300 Subsonics - what's your favorite?

[nucular]

I loaded up some 300s with Lil Gun to test out this weekend using some Berry's 220 grain plated bullets. Using a Ruger American w/ 16" barrel, it seems like 8 grains was the most accurate and (I think?) slow enough to stay subsonic. I was using CFE BLK which ran well in the AR but seemed noisy on the bolt action. Going to load up some 190g Sub-X to test out next. What is your favorite load?

 

[edwea]

I have great accuracy with eldm 225s over 9 gr of h110. One hole groups at 50yds not uncommon out of my Ruger American. My 10.5 sbr does okay with those as well. I have recently been loading the 225s over 9.8 gr of imr 4198 just because I had some laying around and wanted to conserve the h110 for my supers. The accuracy is okay, but not as good as I was getting with the h110. I haven't gotten comparable results with the Berry's 220s. Groups have been around 1.5-2 inches at 50. I haven't done much load development with those yet, though.

 

[nucular]

I have great accuracy with eldm 225s over 9 gr of h110. One hole groups at 50yds not uncommon out of my Ruger American. My 10.5 sbr does okay with those as well. I have recently been loading the 225s over 9.8 gr of imr 4198 just because I had some laying around and wanted to conserve the h110 for my supers. The accuracy is okay, but not as good as I was getting with the h110. I haven't gotten comparable results with the Berry's 220s. Groups have been around 1.5-2 inches at 50. I haven't done much load development with those yet, though.

H110 is on my list to try as well. I'll have to try the ELDMs. The berry's are OK plinkers but they are probably not the most consistent.

 

[edwea]

H110 is awesome for supers, but I'm sure there are better powders for subs. Cfe black is on my list to try. The other powders in the cfe family leaves my guns pretty dirty, though.

 

[nucular]

H110 is awesome for supers, but I'm sure there are better powders for subs. Cfe black is on my list to try. The other powders in the cfe family leaves my guns pretty dirty, though.

I was told that Lil Gun wouldn't cycle the semis well and i only loaded up a small amount to test so I wasn't able to try it in the AR but the bolt action was clean as a whistle. Not sure why CFE is so filthy. Fillers maybe?

 

[BJHay]

Watching.

 

[STFU]

My load is below. Super reliable and fairly consistent.

Cartridge:​	.300 BLK​	Notes:​
Date Loaded:​	4-Oct-20​	Hodgdon Reloading Data Center​
Load Data Source:​	Hodgdon​	Published Velocity: 1046 based on 9.2 Grs.​
Bullet Brand:​	Berry's​	​
Bullet Type:​	Plated Spire Point​	​
Bullet Weight: (gr)​	220 Grain​	Chronograph Used: MagnetoSpeed​
Powder:​	Hodgdon H110​	Actual Chronograph Data:​
Powder Weight: (gr)​	9.0​	Group 1: Ave = 1076 FPS | 25.5 StDev​
Primer Brand:​	CCI #450​	​
Primer Type:​	Small Rifle Magnum​	​
COL:​	2.234​	​
Speed (fps):​	1076​	​

 

[AndreusMaximus]

The other powders in the cfe family leaves my guns pretty dirty, though.

I am convinced that cfe powder only works by making your guns dirty faster, which makes you clean them more, which makes you get rid of the copper fouling. And that's the only reason it's called "Copper Fouling Eraser".

 

[nucular]

My load is below. Super reliable and fairly consistent.

Cartridge:​	.300 BLK​	Notes:​
Date Loaded:​	4-Oct-20​	Hodgdon Reloading Data Center​
Load Data Source:​	Hodgdon​	Published Velocity: 1046 based on 9.2 Grs.​
Bullet Brand:​	Berry's​	​
Bullet Type:​	Plated Spire Point​	​
Bullet Weight: (gr)​	220 Grain​	Chronograph Used: MagnetoSpeed​
Powder:​	Hodgdon H110​	Actual Chronograph Data:​
Powder Weight: (gr)​	9.0​	Group 1: Ave = 1076 FPS | 25.5 StDev​
Primer Brand:​	CCI #450​	​
Primer Type:​	Small Rifle Magnum​	​
COL:​	2.234​	​
Speed (fps):​	1076​	​

Awesome. I will add that to the list to try!

