammo?

2. I do plan to add a suppressor later after I replenish some fund$, but right now just going the non-suppressed route. Can I just shoot without using a suppressor?

3. On using the 12.5 SBR for the above - home defense/range and hunting. I know the 300 BLK caliber will be very sufficient for hunting. Will the shortened barrel affect my accuracy?

4. Would a 12.5 SBR be a good SHTF/go to war type rifle or is the 16" AR a better choice?

I just like the 300 BLK caliber, to me I feel it's the best of both worlds - great knock down power using the same shell casing (scaled down of course) and magazine as the 5.56 system. I saw on a Youtube video review (the poster is very well respected) he said that the 300 BLK is the future of the AR platform and could possibly take over the 5.56.

Thanks,
pilot

[Sithlord]

Hello,
I'm new to this forum and need some help/advice on my next AR purchase. Sorry for the dumb questions in advance.

I own a BCM AR15 16" 5.56 rifle that I use for range/home defense and possible hunting in the future. I really like that rifle and have been thinking of adding to my armory another AR platform type of rifle.

Currently reading and researching the 300 BLK caliber and looking at a 12.5 SBR rifle from CMMG. My questions are:

1. Do I have to use subsonic or supersonic ammo with the 300 BLK? Can I just use regular 300BLK ammo?

2. I do plan to add a suppressor later after I replenish some fund$, but right now just going the non-suppressed route. Can I just shoot without using a suppressor?

3. On using the 12.5 SBR for the above - home defense/range and hunting. I know the 300 BLK caliber will be very sufficient for hunting. Will the shortened barrel affect my accuracy?

4. Would a 12.5 SBR be a good SHTF/go to war type rifle or is the 16" AR a better choice?

I just like the 300 BLK caliber, to me I feel it's the best of both worlds - great knock down power using the same shell casing (scaled down of course) and magazine as the 5.56 system. I saw on a Youtube video review (the poster is very well respected) he said that the 300 BLK is the future of the AR platform and could possibly take over the 5.56.

Thanks,
pilot

Welcome! There are no 'dumb' questions.

1) What do you consider 'regular' ammo? All ammo is EITHER subsonic or supersonic. We do not have 'hypersonic' (5x the speed of sound) ammunition for the blackout. So, I guess the best answer is 'yes', you can use regular ammo. But the ammo will be either subsonic or supersonic. Generally, factory ammo that has a projectile > 190 grains is subsonic, while everything else is supersonic. Hand loads are a different matter.

2) Yes, you can shoot without a suppressor. My 9" Mr. Blond barrel from KAK has no issues with subs or supers, suppressed or unsuppressed.

3) A shortened barrel is not going to affect your accuracy. Many people obtain sub MOA with 9" (or shorter) blackout barrels. That should be more than accurate enough for hunting/SHTF/HD scenarios.

4) This gets into personal preference, IMHO. In a bug out scenario, you will likely NOT find sufficient quantities of 300 blackout ammo. However, 5.56 or 7.62x39 (AK) ammo will be found by the metric ton. However, the blackout has roughly the same takedown capabilities as the 5.56 and 7.62x39, if not better, even at 300-600 yards.

Note, you can use your existing AR lower, especially since you 'like' it.

[BlogSarge]

What Sithlord said....!

[pilotranger]

Hello,
I'm new to this forum and need some help/advice on my next AR purchase. Sorry for the dumb questions in advance.

I own a BCM AR15 16" 5.56 rifle that I use for range/home defense and possible hunting in the future. I really like that rifle and have been thinking of adding to my armory another AR platform type of rifle.

Currently reading and researching the 300 BLK caliber and looking at a 12.5 SBR rifle from CMMG. My questions are:

1. Do I have to use subsonic or supersonic ammo with the 300 BLK? Can I just use regular 300BLK ammo?

2. I do plan to add a suppressor later after I replenish some fund$, but right now just going the non-suppressed route. Can I just shoot without using a suppressor?

3. On using the 12.5 SBR for the above - home defense/range and hunting. I know the 300 BLK caliber will be very sufficient for hunting. Will the shortened barrel affect my accuracy?

4. Would a 12.5 SBR be a good SHTF/go to war type rifle or is the 16" AR a better choice?

I just like the 300 BLK caliber, to me I feel it's the best of both worlds - great knock down power using the same shell casing (scaled down of course) and magazine as the 5.56 system. I saw on a Youtube video review (the poster is very well respected) he said that the 300 BLK is the future of the AR platform and could possibly take over the 5.56.

