Talk to me about 300 Blk Out Bolt guns

waco

Springfield, Oregon
I am thinking about getting a bolt gun in 300 BO. This would be strictly a fun rifle with no practical purpose other than punch paper and ventilate beer cans and the like,( you guys have rifles for this right? )
I have never loaded for this caliber. I do have a .221 Fireball.

What are some good things to know ahead of time going into this? It may see some jacketed, but I would like it to be a little cast rifle. The Ruger American Ranch is the one I have my eye on. I know these things have a very fast twist, 1:7 I think. One concern I have is most 30 bullets are fairly long. Do the bases of the bullets end up below the shoulder of that tiny case? Is it hard to get good accuracy from the heavy 200+gr cast bullets? Will it shoot 150gr cast OK?

I think I read that Fiver has one, maybe two 300 BO bolt guns. What's your opinion? The Ruger looks pretty good to me for the money. I'm trying to sell my Contender stuff now to fund this project. I am just not having the fun with the TC as I thought I might.

I would love your input. Thanks guys.

Walter
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Should shoot almost any weight bullet well.
Yes, bullets go deep in the case with heavier bullets. Not an issue, you can still get enough velocity from them.
Mine is an AR but I have found it to be easy to get reasonable accuracy from. A bolt will be even easier, no feeding issues to worry about.
I easily get 1700 fps with a 170 gr cast using 1680 or H110.

Great cartridge.
 

Josh

Well-Known Member
Love mine but it is a Rem 700. I shoot the 235 gr lee improved, the 311466, and the 312-155-2R. It is a very well rounded rifle and accurate to boot. With my 255 gr cast and 5 gr of bullseye it barely makes a fart when coupled with a can.

 

waco

Springfield, Oregon
Good to know Brad, thanks. BTW I put some bullets in the mail tonight.:)
 

Josh

Well-Known Member
That's a sweet looking set up Josh. Is that a factory stock?
Yeah it is the factory stock, it is the aac-sd version 1-7 twist with a throat that allows bullets to seat way out there.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Guy at work brought in one of the Remingtons just like Josh's and we all got our turn feeling it up. My only complaint was HIS, brand new, never fired and without any scope bases, had a distinct left angle to the barrel, so bad in fact that it was rubbing the left side of the forearm channel at the front.

Tonight I spent some time looking for a 1-in-7 twist for my Savage Hog Hunter, seems they're hard to find. Definitely go with a seven twist if planning to shoot heavy subsonic loads. And don't worry about seating below the neck, even Josh's plain-based bullets with 1/4" shoved down into the powder space shoot minute of silver dollar at 100 yards with and autoloader and an eight twist barrel that barely stabilizes them.

The only thing I have to say against a 300 BLK is that for a plinker, bolt rifle, it has almost zero advantages over a good old .30-30...while having the disadvantage of smaller powder capacity for pushing heavier supersonics. Advantages of the BLK go to cheap/free donor brass everywhere and higher magazine capacity in rifles that take AR magazines. I'd say if you aren't getting an AR or Mini to shoot your BLK ammo, OR aren't planning on buying it with plans to also get a can, you might be disappointed after a while.
 

Josh

Well-Known Member
Guy at work brought in one of the Remingtons just like Josh's and we all got our turn feeling it up. My only complaint was HIS, brand new, never fired and without any scope bases, had a distinct left angle to the barrel, so bad in fact that it was rubbing the left side of the forearm channel at the front.

Tonight I spent some time looking for a 1-in-7 twist for my Savage Hog Hunter, seems they're hard to find. Definitely go with a seven twist if planning to shoot heavy subsonic loads. And don't worry about seating below the neck, even Josh's plain-based bullets with 1/4" shoved down into the powder space shoot minute of silver dollar at 100 yards with and autoloader and an eight twist barrel that barely stabilizes them.

The only thing I have to say against a 300 BLK is that for a plinker, bolt rifle, it has almost zero advantages over a good old .30-30...while having the disadvantage of smaller powder capacity for pushing heavier supersonics. Advantages of the BLK go to cheap/free donor brass everywhere and higher magazine capacity in rifles that take AR magazines. I'd say if you aren't getting an AR or Mini to shoot your BLK ammo, OR aren't planning on buying it with plans to also get a can, you might be disappointed after a while.
If I ever spun up a barrel for an H&R single shot, it would be a 1-7 twist 30-30 (with an actual throat). It would do everything the 300 BLK would do but with extra neck, only downside is the 30-30 doesn't do as well in shorter barrels.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
that smaller case let's you get away with less powder.
I have walked the LEE 230 down to 3.5 grs of 700-x with a small rifle primer.
it's like a pop with a smack at the target.

the AAC I have has a different stock than Josh's it's shorter and adjustable as far as up and down but not length of pull.
it's fairly hard to steady from the bench or when standing [it needs more weight] but if you can hold it down it will shoot some stupid small groups with either cast or jacketed.

now the ruger all American I bought y wife has a lot more room in the chamber and the throat area it will feed and chamber rounds I can't even begin to get chambered in the AAC
I'm sure that's part of the aac's accuracy.
I like the stock better on the ruger and the looser measurements allows it to shoot a wider variety of booits.

the rcbs 30-165 silhouette will shoot in either rifle very well [9.5grs of AA#-9] , the LEE does well too [1-7 twist] I hear of it causing trouble in some of the 1-8's.

now on to jacketed stuff I have only shot the 100 and 110gr bullets.
the V-max on top of H-110 does quite well, but the 110gr Nosler Varmageddon on top of 17.5grs of AA-4100 is my favorite it actually shoots pretty flat and just smokes anything in it's path out to 200 yds.
I use that same load under all of the other 110-100 gr bullets I have on hand and most of them are good but that varmageddon is the top of the accuracy pile in my AAC.
the V-max is right on it's heels and is running a bit faster.
 

300BLK

Well-Known Member
I'm not a boltgunner, but have shot 300BOs to 500m with cast from AR platforms. The Lee 155 and 160s do very well from 1-8" twist. 15.8gr H110 under the Lee 155 chrono'd 1920fps from my 16" and would reliably hit silhouettes to 500m. As unimpressive the cartridge is to look at and fondle, it is an entirely different animal from an accurate platform.
 

waco

Springfield, Oregon
300BLK. I have the Lee 155. I'm going to try this load. I have a 10" AR500 plate hanging in the woods at almost 500 yards.(493)

I would be tickled if I could ring that with cast!

Thanks!