# .300 AAC Blackout for Deer Hunting?



## cneedha1

Hey all,

I recently bought a Daniel Defense M4 V5 .300AAC Blackout for fun and pig purposes. Have any of you had any experience with this round for deer hunting?  
I will be using it this weekend since i am letting a friend borrow my .308 for his son.


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## Wiskey_33

I've seen a few threads on other sites where people have successfully taken deer with the 300. Know your limitations and use the right bullet and you should be fine.


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## morganco.killa08

i bought the upper assembly for my dpms. i took it last weekend to see how it fairs against whitetail thinking with bullet size it will work great. i was wrong. it does not have the kill power what so ever. i shot this 14pt 210lb buck at 25 yards and had to shoot him twice to finish him. in the same hunt i shot 180+/- 10pt at 50 yards and never found him. best and worst hunt of my life. i wont ever take that to the deer stand with me again. i am also shooting 225gr ballistic tips.


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## papachaz

morganco.killa08 said:


> i bought the upper assembly for my dpms. i took it last weekend to see how it fairs against whitetail thinking with bullet size it will work great. i was wrong. it does not have the kill power what so ever. i shot this 14pt 210lb buck at 25 yards and had to shoot him twice to finish him. in the same hunt i shot 180+/- 10pt at 50 yards and never found him. best and worst hunt of my life. i wont ever take that to the deer stand with me again. i am also shooting 225gr ballistic tips.



can you talk about bullet placement? I can't believe that caliber wouldn't kill a deer, isn't a .300 blackout a 30 caliber, basically a .308? I'm just curious why it didn't provide a clean kill. I have to admit my ignorance on this one, no experience with that setup at all. I also have to admit I'm not sold on ballistic tips, as they CAN have a tendancy to come apart and not do as much internal damage as their name suggests


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## dom

morganco.killa08 said:


> i bought the upper assembly for my dpms. i took it last weekend to see how it fairs against whitetail thinking with bullet size it will work great. i was wrong. it does not have the kill power what so ever. i shot this 14pt 210lb buck at 25 yards and had to shoot him twice to finish him. in the same hunt i shot 180+/- 10pt at 50 yards and never found him. best and worst hunt of my life. i wont ever take that to the deer stand with me again. i am also shooting 225gr ballistic tips.



gotta go on. that bullet should have way more than enough power to drop a deer in its tracks. especially at 50 yards. bullet should be good out to 100 yds. then not so much.


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## throwdown

The 300 is nowhere near the 308. It is a short range bullet that was designed to be shot sub-sonic. I own 2, and can tell you that I would not deer hunt with mine.


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## morganco.killa08

the deer in my avatar is my 14 pt. that i shot with 300aac. both were perfect broadside dropped the 14pt the other ran like - I AM A POTTY MOUTH -- I AM A POTTY MOUTH -- I AM A POTTY MOUTH -- I AM A POTTY MOUTH -. blood everywhere at impact but not much for blood trail dried up within 30 yards


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## papachaz

throwdown said:


> The 300 is nowhere near the 308. It is a short range bullet that was designed to be shot sub-sonic. I own 2, and can tell you that I would not deer hunt with mine.



ok thanks. As I admitted, I don't know anything about this one. I did google it, and the first link that popped up said this about hunting with it:

_For hunting - think of it as like a 30-30 but from an AR. After you are done, you can remove your 5-round magazine and put in a 30 for plinking or home defense. For ammo, Remington has you covered with the Premiere AccuTip 125 grain. Want industry-wide support? Over 60 companies have already announced or sell products._

it also talked about having similar ballistics to a 7.69x39MM.

I'm curious about the bullets now. next time I'm at Academy, I'm gonna open a box and see what they look like. there are a lot of people that hunt with a .223 successfully, I can't believe a bigger bullet than a 
.223 won't take a deer down


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## morganco.killa08

thats what i thought when i bought it. last year i shot a doe at 60 yards with my .223 and dropped her and she never moved. but i no i wont take this back to the stand. if i would of listened to my dad and taken my ruger .270 i would be bucked out for this year.


