Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Guns N Gear 300blkout or .223

Thinking of buying a evil AR platform. Which should I buy, looking at pistol length guns. I’d like to use it for hunting inside 100 yards and just don’t think the .223 is enough. What you fellers opinion. TIA.

300blk out. Add a can

Just to blather on it some, because I’m bored….
Inside 100, a, 223 and good bullets is better than a blackout with bad bullets or subs…..the opposite is also true. The blackout is way overrated, IME…..simply because most of the loads you can find on the shelf are marginal for hunting deer, at best…..and folks will go shoot deer with them, anyway. The reverse is usually the case with the 223: there’s good bullets for deer on the shelves most days, and the average hunter will put more thought into picking that good deer bullet when hunting a 223.

The 223 does other stuff, much farther than the blackout, too. 6.8, 6.5, HAMR, ARC, 350, 7.62x39, etc…..they’re all better in an AR than a blackout, UNLESS you’re just going to shoot subsonic…which sucks for hunting in most cases, anyway. You can suppress any of them.

All that aside, in a pistol, the 300 does well, as it’s really just a pistol cartridge, pretending to be a rifle cartridge. In a pistol, it loses less velocity and has less blast than a 223…..but the 6.8 and 350 and 7.62x39 are still better, IMO.

Here are the numbers. 30-30 thrown in for reference. Looks like a toss up as far as energy is concerned.



30-30 Ballistics Chart 150gr
Range (yards) Drop (inches) Velocity Energy Time (seconds)
0 ‑1.4918 2389 1901 0.00
50 0.1579 2200 1612 0.07
100 0.0066 2019 1357 0.14


300 BO Ballistics Chart 125gr
RANGE (YARDS) VELOCITY (FT/SEC) ENERGY (FT/LBS) BULLET PATH (INCHES) TIME OF FLIGHT (SECONDS)
0 2115.0 1241.4 -1.5 0.0 0.0000
50 1984.6 1093.0 0.35 0.7 0.0732
100 1859.3 959.3 0.0 0.0 0.1513

.223 Ballistics Chart 62gr Federal Fusion
RANGE (YARDS) VELOCITY (FT/SEC) ENERGY (FT/LBS)
0 3000 1239
100 2697 1001

David

Damn chart went to hell when I posted.

I have some 70gr Barnes TTSX loaded that would probably work well for deer out of a .223 at reasonable ranges.

300 BO 110 gr VTAC or Varmageddon if you can find them or reload.

300blk does better with short barrels. The main advantage of 5.56 is price and availability of ammo. I'd probably go with 5.56 if the barrel is 10.5" or more. 12.5" 5.56 uppers are highly underrated. I personally went with a 14.5" pin and welded, that way I didn't need a pistol lower.

The main reason I don't own a 300blk is I worry about getting the ammo mixed up with some 5.56. I really don't want to chamber the wrong round, I believe that ends poorly either way. I pull out the Tavor 7 when 5.56 isn't enough.

.300BLK 110gr TTSX @ 2350fps is one bad motherlover

I’ve been looking over at psa. I’m not dead set on anything in particular either a kit or complete one ready to go. I’d really like a .308 if I can find one for a reasonable price that’s not super heavy. Keep the suggestions coming fellas!

A 223 was more than these deer could handle. 62gr fusion is a bad bad bullet. We watched all of them fall.

You can buy a Bear Creek whole rifle for 3 something. I can’t remember what calibers they have it in. Check out Bear Creek Arsenal.

62 gr barnes are poison on a whitetail. never shot one with a 300blk.

I'd go 223 with 65 gr Sierra's,75 gr gold dots but I'd ditch the pistol length barrel.i like full size rifles .a m4 with 14.5 in barrel with pinned muzzle brake with stock collapsed is tiny I couldn't imagine needing something smaller and it sure isn't worth the trade off in loss of velocity and accuracy .
As others said the Barnes is good option.
Have zero desire for 300 bo(boring)
Heard an old man at gun show ask a fellow If his ar pistol was real! I just laughed I feel the same.like a toy

Also gold dots and fusions are same bullets.should perform well 62gr up on deer

Look into the 300 Ham'r before you make a decision to buy.

Keep in mind the OP is wanting an AR pistol. A short barrel makes a big difference on kinetic energy for lighter rounds. OP should determine what barrel length they want when selecting a caliber. The link below has some kinetic energy vs barrel length data for 5.56 vs 300blk. If you look around, you can probably find similar data for your round of choice.

https://fenixammo.com/pages/the-ballistics-of-5-56x45mm-vs-300-aac-blackout

I personally would want the better ballistics of a longer barrel for hunting, but do what you do. This is America.

Small calibers are good for most Alabama deer, especially sitting on an open field with a rest from a shooting house. Grandma could probably kill most of those deer with a 65 grain bullet. For freehanded woods hunting, walking deer, and at an angle I would want a larger caliber for a 200 pound rutting buck. A perfect shot may never happen on some of the places I have hunted, you usually don't get to sit and watch a deer all season long. If you get a decent shot you had better take it! Found too many never recovered from folks using small calibers with marginal shots that could have been possibly recovered, even with marginal shots with a larger caliber. A larger caliber can drop a deer and give you a second shot, whereas a smaller caliber may make the recovery nearly impossible. Now there is a time to let one walk, but a little extra lead may be able to compensate for a slight human error if a decent shot does arise.

I don’t hunt greenfields or out of shooting houses very much. I am almost always hunting the woods on the ground. I haven’t shot a doe in many years, only shoot bucks and for the most part, ones I’m putting on the wall. I’m not dead set on a pistol, but do like a light weight compact gun for hunting. I have hunted with a .308 for years and it is my go to caliber.

A 11.5" or 12.5“ 300 Ham'r with 130g Speer HotCor or 110 Barnes TTSX would beat a 300 blackout or 223 for what you are describing all day long. A 7.62x39 would also but for me the only appeal to the x39 is cheap steel case plinking and spray and pray ammo. Brass cased hunting ammo is just as expensive as anything else. 300 Ham'r can be made from 223 brass if you reload or you can buy loaded hunting ammo for a reasonable price.