300BLK w/ NOE314-129 Results

[nitrohuck]

I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of my first range day with my new 300BLK build, finally today was my day, albeit the weather was not in my favor ;)

...This is just the beginning of much more testing, so stay tuned...


The boolit in question here is the NOE 314-129. When lubed and GC'ed it comes out to ~139grs and as far as I know, it has never been tested in the 300blk (at least no info exists for it on the internet, believe me I've searched far and wide)

Rifle:
MAS Defense upper 16" bbl carbine length gas port (opened to .111") 1:8 twist
PSA Lower
AIM Surplus standard m16 BCG

Load recipe:
Brass: LC converted 556 from Grumpa
Boolit: NOE 314-129 @.311" copper gas check and Xloxed
Primer: CCI 400
Powder: Alliant 300MP 18.0grs (charges were thrown from lee perfect powder measure, they varied 17.9 - 18.1grs consistently, no problem)
COL: 1.900"


This morning I woke up and it was pouring rain outside. I've been waiting for my day off all week, and wasn't about to let that stop me, so I loaded up 70 rounds and headed to the range.

First five shots were a complete failure, bolt didn't cycle hardly at all, rounds jammed (if it even picked up the new round) and the bolt most certainly didn't hold open. "Great, I've got a bolt action AR" I thought to myself...

By the sixth or so round, all of the sudden the rifle began performing perfectly. This noob was being too impatient and expecting too much right off the bat, it seems the grease needed to get worked into the bcg and such, and I was sure to run it wet first time out. Function was then flawless for the rest of the range trip.

No chrono, not that it would have liked the pouring rain and zero sunlight very much anyway, soon I will have one, but this was a function/accuracy test to start.

With function down it was time to move on to accuracy. Sitting outside on a soaking wet (and very un-leveled) bench, I put rounds on paper at 50yrds while my rifle slipped around on the uneven wet wood. After a few sighters I got the red dot squared up, and then proceeded to make one ragged hole at 50yrds with shots that I would have described as being executed poorly as well as rushed. It consistently held 1" at 50yrds under very subopitmal conditions.

So to wrap up the first outing: my rifle, which was brand new and unfired, held 1" at 50yrds with lazily made shots and lazily made ammo (powder ~.2grs variance and boolits +/-2grs variance) off a slippery bench and in the pouring rain. Not only that, but it was my first load recipe concoction using a boolit with no references to draw from, and it hit right on the money! Gotta love that, 300blk beginner's luck perhaps?

2moa accuracy for 10 shots can certainly be tweaked and under the right circumstances I am sure I can get that down to closer to a half inch. But even still, I am not complaining, that is good enough for <100yrd steel plate work.

No chrono yet, but given load data for similar bullet weights, it should be right around 1900-2,000fps

No leading whatsoever, barrel is clean as a whistle as is the rest of the rifle, this 300MP powder is the true ticket for the 300BLK I daresay.

Future tests to include 100yrd accuracy confirmation, upping the charge, lowering the charge, etc. This boolit has me very much impressed!

93547

[cstrickland]

I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of my first range day with my new 300BLK build, finally today was my day, albeit the weather was not in my favor ;)

...This is just the beginning of much more testing, so stay tuned...


The boolit in question here is the NOE 314-129. When lubed and GC'ed it comes out to ~139grs and as far as I know, it has never been tested in the 300blk (at least no info exists for it on the internet, believe me I've searched far and wide)

Rifle:
MAS Defense upper 16" bbl carbine length gas port (opened to .111") 1:8 twist
PSA Lower
AIM Surplus standard m16 BCG

Load recipe:
Brass: LC converted 556 from Grumpa
Boolit: NOE 314-129 @.311" copper gas check and Xloxed
Primer: CCI 400
Powder: Alliant 300MP 18.0grs (charges were thrown from lee perfect powder measure, they varied 17.9 - 18.1grs consistently, no problem)
COL: 1.900"


This morning I woke up and it was pouring rain outside. I've been waiting for my day off all week, and wasn't about to let that stop me, so I loaded up 70 rounds and headed to the range.

