Suppressors Accurate, Clean, Consistent, Reliable: Favorite 300 AAC Blackout Factory Ammo for Suppressed AR?

mebgardner

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Feb 11, 2024
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What are your Go To choices for Suppressed 300 AAC Blackout factory ammo, for use with a gas gun?

Accurate, clean and consistent velocity. Low Flash is a bonus, but I believe its usually already baked into the powder for these ammo. I can tune for reliability, and I have purpose made 300 Blk mags.

For use with 1:7 to 1:8 twist rate, not the really shorty 1:5 twist. Let's say 10" or longer barrel, something that will at least burn most if not all of the powder to help with the velocity consistency.

What do you recommend?
 
Hate to say this, but no such thing really exists from my experiences... Most factory ammo uses bulk canister-grade powder, which is rarely a decently clean-burning powder like we buy in stores...Super and Subs. And the cheaper in price you go for the ammo, the cheaper the price/quality of the components of said ammo are at the factory, as well.

So .300 BLK subs are nasty regardless...Especially most factory options (from my experience). They'll cake up the inside of your can, too. You'll need to clean your suppressor about every 1,000 shots with subs or it will get pretty thick on the baffles. But, about every 250 rounds of subs, shoot a mag of supersonics through it to break up some of that shit, and that will help you run to cleaning it about every 1,500 rounds instead of 1,000.

I handload all mine, and use either Hodgdon H110, Alliant 300-MP, or Hodgdon CFE-BLK and CCI 450 primers.
 
Hate to say this, but no such thing really exists from my experiences... Most factory ammo uses bulk canister-grade powder, which is rarely a decently clean-burning powder like we buy in stores...Super and Subs. And the cheaper in price you go for the ammo, the cheaper the price/quality of the components of said ammo are at the factory, as well.

So .300 BLK subs are nasty regardless...Especially most factory options (from my experience). They'll cake up the inside of your can, too. You'll need to clean your suppressor about every 1,000 shots with subs or it will get pretty thick on the baffles. But, about every 250 rounds of subs, shoot a mag of supersonics through it to break up some of that shit, and that will help you run to cleaning it about every 1,500 rounds instead of 1,000.

I handload all mine, and use either Hodgdon H110, Alliant 300-MP, or Hodgdon CFE-BLK and CCI 450 primers.

I began this thread because Andrew, over on a reddit thread, mentioned how warranty requests for repair were increasing in his shop. He thought there *could* be, *might* be, a connection to a few ammo manufacturers. For me, it's hard to say really, hard to make the case. There are so many new folk using cans, so many attempting to spin up on how to not break them. Then, there's Covid Era ammo made from questionable component quality, making its way thru supply chains and stocked up on shelves. But, he thought he saw a connection to certain ammo, with failures showing up on his can repair line. (I asked him for his recommendation for this ammo, but I did not hear back).

I was reading another recent thread on this forum from a fellow describing his velocity measurements on 300 factory supers. Ammo Inc was the worst offender with 100's of fps spread, huge for subsonic velocities. No info on grouping, or cleanliness, just measured velocity spread. The gamut of tested ammo (4 brands, I think) and the results he documented was pretty bad for wide variance, and it lends alot of credence to your observations with subs.

So, with all that and relative scarcity of information on 300 subs, I thought it would be a good topic for supressors. That is, I'm hoping that good ammo will help keep me from damaging my gear. I can apply all that I have learned here (buy good gear from reputable firms, apply correct torques, check alignments, etc), but I should also feed it the good stuff.

Thanks for the tips about cleaning. I noticed a 2020 thread about cleaning cans has been revived this month, some topic that started with "dip", a mixture that I now believe I will steer clear of.
 
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I would like to open the door a little wider for the call on good 300 sub ammo. @FuhQ 's assertion that I'm not going to find what I'm looking for from a major, is a very reasonable position for the reasons he's given, and then writes about rolling his own.

So, please include small batch makers that deserve our business, that do a great job at controlling their manufacture process and use good components. It might literally be folk like OCL that opened a business in their garage and produce good product.

I've cross posted this question to /r/NFA.
 
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I would like to open the door a little wider for the call on good 300 sub ammo. @FuhQ 's assertion that I'm not going to find what I'm looking for from a major, is a very reasonable position for the reasons he's given, and then writes about rolling his own.

So, please include small batch makers that deserve our business, that do a great job at controlling their manufacture process and use good components. It might literally be folk like OCL that opened a business in their garage and produce good product.

I've cross posted this question to /r/NFA.
No personal experience, but I know people who have used their stuff, and say it's very high quality, so this might be the best option for finding some clean(ish) burning stuff. Even my handloads are nasty on my AR's...Subs and suppressors in semi-autos is just the nature of the beast to be nasty and require a very routine and thorough cleaning regimen.