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## papachaz

morganco.killa08 said:


> the deer in my avatar is my 14 pt. that i shot with 300aac. both were perfect broadside dropped the 14pt the other ran like - I AM A POTTY MOUTH -- I AM A POTTY MOUTH -- I AM A POTTY MOUTH -- I AM A POTTY MOUTH -. blood everywhere at impact but not much for blood trail dried up within 30 yards



just curious, is that red spot in the middle of the deer the entry hole?

there was a real good discussion on here a week or so ago about blood trails, about a high entry even with a high exit hole don't leave much of a blood trail cause the deer will bleed out internally, into the chest cavity and not much blood will make it out the holes to leave a trail.


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## morganco.killa08

yes that is the entry hole. the bullet did not go through. i no that the other buck i shot is dead guess ill see if the buzzards can point me in the right direction tomorrow.


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## deast1988

Iv read not experienced. The lighter faster rounds above subsonic are the ones you want to hunt with. Go to midway USA read the reviews of the offered bullets. It's similar to an AK round that's more modest. Similar to a 30-30. Knockdown wise. This round is like all others. Each load offered or made has certain abilitys in which it was made for or to fill. I'd look into the lighter Hornady super shock tips. And start with a doe. All the advice I can give. But with any sub magnum cartridge like what was already stated know your limitations.


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## cneedha1

yeah the round was designed to be shot through a suppressor subsonic. it is designed not to have much penetration, more to transfer kinetic energy into the body and not exit.  
i have not hunted with it yet and will probably continue to hunt with my .308 until i get more range time in with the blackout.  

on another topic... i have been dying to hunt something other than bacon with my 1911.  

Is is even legal to kill deer with  a .45 handgun?


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## llhines3

I killed a deer last year with a ar-15 its all about where you put the lead


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## devin25gun

No a 45 does not have the minimum kinetic energy needed to kill a deer period.  At least the states limitation.  At least a 10mm 357 mag or 44 mag.  In a 1911 frame the 460 rowland is a good option.


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## HuntinJakes

morganco.killa08 said:


> i bought the upper assembly for my dpms. i took it last weekend to see how it fairs against whitetail thinking with bullet size it will work great. i was wrong. it does not have the kill power what so ever. i shot this 14pt 210lb buck at 25 yards and had to shoot him twice to finish him. in the same hunt i shot 180+/- 10pt at 50 yards and never found him. best and worst hunt of my life. i wont ever take that to the deer stand with me again.* i am also shooting 225gr ballistic tips.*



Isn't that the subsonic round? Isn't the 110 grain the full power round?


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## rjcruiser

morganco.killa08 said:


> yes that is the entry hole. the bullet did not go through. i no that the other buck i shot is dead guess ill see if the buzzards can point me in the right direction tomorrow.



If that's your entrance, were you aiming right under your stand?

Just looks a bit on the high side to me...close to no man's land.



As far as the original question...see this thread here.

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=717990&highlight=son


I guess if it is good enough for a 5 year old


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## cneedha1

thanks guys.  
The reason i asked about the .45 is this: i have 165 Gr. supersonic rounds for it made by Wilson Combat that i have used for pigs and it will stop them in their tracks.  Also saved my hide from quite the angry pit bull on opening day of muzzle loader season this year.  

I will be doing much more research on it before i try it, but i think those supersonic 165s would do the trick, assuming it is legal in the first place.


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## HuntinJakes

cneedha1 said:


> thanks guys.
> The reason i asked about the .45 is this: i have 165 Gr. supersonic rounds for it made by Wilson Combat that i have used for pigs and it will stop them in their tracks.  Also saved my hide from quite the angry pit bull on opening day of muzzle loader season this year.
> 
> I will be doing much more research on it before i try it, but i think those supersonic 165s would do the trick, assuming it is legal in the first place.