 

[Aszerigan]

CFE BLK, period. That is all I use anymore. 12.0gns under a 220 at 2.245". If you sit the bullet on top of the powder column, it reduces fouling immensely. I shoot several hundred rounds a week of this load and I only clean my guns once a month. Never had a single failure in any of my rifles and it shoots an easy 1.5 MOA at 100yds.

H110 is very dirty, and unless you seat them really short (like 2.225"-2.230"), you never get a full burn. It gums up rifles (and my Dillon 550B) faster than anything else. Lil' Gun is good too, but it's a LOUD powder by nature, so not the best choice for subs.

I'm going to be doing load development on the Hornady 190gn Sub-X this coming week, and I assume the charge weights won't drop by more than 0.2 gns.

Note: You'll get the most complete burn / least fouling from all these loads when you shorten them up. The less air in the casing, the more complete the burn.

 

[DadSmith]

CFE BLK, period. That is all I use anymore. 12.0gns under a 220 at 2.245". If you sit the bullet on top of the powder column, it reduces fouling immensely. I shoot several hundred rounds a week of this load and I only clean my guns once a month. Never had a single failure in any of my rifles and it shoots an easy 1.5 MOA at 100yds.

H110 is very dirty, and unless you seat them really short (like 2.225"-2.230"), you never get a full burn. It gums up rifles (and my Dillon 550B) faster than anything else. Lil' Gun is good too, but it's a LOUD powder by nature, so not the best choice for subs.

I'm going to be doing load development on the Hornady 190gn Sub-X this coming week, and I assume the charge weights won't drop by more than 0.2 gns.

Note: You'll get the most complete burn / least fouling from all these loads when you shorten them up. The less air in the casing, the more complete the burn.

Is CFE Black temperature sensitive?

 

[profjeremy]

CFE BLK, period. That is all I use anymore. 12.0gns under a 220 at 2.245". If you sit the bullet on top of the powder column, it reduces fouling immensely. I shoot several hundred rounds a week of this load and I only clean my guns once a month. Never had a single failure in any of my rifles and it shoots an easy 1.5 MOA at 100yds.

H110 is very dirty, and unless you seat them really short (like 2.225"-2.230"), you never get a full burn. It gums up rifles (and my Dillon 550B) faster than anything else. Lil' Gun is good too, but it's a LOUD powder by nature, so not the best choice for subs.

I'm going to be doing load development on the Hornady 190gn Sub-X this coming week, and I assume the charge weights won't drop by more than 0.2 gns.

Note: You'll get the most complete burn / least fouling from all these loads when you shorten them up. The less air in the casing, the more complete the burn.

Not an ammo expert by any means, but I have played around with all sorts of factory ammo, buffer weights, captured buffers, etc. on my 300 BLK rifles, both suppressed and unsuppressed and I will say that the 300 BLK ammo I got from @Aszerigan is the only one that I have never had a single issue with (despite practically trying to cause them)!

 

[Aszerigan]

Is CFE Black temperature sensitive?

It is not, it is temperature stable.



Link to the article HERE. It's a Hodgdon ego stroke, but it's all accurate information.

 

[STFU]

CFE BLK, period. That is all I use anymore. 12.0gns under a 220 at 2.245". If you sit the bullet on top of the powder column, it reduces fouling immensely. I shoot several hundred rounds a week of this load and I only clean my guns once a month. Never had a single failure in any of my rifles and it shoots an easy 1.5 MOA at 100yds.

H110 is very dirty, and unless you seat them really short (like 2.225"-2.230"), you never get a full burn. It gums up rifles (and my Dillon 550B) faster than anything else. Lil' Gun is good too, but it's a LOUD powder by nature, so not the best choice for subs.

I'm going to be doing load development on the Hornady 190gn Sub-X this coming week, and I assume the charge weights won't drop by more than 0.2 gns.

