Anyone use 300 BLK subs for squirrel?

[atl5029]

I just built a new AR in 300 blackout, and I'm thinking that using subsonic rounds with either pointed cast bullets or j-word match boolits would be a fun way to hunt squirrels with it. I'm thinking a pointed round (as opposed to a more flat pointed boolit) should just pencil through at subsonic speeds and not do much more meat damage than a standard 22LR round I usually use, especially if I take head/upper body shots as I usually do. Anyone else do this or have tried it?

[Hamish]

About like getting shot with a cannon ball,,,,,,,,,

[atl5029]

About like getting shot with a cannon ball,,,,,,,,,

You've tried it? That's why I figure pointed match boolits might work better than cast.

[Hamish]

Haven't done it with pointy, have planned on trying the NOE 310-196 at around 900 fps. I've long been amazed at the thought of a chunk roughly the size of a cannon ball in relation to relative size of a squirrel.

[atl5029]

Haven't done it with pointy, have planned on trying the NOE 310-196 at around 900 fps. I've long been amazed at the thought of a chunk roughly the size of a cannon ball in relation to relative size of a squirrel.

You'll have to post the results of that!

[Lonegun1894]

Closest I have come is a .30-30 firing a Lee .314-90gr-SWC sized to .311" and pushed with 3grs Unique. A little more damage than a .22LR RN, but not bad.

[RU shooter]

Long as your hitting them in the non edible parts sure why not ! Lots of guys hunt and kill tree rat with a 32-36 cal round ball from a muzzleloader what's the difference a 30 cal hole is a 30 cal hole .

[Grampo]

Do it and post the pics! I've shot them with my 6.8... If you hit them in the head it doesn't matter what you shoot them with, the end result is the same.

[Pee Wee]

I just finished a 300 blackout and shooting a swagged 150 grain bullet with 15 grains of lil gun powder, it is running at 1630 fps. accuracy is within a fifty cent piece at 60 yrds. So we are very happy. Made the Brass out of lake city 223's and the bullets swagged out of fn 5.6 x29 brass. The only thing that I would caution you about is shooting cast boolits thur it at first until the gas hole burr is shot down. I shoot my FMJ swagged boolits thur it first just to be safe. Also do this with my 223 AR's.

[Swede44mag]

I shot a squil in the head with my 45-70 Lever Evolution RCBS 300gr RNFP at 2000fps (checked for fps with a chronograph) did not waste any eatable meat.
So if you stick with head shots should get the job done but if you hit them in the body nothing left to eat.

[fastdadio]

And now a word from your safety nazis...



hope you big bore squirrel hunters are using the earth as a back drop and not the sky when blastin those rascals. You know why......

[BrentD]

what fastdadio said.

[Lonegun1894]

And now a word from your safety nazis...



hope you big bore squirrel hunters are using the earth as a back drop and not the sky when blastin those rascals. You know why......

Good point, but for what it's worth, when I did it, I was on a piece of property that was 8.1 MILLION acres, and no one was authorized to be on it that week except me and a handful of friends. If there was anyone else there, they were trespassing on a posted military installation, so we weren't overly concerned with their safety and had no liability concerns. We did a job and were told to choose our "payment", so we asked for a week of camping/hunting on the bombing range, and got it.

[runfiverun]

just "bark" em off the tree trunk.

in the bolt gun the 311359 [117gr G/C for the 30 carbine] on top of 3.5 grs of 700-x or B-eye ruins a ground squirrels day like right now.
at the lower velocity it doesn't need the gas check.

[rodwha]

There's guys who use their .50 and .54 cal muzzleloaders to shoot squirrels also. Head shots or barking them.

Got to know the range owner, though didn't know he was the boss. Asked him about light loads in my rifle for small game on his pistol range. He agreed I could do this if I payed for a private stall. Ended up moving before I could find an accurate load. Seems a bit of a waste to use a .490" ball, but I'd try it until I got a better small game gun/barrel (.32, .36, .40, or 28 ga).

[kawasakifreak77]

I have!

https://picblaze.com/thumbs/n2130n/20151116151530.jpg (https://picblaze.com/user/n2130n/album/20151116151530.jpg)

Was walking for birds (that is the buttstock to my Browning limited maple Citori 20 in the picture) when I spotted this little guy making a fuss. Since I'd struck out on shooting birdies I popped a 208 Amax (my practice load from FOGfirearms.com, very quiet & very very accurate) through the base of his neck.

By the time I walked the whole 22m to him, he had expired.

With the Amax you could barely tell he'd been shot. My previous practice load was a 165 grain flat point over 4.5 grains of Unique. That was a great load, super cheap & even quieter but the flat point wrecked too much meat on small game. Plus the 165 load had a lower point of impact than my serious loads.

The 208 Amax from FOG is within 1" of my Lehigh maximum expander handloads for serious work.

[dk17hmr]

I shoot stuff all the time with subsonic 308 & 30-06 loads. I don't do anything with my 300blk mainly because I don't like it.....if I had a bolt action I would probably do more with it.

But hit them in the head make sure you have a backstop and you won't have any issues.