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The History of the 300 AAC Blackout Cartridge

Who developed the popular 300 AAC Blackout cartridge and for what purpose?

The History of the 300 AAC Blackout Cartridge
The 300 AAC Blackout is the second most popular AR-15 chambering, but where did it come from and why was it developed?

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Who developed the 300 AAC Blackout cartridge and for what purpose was it intended? Today, the 300 AAC Blackout is the second most popular AR-15 chambering, but where did it come from? Truly new cartridge concepts and designs are few and far between. No one would comment that the 300 AAC Blackout was an entirely “new” design. However, in concept it is much older than most might realize. In order to understand the 300 Blackout, you must delve into the .300 Whisper® and .300/.221 Fireball (.300 Fireball). These two cartridges are rather well-known having been around for decades. The .300/.221 Fireball is, as its name implies, based upon Remington’s .221 Fireball cartridge. Introduced in 1963, this design was a shortened (35.6mm case length) .222 Remington designed for optimum performance in the XP-100 pistol. Wildcatters took note of this cartridge case and necked it up to accept .308-inch projectiles. The result was a very efficient design capable of driving a diverse range of bullet weights. One person to take note of the .221 Fireball case was J.D. Jones of SSK Industries. J.D. Jones is noteworthy for many things ranging from his skill as a hunter to his talent for building unique custom guns. Over the years, he has developed a host of cartridges including an entire line of what he calls “Whisper” cartridges. Perhaps the most famous of this line is his .300 Whisper®. Again, this is a .221 Fireball case necked up to accept .308-inch projectiles.

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Robert Silvers, the Research and Development Director of Advanced Armament Corp., is the man behind the development of the 300 AAC Blackout cartridge.

J.D. felt the cartridge would be very useful when used to launch very heavy 200- to 250-grain bullets at subsonic velocities in conjunction with a sound suppressor. By driving a heavy bullet at subsonic velocity, the loud sonic “crack” would be eliminated, reducing the noise signature. At the same time, light 100- to 130-grain bullets could be driven at supersonic velocity. J.D. trademarked the name “.300 Whisper®” decades ago and went on to offer the cartridge in a variety of platforms including the AR-15. Trademarking the name prevented anyone else from marketing a firearm in .300 Whisper®, unless they signed a licensing agreement. To get around this, some companies simply referred to the cartridge by a different name. This led to various names and different chamber dimensions for the same basic wildcat cartridge. Although the .300/.221 Fireball and .300 Whisper® were highly regarded by a few, they did not appeal to the masses. The AR-15 was viewed differently years ago, and the lack of inexpensive factory ammunition as well as the domestic assault weapons ban (1994–2004) didn’t help matters. Years and then decades went by, and while there was a small and dedicated following of handloaders and hunters, mainstream shooters were occupied elsewhere. During this span of time the domestic assault weapons ban expired which resulted in AR-15 production exploding in popularity (now permitted to again have magazines over 10 rounds as well as collapsible stocks, etc.), and a variety of new cartridges for this platform were introduced.

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Then, in 2010, Robert Silvers, the Research and Development Director of Advanced Armament Corp. (AAC), was contacted by a government customer with a requirement for this concept. He was asked if AAC could produce firearms with Remington Defense manufacturing .300/.221 Fireball type ammunition. This request would lead directly to Silvers developing what became the 300 AAC Blackout cartridge. To get the story on the birth of this cartridge, I contacted Silvers directly. I have known Silvers for two decades, have trained with him and have long been impressed by his talent. What follows is, in his own words, how the cartridge was developed: “With Remington already doing the .221 and .17 Fireball, it was a natural to do the .30 caliber. But Remington is a SAAMI [Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute] company and only makes SAAMI-approved ammunition. So, we had to create the final specifications of the cartridge and seek SAAMI acceptance. The problem with calling it the .300 Fireball was two-fold. One is that the cartridge is low visibility, and Fireball seems like the opposite of that. The other is that there were too many chamber drawings for wildcat versions called .300 Fireball. If we picked that name, we would have to clear compatibility with these existing chambers, and that would limit velocity potential because we would have to pressure-test the ammo in the tightest one.

