Hello from Texas

[FartinSpartan]

Thanks dellet, yep, physics + math > conjecture dogma and bravado every time.

There is a decent likelihood I would settle on supersonic rounds in the magazine in the suppressed weapon next to my bed, especially if they were quiet enough to not need to worry about our hearing.

I do agree with reliability being most important. in EVERY case and situation but especially when I am, as you said, betting my family's lives on it working when I need it to.

I am not locked into doing a piston setup but I do have piston operated hardware in other calibers and thus experience with it. And a preference for it as a result.

[ReadyAimDuck]

Thanks everyone.

The idea/recommendation I got for subsonics with a can for indoor home defense is to avoid making those loud pops that usually happen otherwise when you pull the trigger since that will very negatively affect your (short term) hearing. Not to mention the long term hearing loss/damage. Hearing is something you are going to really want working if somebody is coming into your house in the middle of the night. I have shot rifles and pistols without ear pro before (outdoors) so I know what happens with both when they aren't suppressed. I do not have personal experience with shooting supersonic indoors without ear pro and have no desire to gain any.

I would love to hear where you end up on your journey, with what set up you end up choosing once you have some experience under your belt with subs/supers/silencers/different barrel lengths, etc.

If you are anything like me, you won't end up where you started. You may end up with a completely different set up for home defense than you thought you were going to. I imagined building a 9-10" upper with a silencer and using subs for home defense for many of the reasons you mentioned. Once I started shooting this cartridge quite a bit and trying different setups, testing different loads, etc. I ended up deciding that an unsuppressed 16" upper with 110 grain expanding supers is the way to go for home defense.

Please keep us updated. It will be interesting to hear from you about what you end up preferring after some experience vs. what you think makes the most sense for you right now.

[dellet]

Thanks dellet, yep, physics + math > conjecture dogma and bravado every time.

There is a decent likelihood I would settle on supersonic rounds in the magazine in the suppressed weapon next to my bed, especially if they were quiet enough to not need to worry about our hearing.

I do agree with reliability being most important. in EVERY case and situation but especially when I am, as you said, betting my family's lives on it working when I need it to.

I am not locked into doing a piston setup but I do have piston operated hardware in other calibers and thus experience with it. And a preference for it as a result.

The number one reason for a quality suppressor on a home defense weapon, with a load to match, is flash suppression. It really doesn’t matter if you can’t hear, it’s a nice sensation to have, but if I had to give up sight, hearing or both at night during a home invasion.......

Once you’re up and running, what you think you know now, will not be what you know then. I don’t know anybody who did not change their thinking after shooting suppressed. Come up with will work for you and your circumstances.

[gds]

Thanks dellet, yep, physics + math > conjecture dogma and bravado every time.

There is a decent likelihood I would settle on supersonic rounds in the magazine in the suppressed weapon next to my bed, especially if they were quiet enough to not need to worry about our hearing.

I do agree with reliability being most important. in EVERY case and situation but especially when I am, as you said, betting my family's lives on it working when I need it to.

I am not locked into doing a piston setup but I do have piston operated hardware in other calibers and thus experience with it. And a preference for it as a result.

Please don't take my comment on piston ARs as any type of insult. Piston systems obviously work, too many other type firearms out there, long before the AR.

AS a hard charging sub hunter with a lot of real world flesh and blood use, I still recommend supers for home defense. In my experience using 300blk, or seeing the results of 300blk super versus subs, the supers are going to stop the threat "sooner". Now we may be talking on average a few seconds, but in a home defense situation. I want the threat stopped ASAP.

Having said that, If I happen to grab one of me SBRs loaded with 190gr SUb X. I am perfectly content in the ability to stop a threat.

[FartinSpartan]

The number one reason for a quality suppressor on a home defense weapon, with a load to match, is flash suppression. It really doesn’t matter if you can’t hear, it’s a nice sensation to have, but if I had to give up sight, hearing or both at night during a home invasion.......

Thanks dellet, no disagreement about flash suppression or ability to see in a HD situation here. I was responding to the notion of not worrying about the noise. I didn't mention flash suppression but it was (past tense) at the top the list in my criteria. And not just for the reason of MY vision...

• (SIDEBAR): Even if nobody at the LGS / Class 2 dealer mentioned flash suppression as why they recommend XYZ brand/model of can. I talked to 4 different staff there who are owners of suppressors and got 4 different opinions of which one was best for what I described as my use case for a 30 caliber suppressor -- and not one of them even mentioned the level of flash suppression as why they recommended their model. It didn't escape my notice then either. I wasn't even asking them to recommend one but I got their recommendation anyway....

One thing I've come to learn over the years is that different people have different criteria for what they recommend. Some like pretty colors. Some like the quick detach. Some can't even tell you why, but their favorite *oo-tube influencer recommends it very highly. Or, all their hunting buddies use that one.... The reasoning (or lack thereof) behind their recommendation tells me whether I should even BE listening to them.