 
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I have some early feedback from NFA Reddit.
There was the usual chatter about commonly bought budget product: S&B, and Ammo Inc.
But one particular fellow who I believe is well respected, and well educated and practiced, chimed in with these 300 subsonic suggestions:
Maker. Gorilla. and Discreet. He suggested these because of the in house bullet designs. Of the roughly equal three, He recommends Discreet as best of best, because the company focuses completely on subsonic ammo. I never heard of Maker before today. I like Discreet's ability to supply Training ammo and Hunting ammo in the same bullet weight, and at the same velocity, but have the training stuff be cheaper.
 
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What are your Go To choices for Suppressed 300 AAC Blackout factory ammo, for use with a gas gun?

Accurate, clean and consistent velocity. Low Flash is a bonus, but I believe its usually already baked into the powder for these ammo. I can tune for reliability, and I have purpose made 300 Blk mags.

For use with 1:7 to 1:8 twist rate, not the really shorty 1:5 twist. Let's say 10" or longer barrel, something that will at least burn most if not all of the powder to help with the velocity consistency.

What do you recommend?
OP are you looking for a target round, plinking or designated for more consistency and are you looking for an expanding bullet? Subsonic expanding bullets will narrow your opinions but there are some amazing expanding bullets available and I have thoroughly tested a bunch. We run expanding subs on game and they drop (within practical distance) deer, hogs, coyotes and anything in-between. I have all but changed my sub ammo out to Maker Rex 200gr bullets. (https://makerbullets.com/)

They stabilize great in 1in7 barrels and do amazing damage on tissue. There are several shops that sell the loaded Maker Bullets. If you don't reload Ping me directly and I'll share my shop of choice but I also handload so I always keep a large supply of sierra 220 gr matchkings loaded over h110 or CFE black On hand for plinking.
For a factory plinking load its hard to beat Barnes Match 300 Blackout 220gr OTM. These are great and can be had at under $25 per box.

Good luck!
Tank
 
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I’ve had great results with Defender Ammunition subsonic ammo. Can’t say it’s very clean, but it’s not any worse than others I’ve tried. It ran very well in my 10.5” and 16” 300 BLK.
 
OP are you looking for a target round, plinking or designated for more consistency and are you looking for an expanding bullet?

Good luck!
Tank

Hi Tank. This is a great question, and I was given an analogy that helped me clarify what I'm asking about.

This (Talking about Discreet ammo):
"$1300 for 1k box? For target rounds? What benefit does this ammo have to warrant the cost over other brands.?"
"Oh, you must think that this is comparable to ammo you buy at gun stores or big box retailers. This is race gas to put in your TT Lamborghini, not 87 unleaded in your civic. Nothing is comparable between the two."

So, to answer your question, Im asking for the best precision rifle ammo in the 300 Blackout Suppressed space. Target and Hunting, not casual plink. Which manufacturers have done the iterative load / shoot / load / shoot process, while using a chrono, to dial into the most precise, quiet, solution? Low Flash Signature, and Clean, are Bonus.

Ammo that would interest a precision rifle shooter or hunter, but in the subsonic space (within it's limitations).

Not gonna get it from the majors, the market is not big enough to make their money. Not Yet anyway.

Two actually billboard it in their marketing: Discreet, and Gorilla. Any Others?
 
Thanks for the clarification. As you mentioned you have 2 of the big names listed but a company I like to use that is pretty low key but makes a great product and develops their own recipes is TNT munitions. https://www.tntmunitions.com/ammuni...r-rex-loose-reman-packaged-250-rnds-case.html

They have a good supply of ammo coming our of their shop and as I mentioned before if hunting is a requirement, Maker Rex ammo all day long. Just my .02 but TNT's ammo is worth a look. They sell reman ammo and new to offer the customers pricing options. Reman ammo is a grab bag but I've had good luck with theirs. I have had a few issues with their powder coated cast bullets but everything else from the "new" line has been fantastic.

I have not tried steadfast by stillwood yet but they are on my radar too. They might be worth a look if your itching to try the granddaddy of expanding subs.

Cheers,
Tank
 
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Hornady’s stuff isn’t terrible, the “Black” edition stuff in 208 gn v-max and there’s the 190 gn sub-X stuff. Both were satisfactory iirc, haven’t shot either of them since I started rolling my own several years ago.
 
Hornady’s stuff isn’t terrible, the “Black” edition stuff in 208 gn v-max and there’s the 190 gn sub-X stuff. Both were satisfactory iirc, haven’t shot either of them since I started rolling my own several years ago.
I've shot the 190 Sub-X a couple months ago. None of my guns liked it much. It was reliable after tuning the gas system for it, but I could not get it to group well enough for me to recommend it. I'm still testing the Hornady Black line, not done gathering data yet. We're hitting record Temps again in Tucson, it feels like July outside.
 
