.300 Blackout for Deer? Is it legal

[0scarM!ke]

Hey guys, getting ready to build another AR. This one i was planning to build as a pistol first, then SBR it, and shoot is as a pistol to the stamp comes.

However, curiosity got the better part of me tonight.

So, would a .300 BLK not be lagal for harvesting whitetails' in IN? It seems to me it would be. The case muse be 1.16" without a bullet. And the projectile muse be .243" or bigger.

A .300 BLK has an empty case length of ~1.368" and an OAL of 2.26" with a .308"

So it seems to me it's totally legit for poking holes in bucks and does!

I may just build the .300 BLK pistol, and do get another stripped lower to SBR.

What do you all think as far as a viable deer cartridge? Seems like it would have plenty of knock down out to 200 yards.

Now if Indiana would just pass that suppressor law.....

 

[HamsterStyle]

Subscribed.

 

[wilianknow]

not a pistol round. Try the .458 Socom

 

[0scarM!ke]

Concerning handguns...here's what Indiana DNR says:

Handguns, other than muzzleloading, must have a barrel at least 4 inches long and must fire a bullet
of .243-inch diameter or larger. The handgun cartridge case, without the bullet, must be at least
1.16 inches long.

Concerning rifles according to the Indiana DNR:


Rifles with pistol cartridges
Rifles must fire a cartridge with a bullet of .357-inch diameter or larger; have a minimum case length
of 1.16 inches; and have a maximum case length of 1.625 inches.


SO, as i am reading it...the rifles must fire HANDGUN cartridges.
BUT, a handgun can fire cartridges so long as they conform to the above dimensions. It doesn't read that it must be a HANDGUN cartridge.

I have know several people who have hunted with .375 H&H and .444 marlin out of T/C pistols...don't think they were designed as Pistol calibers right?

 

[cwillour]

In a pistol, I believe it is legal (not much different than using a T/C pistol in .308 or .243 IMO.) Once you SBR it, however, you would need to meet the requirements for a pistol-caliber carbine which puts the minimum caliber in the .35 range, IIRC.

If you can handle the drop, I would think the 220gr loads would do a wonderful job. You may have to search a little for a supersonic bullet that will perform properly at the lower speeds past 125-150yds if you want to go that route, however.

 

[hammer24]

not a pistol round. Try the .458 Socom

???

.300 Blackout meets the requirements for a legal handgun caliber, as the OP suggested. The legal deer hunting calibers in handguns are much more liberal than rifle calibers. .243, .270, 30-30, .308, 30-06, 45/70...all legal in a handgun given the barrel is 4 inches or longer.

From the DNR:
Handguns
Handguns, other than muzzleloading, must have a barrel at least 4 inches long and must fire a bullet of .243-inch diameter or larger. The handgun cartridge case, without the bullet, must be at least 1.16 inches long.

Full metal-jacketed bullets are not permitted.
Handguns are not permitted on any military areas.

 

[0scarM!ke]

Some other fellow hoosiers talking about it...I'm betting that not a whole lot of people have realized this yet. I HAD a .458 SOCOM, but at $40-$60 for ammo, it just wasn't feasible. Many good .300 rounds out there, and you can load pretty well whatever you want projectile wise.

Some good hunting videos on youtube on the matter of .300 BLK and deer/hog.

Ballistics on par with a 7,62 x 39, or ever a .30-30 it's gotta be a good contender. I think i will call DNR tomorrow and ask, or just send an e-mail

I'm so excited about this i can't stand it!

 

[0scarM!ke]

In a pistol, I believe it is legal (not much different than using a T/C pistol in .308 or .243 IMO.) Once you SBR it, however, you would need to meet the requirements for a pistol-caliber carbine which puts the minimum caliber in the .35 range, IIRC.

If you can handle the drop, I would think the 220gr loads would do a wonderful job. You may have to search a little for a supersonic bullet that will perform properly at the lower speeds past 125-150yds if you want to go that route, however.

Right...but, if put the pistol buffer which is not capable of accepting a stock back on the SBR, you have essentially MADE it a handgun again. Albeit, it is a registered SBR, in the eyes of the DNR, and ATF It's legit as far as I can tell.

I'm almost 100% sure I'm going to be legal. I want to contact DNR, and ATF to make 100% sure what i have stated would be good to go in Indiana.

I'll post back what I find.

 

[0scarM!ke]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJYckvdFbbU[/ame]

DAG GON this is a big pig! EVEN if the SBR route isn't legit, i'm still gonna go with just the pistol

 

[cwillour]

Right...but, if put the pistol buffer which is not capable of accepting a stock back on the SBR, you have essentially MADE it a handgun again. Albeit, it is a registered SBR, in the eyes of the DNR, and ATF It's legit as far as I can tell.

I will be interested in what you find out. It is my understanding that once you register the receiver as a SBR it will always be either a rifle (SBR or not depending on the dimensions of the configuration) or an AOW (in this case by being a pistol configuration made with rifle parts.) Granted, this would just be a technicality and I cannot see how a DNR officer in the field will have any way to know this.

 

[0scarM!ke]

I'll post back once i get an answer. Where i'm at I know a lot of the DNR boys, and they are all rather gun and cartridge savvy. But i still want to be safe, if i can't SBR it oh well, i just build another.

 

[cwillour]

Sounds like a great project either way (Depending on what you find out I may have to follow suit, I have a couple of lowers just waiting to become something interesting.)

 

[Don]

The Barnes TSX is a good one at slow speeds.

 

[Hookeye]

The .300 Blackout is NOT LEGAL in a rifle for deer during the regular hunting season in Indiana.

The rules are pretty obvious on what is what IMHO.

You need a .35 cal or larger to be legal in a rifle, period.

If you take a rifle and make it a SBR, according to the state specialist, it's still a rifle and must meet the cartridge spec for rifles, even if it can exist under SBR configuration as a handgun (in form). Legally the state sees an SBR as a rifle always.

Been this route, and it's exactly what killed my idea of a Rem 7600 converted to handgun under SBR build (.308 win).

If you want to pop deer with a .300 Blackout then you need to build it as a handgun from the get go (buy an AR lower that was sold as a handgun).

Now the specialist did say that an SBR was legal to hunt deer with, if it ran deer legal rifle cartridges (but this was a few yrs back).

I'd ask that of the state again, keep a hardcopy of the email reply on me while afield (should it say it's OK)............because some 'possum cops aren't up on the rules. Just a possible headache minimizer

 

[hammer24]

Not sure about the SBR laws, but I'm interested. I, too think the rifle laws will have to be followed. If you're 100% sold on the .300 Blackout AND deer hunting with it, you'll probably have to build a dedicated pistol and not SBR it.

 

[Mgderf]

I'm planning on using a Savage Striker pistol in .308 Winchester this year for deer.