Recently, there was a thread concerning the accuracy or lack thereof with the 300 Blackout cartridge http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=753619 .
Anyone who has a rifle chambered for the Blackout will readily admit (or at least should) that the cartridge is anything but benchrest accurate nor was it ever intended to be. Having said that, the Blackout has been a bit of a challenge to get super tight groups with. However, it is at least possible to do so.
Here are some results of today's shooting activities. For today's range session, I switched out my Bushnell 3200 10x scope for a B&L 4000 6x-24x40mm scope that I frequently use for load development purposes.
Mounted on a 20 MOA base, the B&L 4000 bottoms completely out in elevation adjustment and as a result, I am only able to come within approximately 5" of the point of aim @ 100 yards.
My hope was that the higher magnification and significantly clearer optics would allow for better accuracy. I think it was positive step in the right direction.
I tried a slight variation of 168gr. A-MAX load with H110 that has proven reasonably accurate in previouse range sessions. However, I substituted a Federal 205 primer for the Winchester brand I was previously using and I varied the charge weight +/- 0.02 from my baseline 14.5gr. load.
So, here is the outcome of today's session:
I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. The first group in the first pic had me a little concerned. I simply couldn't believe that I'd possibly put (4) consecutive rounds in one hole. I thought maybe some rounds had actually went off paper! When I shot the 5th round and pulled it a little high, I knew there was no mistake.
By the third group was fired, there was a dead calm wind and the mirage was problematic at 24x power on the scope. I pooched the 3rd. group and decided to wait until a slight breeze would pick up to reduce the amount of mirage I was experiencing.
I continued shooting after a short time and out of the next (3) consecutive groups I managed to pull one round a bit in the first of three that wrecked an otheriwse decent group.
Now that I've got a decent level of accuracy I plan on taking the chronograph out for my next range session to see where the ES & SD numbers come in at. From the Hornady loading manual I have, I believe the load to be somewhere close to 1,600 fps.
So, is the 300 Blackout capable of acceptable accuracy? Well, based on what I've seen with this load I'd have to say yes. Having said that, one accurate load is simply not enough to rely upon. I look forward to trying a number of other bullets I have on hand to see how it all plays out. An accurate "plinker" load with the Hornady 150gr. FMJ-BT bullet and a hunting load with the Nosler 125gr. Ballistic Tip are next on my list for supersonic loads. I plan on doing some subsonics after that.
Suputin has been doing a fair amount of work on subsonics if I recall correctly. I look forward to hearing the results of his work to see if they're able to produce satisfactory results in my rifle.
Anyone who has a rifle chambered for the Blackout will readily admit (or at least should) that the cartridge is anything but benchrest accurate nor was it ever intended to be. Having said that, the Blackout has been a bit of a challenge to get super tight groups with. However, it is at least possible to do so.
Here are some results of today's shooting activities. For today's range session, I switched out my Bushnell 3200 10x scope for a B&L 4000 6x-24x40mm scope that I frequently use for load development purposes.
Mounted on a 20 MOA base, the B&L 4000 bottoms completely out in elevation adjustment and as a result, I am only able to come within approximately 5" of the point of aim @ 100 yards.
My hope was that the higher magnification and significantly clearer optics would allow for better accuracy. I think it was positive step in the right direction.
I tried a slight variation of 168gr. A-MAX load with H110 that has proven reasonably accurate in previouse range sessions. However, I substituted a Federal 205 primer for the Winchester brand I was previously using and I varied the charge weight +/- 0.02 from my baseline 14.5gr. load.
So, here is the outcome of today's session:
I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. The first group in the first pic had me a little concerned. I simply couldn't believe that I'd possibly put (4) consecutive rounds in one hole. I thought maybe some rounds had actually went off paper! When I shot the 5th round and pulled it a little high, I knew there was no mistake.
By the third group was fired, there was a dead calm wind and the mirage was problematic at 24x power on the scope. I pooched the 3rd. group and decided to wait until a slight breeze would pick up to reduce the amount of mirage I was experiencing.
I continued shooting after a short time and out of the next (3) consecutive groups I managed to pull one round a bit in the first of three that wrecked an otheriwse decent group.
Now that I've got a decent level of accuracy I plan on taking the chronograph out for my next range session to see where the ES & SD numbers come in at. From the Hornady loading manual I have, I believe the load to be somewhere close to 1,600 fps.
So, is the 300 Blackout capable of acceptable accuracy? Well, based on what I've seen with this load I'd have to say yes. Having said that, one accurate load is simply not enough to rely upon. I look forward to trying a number of other bullets I have on hand to see how it all plays out. An accurate "plinker" load with the Hornady 150gr. FMJ-BT bullet and a hunting load with the Nosler 125gr. Ballistic Tip are next on my list for supersonic loads. I plan on doing some subsonics after that.
Suputin has been doing a fair amount of work on subsonics if I recall correctly. I look forward to hearing the results of his work to see if they're able to produce satisfactory results in my rifle.
