I just finished a 300blk bolt gun build and i'm looking for a subsonic load for deer hunting out to around a 100yds.

Rifle Is a Remington 700 with a 16" barrel with 1/7 twist.

Any help would be great.

Thanks

Caveat emptor - I can get subsonic out of a 220gr Sierra match king (and also a 220gr sierra round nose, which are 50% cheaper) out of a 16" AR with the following:

220gr Sierra bullet
2.25 OAL
10.0gr of W296/H110 (I've used both, they operate the same)
About 1000 FPS.

Now, out of a bolt gun, these may go supersonic. Start at 9.5gr, and work your way up - I'd say you will probably max out around 9.8gr, maybe less, before they go past 1025.

I just picked up a pound of lit'gun, primers, and a 100 count of 208gr Amax heads

Looking for a good subsonic load with the above combo.

grs of powder ?
OVA length.

Thanks

I've never loaded Lil' gun before in blackout, but Hodgons interactive loading site calls for the following:

OAL: 2.26
Powder: 8.3gr Lilgun
Bullet: 208gr

Estimated velocity: (16" barrel) 1047.

Seems like a good place to get started. Their recipe calls for a 1/8" twist barrel, but you are probably close enough with a 1/7"

I'd load a few that are slightly lighter to start with. Not because I'm worried about pressure, but because you are running a bolt gun, so their expected velocity may be low, and bring the load out of your gun supersonic. Maybe load a few up of 8.0gr, in varying increments of .1gr up to 8.4. Find the fastest one that stays subsonic, and you are golden.

For subsonic hunting I use Lehigh Defense 174 grain controlled fracturing projectiles. They are expensive, but they work well, breaking into three sharp petals and a .30 cal slug. The 208 Amax are going to go straight through with zero expansion. Here's my subsonic hunting load:

Hornady brass @ 1.36"
CCI 400 primers
IMR 4198 @ 10.5grains
Lehigh Defense 174 CF, no crimp.
OAL = 2.25"

This load is subsonic in a 16" Noveske.

I load the 208 AMAX's with CCI 400 primers and 9.8 grains of Accurate 1680.

In my R700 and AAC/H&R/NEF Single Shot with a GemTech Sandstorm, they are very low signature. Hollywood quiet. I do get an occasional Failure to Eject malfunction in my wife's general purpose .300 BLK, a 16" Noveske. But this load runs just fine in my 10.3" Noveske which I specifically tuned for subsonic loads with an AAC SDN-6.

Still, I prefer the 220 SMK's in front of 10.0 grains of 1680. I use 1680 exclusively for my .300 BLK subsonic loads anymore. I tried H110 in some sub loads, and I have used H110 for some lighter projo'd supersonic stuff (115-130 grain stuff), but have found the 1680 more reliable in the AR's than the comparable subsonic load using H110.

For volume shooting the 208 AMAXs are nice as they are significantly cheaper than the 220 SMKs when you are buying 5k or more projos at a time.

1680 & H110 are really your best bet for .300 BLK, with 1680 preferred for subsonic work. I tried some LilGun early on, and still use it for suppressed .458 SOCOM stuff, but have found my guns, especially the R700 are more accurate with 1680.

My load data, including some info on bullet selection is in this thread from several years ago - Subsonics

I've been hunting deer with suppressed subsonics from a .300 Whisper (the predecessor to 300 BLK) for 7 years now. I do crop damage shooting, urban deer removal, DMAP, etc. so I have had the chance to do A LOT of testing of this cartridge on actual deer and various ranges.

The 208 A-Max WILL NOT EXPAND SUBSONIC. They will punch .308" holes right through the deer, but you will almost always have a LONG blood trail to follow if you want to recover the animal. It is exactly like shooting a deer with an arrow with a field tip on it instead of a broadhead. Not a good idea when there are much better bullet choices available now.

Subsonic .308 is not a very effective or humane way to hunt. Even if you use a lehigh max expansion, the bullet will not penetrate very far.
When hunting with a subsonic cartridge you loose the damage that high velocity creates so it either needs to be very very heavy and preferably flat blunt tipped or a bullet designed to fracture and cause multiple wound channels. For it to be anywhere close to humane in my opinion, and I'm a nobody so take that with a grain of salt.
However, I do use a very effective subsonic cartridge that might raise a brow, if you have time or care to, look into the .338 spectre.
I'm using a 240gr .338 lehigh defense controlled fracturing subsonic bullet
It will fracture as low as 750 feet per second. It fractures 3 sharp pedals and has a very large rear penetrator that continues its path. Successfully creates 4 wound channels and .338 carries much better ballistic coefficiency than .308.

Best of luck

James

Thanks for all the info

The 8.3grs of Lilgun and the 208Amax were subsonic out of my boltgun and shot nice groups but I order some of the Lehigh bullets and I will try some of the 1680 powder.

Thanks

I am fond of the the 245 grain leads that Missouri sells. If the BH was 18, they would be better IMHO, but that is another topic for another day.

A basic summary video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyry4sC3PNg

James is as right as rain that "When hunting with a subsonic cartridge you loose the damage that high velocity creates so it either needs to be very very heavy and preferably flat blunt tipped or a bullet designed to fracture and cause multiple wound channels."

Mark (Immortal Arms) and Syd started me off on .208 AMAXs... I now consider that projectile to be a very poor choice for .300B/O.

Good projo for .300WM... .300RUM, but not enough velocity to do anything, but punch a clean simple hole.

Also, another topic for another day... IMHO the Nosler E-Tip is a superior built bullet to the A-Max...