Ammunition Firearms Silencers 101
Why You Should Shoot .300 Blackout Suppressed
One of the hottest new rounds to emerge in the past few years is .300 Blackout; this is a true dual-purpose intermediate sized cartridge that can be fired in both subsonic and supersonic loads. It was designed to be used in AR-pattern rifles with only a barrel change to convert a traditional AR-15 rifle from 5.56 NATO. It has since become one of the most popular rounds to use with a suppressor.
This relatively new cartridge has been around a bit longer than some might think and has its share of fans and detractors, but .300 Blackout has more than proven itself as a hunting, defensive and target round in that time. It may not be the be-all and end-all cartridge, but for most shooters and hunters, .300 Blackout is worth taking a second look at.
WHAT IS .300 BLACKOUT AMMO?
The .300 Blackout round has its roots in the 300 Whisper cartridge designed by JD Jones of SSK Industries in the early 1990s. Jones formed the brass from 221 Fireball cases expanded to take a .30 caliber bullet. By varying the load, lighter bullets could be fired at supersonic levels with the power of the Soviet 7.62 x 39 or used with heavier bullets at a subsonic level for use with a sound suppressor.
Unfortunately, the round was trademarked by SSK and other manufacturers were unable to manufacture barrels or even brass and dies for the round. The 1994 Federal Crime Bill and Assault Weapon Ban did not help the subsonic cause, either, as threaded barrels on semi automatic rifles made them subject to the ban. National Firearm Act laws governing the sales of silencers were also misunderstood at the time and silencer ownership was a mere sliver of what it is today.
It seemed as if the round was doomed to die in the “also-ran” wildcat category until the Federal Assault Weapon Ban was allowed to sunset in 2004 and a company called Advanced Armament Corporation (AAC) began to show interest in the 300 Whisper. AAC was eventually bought out by Remington Defense and the two companies worked on the design as a potent new caliber that could address perceived shortcomings with the 5.56 NATO round.
Remington and AAC changed the design slightly by using trimmed and expanded 5.56 NATO brass as opposed to .221 Fireball or .222 Remington as the parent case. They normalized different load data and submitted the new cartridge to SAAMI (Small Arms Ammunition Manufacturers Institute) and CIP (Permanent International Commission for the Proof of Small Arms) for standardization and christened the new round .300 AAC Blackout by CIP and .300 BLK by SAAMI.
The improved design means that it will work with a standard AR15 or M16 bolt and magazines with the only real part change being the barrel. Another positive note is that .300 Blackout and the original 300 Whisper cartridge are completely interchangeable from barrels to reloading dies as well as reloading components and specifications.
As a result of its popularity we have even seen the retail price of .300 Blackout ammunition decrease over time. This is always a good sign with regard to the longevity of an ammunition cartridge in the market.
PERFORMANCE AND BALLISTICS
In its standard form as a subsonic round, .300 Blackout most closely resembles the 7.62 x 39mm round first used in the SKS and AK-47 rifles of the former Soviet Union. In its subsonic loading it has been compared with both subsonic 9mm and .45 ACP.
One of the main reasons that the US Military was looking for a replacement round for 5.56 NATO was the loss of energy and velocity by the 5.56 NATO round as it was fired through barrels that were increasingly getting shorter.
The 5.56 round was developed for use in 20” barreled rifles. Severe deficiencies were found when trying to make the military service rifle shorter. Additionally, the use of a suppressor dictated going to a shorter barrel as soldiers were finding full sized rifles becoming unwieldy with a 5” to 8” sound suppressor mounted on the muzzle. Another consideration here was the effect of the initial blast of unburnt powder and flash increasing wear on the initial baffle of a 5.56 suppressor.
.300 Blackout was optimized to be fired through shorter barrels and even in supersonic loadings it did not have that initial blast problem. The round exceeded most military expectations for the caliber in both subsonic and supersonic renderings. On the civilian side, .300 Blackout has proven to be a performer in the field for hunting and on the competitive shooting circuit.
THE BEST .300 BLACKOUT SUPPRESSORS
| SUPPRESSOR MODEL | CALIBER | WEIGHT | LENGTH | PRICE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BANISH 30 | .30 | 10 - 13 oz | 7 - 9 in | $999 |
| Dead Air Sandman-S | .30 | 17.7 oz | 6.8 in | $999 |
| SilencerCo Omega 300 | .30 | 14.8 oz | 7.08 in | $699 |
| BANISH 30 GOLD | .30 | 13 oz | 8.2 in | $1,699 |
Here are our top four picks for the best .300 Blackout suppressors:
EDITOR’S PICK – BANISH 30
The Banish 30 is a direct-thread suppressor that mounts on conventional 5/8×24 threads and comes out of the box as a 9″ suppressor holding eight baffles.