The 125 grain 300 BLK seems to do great within 150 yards


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## GroundMan

Yes it will work.

It is closer to a 7.62 x 39 (Russian). The .308 is 7.62 x 51.


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## suchesbowhunter

My son and I have both killed deer with my blackout this year.  His at around 60yds mine at around 80.  Mine never took another step, his ran 50yds.


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## Klondike

I don't but would with mine under 100 yards.  With the 110gr or 125 gr supersonics it should expand and penetrate fine.

Hunting with a 45-70 now so I have gone up caliber.


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## MuXi115

You shouldn't be using the 225gr subsonic for hunting whitetail. The lighter weight 115-125gr ammunition should be used. Poor ammo selection was your problem.


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## devin25gun

Correct no use of the subsonic loads in the blackout as they are only supposed to be used suppressed and transfer all energy or tumble on impact at the lower velocities.  Once supersonice like the 110 or 115 they are more on par with the 30-30 good to about 150 yards .   Personally 100 yards or less is all I would try for with a well placed shot.


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## mhammock

I have one that I am deer hunting with this year. I am using 125 accu-tips...shot a nice Size buck opening weekend 80 yards dropped him in his tracks, also shot a nice hog back in july with 125's he dropped in his tracks also. I think the 300 is fine for deer as long as you know the limitations of the round your using. I personally wouldnt hunt with 220 grain they were designed for subsonic applications.


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## flopper

Love when somebody dogs on a cartridge... its ballistics are very similar to 7.62x39 and 30-30 win. Both have taken thousands of deer.. Shot placement, Shot placement, Shot placement.... 
Lose the subs... BTW


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## rsilvers

http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gu...year-barnes-110-grain-vor-tx-300-aac-blackout


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## savage11006

HuntinJakes said:


> Isn't that the subsonic round? Isn't the 110 grain the full power round?



Thats what I was thinking.


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## throwdown

flopper said:


> Love when somebody dogs on a cartridge... its ballistics are very similar to 7.62x39 and 30-30 win. Both have taken thousands of deer.. Shot placement, Shot placement, Shot placement....
> Lose the subs... BTW



I would like to know, "who dogged on the round"? I've seen nothing but information passed in this thread, not crap talk. And you need to look at the ballistics of the 300, it is nowhere near similar to a 30-30, or a 7.62X39. Was this round built with hunting in mind? NO. It was designed to be ran sub-sonic for entry teams. Does that mean that it will not kill a deer? Of course it doesn't, but it was not it's intended purpose.


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## rsilvers

Actually it has 16.7% more energy than 7.62x39mm at 300 meters.  There is no 7.62x39mm ammunition which has more energy than 300 AAC Blackout past about 120 yards.

http://www.300aacblackout.com/resources/300-BLK.pdf


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## swalker1517

papachaz said:


> can you talk about bullet placement? I can't believe that caliber wouldn't kill a deer, isn't a .300 blackout a 30 caliber, basically a .308? I'm just curious why it didn't provide a clean kill. I have to admit my ignorance on this one, no experience with that setup at all. I also have to admit I'm not sold on ballistic tips, as they CAN have a tendancy to come apart and not do as much internal damage as their name suggests



This bullet is nowhere near a 308. It's smaller than a 7.62 x 39. It does have killing power, however I wouldn't put the bullet through any heavy bone. It's always bout shot placement. But just because a 22lr will kill a deer with a well placed shot doesn't make it an ideal deer caliber. I wouldn't take it just because of lack of power past 50 or so yards.


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## throwdown

It carries more energy than a lot of rounds at those ranges, but again was not designed as a penetration round. The round was designed to deplete it's energy very fast upon entering soft tissue.


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## Wiskey_33

rsilvers said:


> http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gu...year-barnes-110-grain-vor-tx-300-aac-blackout



Too bad the shooter from above wasn't using those rounds.



