Is the Love Affair Over? (300BO)

[LDHunter]

I know there is probably still a hard core group that's still in love with the 300BO but it seems that the love affair is over and you don't hear about it as much anymore. I was and still am a fan of it's grand daddy the 300 Whisper as originally introduced by JD Jones waaaaaay back in the dark ages for the Thompson Center Contender but never got one in an AR nor did I consider it a serious medium to big game cartridge.

My new love affair is with the 6.5 Grendel for everything from 1000yd targets to prairie dogs to hogs and whitetail and I've heard it suppresses very well but I haven't gone that route yet.

What do y'all think? Has the Grendel eclipsed the Blackout?

It seems to have so many more capabilities and it seems to be so much more versatile.

I hope this doesn't start a ****ing match but rather a good discussion of the good, the bad and the ugly of each cartridge.

 

[Doom2]

Just an observation as I don't shoot either. I'm an RSO at a private range. We still see a fair amount of 300 BO but very few Grendels. I can only think of one right off.

That said, if I were to pick one, it would be the Grendel. Better bullet selection, greater range, and better ballistics. The only real advantage I would give the BO is subsonic suppressed.

 

[Dave in WI]

The only real advantage I would give the BO is subsonic suppressed.

IMO the real advantage of the 300BO is shooting subsonic in a short barreled, semi-auto platform. It will cycle in that configuration. Supersonic you might as well be shooting cheap 7.62x39. However, 300BO will feed much better in AR15 platform than 7.62x39. Also, 300BO barrels typically are twisted for subsonic heavy bullets , 7 or 8 twist.
Having said that, my first sentence states what I believe to be the niche for 300BO where it excels above others.
Just my $.02

 

[OldTimeHunter]

If you want to kill a bad guy without disturbing the Force at 200 meters, a 220 gr VLD, subsonic, supressed is a fine choice.

 

[Deleted member 115360]

If you want to kill a bad guy without disturbing the Force at 200 meters, a 220 gr VLD, subsonic, supressed is a fine choice.

Or a coyote at night near houses.

 

[Bucklowery]

If you want to kill a bad guy without disturbing the Force at 200 meters, a 220 gr VLD, subsonic, supressed is a fine choice.

Exactly what it was designed to do. Something's only do one thing very well


Thanks

Buck

 

[badthirtyone]

IMO the real advantage of the 300BO is shooting subsonic in a short barreled, semi-auto platform. It will cycle in that configuration. Supersonic you might as well be shooting cheap 7.62x39. However, 300BO will feed much better in AR15 platform than 7.62x39. Also, 300BO barrels typically are twisted for subsonic heavy bullets , 7 or 8 twist.
Having said that, my first sentence states what I believe to be the niche for 300BO where it excels above others.
Just my $.02

This.

Exactly what it was designed to do. Something's only do one thing very well


Thanks

Buck

And, this.

 

[missiletester]

I agree with the guys above about the nitch. It's my go-to for night hunting with a thermal around the farm. SBR subsonic suppressed. Mine actually cycles subs and supers suppressed and non-suppressed with rarely an issue.

 

[sierracharlie338]

There was a love affair....... strange......

 

[Gstew1930]

The love affair is still going strong with me. A lot of us in south Texas use them quite a bit for pigs

 

[westexhunt]

I had 8 of them at one point, trying to find a way to make them fill more than one role and I couldn't make it work. Dumped them all then bought one back. Subsonic 200+ are all it's useful for in my opinion. I only shoot suppressed. I've had some wild ricochets with the slow heavies in rocky country. They do not kill anything well (I'm not going to load expensive low speed expanding Bullets for pigs). Much better tools available for the jobs I do.

 

[Gstew1930]

I had 8 of them at one point, trying to find a way to make them fill more than one role and I couldn't make it work. Dumped them all then bought one back. Subsonic 200+ are all it's useful for in my opinion. I only shoot suppressed. I've had some wild ricochets with the slow heavies in rocky country. They do not kill anything well (I'm not going to load expensive low speed expanding Bullets for pigs). Much better tools available for the jobs I do.

I tried using subs for pigs too, I wasn't happy with the results at all. The Barnes 110 does better than any 5.56 or 223 I've shot them with

 

[westexhunt]

I used the Barnes 110 tac-tx. They kill well out to about 150 yds then taper off in trajectory and energy pretty fast. I run 75-77 gr in the 556 under the thermal usually. I've made kills out to 300 yds pretty often. Some require more than one hit but it's pretty effective. I've run 6.5 Grendel, 224 Valkyrie, 308 and 6.5 creed gas guns for pigs but I just prefer the 556 for cost and quick follow up shots. I tend to put some lead down when I get in the pigs.

 

[Gstew1930]

Yeah I can believe that for sure. Some of my buddies swear by the 77 grainers. I'm right there with you, I can't afford to shoot my 6.5 at pigs. I'm prone to emptying the mag when we run into a big sounder lol. Hell maybe I'm just stubborn lol I just like my 300 blk