If, however, you’ll be shooting suppressed in tighter, more confined spaces, or you just don’t want as much can hanging off the end of your barrel, then you’ll benefit greatly from this suppressor’s modularity. It can easily break down and assemble into a 7″ configuration with six baffles. Either way, you’ll still get great sound suppression with minimal added length on your .300 Blackout rifle, carbine, or pistol in either configuration.
Weight is just as important as the overall length in this situation. The Banish 30 is made from a strong titanium alloy for unmatched durability at an extremely light weight. In the full configuration, it weighs 13 ounces; in the short configuration, it weighs just 10 ounces. You’ll be hard-pressed to even feel it on the average .300 Blackout rifle, carbine, or pistol!
When it comes time for cleaning, the Banish 30 easily comes apart from both ends and is ready to be tossed in a tumbler, ultrasonic cleaner, or cleaned manually. Reassembly is a breeze due to the baffles being keyed and indexed for exact alignment.
WHY WE LIKE IT:
- Modular design to fit specific needs
- User-serviceable for easy cleaning
- Titanium offers great strength with minimal weight
BANISH 30 SPECS
- Weight: 10 oz or 13 oz
- Length: 7″ or 9″
- Finish: GunKote and DLC
- Materials: Titanium
- MSRP: $999
Compact Pick - Dead Air Sandman-S
Dead Air's Sandman suppressors have great reputations and with good reason. The Sandman-S is the "little brother" to the Sandman-L, and while it may be smaller, it still retains all of the performance. Featuring a low blowback design, the Sandman-S is touted for not only its compact construction but also for its impressive noise reduction at the ear. It does a great job at dropping the decibels of a .300 Blackout cartridge.
The Dead Air Sandman-S features a quick-detach mounting system that incorporates an index pattern for ease of mounting and removal. It's also outfitted with a removable front-end cap, making the Sandman-S extremely user-serviceable, allowing for quick disassembly, cleaning, and fast reassembly.
Why We Like It:
- QD mounting system for easy on-off
- Great sound reduction for the size
Dead Air Sandman-S Specs
- Weight: 17.7 oz
- Length: 6.8"
- Finish: Cerakote
- Materials: Stainless Steel and Stellite
- MSRP: $999
LIGHTWEIGHT PICK – SILENCERCO OMEGA 300
SilencerCo's Omega 300 is the lightest, shortest, quietest, full-auto-rated, titanium silencer in its category. If you like to have choices and options, it even comes complete with direct thread and fast-attach mounts, as well as a removable Anchor Brake to reduce recoil, which can be replaced with a flat front cap if you don't need the brake.
The Omega 300 is popular for all sorts of .30-caliber chamberings, including the .300 Blackout cartridge. That makes it one of the best multi-caliber suppressors in its class, so it will be right at home on a variety of other rifles, too. You aren't just limited to the .300 Blackout, so try it out with .30-06, .308, .300 Blackout, etc.
Why We Like It:
- Multiple mounting options come with it
- Comes with a brake in the box
- Best in class specs in its category
SilencerCo Omega 300 Specs
- Weight: 14.8 oz
- Length: 7"
- Finish: Black or FDE
- Materials: Cobalt, Inconel, Stainless Steel, and Titanium
- MSRP: $699
Premium Pick - Banish 30 Gold
An exceptionally versatile suppressor, the Banish 30 Gold is rated for calibers from rimfire up to 300 RUM. All Banish suppressors have been designed for unmatched sound suppression, and testing shows that the Banish 30 Gold reduces the report by 36 decibels. The average sound level heard by shooters from the Banish 30 Gold is 132.9 decibels!
Like all Banish suppressors, the Banish 30 Gold is made from a strong titanium alloy that results in unmatched durability at an extremely lightweight of just 13 ounces.
The Banish 30 Gold is an 8.2-inch quick detach suppressor holding 11 baffles, and comes with two 100% titanium muzzle brakes (1/2×28 and 5/8×24). Completely user-serviceable, you can disassemble the suppressor for cleaning in a tumbler, ultrasonic cleaner, or by hand. When you’re ready to put it back together, the baffles are keyed and indexed for a hassle-free reassembly.
