So…Is There Any Reason To Bother With 8.6 BLK? The cartridge was developed with bolt-action rifles and semi-autos in mind, so AR-10-pattern rifles and modern skeletonized/tactical bolt-action rifles are going to be the default offerings. These rifles start at $3,499 before options. Gorilla Ammunition offers their GF-10 8.6 Blackout carbine with an 8- or 12-inch barrel as well as their aptly named GF Bolt Action Rifle with a 16-inch barrel. MSRP starts at just under $2,300 for the Faxon Sentinel, and starts at $3,299 for the Overwatch series. Faxon's Overwatch bolt-action rifle line includes a 16-inch rifle with a traditional stock, a 16-inch rifle with a pistol grip and a 12-inch pistol with a pistol grip. The Faxon Sentinel line includes an 8-inch AR-10 pistol, a 12-inch AR-10 pistol and a 16-inch carbine. Available 8.6 Blackout RiflesĬurrently, 8.6 BLK rifles are available from Faxon Firearms as well as from Gorilla Ammunition. However, long-range is not its forte unless you have the right scope (you'll need an awful lot of Christmas tree!) and you put in enough time behind the gun. It will poke deep holes in things and poke them good and hard with a lot of lead for a rather soft-shooting cartridge. 300 BLK does in subsonic loading, but its bullet having a much higher mass the 8.6 carries much more energy into the target.īut what does this ballistic profile portend? 300 BLK subsonic loads do at the muzzle, though velocities are within 100 fps of each other. The 8.6 BLK subsonic loads have more energy at 500 yards than. 300 BLK has at the muzzle.Īnd here's the subsonic trajectory using Hornady's 190-grain Sub-X load (G1 of. 300 BLK drops below the 1,000-foot-pound mark just past 100 yards, and 8.6 BLK is carrying more energy at 400 yards than. 300 Blackout supersonic loads will go transonic around 600 yards, and likewise begin to drop quickly after about 225 to 250 yards. 443), at a typical trajectory (1,900 fps) for a 16-inch barrel. Using Sierra load data, here's a trajectory table for 155-grain Sierra MatchKing HPBT (G1 of. 338 magnums.īut what about its older yet smaller brother. 338 Federal, which is a pussycat at less than 23 foot-pounds compared to. Recoil energy is less than 20 foot-pounds so it will shoot softly even compared to. The maximum point-blank range is short (less than 150 yards) and the big pill has dropped fully 5 feet at 400 yards…but it's still hauling almost 1,300 foot-pounds of energy, more than 55-grain M193 from the muzzle of a 20-inch barrel. The bullet goes transonic past 625 yards, but it retains 1,000 foot-pounds of energy (the legal minimum in some states for big game) to 525 yards. 404), here's what the trajectory would look like with the same zero and height over bore: 30-30 look almost flat-shooting, it still appears a very viable cartridge for hunting any game inside 200 yards-typical hunting distance for much of the country-with a short-barreled rifle or AR pistol whether suppressed or not.īut what about a supersonic load? Using Faxon's load data for 210-grain Barnes TSX (a velocity of 2,065 fps and G1 of. That gives it excellent potential for penetration. However, it retains momentum incredibly well, with almost 90-percent of velocity (and almost 75 percent of muzzle energy) retained at 500 yards. In this case, the bullet rises to over 3 inches above the point of aim at 50 yards and drops to almost 5 inches below the point of aim at 125 yards, and it begins to sink like a stone past 200 yards. The lone supersonic loading is the 210-grain Barnes TSX load that the factory advertises at 1,970 fps from a 12-inch barrel. You can order your Gorilla ammunition optimized for a 16-inch, 12-inch, or 8- to 12-inch barrel. Gorilla 300-grain Sierra MatchKing 8.6 Blackout ammo. Gorilla currently offers a 300-grain self-defense and hunting load with a copper flat hollow point, a 300-grain Sierra MatchKing subsonic, a 210-gr Barnes TSX and a 285-grain fracturing subsonic load which appears to be similar to the 300-grain self-defense/hunting load. What is available is entirely from one manufacturer, Gorilla Ammunition. 338-caliber bullet could be seated in the case, few factory loads are currently available. Just like 6.5mm Creedmoor, the bullet is seated to a rather shallow depth in the case to preserve powder capacity. 338 caliber bullets as other cartridges of this caliber. 30 TC case, is 1.92 inches) and necking it to 0.338 inches so it can seat the same. The 8.6 BLK cartridge uses 6.5mm Creedmoor as a parent case, with the case trimmed to 1.685 inches (the 6.5mm Creedmoor's case, based on the.

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