I absolutely love the idea of a 30cal projectile and keep going back and looking at 300blk but can never talk myself into it.
Right now I’m kicking around the idea of a home defense gun. It would probably be a 10.5 build (I love the MK18 size) and I was looking at the 110gr Varmageddon bullet to make some HD loads. The instant energy dump it does I feel would be devastating for any intruder and the 10.5 should keep the round above 2,000fps.
My drawback is the reloading process for it. I already reload .223 and find it to be simple enough. How much more tedious is the 300blk? Would I regret it?
.300 Blackout is no more difficult to load than 5.56.
I am a strong proponent of the .300 for short barrels and even going with a shorter barrel…7"-8"…is plausible with the .300 and iffy with 5.56. I have come to realize it is a better round for in/around vehicles as it is much more barrier-blind that 5.56 ever really could be.
The .300 does get you a bit more energy out of short barrels over the 5.56. To me though, it’s not worth it because I don’t reload, and the ammo for the .300 is just too expensive in comparison, and the extra energy isn’t all that much. I only have 1 .300 blk, and that’s just because it does so well suppressed. However, when running subsonic rounds, you lose that little edge, so…
Seeing as how you’re a reloader though… I’d say go for it. There shouldn’t be a significant cost difference for you.
I have one suppressed .300 SBR, and it’s pretty niche. It’s my go to home defense gun, but I run the Barnes 110gr black tips, so it’s not whisper quiet like the subs. It still sounds a lot better than a 5.56 round would indoors and gives me a shorter set up. It’s a lot of fun shooting subs at the range, but I don’t prefer them for defensive use or hunting, which I do use it for rarely.
If you are reloading .300 HAM’R can be formed from .223 brass, is more powerful than .300 BLK, and should avoid kabooms. Since you did not mention suppression I think you should consider it.
For an HD only weapon, I would say not worth it. I have more 300BLK URGs than most people do and use them for a variety of tasks and projects. What one gets the most use? A 14.5 that John Noveske made me, its most often shot suppressed, and with a can. I use it for hunting, and feel confident with it taking just about any game in CONUS. I also shoot it other times, but I don’t care all that much about subsonic ammo. Someday I’ll find a magic 200 grain subsonic load that has solid expansion, but there really isn’t anything I’ve heard about to justify big interest (for me).
If I only had 5.56 guns, I would get a .308 next.
Again, the above is ONLY in the context of you using it strictly as an HD weapon.
They have a smaller rib, and it will help reduce pigeon toe if you load heavy subsonic to full OAL.
None that I have seen moved the rib back to be on the 300’s neck. That’s where the rib rides on a 5.56 round. You can load empty 5.56 cases and that rib keeps them from sliding forward if you smack the mag.
I shoot plenty of short loaded 300, it runs just fine at the range. But drop or smack or keep that mag in a pouch while you run around and it can jamb up if a round slides forward.
Grendel is a fatter round, so the ribs are mich flatter. Which is why the mags are stainless rather than Al. And no polymer mags.
If you are having jamming, its probably not mag ribs.
For what its worth, across dozens of grendel mags from 3 different mfgs in several different rifles going back to 2007, we’ve never had grendel mag issues.
If you’ll start another thread with specifics we should be able to get you sorted.
pinzgauer, I believe you offered to help before and I appreciate it. It is only a few magazines and I can’t afford to shoot Grendel right now anyway so it hasn’t been a priority. Todd’s post just made me curious.