Perfect for everything from a fun time at the range to big game hunting, the Banish 30 Gold will significantly reduce the report and recoil of large-caliber rifles (up to 45% in testing), while still being effective on rifles down to rimfire calibers.
WHY WE LIKE IT:
- User-serviceable for easy cleaning
- Comes with multiple mounts, a pouch, a cover, and a baffle removal tool
- Titanium offers great strength with minimal weight
BANISH 30 GOLD SPECS
- Weight: 13 oz
- Length: 8.2″
- Finish: Cerakote
- Materials: Titanium
- MSRP: $1,699
BENEFITS OF USING SUPPRESSORS
There are a lot of different reasons why you should use a suppressor with .300 Blackout, but here are three of our favorite benefits that make a suppressor worth it.
LESS NOISE
As was explained above, suppressors bring down the decibels that you hear each and every time a gun is shot. Making less noise while shooting is beneficial if there are a lot of people at the shooting range if you’re out hunting, or simply if you’re trying to do everything possible to preserve your hearing.
BETTER ACCURACY
An extra benefit of suppressors is that they reduce the felt recoil when a gun is fired. Since there’s less recoil, both you and the gun are moving around less than you would without a silencer. That reduction in movement helps you to make more accurate shots.
MORE FUN
Shooting suppressed is simply a ton of fun. Seriously, we’ve never met anyone who shot suppressed for the first time and then turned around with a frown on their face. It just makes the entire shooting experience a lot more enjoyable.
SHOOTING 300 BLACKOUT AMMO WITH A SUPPRESSOR
As we mentioned numerous times by now, .300 Blackout has a subsonic range of ammunition choices and makes for an excellent suppressor host. The advantages are two-fold in that if one sticks to strictly subsonic loads they can shoot through a suppressor rated for .45 ACP or 9mm. Should the shooter wish to shoot the supersonic round suppressed, a silencer rated for 308 Winchester will easily handle both supersonic and subsonic loads.
.300 Blackout subsonic is one of the quietest rounds to suppress, particularly when fired through a closed breech firearm like a bolt action or single shot rifle. There is no noise from the action or any created via the ejection process as noticed in a semi automatic firearm.
Additionally, we find .300 Blackout in supersonic form to have a very mild and pleasant tone when fired through most suppressors rated for .308 Winchester. It may not be as quiet as a .300 BLK subsonic, but sometimes absolute silence is not the goal.
POPULAR COMPARISONS
Every new cartridge is often compared to an older one and .300 Blackout is no exception. These comparisons are both a good thing and a bad thing for a few reasons.
On the good side, hunters and shooters generally want an idea of how a new round will perform. Comparing .300 BLK to an existing round with regards to bullet weight, caliber, velocity and energy sets the stage. Often .300 Blackout supersonic loads are compared to rounds such as 30-30 Winchester and 7.62 X 39mm. This gives a shooter an idea of what to expect recoil wise and the intended use of the round.
Another consideration for rifle shooters is often the size of the rifle’s action. While this was addressed initially by use of .300 Blackout in the AR-15 or M16 platform with regard to bolt face, magazine configuration, etc, it is also an important consideration for use in a bolt action rifle. For the bolt action rifle shooter, action length is often an important consideration, as this can affect the weight of the rifle and its overall configuration for handling recoil. Typical bolt action lengths are referred to as short, long and Magnum. The long action is used for rifles chambered in calibers such as 30-06 Springfield. Magnum actions are intended for powerful belted magnum cartridges such as 300 Winchester Magnum, .459 Winchester Magnum or .375 Holland & Holland. The short action is intended for everything from .17 Remington up to .308 Winchester and this is the size needed for a bolt action rifle chambered in .300 Blackout.
The subsonic 300 Blackout loads are often compared to .45 ACP, 10 mm or 9mm subsonic rounds. This showcases the dual purpose of the round. The advantage of .300 Blackout is if the shooter wants an AR-pattern rifle or pistol that is easily suppressed, they can use a common magazine and typically only need to swap an upper receiver. Pistol caliber conversions for the AR platform often need different magazines, buffer assembles and other changes to make them effective and reliable.
Where it becomes a bad thing is that these comparisons rarely give the complete picture to the shooter or hunter and can actually be a disservice to .300 Blackout and to the round to which it is being compared.
.300 BLACKOUT VS. 556
The most obvious comparison for .300 Blackout will be made with 5.56 NATO. After all, this is the round it was intended to dethrone.