Yea like I said it’s been a min since I shot anything other than my own. I just remember the volume factor being acceptable for subs and they fed properly. I’ve used Remington OTM subs as well with same results. Don’t recall the projectile weight of those though. 200 or 220 possibly…
 
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In the last month, I have used two 300 BLK pistols to run 9 different Supers ammo, and 8 different Subs ammo through both of them, factory ammo. 50 yards, steady bags front and rear, 1-6 scope set to 5X with a cross hair reticle, shooting on a county run range. Sight in, and zero. Slow and careful breathe and shoot of 5 shots of each ammo at an aiming grid type target. All shots suppressed using 2 different .30 cans: OCL Lithium and a Rex MG7. I was basically "shooting for score" to determine what my 2 pistols liked to eat, to inform my ammo purchases. These were 6 hrs days each over 4 days to shoot the targets. Lotta data, and I'm just finishing correlating it. I'm not an expert shooter, just a guy attempting to understand my builds and get better results at groups and accuracy. I did not run a velocity recorder, so there will not be any velocity sd data. This is not about tone, or sound or flash suppression. Its about shooting subsonic ammo, lots of different makes and weights and in a relative sense, what will group better out of my pistols. There seems to be some interest, so in a short while I will publish the results here.
 
In the last month, I have used two 300 BLK pistols to run 9 different Supers ammo, and 8 different Subs ammo through both of them, factory ammo. 50 yards, steady bags front and rear, 1-6 scope set to 5X with a cross hair reticle, shooting on a county run range. Sight in, and zero. Slow and careful breathe and shoot of 5 shots of each ammo at an aiming grid type target. All shots suppressed using 2 different .30 cans: OCL Lithium and a Rex MG7. I was basically "shooting for score" to determine what my 2 pistols liked to eat, to inform my ammo purchases. These were 6 hrs days each over 4 days to shoot the targets. Lotta data, and I'm just finishing correlating it. I'm not an expert shooter, just a guy attempting to understand my builds and get better results at groups and accuracy. I did not run a velocity recorder, so there will not be any velocity sd data. This is not about tone, or sound or flash suppression. Its about shooting subsonic ammo, lots of different makes and weights and in a relative sense, what will group better out of my pistols. There seems to be some interest, so in a short while I will publish the results here.
I'd read it. No logistics for reloading at my place now so interested in decent subs that are the goldilocks of not too dirty, decently accurate, and not too many relative $$.
 
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I'd read it. No logistics for reloading at my place now so interested in decent subs that are the goldilocks of not too dirty, decently accurate, and not too many relative $$.
Do you want the "long version", with all the group, and box velocity, details or a "cheat sheet" version that just gives the grouping grade for each cartridge, for each gun? (Great / Good / Fair / Poor). I put together both, with the detailed sheets going into the gun case, and the cheat sheet going into the gun case and the range ammo box, as a first reference.
 
Do you want the "long version", with all the group, and box velocity, details or a "cheat sheet" version that just gives the grouping grade for each cartridge, for each gun? (Great / Good / Fair / Poor). I put together both, with the detailed sheets going into the gun case, and the cheat sheet going into the gun case and the range ammo box, as a first reference.
Long.
 
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Here you go, long form grouping scores for 2 different 300 BLK guns, using 10 ea different OEM Subsonic cartridges, and 8 ea different OEM Supersonic cartridges.
 

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Discreet Ballistics

I tried their 300 BLK target offering for short barrel in two different guns. The results, for those guns, with me driving, were disappointing. At 50 yds, the 190 gr OTM yielded "Good" for one gun, which is 0.5 to 1.0", and "Poor" larger than 1.5" from the other gun. For the price, I expected better results. It could be just me not doing my part, or something about the inter-action with the gun dynamics. I get better results with other ammo. For these guns.

I am learning that 0.5" to 1.0" is actually pretty darn good for this subsonic caliber. My expectations are pretty high at the price per round.
 
I don't know every gun is different. My one 300 Blackout really likes the discreet ballistic. They're hunting bullet has proven very good on deer for us.

Very Good! At subsonic velocities, details matter. Length of barrel, muzzle velocity, twist rate. Too much MV negates the benefit of shooting suppressed. Not enough MV and the bullet does not stabilize for the given twist rate. Gas port size determines gas used for the operating sys and whether or not it will be reliable. Too much gas for the OpSys and I lose MV, not enough and the gun does not cycle.

On and On... There are some details about the "Poor" gun's setup that are causing me to look closely at the build details. I looked for gas leaks very carefully, and did not find any.

I'm glad the Discreet works for you. Very Good.
 
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