> i am also shooting 225gr ballistic tips.


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## rsilvers

throwdown said:


> It carries more energy than a lot of rounds at those ranges, but again was not designed as a penetration round. The round was designed to deplete it's energy very fast upon entering soft tissue.



The 110 grain bullet pictured penetrated 24 inches of 10% ballistic gel at 300 yards from a 16 inch barrel and 20 inches at 300 yards from a 9 inch barrel - all while expanded to at least 50 caliber.


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## rsilvers

swalker1517 said:


> This bullet is nowhere near a 308. It's smaller than a 7.62 x 39. It does have killing power, however I wouldn't put the bullet through any heavy bone. It's always bout shot placement. But just because a 22lr will kill a deer with a well placed shot doesn't make it an ideal deer caliber. I wouldn't take it just because of lack of power past 50 or so yards.



At 300 yards it expands to more than 50 caliber and penetrates 20 inches of gel, even from a 9 inch barrel. That is plenty capable of making a 50 caliber hole all of the way through at deer at 300 yards.

In fact, it has the same amount of energy at 300 yards as a 357 Magnum at the muzzle.


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## gunslinger07

http://www.southwestammunition.com/product_p/300blk110.htm

Try these.  I believe they are the same as the one pictured above.  When my paperwork is processed I'll be taking my 300 into the woods most definetly, but I'll use supersonic rounds.


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## throwdown

I'm running a black rain upper with a rock 9" 5R barrel. You would need 100 mils of travel to shoot at 300 yards! Don't get me wrong, I love my 300. She is quietttttttttttt with my can, and a blast to shoot.


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## swalker1517

rsilvers said:


> At 300 yards it expands to more than 50 caliber and penetrates 20 inches of gel, even from a 9 inch barrel. That is plenty capable of making a 50 caliber hole all of the way through at deer at 300 yards.
> 
> In fact, it has the same amount of energy at 300 yards as a 357 Magnum at the muzzle.



I would really have to see those test. I'm not knocking this round just saying I'm not taking it in the woods. At 300 yards a 30-30 has roughly 650ft/lbs of energy. This round is supposedly comparable with a 30-30, is 650 ft/lbs enough to take down a deer? Maybe, maybe not. A 30-30 has about the same fps at the muzzle but over 600ft/lbs more than the 300ACC at the muzzle. I believe the standard is 1000ft/lbs to kill a deer efficiently, that would limit your range to about 25yards or so with this round. But to each his own, but not for this guy


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## flopper

morganco.killa08 said:


> i was wrong. it does not have the kill power what so ever. i shot this 14pt 210lb buck at 25 yards and had to shoot him twice to finish him. in the same hunt i shot 180+/- 10pt at 50 yards and never found him. best and worst hunt of my life. i wont ever take that to the deer stand with me again. i am also shooting 225gr ballistic tips.



Thats dogging a cartridge... subs were bad choice obviously.....


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## HuntinJakes

throwdown said:


> I'm running a black rain upper with a rock 9" 5R barrel. You would need 100 mils of travel to shoot at 300 yards! Don't get me wrong, I love my 300. She is quietttttttttttt with my can, and a blast to shoot.



Sure, with subsonics and a 9" barrel.

Not with 110gr. Vmax

http://www.right2bearammo.com/shop/catalog/pdf/49.pdf


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## Flaustin1

A 45ACP will kill a deer by the way.


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## throwdown

Really? Have you shot a 9" 300 with 110's out to 300? I've shot boat loads of 110's, and flat burried my scope at 216 yards. This didn't come from a web-site, we spent days trying to find a good supersonic round. I so want to see someone engaging anything at 300 yards with a 9" 300.