First five shots were a complete failure, bolt didn't cycle hardly at all, rounds jammed (if it even picked up the new round) and the bolt most certainly didn't hold open. "Great, I've got a bolt action AR" I thought to myself...

By the sixth or so round, all of the sudden the rifle began performing perfectly. This noob was being too impatient and expecting too much right off the bat, it seems the grease needed to get worked into the bcg and such, and I was sure to run it wet first time out. Function was then flawless for the rest of the range trip.

No chrono, not that it would have liked the pouring rain and zero sunlight very much anyway, soon I will have one, but this was a function/accuracy test to start.

With function down it was time to move on to accuracy. Sitting outside on a soaking wet (and very un-leveled) bench, I put rounds on paper at 50yrds while my rifle slipped around on the uneven wet wood. After a few sighters I got the red dot squared up, and then proceeded to make one ragged hole at 50yrds with shots that I would have described as being executed poorly as well as rushed. It consistently held 1" at 50yrds under very subopitmal conditions.

So to wrap up the first outing: my rifle, which was brand new and unfired, held 1" at 50yrds with lazily made shots and lazily made ammo (powder ~.2grs variance and boolits +/-2grs variance) off a slippery bench and in the pouring rain. Not only that, but it was my first load recipe concoction using a boolit with no references to draw from, and it hit right on the money! Gotta love that, 300blk beginner's luck perhaps?

2moa accuracy for 10 shots can certainly be tweaked and under the right circumstances I am sure I can get that down to closer to a half inch. But even still, I am not complaining, that is good enough for <100yrd steel plate work.

No chrono yet, but given load data for similar bullet weights, it should be right around 1900-2,000fps

No leading whatsoever, barrel is clean as a whistle as is the rest of the rifle, this 300MP powder is the true ticket for the 300BLK I daresay.

Future tests to include 100yrd accuracy confirmation, upping the charge, lowering the charge, etc. This boolit has me very much impressed!

93547

nice write up. congratulations on all the work and effort. I am currently waiting on my 300 blk upper from PSA , and hope I have result similar to yours. I have not yet read a lot about it, but why did you open the gas port ? do you plan on shooting any subsonic loads, and how will the enlarged gas port effect those ??

charlie

[Jailer]

Awesome report and thanks for the follow up. I think this boolit in my bolt gun subsonic sans gas check could be a good 22lr replacement.

Now if NOE could just be coaxed into making another run of it.........

[oldpapps]

Interesting.

My first thought as I read of your first firing 'no-gos' was lube. As stated you use 'grease'. I run wet with Mobil One in all of my AR/M4s.

I like the bullet you have selected... except for the gas check.
I'm in process of getting a (trying to get an out of stock) mold that is a little heavier and also has a gas check heel. It will be shaved to remove the gas check heal and half and some of the lower drive band. My intent is to 'Powder Coat' the butt end and side flats. Any flow to the tip is of no concern at this point.
My point is I too have searched for lead data in the weight range and nothing. I have no problem with putting on gas checks but for plinking/play rounds this is just an unneeded expense for me.

Please give updates.

Load with care,

OSOK

[StromBusa]

Some encouraging results, please keep us updated, I am anxiously awaiting the stamp for my AAC 9.5" SBR & need to get molds figured out. I'm hoping you guys can help me along. I cut down some 5.56 and loaded 125 gr sierra 2120 spitzers over 17.1 gr H110 so I will have something to shoot whenever I get the gun. I guess I have about 10 months but I feel like I am behind already, I spend too much time on FOX....

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[fcvan]

I enjoyed the write up and the technical specs. I too am waiting on my upper to arrive. My boolit mold is the Lee 312-155 2R, which will be powder coated and gas checked with an Aluminum check made with a CheckMaker tool.

I have been curious about running a lighter boolit and so I played with a few boolits. The following picture is the standard boolit (PCd flat black) and a boolit with the gas check shank removed via a HF mini chop saw.