Note: You'll get the most complete burn / least fouling from all these loads when you shorten them up. The less air in the casing, the more complete the burn.

I think you and I discussed this over coffee when we met. (IIRC?)
Are you loading both subs and supers with the CFE Blk?

Currently I use the H110 for both and I don't really notice my gun being dirty, but then again my OSS/Huxwrx can is a flow-through and far less crap coming back down the barrel at my face.

I have had very good luck with the H110 for both subs and supers. Would like to see if the CFE Blk can be this consistent:

https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aot1KbgqZ2qglM456g-O5sDHm7fATg?e=VDNTGk

 

[Aszerigan]

I think you and I discussed this over coffee when we met. (IIRC?)
Are you loading both subs and supers with the CFE Blk?

Currently I use the H110 for both and I don't really notice my gun being dirty, but then again my OSS/Huxwrx can is a flow-through and far less crap coming back down the barrel at my face.

I have had very good luck with the H110 for both subs and supers. Would like to see if the CFE Blk can be this consistent:

https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aot1KbgqZ2qglM456g-O5sDHm7fATg?e=VDNTGk

We DID talk about that. :-). And that OSS can might have a lot to do with keeping things clean. Look at how much gas you have coming out the front instead of back through the action. It's a great thing, no doubt, and may answer some of the questions about cleanliness.

My main gripe with the H110 is gummy-ness. My dropper on the 550 has been cleaned and flows fine with every other powder, but it won't drop a consistent charge of H110. When I did use it, I remember the bolts and chambers being sticky, not just dirty, but actually sticky. Doesn't do that in my revolvers, only in an semi platform.

Also, a friend came to me for advice about his extreme velocity spreads with H110 in blackout and after dropping the OAL, that fixed it up.

I did load some supers when I started using the CFE BLK, but I don't really shoot supers much anymore. They worked fine, but admittedly I use the 220s almost exclusively now. That powder really shines pushing a heavy bullet.

 

[STFU]

Doesn't do that in my revolvers, only in an semi platform.

I also use H110 for my 44 REM MAG loads. (Just because I have it handy.) Is there a better powder for these that you like?

Also, a friend came to me for advice about his extreme velocity spreads with H110 in blackout and after dropping the OAL, that fixed it up.

This is interesting. I may try to shorten mine up a small bit and see if my SD drops.

I did load some supers when I started using the CFE BLK, but I don't really shoot supers much anymore. They worked fine, but admittedly I use the 220s almost exclusively now. That powder really shines pushing a heavy bullet.

About 80% of my .300BLK loads are subs. I will try a 1# of the CFE BLK and see how that goes.
Do you stock it?

 

[edwea]

Also, a friend came to me for advice about his extreme velocity spreads with H110 in blackout and after dropping the OAL, that fixed it up.

This resonates with me.

 

[Aszerigan]

I also use H110 for my 44 REM MAG loads. (Just because I have it handy.) Is there a better powder for these that you like?


This is interesting. I may try to shorten mine up a small bit and see if my SD drops.


About 80% of my .300BLK loads are subs. I will try a 1# of the CFE BLK and see how that goes.
Do you stock it?

I prefer H110 in my 357 Mag, 41 Mag, 44 Mag, 460 S&W and 50AE. That's what I've always used and it works, so I stick with it.

Yes, shorten by 0.015"- 0.020"and you should see your SD drop significantly.

And I don't, but check with Brian's Surplus. I'll be making a trip up that way in a couple weeks, I can pick one up for you if you need. Also Atterbury had some last time I was in there.

 

[STFU]

It is not, it is temperature stable.



Link to the article HERE. It's a Hodgdon ego stroke, but it's all accurate information.

Hahahaha...I wish those prices were still around.
Just called Brian's to see if they have it in stock (they do not ship and I am 45 minutes away)...now $42.95/pound. (Not complaining but, wow!) I will head up there in the next day or two...at least I can avoid a hazmat fee.
(I know, primer costs are 3x-4x what they were in 2017.)