Man!!! That is cheap!! I thought the 150gr Hornady's I got were cheap I did get those in. They look really nice. I can't wait to get some loaded up, but I'm working on my Hornady 125gr SST's for now. Here's what I did last night:


Here are my Hornady's:

Yeah, I have 300 of those Hornady FMJ. I have loaded up dummy rounds with the 150gr FMJ and 125 SMKs to get my dies set up and ready to roll.

I ordered a jar of tempilaq from McMaster Carr, I think I'm going to anneal the brass before moving forward. My rifle should be finished up in time to shoot this weekend, so I'm looking forward to that.

I think I'm going to order 1k of those plated xTremes. If they don't work well for the 300BLK, I'm sure they'll work great as plinking rounds for my better half's 30-30.

And hey - crimp that SST!

What is good price on the Hornady 150 Grain FMJBT?

About $400 for 2100.

It is crimped. Do you think it needs more? I'm using the Lee FCD

That was shipped price for the ones I got from Widners

I'd say seat the bullet in a hair farther, then Double-check your crimp. As. Understand it (and the way I load 30-30 with a cannelure), With a cannelure, you want to crimp into it so there's a "smooth-ish" transition from bullet to case. Looking at that, I can almost see a gap between the case mouth and the cannelure. Looking at my 150fmj bullets here, it looks like you JUST barely seated the cannelure into the case.

Tested my first 300BLK loads today. 220gr SMK, AA1680, CCI 400 primers, and converted LC brass. OAL 2.120"

All fired unsuppressed out of my 14.5" barrel AR at 25 yards in 60 degree sunny weather with light wind.

First batch was 10.6gr and they averaged 1035fps (Lower left target)
Second batch was 10.8gr and they averaged 1071fps (Lower right target)
Third batch was 11.0gr and they averaged 1087fps with a couple of them going just over 1100fps (Top target)


IMG_0267 by c.swimm, on Flickr

There was another guy at the range with a 300 BLK rifle and he sold me 2 boxs of UMC and had me chrono 1 round of Hornady 115gr Amax.

At the bottom I fired 5 rounds of factory Rem UMC 220gr OTM/FB sub sonic ammo. They averaged 1110fps out of my 14.5" barrel.

I fired the A-max supersonic round at the head area of the carboard and got it in the upper right corner of the eye box. It shot at 2350fps.

I think I am going to load my 220 SMKs at 10.9fps and try some suppressed when I get my can to see how it compares.

P.S. all rounds cycled perfectly and locked the bolt open on the last round.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: C Swimm,

Your 11.0gr looks good. I load AA1680 at 10.9gr at an OAL of 2.089" but I have not chrono that load yet but I know it is subsonic.

I used 2.120" when I was trying Lil' Gun but I did not have good reliability with cycling.

One thing I learned with 300BLK is that CCI 400 seems to be a good primer; Remington 7.5 is also good but it will give you a little higher velocity with everything else the same.

Next time I get a chance, I will chrono my AA1680 load. Mine are shot through a 9" barrel.

quote:

Originally posted by StorminNormin:
One thing I learned with 300BLK is that CCI 400 seems to be a good primer;

If one wanted to use Federal GM Match primers, would it be best to use GM205M or GM205MAR? Have you ever tried either and compared them with CCI 400? They would certainly be more money than the CCI 400. I am curious how they might affect performance in supersonic and subsonic loads.

quote:

Originally posted by deepocean:

quote:

Originally posted by StorminNormin:
One thing I learned with 300BLK is that CCI 400 seems to be a good primer;

If one wanted to use Federal GM Match primers, would it be best to use GM205M or GM205MAR? Have you ever tried either and compared them with CCI 400? They would certainly be more money than the CCI 400. I am curious how they might affect performance in supersonic and subsonic loads.

Not sure what the benefit would be, but if you have the money to burn, have at it.

I have a bunch of Tula KVB223M that I got for $20/k, and a bunch of CCI41's that I picked up locally on the cheap.

Gold Medal Match primers are reserved for my .308 bolt gun, and even then, I'm not so convinced they are really doing much for me. Winchester LRP seem to be doing just as well.

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:

quote:

Originally posted by deepocean:

quote:

Originally posted by StorminNormin:
One thing I learned with 300BLK is that CCI 400 seems to be a good primer;

If one wanted to use Federal GM Match primers, would it be best to use GM205M or GM205MAR? Have you ever tried either and compared them with CCI 400? They would certainly be more money than the CCI 400. I am curious how they might affect performance in supersonic and subsonic loads.

Not sure what the benefit would be, but if you have the money to burn, have at it.

I have a bunch of Tula KVB223M that I got for $20/k, and a bunch of CCI41's that I picked up locally on the cheap.

Gold Medal Match primers are reserved for my .308 bolt gun, and even then, I'm not so convinced they are really doing much for me. Winchester LRP seem to be doing just as well.

I understand there are fundamental differences between what one is trying to accomplish with 300 BLK vs. .308 loads. I read last year GM210 primers can make a difference in performance for loads for the SCAR 17S, too, as well as bolt guns. That has me wondering about 300 BLK. You are right, however, the most expensive solution will not necessary be the best one.

quote:

Originally posted by deepocean:
If one wanted to use Federal GM Match primers, would it be best to use GM205M or GM205MAR? Have you ever tried either and compared them with CCI 400?

No, I have not tried those primers so I can't give an opinion on them. A different primer can make a slight difference, but nothing major from what I have seen so far myself.

I have a good amount of CCI41 that I have not tested out yet and also some WSR as well.

When I do test them, I will post velocity and accuracy differences from current loads with CCI400 or Rem 7.5.

Rifle is finished, and I just finished loading 50 rounds for tomorrow.

125 SMKs
WIN296
CCI 41s
OAL 2.210
Annealed, converted LC10 brass


Loadings (10 each):
17.1
17.4
17.7
18.0
18.3

I'll be heading to the range tomorrow to try them out for accuracy and function.

Still haven't loaded any of the Hornadys yet. I had 150gr FMJ-BT, and 165gr BTSP Interlock.

I'll post up tomorrow evening about how these loads did.

Work held me up yesterday and I was unable to get to the range.

I just got home now. Oooooh, baby! Love this rifle!

I put 15 rounds of factory Remington down the tube to get it sighted in, then my reloads.

Strangely, none of them really seemed any more accurate than another - they were all pretty good!!

So, I'm going to go with 18.3, since those would obviously be the fastest. I didn't chrono since it's drizzling here today.

Function was fine with all loads, bolt locked open on 6 different mags - 5 30 rounders and a 20 rounder, all unmodified, stock pmags.

I have some reloading to do.

Sounds promising. What scope are you using on yours?

Right now it's wearing an EOTech EXPS3 with a GG&G lens cover/QD mount and a Vortex swing-out 3x magnifier. It's definitely a nice setup, I'm just not 100% sure I'm sold on it yet. Kind of used to having glass..

This message has been edited. Last edited by: exx1976,

Also, I just ordered 1k of those Xtreme 150gr plated flat point bullets.

$98.24 SHIPPED.

For A THOUSAND bullets.

I will let you guys know how they work. If they are good, rest assured I'll order several thousand more at that price. LOL

Great job on the progress Exx and the rifle looks great! Keep us posted on the plated bullets.

quote:

Originally posted by StorminNormin:
Great job on the progress Exx and the rifle looks great! Keep us posted on the plated bullets.

I am also interested to read your opinion about the plated bullets.