300 blackout

[Shadetree]

So a few questions here. Let me start off by saying that im new to the ar building world, thanks to MOM/Frosh. I dont want to start a pissing match abou the legalitys of an AR pistol in Maryland as I have researched many of the past threads. I am currently building an ar pistol and am trying to decide caliber and such.

Im am interested in going with a piston setup for my pistol. The lower will be composite. Would this be an issue for cracking at the buffer tube? Would a gas system be better? I know that a piston system requires running a little hotter on powder to prevent FTE and such.

Before panic buying, how availible was 300 blk? The research sugests that it has the best of all worlds (Size, Stopping power, accuracy). Any other suggestions?

 

[tomgreco]

I can tell you finding 300 BLK is more difficult than finding any other ammo at the moment.

 

[BradMacc82]

From personal experience with a piston AR upper.

I wouldn't, even if the receiver was aluminum. Carrier tilt, cam-pin drag and specific parts are my main reasons for saying this.

Even with a design that was supposed to mitigate Carrier tilt to near nothing - it was still there. Even after the PWS Enhanced Buffer Tube (which was designed to help mitigate carrier tilt), it was still there. To a lesser extent, but still there.

Cam-pin drag - It's no fun to watch material being excised out of your upper while it "breaks itself in", not cool IMO. Especially considering the cost of things these days.

Maker specific parts - Your locked into a handful of manufacturers, if something breaks or they go **** up, your SOL. And if you think D.I. parts are hard to get ahold of right now..., you see where I'm going with this?

As for 300BLK - ammo is kind of scarce at the moment (like every other caliber it seems). Reloading is the saving grace - which I do.

Performance-wise, it's not the end all be all. It fills a niche, and it fills it well.

I like the round, so much so that I'm in the process of doing another one myself. A 8.2" Noveske-barrelled pistol/future sbr.

 

[Shadetree]

Well I was speaking to availability pre panic, as Im sure prices will come down and supply will go up. It sounds like the only issue is the piston right? Everything would be a go in your book?

 

[clandestine]

Brad is spot on. Avoid the Piston, especially on a Pistol, and even more so on a Polymer Lower.

.300 BLK is a neat boutique round and wont likely fade away.

 

[BradMacc82]

Well I was speaking to availability pre panic, as Im sure prices will come down and supply will go up. It sounds like the only issue is the piston right? Everything would be a go in your book?

Pre-panic, it was doing well. It wasn't super available, but it was out there.

Definitely suggest going with gas, pistol length system without a doubt. Noveske barrel, buy once cry once.

It's a fun round, and well suited for pistol/sbr duty.

 

[HT4]

I had no problem finding ammo pre-panic... My experience was that it could ALWAYS be found at MSRP, but if you wanted a bargain, you needed to hunt around a bit. It always sold out fast on discount websites.

Right now, the picture is bleak. It can't be found anywhere, and I am completely dry on supersonic and down to my last 400 round of subsonic (which I will not shoot).