Thanks,
pilot

Welcome! There are no 'dumb' questions.

1) What do you consider 'regular' ammo? All ammo is EITHER subsonic or supersonic. We do not have 'hypersonic' (5x the speed of sound) ammunition for the blackout. So, I guess the best answer is 'yes', you can use regular ammo. But the ammo will be either subsonic or supersonic. Generally, factory ammo that has a projectile > 190 grains is subsonic, while everything else is supersonic. Hand loads are a different matter.

2) Yes, you can shoot without a suppressor. My 9" Mr. Blond barrel from KAK has no issues with subs or supers, suppressed or unsuppressed.

3) A shortened barrel is not going to affect your accuracy. Many people obtain sub MOA with 9" (or shorter) blackout barrels. That should be more than accurate enough for hunting/SHTF/HD scenarios.

4) This gets into personal preference, IMHO. In a bug out scenario, you will likely NOT find sufficient quantities of 300 blackout ammo. However, 5.56 or 7.62x39 (AK) ammo will be found by the metric ton. However, the blackout has roughly the same takedown capabilities as the 5.56 and 7.62x39, if not better, even at 300-600 yards.

Note, you can use your existing AR lower, especially since you 'like' it.

Great advice! Thank you.

pilot

[pilotranger]

Hello,
I'm new to this forum and need some help/advice on my next AR purchase. Sorry for the dumb questions in advance.

I own a BCM AR15 16" 5.56 rifle that I use for range/home defense and possible hunting in the future. I really like that rifle and have been thinking of adding to my armory another AR platform type of rifle.

Currently reading and researching the 300 BLK caliber and looking at a 12.5 SBR rifle from CMMG. My questions are:

1. Do I have to use subsonic or supersonic ammo with the 300 BLK? Can I just use regular 300BLK ammo?

2. I do plan to add a suppressor later after I replenish some fund$, but right now just going the non-suppressed route. Can I just shoot without using a suppressor?

3. On using the 12.5 SBR for the above - home defense/range and hunting. I know the 300 BLK caliber will be very sufficient for hunting. Will the shortened barrel affect my accuracy?

4. Would a 12.5 SBR be a good SHTF/go to war type rifle or is the 16" AR a better choice?

I just like the 300 BLK caliber, to me I feel it's the best of both worlds - great knock down power using the same shell casing (scaled down of course) and magazine as the 5.56 system. I saw on a Youtube video review (the poster is very well respected) he said that the 300 BLK is the future of the AR platform and could possibly take over the 5.56.

Thanks,
pilot

Welcome! There are no 'dumb' questions.

1) What do you consider 'regular' ammo? All ammo is EITHER subsonic or supersonic. We do not have 'hypersonic' (5x the speed of sound) ammunition for the blackout. So, I guess the best answer is 'yes', you can use regular ammo. But the ammo will be either subsonic or supersonic. Generally, factory ammo that has a projectile > 190 grains is subsonic, while everything else is supersonic. Hand loads are a different matter.

2) Yes, you can shoot without a suppressor. My 9" Mr. Blond barrel from KAK has no issues with subs or supers, suppressed or unsuppressed.

3) A shortened barrel is not going to affect your accuracy. Many people obtain sub MOA with 9" (or shorter) blackout barrels. That should be more than accurate enough for hunting/SHTF/HD scenarios.

4) This gets into personal preference, IMHO. In a bug out scenario, you will likely NOT find sufficient quantities of 300 blackout ammo. However, 5.56 or 7.62x39 (AK) ammo will be found by the metric ton. However, the blackout has roughly the same takedown capabilities as the 5.56 and 7.62x39, if not better, even at 300-600 yards.

Note, you can use your existing AR lower, especially since you 'like' it.

Sithlord,

Follow up question - so I can shoot 147 gr FMJ ammo without suppressed? From what I am reading, suppressed should be anything that is over 190 grains correct?

[voip-1]

Hello,
I'm new to this forum and need some help/advice on my next AR purchase. Sorry for the dumb questions in advance.

I own a BCM AR15 16" 5.56 rifle that I use for range/home defense and possible hunting in the future. I really like that rifle and have been thinking of adding to my armory another AR platform type

Sithlord,

Follow up question - so I can shoot 147 gr FMJ ammo without suppressed? From what I am reading, suppressed should be anything that is over 190 grains correct?

You can shoot either kind of ammo with or without a suppressor it just won't perform optimally, if you (for example) shoot heavy subsonic rounds without a can (suppressor) the ammo might not cycle properly or the bolt might not lock back on the last round in a mag.