So I'm glad to see you mention flash suppression dellet.

I wouldn't want to blind OR deafen myself with my own weapon. Both factors (your weapon's flash or its report) also have a way of helping direct incoming rounds towards it.

Once you’re up and running, what you think you know now, will not be what you know then. I don’t know anybody who did not change their thinking after shooting suppressed. Come up with will work for you and your circumstances.

I'm not claiming to know much about 300 blackout. It's new to me. So will be shooting suppressed, I'm waiting for my first can.

[dellet]

It not just you and your knowledge or expectations, not singling you out at all. Unless you have be been around a lot of suppressed shooting, when you get that brand new suppressor on your rifle or what ever and take the first shot most likely the first thing that will come to mind is disappointment. More so if it’s on an AR.

Barrel length, powder choice, dwell time all make a difference. Your doing better than most in at least asking the questions.

Something to ask about or you might have heard reference is “first round pop”. That will be an indication of sorts to flash suppression. Monocore designs tend to have more first round pop. Loud first shot. Happens when the unburned powder and gasses are still burning in the can. Second round no oxygen to burn, no pop. Same for flash.

You may only get one shot, it needs to be as quiet as the rest.

[FartinSpartan]

It not just you and your knowledge or expectations, not singling you out at all. Unless you have be been around a lot of suppressed shooting, when you get that brand new suppressor on your rifle or what ever and take the first shot most likely the first thing that will come to mind is disappointment. More so if it’s on an AR.

Barrel length, powder choice, dwell time all make a difference. Your doing better than most in at least asking the questions.

Thanks. I definitely have a lot to learn.

Something to ask about or you might have heard reference is “first round pop”. That will be an indication of sorts to flash suppression. Monocore designs tend to have more first round pop. Loud first shot. Happens when the unburned powder and gasses are still burning in the can. Second round no oxygen to burn, no pop. Same for flash.

You may only get one shot, it needs to be as quiet as the rest.

Thank you dellet - I've heard of the term but only in general sense, so far I don't think I've seen the first round pop explained in terms of uncombusted propellant and oxygen in the can . That makes sense.

[FartinSpartan]

Thanks gds and ReadyAimDuck.

I do apologize if I came across as pointy at all in any of my posting above. I admit having some of the same concerns and proverbial question marks hovering over my head. Example: it made great sense to me that if you're going to drop several hundred dollars and ~a year of your life waiting on a can, make sure you pick one that is good at killing the flash coming out the end because if it doesn't stop the flash of your rifle at night then you are just telling bad guys where to shoot next. "Practical advice" that is a no-brainer (though clearly some are not thinking at that level). But other things I struggle to understand. Like how does 16 + 8 + 9" + stock length = ideal home defense (close quarters?) weapon?

Anywho, I wouldn't be surprised if I end up changing a bit on where I start out vs. where I end up. Such is the process of learning and gaining my own experience.

Should be adventurous. Not only do we have to care about muzzle velocity and bullet weight, but also burn rate, ideal velocity for the type of bullet to achieve useful terminal performance or more aptly, finding a bullet that will do what it needs to do given the velocity you can work with. etc.

And for the partridge in a pear tree, trying to come up with a piston driven solution as well. Preferably one that doesn't severely limit your handguard options.... or require use of proprietary or 1-2 specific brand/model of buffer, spring, bcg etc.

[popper]

If used for house SD, shorter barrel is fine, personally I prefer a real pistol. You can shoot SLOW supers very easy. If for ranch SD, go with the carbine and supers. Try for 1:9 or 1"10 twist.

[BJK]

Not having all that much personal experience with different twist rates I trusted the folks here and my barrel maker (Ballistic Advantage) and if I remember correctly my barrel has a 1:7 twist that works fine with the 85 gr copper Makers and 200 grain poly coated cast subs. The 85s I push to 2000fps for ~1k ft/lbs. Accuracy is fine for more than what I need, <1" @ 50 yards. Pretty hard to justify HD outdoors at 50 yards+. But there was that time with a cop killer running around in the "backyard" and I had to go armed with a long gun for 4 days. Wish I had the .300BLK back then.

Cans... Not the quietest, But Amtac makes reflex cans intended for CQB. Putting their (now discontinued) 10" long 7.62 CQB on my 10.3" barrel yields a OA barrel length of 14". Yes, cans are the best flash suppressor one can put on a barrel. But they also get rid of the blast that will damage eardrums. Experience shooting a high pressure cartridge indoors just once and it's an unforgettable experience. Hence the CQB can. Gets rid of blast (never tested it for flash) and doesn't turn a handgun into rifle length. Note that my CQB can is NOT hearing safe. But when my life is on the line at fairly close range I want a fast handling gun and I'll deal with slight hearing loss for a few shots, later. Surviving is #1.

I'd heard rumors that Amtac now makes a .300BLK specific can so I looked it up. Yup, here it is.

https://amtacsuppressors.com/suppressors/kaha/