300 Blackout bende

[StanCT]

I tested my first loads today with the Peregrine Subsonic expanding copper bullet in my 9" BCM AR, with VihtaVuori N120.
I am impressed with this powder - and this bullet, for that matter.

Much to my amazement, I got hold-open on my starting load of 9.6 grn at a mere 760 fps, however, at 25m there was already drop of about 75mm.
10.8 grn is only giving me 950 fps, so I should be able to get a bit more velocity (and case fill) and a bit less drop.

I am sure that this bullet will do a lot of damage, ripping its way like a razor-sharp turbo-prop:



I am seating it to the middle crimp groove, because for some reason, using the top groove results in massive feed jams when the cartridge is 'too short':



FWIW, this bullet is actually longer than the case.

I don't know what they cost nowadays, because I got these on Black Friday special about 2 years ago at just under R15 per bullet, but load development is going to need to be frugal.

[Wild coast]

I tested my first loads today with the Peregrine Subsonic expanding copper bullet in my 9" BCM AR, with VihtaVuori N120.
I am impressed with this powder - and this bullet, for that matter.

Much to my amazement, I got hold-open on my starting load of 9.6 grn at a mere 760 fps, however, at 25m there was already drop of about 75mm.
10.8 grn is only giving me 950 fps, so I should be able to get a bit more velocity (and case fill) and a bit less drop.

I am sure that this bullet will do a lot of damage, ripping its way like a razor-sharp turbo-prop:



I am seating it to the middle crimp groove, because for some reason, using the top groove results in massive feed jams when the cartridge is 'too short':



FWIW, this bullet is actually longer than the case.

I don't know what they cost nowadays, because I got these on Black Friday special about 2 years ago at just under R15 per bullet, but load development is going to need to be frugal.

That is exactly the bullet I’m interested in, are they proven suppressor friendly?

Stan I looked for that video re converting brass with the Lee 300 blackout case trimmer. But that guy has so many videos... I haven’t found it again yet.

[StanCT]

That is exactly the bullet I’m interested in, are they proven suppressor friendly?

No issues through my suppressor.

... that guy has so many videos ...

Do you mean Johnny's Reloading Bench YT channel? What about his channel's search function?

[Wild coast]

Search function sounds higher grade... I will try again.

What did you shoot those rounds into to get that expansion?

[StanCT]

What did you shoot those rounds into to get that expansion?

General gravelly sand backstop at range.

I was dreaming of a ballistic gel test, but was pleased enough with these.

[Wild coast]

Great work Stan, excellent post!

Did you get a chance to try CFE black powder yet?

[StanCT]

Great work Stan, excellent post!

Did you get a chance to try CFE black powder yet?

I have read on 300BlkTalk.com that some users have complained that although CFE BLK 'does the job', it can be quite dirty and inconsistent, so before I try any of that myself, I'm going to keep testing with N120, which has proved very promising for subs, so far.

I also tested some of my cast & PC'd 220 grn NOE bullets with N120 on Sat, which produced some groups to work with, as well as some Hornady VMax 110's with Lil Gun (which @ 2150 fps kicked like a mule, compared to any of my sub loads).

[StanCT]

These new Peregrine bullets seem to address the issue. Does anyone know how they feed, function and expand from typical 300BLK SLR's?

I am still having too many feed jams, with the lip of the hollow point getting caught on the feed ramp, when feeding from the LHS of the mag. I don't know whether this warrants going through all the effort of polishing the feed ramps.



Accuracy and grouping are satisfactory; expansion is phenomenal, even at 760 fps.

At 950 fps, drop is about 50mm at 25m:

[Stevin]

I have read on 300BlkTalk.com that some users have complained that although CFE BLK 'does the job', it can be quite dirty and inconsistent, so before I try any of that myself, I'm going to keep testing with N120, which has proved very promising for subs, so far.

I also tested some of my cast & PC'd 220 grn NOE bullets with N120 on Sat, which produced some groups to work with, as well as some Hornady VMax 110's with Lil Gun (which @ 2150 fps kicked like a mule, compared to any of my sub loads).

What was your load with the V-Max?

[StanCT]

What was your load with the V-Max?

19.9 grn / COL 52mm - looking at pressure signs: still acceptable, but wouldn't want to go higher.

Admittedly, this was with an H1 buffer, which is way too light for this kind of velocity.

Am going to experiment with H2/H3 and also considering adjustable gas block, but first want to see what I can achieve without that, if possible.

Going forward, I wouldn't be shooting many of the 110's, purely to be kind to my rifle - it might be intended for more of SD application.

Looking at the targets, the Vmax seemed to handle my 1:7 twist rate at that velocity, which pleased me, considering the shortness of the bore-riding portion.