Thread: 8.6 Blackout

Originally Posted by Friwi

At the moment the project is sitting aside , as I have my head around other projects.
My feeling is that cartridge is a bit of a bastard of a thing, doing supersonic allright but not quite as good as a 338 federal, and doing subsonic ok ish but maybe not as good as a 338 br .( the shorter case capacity might help for better load density and regular speed. And Lapua make excellent 6br brass).
I will play a little bit with the maker bullets when I get them, but it is a high price to pay every time you press that trigger.
And honestly the current situation with the brass offering make me a bit dubious on the validity of the project . Maybe when good brass is available and others have burned their wings I ll reconsider my view. Till then I have a 450bm that does good work up to 150m with factory hornady sub. ( although a bit noisy…big holes not being easy to suppress )
And I have also a a 300 bo with makers bullet to play with .a bit quiter than the 8.6 and more accurate.

I'm not convinced the 8.6blk is worth the effort, compared to 308win or 300blk it doesn't seem to be worth burning a bunch more powder and having more expensive projectiles.
Super sonic all your are gaining over 308 is a tonne more energy, and unless you need you are shooting dangerous game unnecessary.
Subsonic your are still stuck using expensive bullet specifically designed for subsonic use.

IMO it sits in a weird spot between 300blk and 308, having "better" super sonic options than 300blk but more expensive to load than 308.
Subsonic it's similar performance (ease of reloading and powder selection) as 300blk, so better than 308 (but limited to trailboss more or less). But still stuck using expensive projectiles.

My dream subsonic centerfire needs to have a good selection of pistol projectiles that will expand at subsonic velocities.
450bm and 458socom seem to offer the best selection of pistol bullets, 450bm stands out as you can get Hornady ammo for it. Interesting that you said its not particularly quiet.