Ammunition Review: .300 AAC Blackout

HK 416 in .300 AAC Blackout

I don’t have enough information or pictures for a full review of this gun, but I get the feeling that I will not too long from now. The person holding the camera for me is Kevin, founder of Advanced Armament Corp., who invited me down to their Atlanta, GA. shop to take a look around, fire some of their stuff, and report back to all of you. The HK 416 in .300 AAC Blackout was a fun to shoot and surprisingly quiet, completely controllable even on fully automatic fire. I wasn’t a huge fan of .300 AAC Blackout before, but I may be a new convert.

What is 300 AAC Blackout?

According to its inventors at the Advanced Armament Corporation, 300 AAC Blackout is “full power 123-grain ammunition [for the AR platform] that matches the ballistics of the 7.62x39mm AK, with 37% more energy than 5.56mm M855, and 9% more than 6.8 SPC TAP 110.” In fact, “from a 9 inch barrel, the 300BLK has more muzzle energy than 5.56mm M855 from a 16 inch barrel. When 300 BLK is used in a 16 inch barrel, it has 23% more energy than 5.56mm M855 from a 16 inch barrel – with much higher-mass projectiles for a more dramatic effect on the target.” Or . . . “choose subsonic cartridges for optimal use with a sound suppressor – 220 grain Sierra OTM (open-tip match) bullets vastly outperforms a 9mm MP5-SD in penetration and long range accuracy.” There’s a lot more, but I partied pretty hard last night . . . Anyway, I like big and slow (e.g. Russian 9x39mm). Just sayin’.