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For any 300 blk shooters out there, keen for some feedback on these supers on deer:
- Barnes 110gr TAC-TX
- Lehigh 110gr Controlled Chaos
Guys in the States seem pretty confident knocking over whitetail with both of these out to about 200y. Any kiwis had a go on reds with them? How'd it pan out?
Thanks in advance
you must have deep pockets...
in my 7.62x39mm I have had great results with 125grn nosler ballistic tips (you can buy 2nds for $30odd off trademe)
the speer 130grn hp is another well worth trying as it opens fast and does heap of damage.
killed 2 yearling reds with consecutive shots with 125grn sierra hp 30/30 pills from same cartridge at close range in deep bush.
different cartridge but similar velocity...the nosler would be my first choice to try,hope that helps.
Barnes work well,They help feeding issues in the ar platform as they put the overall length similar to 223.Shot a few reds and whitetail none have stood up.Not the controlled chaos but have used the lehigh subs and they work well same as above.
Both are expensive thogh
I have found the barnes good, and lehighs subsonic pills have been my go to as well.
Im not cost sensitive when it comes to deer hunting ammo though- I dont see much difference in the big picture between $1 and $5 a round given all the other costs of hunting and how few I actully throw at animals. Range ammo is another story! if I was culling I would probably feel different
Thanks guys, what kind of ranges have you shot deer with 300blk (or 7.62x39) supers/ high velocity rounds? Can you get much past 100m?
Pretty sure @tikka does a fair bit of hunting with 300 Blackout
aprox 130m would be my longest deer with a 300blk, but would be happy to go longer with a clear shot on a good angle. If your woried you could check the min speed the pill you end up with will expand at and work out its theretical efective range from that. Have done goats well past 200 with no issues.Quote:
Originally Posted by OWS
If your woried about regular long shots it may be worth thinking of a bigger round, 300blk only makes sence to me if either very short barrels or subsonic abillity is important
edit: I want to be clear that I could count on my fingers the number of deer I have shot with 300blk-there are much more experianced members. I mostly use it for subsonic goat control out of a AR
Unless you are running an AR15 platform the 300 BLK is a waste of money you will get better performance out of a standard .308 Win
you can load sub sonic to full house loads with ease, most bolt action 300BLK's are built on the stand short action as the bigger .308
Unless you are running an AR15 platform the 300 BLK is a waste of money you will get better performance out of a standard .308 Win
you can load sub sonic to full house loads with ease, most bolt action 300BLK's are built on the stand short action as the bigger .308
Goats to 450m with 110vmax
I have personal limit of 150 with the x39mm as it just doesnt have the legs past that...accuracy isnt an issue if limited to that range.
for me I would stalk closer or pass up shot rather that hit and risk wounding due to lack of power left to do the job.
Never used the Barnes or the Lehigh 110gr CC, had good results with Nosler 125gr BT's and Hornady 125gr SST's, maximum distance shot out to 300m 30 degree downhill on deer with a well rested prone shot and with the help of a ballistic app and rangefinder. Most 110gr-135gr varmint type projectiles will work at blackout speeds within 160m-200m on deer. I mostly use the supers on goats with the odd deer and pig, subs for deer with the help of the dog. If I was solely hunting deer with supers then I would use the Barnse 110gr TAC-TX for the extra penetration at distance.Quote:
Originally Posted by OWS
My rig is a precision 12" bolt action and do 99% of my hunting with it, OWS what rig are you using?
Thanks Tikka, everyone, for your responses.
Tikka - My rig will be a converted Tikka T3 Lite in .223. Going to get Deadeye Dicks in Levin to do it for me. I'm just doing some research on projectile options to make sure it will suit my needs before taking the financial plunge. I'm mostly NI bush hunting over a dog, unlikely that I'll get many 200m shots in the type of spots I go, so I think this will be a good set up for me.
What are the advantages of a 12" barrel? Just easier and lighter to cart around through the bush? I was thinking of staying at 18" for starters to get the best velocity out of the supers, with the option of trimming later. Any thoughts?
What suppressor do you have on yours?
Really don't think you'll see any appreciable velocity gains by staying with the longer barrel. The 300 was designed for short barrels. Go as short as legal I reckon. Make it light fast and handy.Quote:
Originally Posted by OWS
My ar15 has a 12.5 inch Barrel and is about 15mm over minimum legal length. I use it for NI bush hunting and can't think of any situation where having an extra 50-100 fps would make any difference to what I'm shooting. If there's slips or big gullies i just tale a bigger gun
This is my bush rig and has smoked over 100+ deer, a cheap second hand Tikka T3 223rem rebarreled to a 12" 1:7 300BLK. The 300BLK doesn't need a long barrel unless you want to shoot further out then you might as well get another calibre but in saying that I've head shot deer at 250m with subs. The 300Blk really shines as a short barrel multi projectile supersonic and subsonic calibre.
My setup uses a zero-stop dial up scope with the zero-stop set for 125gr supers zeroed at 100m and just a twist of the dial 11 MOA up set on 0 MOA for subsonic 198gr Lehigh ME at 60m, the best of both worlds 2 guns in one. Any good suppressor will work, DPT if I was on a budget and ODL at the top end if your got the coin.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...psz8ovml4a.jpg
Yeah, this is what I was planning on doing - dial up scope so I can switch between subs (lehigh 168g) and supers, looks like I'll be going with the Barnes 110g in that department.