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## rsilvers

swalker1517 said:


> I would really have to see those test. I'm not knocking this round just saying I'm not taking it in the woods. At 300 yards a 30-30 has roughly 650ft/lbs of energy. This round is supposedly comparable with a 30-30, is 650 ft/lbs enough to take down a deer? Maybe, maybe not. A 30-30 has about the same fps at the muzzle but over 600ft/lbs more than the 300ACC at the muzzle. I believe the standard is 1000ft/lbs to kill a deer efficiently, that would limit your range to about 25yards or so with this round. But to each his own, but not for this guy



I am sure that making a 1/2 inch hole completely through a deer will kill it, and 300 BLK will do that well past 300 yards.

By the way, it is false that 30-30 has 600 ft-lbs more energy than 300 BLK at the muzzle. This mistake comes from comparing 24 inch 30-30 ballistics with 16 inch 300 BLK.

30-30 does 2390 fps from a 24 inch barrel with a 150 grain bullet. In a 16 inch barrel, it is only 2168 fps.

30-30: 150 grain - 2168 fps/1565 ft-lbs muzzle, 592 ft-lbs at 300 yards.

300 BLK - 155 grain - 1990 fps/1361 ft-lbs muzzle, 796 ft-lbs at 300 yards.

So the reality is, 300 BLK has 204 fewer ft-lbs at the muzzle and 204 more ft-lbs at 300 yards than 30-30.


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## rsilvers

throwdown said:


> Really? Have you shot a 9" 300 with 110's out to 300? I've shot boat loads of 110's, and flat burried my scope at 216 yards. This didn't come from a web-site, we spent days trying to find a good supersonic round. I so want to see someone engaging anything at 300 yards with a 9" 300.



Zero at 200 yards and then you can shoot from 0 to 240 yards without any scope adjustment at all.

I shot 300 BLK at 600 yards from a 16 inch and hit a 1/2 MOA (3 inch) X-ring.


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## gunslinger07

Youtube "300 AAC Blackout at 100-300 yards".  I cant get it to upload here.  You will see a man engage a target at 300 yards with a 9 inch barrel.


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## throwdown

What is the point of zeroing my sbr at 200? Incredible that everyone's entry designed 300's are outclassing precision bolt guns out to 600 yards!


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## rsilvers

The concept of max point blank range - if you want to not fiddle with sight settings, you should zero at the range which gives you the max distance you can shoot without adjusting your sights.

For a 300 BLK SBR, it is about 190 yards for an optimum zero.

I don't mean that you have to literally sight it at 190 yards - you could compute how high you need to be at 100 yards for an optimal zero. For Barnes 110 grain, 1.5 inches high at 50 yards will do it, or 3 inches high at 100 yards.

Once you do that, you can shoot from 0 to 220 yards and always be +- 3 inches from point of aim.


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## rsilvers

Every time some new 300 BLK product comes out, or something is back in stock, I list it here: https://www.facebook.com/300aacblackout - so if you join the page you will be in the first group of people to know about it.


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## deast1988

Any luck? Did y'all use the blackouts to cleanly take deer?


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## deast1988

Any one take a deer with it?

Reviews? Suggestions?

I've read a 30/30 but in an AR just wanted to know?


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## wellwood

My buddy use to hunt with one until it jammed on him. He had a giant Macon county 9pt walk out broad side down a fence line at 60 yards. It jammed three times! AR style guns are fun to play with but I prefer a bolt action rifle win I am hunting.


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## Roundabout

*Hornady 300 black out (whisper)*

300 Blackout 110 gr V-MAX®

This is advertised as a short range hunting bullet.  The whisper is to a 300 ACC blk out as the 223 to 5.56.  


Velocity (fps) / Energy (ft-lbs)
MUZZLE	50	100	150	200	250	300
2375/1377	2232/1217	2094/1071	1939/961	1833/820	1711/715	1596/622

Shoots fine in my  CMMG 300 blk out.  Have yet to put a deer in my sights.


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## rockhard

I shot a 160# 9 point with a 220 grain subsonic round at 50 yards with my Remington 700. He ran 50 yards. Plenty of bullet under 100 yards.


