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Happy second day of fall, suppressed shooters and thank you for joining us for TFB’s Silencer Saturday. Where steaming some milk for your pumpkin spiced latte is louder than most of our subsonic setups. With hunting season upon us, those who live in restriction-free areas can reach for their suppressed rifle of choice. For many hunters in the Eastern United States, a pistol caliber carbine with the right load can be a great choice for medium-sized game at distances up to 100 yards. But why pick 38Spc or 44Mag when you can pickup a bolt action 300BLK that will push balistically superior bullets at either supersonic or subsonic velocities? Similarly, is there a difference in decibel readings between 300BLK factory ammunition?
SILENCER SATURDAY #38: 38Spc Vs 300BLK
After last week’s episode, many of you requested decibel meter testing of the 300BLK loads out of a bolt action host. Great idea. I also thought it would be an interesting way to compare one of my favorite suppressed rifles with my new favorite cartridge – The Ruger 77/357 using 38Spc versus the Remington Model 7 in 300BLK.
A basic, but satisfying test of some of the quietest suppressed centerfire carbine ammo available. Let’s take a look.
Griffin Armament Sportsman Ultra Light 300 – $795 MSRP C/O Silencer Shop
https://www.silencershop.com/silencers/7-62mm-rifle/griffin-sportsman-ultra-light-300.html
Remington Model 7 Kuiu 300BLK – $795 MSRP
https://www.remington.com/rifles/bolt-action/model-seven/model-seven-threaded
- B&T2209 – A Weighted
- 60 Degrees; 44% Humidity
SIG SAUER 220GR ELITE PERFORMANCE MATCH
https://www.sigsauer.com/store/300blk-220gr-elite-match-grade-otm.html
MILSTD
- 128.6
- 128.5
- 126.6
- 124.2
- 126.7
EAR
- 120
- 118.3
- 118.9
- 115.9
- 118.0
HORNADY BLACK 208 A-MAX
https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/300-blackout-208-gr-a-max-black#!/
MILSTD
- 120+
- 120+
- 120+
- 124.4
- 123.1
- 122.2
- 124.
- 123.1
EAR
- 117.2
- 120+ (Supersonic)
- 115.1
- 118.3
- 118.4
- 117.7
- 120+
HORNADY SUB-X 190GR
https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/300-blackout-190-gr-sub-x-subsonic#!/
MILSTD
- 126.2
- 127.0
- 126.9
- 124.6
- 127.1
- 123.1
EAR
- 120.0
- 118.5
- 117.1
- 117.5
- 117.5
- 118.7
- 118.0
LIBERTY Mystic – $799
Remington 38 Special 148gr Wadcutter
MILSTD
- 117.8
- 119.4
- 120+
- 120+
- 120+
- 122.1
- 122.6
- 119.1
- 121.1
- 121.6
EAR
- 117.1
- 118.4
- 118.9
- 120+
- 120
- 124.1
300 AAC Blackout is typically chambered in platforms with barrel lengths ranging from 7” to 16”. Until recently, any commercially available ammunition had only been available in one load for each extreme in barrel length. What this means is that 300 Blackout ammunition that is designed to have a muzzle velocity of 1050FPS out of a standard 16” rifle barrel will often have a 900fps or less out of a 7” pistol/SBR barrel. At 100 yards this can result in as much as a 200fps drop making it more difficult for the shooter to get on target. Discreet Ballistics offers its 300 AAC Blackout ammunition in either pistol/SBR (7-11”) or rifle (16”) barrel loads so that velocity is consistently in the 1000fps range no matter which platform the shooter is using.
I did not test the Discreet Ballistics 300BLK loads because my ammunition is specific for 7-11” barrels. There is an identical loading available for 16” barrels. Pretty neat.
Observations/Conclusions:
In my humble opinion, when it comes to suppression (and obviously ballistics), hanging up the pistol caliber carbine or lever action rifle in exchange for a quality 300BLK bolt action rifle makes sense. My initial belief was that the 38Spc wadcutter would be much quieter than the 300BLK subsonic loads. But whereas these wadcutters are pushing a 147gr pill at around 750fps, a true hunting round will result in a 200gr bullet traveling at 1000fps.
it took me many years to walk over to the 300BLK side of the house. And while I’m glad I have found my little slice of subsonic Blackout heaven, I won’t be ditching my Ruger 77/357 any time soon.
Thanks for reading. See you next week.
TFB’s Silencer Saturday is brought to you by Sig Sauer
Bowers Vers30 Precision Suppressor
Published on Sep 21, 2018 – Dustin Ellermann
Bowers Group releases their new precision 30 caliber suppressor. Chicks dig it. More info: https://fishgame.com/2018/09/bowers-v…
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