What model scope is that?
Nightforce NXS compact 2.5-10x42 MOAR.Quote:
Originally Posted by OWS
Yeah the Lehigh 168gr are a great deer killer and very impressive organ damage on big reds. The only problem not as much blood trail because you don't get an exit hole but if your got good tracking skills and or a dog no worries.
Digging up an old thread I know.
@tikka what barrel did you use for your setup? Assuming custom?
Is the 1:7 twist fussy with light projectiles?
I'm thinking of doing something similar to your set up, but will likely run a 50/50 mix of subs/supers so want to make sure I can shoot both accurately.
It is a Hardy Engineering custom, I had to wait for him to get the tooling to do the 1:7 twist and it was the first one they had done with that twist rate, the others they had made was 1:8. But I wanted the 1:7 because my mates Rem700 blackout had that twist rate and work really well.
No not fussy at all, it shoots 125gr projectiles just fine. Haven’t used anything lighter though.
Cheers.Quote:
Originally Posted by tikka
How does the Tikka custom build compare to the Rem 700? Worth the extra faff going the Tikka route?
Well worth it if you shooting as many animals as I do 250+ Red deer and way more goats than that. Shorter barrel = more compact in the bush and when its tided into my pack without suppressor it the same length as my pack, a lot lighter that the standard factory rem 700 tactical bull barrel, doesn’t rust as its stainless steel, custom barrel easy to clean, super slick bolt for rapid firing, Tikka triggers adjust easily and spare magazines for different ammo. A lot of bonuses really.Quote:
Originally Posted by Beetroot
All it needs now is a carbon stock but all that’s going to do is make it lighter not run any better.
So your current set up will get you an honest 300m with supers and 200m with subs?
If you don't mind me asking, what velocity are you getting with the 125gr and 198gr?
Have you tried any factory ammo?
300m max long range and 200m is easy with my rig using 125gr. 280m with the 168gr CF Lehigh subs. A few months ago a mate and I shot 4 stags with 5 shots one was double tapped 2 inch’s apart, at 180m and 270m with a 28 degree up hill free standing. Mate was using 194gr ME Lehigh’s in his blackout, 2 deer dropped on the spot the other 2 ran 60m max. Once you get used too it and shoot a few deer it’s just second nature. Using subs is under rated and the Lehigh,s subs bring it to a new level.
The subs aren’t for the novice hunter or someone half arsed into, I put it in the same league as long range hunting and everything has to be prefect, ammo, temp, angle, wind or your wounding and loosing animals.
those last two lines sum it up completely....
Sweet, I only shoot subsonics in my 22s thess day and hate using supers.Quote:
Originally Posted by tikka
I imagine since your so used to the subs and have such a nice short rifle setup, it'd be hard to go back to a "standard" hunting rifle for bush hunting.
Since having a vizsla I’ve got back into bush stalking and a big loud rifle isn’t needed in my situation. Where I hunt there’s lots of goats and the odd pig so I get stuck into them whenever we run into them. It’s nice to shoot the hell out of the pests without disturbing the deer in the area. Before with the other rifles it was shoot the deer first and then shoot the goats on the walk out.
Tikka, -great advice here thx. Are there any suitable subsonic projectiles for a 1 in 10 308? I have some of the 151g Cast projectiles that shoot well but may not be that great for body shots on deer unless you are a good tracker or have a dog.
Lehigh's need a 1:8 to stabilise. The 151 casts are it for a 1:10. You could try the 90gr xtp projectile. It is suppose to give a bit of expansion at sub velocities. Gunworks sell them. Probably won't work any better than the 151 casts though.
I never tried subs in a 308 and with a 1:10 twist the 151gr HP casts would be the best. I’ve shot a couple of deer with them double lung shots and work good. The main thing I like about the Lehigh’s 168gr CF over the 151gr cast is the 168gr CF does more internal damage and more forgiving on shot placement if it’s a little off.Quote:
Originally Posted by rossm-96
I wouldn’t shoot deer father than 80m with the 151gr casts.
@tikka have you tried the Hornady Sub-X bullets?
They seem to perform well in gel tests and are 1/4 the price of the Lehigh projectiles.
For multiple reasons I never went down the 300blk path but am seriously thinking of re-barreling my 223 Tikka into 300blk.
Not really impressed with them so in performance on red deer so far, shot 2 red hind they ran 140m -150m before expiring they were lung shot, had another and put 2 rounds into her just to make sure she wasn’t going to run to far, 25m for her.Quote:
Originally Posted by Beetroot
Also had a bad shot placement at 80m a bit far back she went 1.5 km, lucky I hunt with the dog to track them down. I don’t think they mushroomup enough as the projectiles punched straight through with small exit holes on 2 of them. They do work well on goats and probably be OK on fallow deer. Will try a few more and maybe try a rested prone shot instead of offhand.
So far I still think that the Lehigh’s 168gr CF is the quickest killer and the most amount of damage, next would be the Lehigh 194gr ME and had more bang flops hilar shot with these Lehigh’s bullets.
Cheers,Quote:
Originally Posted by tikka
I saw some old post talking about the 240SMK did you ever hunt with those? Doesn't seem like the best bullet for hunting?
Where do you get your Lehigh bullets from?
Only place I can find if Gunworks at $3.50each, ouch.
Dean Maisey Gunsmith in Tauranga
Oceania Defence used to have them too