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The 7.62x39mm (L) has greater case capacity and thus can generate higher velocities with similar weight bullets. However, better designed bullets give the 300 BLK (R) an edge.

.300 Whisper® is a proprietary name which requires licensing, and SAAMI does not accept trademarked names. Also, I did not want to use it because it implies subsonic is the primary use — and that is not the way I see the cartridge. 300 AAC Blackout was designed to be the most powerful way to shoot .30 caliber from an AR-15 while remaining compatible with normal 30-round magazines. A fresh name was needed so that we could design the chamber with the exact specs we thought best. 300 AAC Blackout is a name both consistent with full power ammo, but yet stealthy at the same time. For 300 AAC Blackout, we went back to the official Remington .221 Fireball drawing and used the exact dimensions from the rear, while doing the front portion in an optimal way. We picked a longer throat than in some Whisper® chambers to allow a Sierra 220 MatchKing to be loaded to full magazine length while being 0.010-inch from the rifling. That keeps pressure down, and allows for full power ammo to be loaded hotter for more velocity.” And just what was the new cartridge developed for and intended to do? The goals of the project were fairly straightforward:

  1. Create a reliable .30 caliber cartridge compatible with the AR platform.
  2. Create the optimal platform for sound and flash suppressed fire.
  3. Develop supersonic ammunition which matches 7.62x39mm ballistics.
  4. Provide the ability to penetrate commonly encountered barriers.
  5. Utilize existing M16 magazines at their full capacity.
  6. Encapsulate these capabilities in a lightweight, low recoiling yet durable package.

The most obvious question is why didn’t they just utilize the Russian 7.62x39mm cartridge? This design is well proven and developed on well-grounded military requirements. Unfortunately, this Russian design is very poorly suited for use in the M16/AR-15 platform. This is due to the amount of taper on the cartridge case in relation to the height of the AR’s magazine well. The combination creates difficulties when designing a reliable magazine and leads to feeding problems. The end result is less than stellar reliability combined with the need for a 7.62x39mm specific bolt and magazine. The 300 BLK solution on the other hand requires only a barrel change. Existing 5.56x45mm AR bolts and magazines can both be utilized. By using the standard size bolt, the locking lugs are not weakened as happens with cartridges which require a larger bolt face. Cartridges which require a larger bolt face (6.5mm Grendel, 6.8x43mm SPC, 7.62x39mm) also induce higher bolt thrust. So, these problems are eliminated. By using a standard 5.56x45mm magazine, the need for expensive proprietary magazines is eliminated. The 300 BLK’s performance is a bit different than conventional rifle cartridges in that it offers two distinct levels of performance. A shooter can select either heavy (200 to 240+ grains) subsonic loads or lighter (110 to 140+ grains) supersonic loads. Subsonic loads are simply those which drive their projectile at less than the speed of sound. The speed of sound in dry air at 68 degrees F is 1,126 fps. Heavy efficient projectiles with high ballistic coefficients retain their velocity and energy well. So, despite their very low initial velocity, a 200-plus-grain .30 caliber subsonic load can provide acceptable performance on medium-size game. More importantly, it can do this when teamed with a sound suppressor at a very pleasant and safe-noise level. A properly thought out and put together AR-15 in 300 BLK will allow the shooter to seamlessly switch between subsonic and supersonic loads simply by changing ammunition. Supersonic loads will drive 110- to 125-grain bullets at 2,350 to 2,250 fps. The end result is a versatile and effective cartridge which is the reason why it has become so popular among American shooters. The FN SCAR pistol is now available in 300 Blackout! Visit this link for more information visit - https://fnamerica.com/products/pistols/fn-scar-15p/




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