Is the 300BLK the best for cast shooting ?

[RU shooter]

For you more knowledgable AR15 guys is the 300 blk the best for cast bullet shooting? Ive looked around some at other options in 30 cal on the AR15 platform besides the 7.62x39 most are to long and would limit me to fairly short light cast bullets.the soviet ctg. Is good and I have shot cast in the commbloc weapons but I am just not a fan of it in the AR.
While I have no need or desire for the subsonic use I was thinking about getting a 20 inch 1:12 twist barrel chambered for it as I would be using mostly cast 150-180 gr and the 311299, 200 gr.at the most if I did want to shoot it slow , jacketed to 150 gr tops I see no need for the fast twist for my use. So with my intended use of the lighter mid weight cast bullets for just target work out to 200 yds is the 300 the best choice in the AR15 for cast ?

Thanks,Tim

[wellfedirishman]

I shoot 300 Whisper (very close to 300 BLK) in a 1-8 twist upper (from Model 1 Sales) and it shoots quite well with cast bullets. It is nice to have a wide variety of 30 cal cast bullet molds available for a standard .308 bore size.

With a 1-8 twist I have had best results with heavy bullets from 180-247 grains in the 1100 fps approx region.

I shoot the same cartridge in a TC Contender with 1/8 twist also and it is very accurate.

[dk17hmr]

Probably. I enjoy the 300 whisper/blk in my AR but disliked chasing brass. I shot everything from 125gr nosler to 250gr cast, and it was hard to make it not shot well.

There is an interesting round called the 30 HRT. It is basically 6.8 brass ran into a 30 herrett die and than trimmed slightly. It puts out good numbers but I havent looked into it all that much yet.

[leadman]

I don't have a 12 twist barrel but this might put you close to being unstable. I shoot the 300 Whisper in a Contender carbine with the 314299 with an 8 twist barrel.

Maybe others would give their opinion but I feel you would do better with a 10 twist because of the velocity limit of the cartridge. This way you should not have to worry about instability.
This is what T/C uses in their factory 300 Whisper barrels.

[rockrat]

Good luck finding a 20" barrel. I have been trying for a year to get one.. Had one on order since the end of February, last year.

[GrizzLeeBear]

Good luck finding a 20" barrel. I have been trying for a year to get one.. Had one on order since the end of February, last year.

No kidding. I was looking at the 300 Blk as a cast friendly upper for shooting Highpower matches at local ranges where they only have a 200 yd. range. A flat top upper with a 20" heavy barrel would be dandy with some good sights on it. But since a 16" barrel is supposedly "optimum" for the 300 thats what everybody makes them in.
Henry Ford mentality. You can have any barrel length you want, as long as its 16".:veryconfu

[Artful]

Anyone who custom makes barrels for AR can make whatever you want it's just that you'll be at end of line as a ton of people want shorter threaded barrels for suppressed use.

[sheepdog]

Anyone who custom makes barrels for AR can make whatever you want it's just that you'll be at end of line as a ton of people want shorter threaded barrels for suppressed use.

Exactly. Without a can this cartridge is pointless.

[Gunnut 45/454]

sheepdog
Really? Well I guess I'll use this useless cartridge a whole lot![smilie=b: My main load will be Lee 150 gr Cast GC runing at 1829 fps which fuctions the action very well and is accurate . Its a whole lot cheaper then Jwods. Very nice thumper. I've also ran the Lee 170gr which shot nicely as well. The only one that hasn't worked was the Lee 113gr (trash can) the nose is to flat and would not feed.:p

[jblee10]

sheepdog, I would think that a 1-12 twist 300BLK with a can would be useless. Give me heavy bullets for subsonic. That said, I have a "blast" with my 300 Whisper at supersonic speeds. Maybe I just got lucky, but it's been a great shooter from load one.

[bruce drake]

Delta Company Arms made me a 20" flattop last year. It has a carbine-length gas block under the handguards and she shoots cast quite well.

www.deltacompanyarms.com

Bruce

[Moonie]

sheepdog, that is a rather tall statement, the ballistics appear to be perfect for cast boolit shooting, from subsonic all the way through the full power supersonic loads. I just put one together this past Monday, went and shot it Wednesday using 170gr Lee boolit and 15.5gr W296. Was certainly not a low powered load, seemed to love the cast boolits. I do have the 245C mold on order from Accurate and I'm looking forward to shooting subsonic, will I get a can, well I'm planning on it but I don't feel this cartridge is pointless without one.