93659

The shorter boolit measures almost exactly the same as the NOE used by the OP. I am very tempted to order a second Lee mold, have the top of the mold milled down, and have a plain based boolit. I will test to see if PCd and fired plain based will work. If needs be, I might purchase a 30 cal plain base CheckMaker so I can run soda can material checks. PB checks have worked well for me in 35 and 45 cal so I'm sure 30 cal would too. Thanks again for a very encouraging post.

[oldpapps]

StromBusa,

I have tested some 125 grain OTMs with H110. Understanding jacket thickness/core hardness and my tests are with a 16 in carbine gas system, these are at best barely similar to your selected bullet and 9.5 inch SBR. Still below is my results. As always the standard 'For information use only, may not be safe in your weapon....' You've got the idea.

Sorry spread sheets don't cut and past very well.

what - bullet - weight - powder - grains - velocity - weapon - date - COAL

300 OTM 125 H110 16.5 2018 DSA 5/8/2012 2.182in
300 OTM 125 H110 17 2031 DSA 5/8/2012 2.182in
300 OTM 125 H110 17.5 2053 DSA 5/8/2012 2.182in
300 OTM 125 H110 17.8 2131 DSA 5/8/2012 2.182in
300 OTM 125 H110 18 2123 DSA 5/8/2012 2.182in

It should be noted that these are not statistically valid velocities, as less than 15 test samples were taken of each.

I hope this will help in your quest. Good luck.

OSOK

[StromBusa]

Thanks Papps, I prefer valid samplings and a good CpK...lol. I should definitely be slower with the SBR. When I get running I'll have a better idea.

[StromBusa]

fcvan,

I think a good machinist can lose the Gas Check without shortening the boolit, just mill out the shoulder in the die (adds some weight) fyi.

[fcvan]

Strom, I think you may have missed my intent. I WANT to shorten the boolit by milling off the top of the mold which effectively makes a plain based boolit. My samples shown above weigh 160 and 140 when cast with my WW/tin alloy.

I make my own gas checks for 30 regular shanked boolits. If I powder coat the shorter boolit, and it shoots fine without a check, cool. If not, I will get a plain based CheckMaker from PatMarlins and go to town. I like plain based checks just fine. In fact, I would likely remove the check shank on each or my other 30 cal molds and just run PB checks. Besides, it would give me an excuse to drink more beer, er, I mean soda pop :)

[StromBusa]

got it. I need to get two molds figured out, one for subsonic shooting on my pistol steel, and one for an accuracy load. I am partial to lyman molds but could not find a heavy boolit that I found perfect. I use a lube sizer. I do not want gas checks due to planning a can. If I can get it sorted maby I can get my buddy to make a test mold out of aluminum. PS them are black beauties!

[Jeff H]

How are you guys getting the fat noses of these bullets to fit into the .309" throat in the 300 BLK chamber?

The very abrupt transition from the chamber neck and that straight throat shears lead and fills the gap between the case mouth and end of the chamber neck in my AAC/Handi. That happens on the first shot and no problems after that but the lead ring filler occasionally comes on stuck to a case mouth. Not an ideal situation if I happen to get a long case.

.309" leads. .310" and .311 don't lead and shoot very well. I just have trouble fitting the fatter noses into that throat. My groove diameter measures .308", the throat measures .309".

Just wondering if you have a modified throat or what is making the .311" bullets chamber with an auto when I have to force dummies in while determining OAL.

A couple light bullets I am using (haven't chronographed anything yet) are the RCBS 32 caliber 98 grain SWC sized to .310" and the LEE C309-113F (113 grain, 30 cal flat nose) sized at .310" both with and without a GC. Tumble-lubed with 45-45-10 without a GC and NRA formula from a Lyman sizer when using a GC.

[psychbiker]

Any update on this bullet? The 314-129. I like the idea of a light weight super sonic blackout round. I am running an 8.5" CMMG, with brake is about 10" long. Currently have a 198gr mold and the lee 2 cavity 155gr everyone uses.