300BLK is an outstanding cartridge but its scarcity on store shelves or 99% of gun owners basements makes it a poor choice for the one rifle you have in SHTF type scenarios.

If I was leaving my home in my vehicle I would have a 300 BLK along with other toys. If I had to abandon my vehicle and go on foot I would leave the 300 and take a 5.56 carbine or my AK.

[dellet]

The beauty of the cartridge is flexibility.

Depending on what you want to do, how you set up your rifle and what your reloading skills are, the answer to all your questions is simply, "it depends".

I shoot a lot of heavy supers and light subs. The shorter the barrel allows lighter subs because you do not have the velocity gain of the longer barrel and in turn you lose the higher velocities of the supersonic bullets. The 12" barrels are a good compromise for both.

You do not need a suppressor to shoot sub-sonic loads, and you can use a suppressor when shooting supers. It is a choice. All shooting becomes a little more comfortable suppressed.

If you are hand loading, you might develop a load that only works with a suppressor installed, but all factory ammo should function without.

Occasionally you might find factory ammo that will over gas a gun when ran through a suppressor and it is certainly possible to hand load rounds that will. This can be compensated for a couple of ways.

So basically, once you decide what you really want to do, there will probably be a way to make it happen.

[Sithlord]

2) Yes, you can shoot without a suppressor. My 9" Mr. Blond barrel from KAK has no issues with subs or supers, suppressed or unsuppressed.

Sithlord,

Follow up question - so I can shoot 147 gr FMJ ammo without suppressed? From what I am reading, suppressed should be anything that is over 190 grains correct?

See answer #2 above.

There are 4 possible combinations:

Suppressed Subsonic
Suppressed Supersonic
Unsuppressed Subsonic
Unsuppressed Supersonic

My KAK 9" Mr. Blond barrel operates 100% with last round bolt hold open in ALL FOUR configurations using factory ammo. When suppressed, a supersonic round will still be loud because of the sonic crack (breaking the sound barrier). But, it will be quieter than when unsuppressed. For reference, a typical 5.56 round sounds like a 22lr when shot suppressed.

As for "suppressed should be anything that is over 190 grains correct" - suppression has nothing to do with bullet weight. In an AR platform that cycles, 190 grain projectiles will GENERALLY be subsonic. But you can shoot 110 grain projectiles at 2400 feet per second (twice the speed of sound) through most suppressors. You can also load 150 grain projectiles to be subsonic; however, they GENERALLY do not have sufficient gas to both propel the bullet AND still have enough gas to cycle the action. These rounds work fine in a bolt gun.

[ncbowhnter]

Too clear up one of your questions as far as the ammo selection goes, pretty much all you need to look at is if the ammo is supersonic (which would be regular ammo with fps usually over 1100 fps) or subsonic ammo (which is under 1100 fps)
Most rifles will shoot both unsupressed and suppressed but the subsonic is primarily used for suppressed shooting because it will be a lot quieter through a suppressor.
12.5" would be plenty good for hunting. If using supersonic ammo think of it as being similar to a 30-30.
If you want to hunt with subsonics it gets in to a whole different ball game.
Short barrel suppressed is the configuration that this caliber really shines in. So take into consideration how short you want your barrel to be. You are already going to have to fill out the atf paperwork for the sbr and then u will have to fill it out again for your suppressor. I guess what I am saying is, look at the overall length of a 12.5" barrel with an 8" suppressor on it. You may want to go with a shorter barrel just because you can and it will still do all the same things a 12.5" will do.

[68Guy]

Likewise I think Sithlord answered your questions very well. I can tell you that as far as accuracy with an SBR, I was just out this past weekend shooting my 8" SBR and reliably hitting an 18" silhouette at 350 yards with a red dot sight. Had I put my Leupold 1-4X AR Mod 1 on, I would probably have 100% hits because of the available range marks. That was using supersonic ammo. I moved in to 200 yards and was hitting reliably using subsonic rounds with obviously more hold over. Moral of the story is, the 300BLK can be built to be completely reliable using super or sub with nothing more than a change in rounds (I keep my mags labeled with SUB and SUPER). Accuracy of an SBR is a function of matching your twist rate with the proper bullets for stabilization and a good shooter. Yes it is more expensive to shoot over 5.56 and in a SHTF scenario, it wont be readily available but until then - it is an AWESOME round. I like to be prepared so I have my 5.56 as well and if I wanted to, I could just keep ONE lower and swap the upper and go back and forth easily.