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## gin house

morganco.killa08 said:


> i bought the upper assembly for my dpms. i took it last weekend to see how it fairs against whitetail thinking with bullet size it will work great. i was wrong. it does not have the kill power what so ever. i shot this 14pt 210lb buck at 25 yards and had to shoot him twice to finish him. in the same hunt i shot 180+/- 10pt at 50 yards and never found him. best and worst hunt of my life. i wont ever take that to the deer stand with me again. i am also shooting 225gr ballistic tips.



  Not trying to sound like a know it all but you shot a deer with a round meant for recreation close range target shooting.   So much lead to slow it down, hence subsonic.   You need a 115/125 grain round for hunting.   While I haven't hunted with mine, I have no doubt it would be as deadly as anything with proper round selection and bullet placement.


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## rwh

i hunted with one last year and shot two deer.  both shots were inside of 90 yards, both broadside with deer standing still.  the recoil is so light that you can watch the bullet hit through the scope.  i didn't find the first deer and that's the second deer i've ever lost and the first with a gun.  i had to get my dog to find the second.  i used the barnes  110 grain that's designed for hunting.  i traded that ar on an ar-10 to hunt with this year.  you can certainly kill deer with it but it's not what i would consider a "go to" gun for the job.  i hunt with a .35 remington a lot of the time and i've yet to have a deer get up after being hit.  lately i've been wanting to hunt with the ar platform.  if i was going to buy another upper or gun that i wanted to suppress but also hunt with i'd probably look at a .460 socal.


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## misterpink

300 BLACKOUT using Barnes 110 grain will kill deer very effectively inside 200 yards.  We Hunt with 9, 10, 12 and 16 inch barrels.  All suppressed.  We have kids as young as 8 and seniors up to 65 using 300 blackout in bolt actions, single shots and AR pattern rifles.  We have killed approximately 15 in the last 4 years using this combo.  Shots from 20 yards to 150 confirmed.  We have also lost 3 or 4.  No round will cover a bad shot.  

If you a 110 grain Barnes 300 blackout through the lungs of any GA deer you will kill it .


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## kinross

cneedha1 said:


> Hey all,
> 
> I recently bought a Daniel Defense M4 V5 .300AAC Blackout for fun and pig purposes. Have any of you had any experience with this round for deer hunting?
> I will be using it this weekend since i am letting a friend borrow my .308 for his son.



This is the same rifle that i have and I get under 0.5 inch with 110 grn  hand loaded Tac Tx. Its a killing machine


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## AParker511

It's been said a bunch, but I'll add my .02 

It's a fine deer caliber with the right bullet. 
Don't use a bullet that is designed to dump all its energy on impact. i.e. Subsonics. Save those for shooting suppressed and home defense. 

It's like using a .223  varmint round and being mad when it doesn't drop a 250# buck in its tracks. It's not designed for that. 

When hunting I use a Barnes 110gr Tac-Tx. I shot 2 with it last year and put the shots in the boiler room. It turned the vitals to soup. Both fell in sight.  And that's out of a 10.5" barrel. Your velocity out of a 16" will be a little higher.


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## AParker511

rwh said:


> …  i hunt with a .35 remington a lot of the time and i've yet to have a deer get up after being hit.  lately i've been wanting to hunt with the ar platform.  if i was going to buy another upper or gun that i wanted to suppress but also hunt with i'd probably look at a *.460 socal*.



You mean .450 socom


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## 8pointduck

I'm not reading all this. What I have read ...........PLEASE. That gun will kill deer if you use the right bullet. Using a 225 grain subsonic load is irresponsible.


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## NCHillbilly

8pointduck said:


> I'm not reading all this. What I have read ...........PLEASE. That gun will kill deer if you use the right bullet. Using a 225 grain subsonic load is irresponsible.



Yep. That gives you not much more ballistic performance than a 9mm handgun. The supersonic 110-125 grain loads are good deer killers, close to a .30-30.


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