As we stated earlier, this is a disservice to both cartridges. The 5.56 NATO round has a longer range, higher velocity and some would say more inherent accuracy. In its supersonic loading, .300 Blackout shares similar characteristics with the 7.62 X 39mm round which has often been set up as the rival of 5.56 NATO for the past 60 years.
Terminal ballistics for both rounds as a military cartridge will be compared ad nauseum. A lighter bullet in the form of 5.56, by as much as two to 3 times the weight, travelling at 75% to 100% of the velocity has its advantages over the heavier and slower .300 Blackout. Yet some troops would say that a heavier and slower bullet may not have the penetration ability of the 5.56 but addresses the overpenetration issues noted by US Army Rangers and Infantry in operations in Somalia where the 5.56 required multiple hits on target to dispatch an enemy soldier, whereas the 7.62 x 39mm seemed more effective at stopping an enemy combatant with a single round.
One of the dangers of keeping both rounds in the same collection is that .300 Blackout will actually chamber in a 5.56 rifle. It cannot be safely fired from that platform without causing a catastrophic failure to the firearm and injury or possibly death to the shooter and those in close proximity.
For this reason, we recommend that if you shoot both calibers to incorporate some variables with regard to your shooting components and accessories. For example, use one type or color of a magazine for one round and a different one for the other. This can be taken a step further by loading .300 Blackout subsonic rounds in a different magazine size from the .300 Blackout supersonic rounds so that a supersonic round does not accidentally go through a pistol caliber or .300 BLK subsonic rated suppressor accidentally.
The key advantage here is that AR magazines are inexpensive when compared to just about every other platform out there. This is another inherent advantage of .300 Blackout.
It is not a bad idea to ensure that the upper receivers can be easily distinguished, whether by different optics, rails or colors.
300 BLACKOUT VS. 350 LEGEND
When 350 Legend debuted, Winchester claimed it was the fastest straight wall cartridge ever released. Like .300 Blackout ammunition, it had the ability to be loaded to subsonic or supersonic levels and it would fit in a standard AR15 action and magazine. Some hunters speculated that it would sound the death knell for .300 Blackout due to the fact that hunters in some north eastern and midwestern states were limited to hunting deer with a straight wall cartridge.
As fine a cartridge as it is, .300 Blackout had the advantage in that it had more than a 10-year head start on 350 Legend. There are simply more barrels, magazines, rifles, pistols and other accessories dedicated to .300 Blackout as opposed to 350 Legend. But the 350 Legend has caught up rather quickly, and it certainly has the upper hand as a hunting caliber in states where bottleneck cartridges are prohibited for big game hunting and performs well on animals like deer and black bear.
The other disadvantage is the limited amount of .35 caliber suppressors made for the supersonic load in 350 Legend. Subsonic 350 Legend can be safely fired through most 9mm suppressors in the same manner as .300 Blackout subsonic.
300 BLACKOUT VS. 223
While 5.56 NATO and .223 Remington are used interchangeably, they are not the same round. The 5.56 NATO is loaded to a higher pressure level than .223 Remington. Furthermore, .223 Remington is considered a commercial civilian use round, making it more suitable for hunting applications, not unlike the .300 Blackout supersonic load. Yes, you can use the .300 Blackout as a very effective hunting round if you know the limitations to range.
In this regard we often see more soft point, hollow point and general use hunting rounds in .223 Remington as opposed to 5.56 NATO. However, .223 Remington is considered more of a small game or varmint round, as opposed to a heavier round like the .300 Blackout.
Again, it goes back to the purpose of the round and shows how a long range varmint round, as was the original intent of .223 Remington, cannot be justly compared to a slower, heavier bullet like the supersonic .300 Blackout. .223 Remington is ideal for coyotes and prairie dogs at long range whereas .300 Blackout is more suitable for deer or black bear at shorter ranges.
Get the Best .300 Blackout Suppressors
The market for suppressors is plentiful, and narrowing it down to the right one for you can be confusing. Thankfully, the Silencer Central staff has been shooting and selling suppressors for more than 15 years. Suffice it to say that we’ve got a pretty good handle on which silencers pair best with certain guns and calibers, like the .300 Blackout cartridge. If you’re having trouble deciding, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’ll happily talk you through the options and then, when you’re ready, get you on your way to silencer ownership and suppressed shooting!
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SilencerCo SILENCERCO OMEGA 300$699.00 or $174.75 with an eZ-Pay PlanView Product Details- Length
- 7.08"
- Weight
- 14.8 oz
- Diameter
- 1.57”
- Caliber
- .30, .300, .308