[Moonie]

Delta Company Arms made me a 20" flattop last year. It has a carbine-length gas block under the handguards and she shoots cast quite well.

www.deltacompanyarms.com

Bruce

I talked to Delta Company Arms about my build, I am happy to report Aaron is doing very well and has tons of business, the bad news is that they are currently 9 months backed up.

[RU shooter]

No kidding. I was looking at the 300 Blk as a cast friendly upper for shooting Highpower matches at local ranges where they only have a 200 yd. range. A flat top upper with a 20" heavy barrel would be dandy with some good sights on it. But since a 16" barrel is supposedly "optimum" for the 300 thats what everybody makes them in.
Henry Ford mentality. You can have any barrel length you want, as long as its 16".:veryconfu

This is exactly the reason I want one also .I currently use only midweight bullets at similar speeds now in competition and do very well using my 03A3 and now that there's an AR friendly cast ctg. I figured why not . I was just thinging out loud why spin those bullets more than what's needed in the comon fast twist if I can get a 12 twist . From what I've read on this site over the years accuracy would come easier the slower you spin them and I agree with that. I did find one place called Blackhole weapons or something like that they have a 1:11 twist but only in a polygon rifling I don't know how that would work with cast though? Any thoughts on poly rifling?I guess if I can't find a 20 inch I can go with a 16 in a dissipator configuration with rifle length handguards I would loose some vel. But I only need 1600-1700 fps for 200 yd shooting anyways that's what I'm doing now .

[RU shooter]

So you guys that are using this in the fast twist at supersonic speed what kind of a accuracy are you getting with them with say 150 -180 gr cast bullets at 100 yds at like I said above around 1700 fps. ? If near moa is the norm and is do able I won't worry about the slower twist.

Thanks Tim

[GabbyM]

For target work I'd take a look at the 6x45mm for cast.
Don't have a 6x45 but cast 6mm bullets for my 243 AI bolt guns. Lke the little 6mm boolits.
For heavier work the 6x45mm will shoot a Speer 80gr SP flat base well over 2,900 fps.

[Moonie]

Only taken mine once and wasn't shooting at 100, at 25 yards I was hitting shotgun shells with every round with standard A2 open sights.

170gr lee with 15.5gr W296

[Artful]

Exactly. Without a can this cartridge is pointless.

Not pointless at all, It's a modern equivalent to a 30-30 for the AR-15 family of weapons, It's a High Efficiency cartridge so uses less powder, It does for the AR15 weapons what the 7.62x39 does for the AK47 family of weapons. So if you think the .30-30 or 7.62x39 are pointless as well, I could understand your feelings about the 300 Whisper/300 Blackout/300 Fireball etc.

But the cartridge does have a point in it's creation, that was to give AK like ballistics from the AR15 platform. JD Jones the creator of the 300 Whisper which is the Pattern for the 300 Blackout, had in mind use with loads from 250 grains down to 110 grains, which he demo'd at the time of creation. As for Use with cast boolits it would work as well or as poorly as any other 30 caliber cartridge depending upon twist, throat, ad nausum

[Gunnut 45/454]

RU shooter
I'm getting 1.5-2" at 100 yards with the the 150gr cast load. Not stellar but I haven't tweeked it for accuracy. Thinking of trying Lil'Gun powder as I've heard good things about it in the 300BLK. I've found shooting cast in an AR is all about getting enough pressure to function the action - loads need to be atleast aroung the 40000 psi mark for proper fuction. So running as slow as 1700 fps probably will not give you that. All my loads that fuction are in the 1800 plus !

[bruce drake]

shooting 147gr FMJ last weekend I got MOA at 100 yards for 5 shot strings with iron sights. Shooting Cast the weekend prior to that I kept them within 2" at 50 yards with some test loads of Lyman's 200gr 314299.

[Hamish]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=141294