Here's me again talking about money that I don't have. What else is new?

That aside, aren't these two basically the same thing? I mean, Wiki isn't the be-all and end all on factual data but I feel pretty safe when it comes to rounds. So here are the two.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_AAC_Blackout_(7.62%C3%9735mm)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.300_Whisper

Same diameter bullets, same weight, similar velocities. I'm sure each max load would be almost identical for each.

The .300 Whisper has been around for years. The Blackout is the new kid on the block but is it really new?

I mean, I'm really not seeing much of a difference. Next year I'm going for a 9" SBR with a can. Am I flipping a coin or is the .300 going to wane in the .300 BLK's shadow? Or is the .300 BLK's candle going to burn too brightly and fall to the popularity level of the .300 Whisper?

I could say I should go with the one that has the most available ammo. Whisper has Cor Bon and Hornady as well as a handful of others. But next year the .300 BLK might have just as many under its belt.

I guess I'm asking you all to take a stab at predicting the future as well as your opinions on both cartridges.

.300 AAC Blackout:


.300 Whisper:



They're extremely similar dimensionally. The BLK is a fraction of a millimeter longer in a couple key dimensions. Don't take my word for it, but it looks like you could probably get away with firing Whisper ammo in a BLK chamber but not vice versa.

I think T's got it right. The BLK is primarily an end run around SSK's jackassery. See the 6.5 Grendel & .264 LBC-AR for the same story. Go way back and see the .22 Varminter and .22-250 Remington.

Way too many small armsmakers and gunsmiths over the years have gotten the idea that they can get rich by necking a cartridge up or down and rabidly defending the name that they give the result. They never seem to realize that all they have rights to is the name, and anyone can give their creation a new one.

They'd be better off letting it go and getting at least the recognition for having come up with something neat, than being jerks about it and going down in history as the inventor of the obscure predecessor to something neat.

I've never really liked J.D. Jones much anyway. And now I find he's just as much of a d-bag when it comes to the cartridges.

Yeah, when the time comes I'm going with the BLK.

Everyone beat me to it. They changed it just enough to make it different, then sent the specs off to SAAMI so anyone and everyone can produce ammo, barrels, tools, dies, etc for it.

As an example, here is a list of companies making .300BLK products on Silencertalk. It's growing.

Awesome! It's bad enough I still have a dumb phone I don't wanna be the guy that chose the Whisper over the BLK.

But that's next year anyway. I'm getting a smartphone either next month or August. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to reply to a text on this stupid Motorola RZR when there's people around?


Gah! I feel like I should be driving an Edsel!

Awesome! It's bad enough I still have a dumb phone I don't wanna be the guy that chose the Whisper over the BLK.

But that's next year anyway. I'm getting a smartphone either next month or August. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to reply to a text on this stupid Motorola RZR when there's people around?


Gah! I feel like I should be driving an Edsel!

Don't worry about it, HVS. I have an old flip-phone (don't know the exact model) that is even "dumber" than your RZR. And don't knock the Edsel: it was a great car mechanically, just considered by many (myself, perhaps strangely, not included) to be hideously ugly.

Okay, On-Topic here. The .300 BLK is definitely an interesting cartridge, and I think it's developing into the mainstream and out of the "nifty esoteric niche cartridge" status I expected it to be stuck in. Now that I'm finally earning a paycheck, I think when I order a 5.56mm Dissipator-style AR-15 from Crusader Weaponry, I think I'm going to have them build me a matching upper in .300 BLK as well.

The 300BLK looks cool as hell. I'm just waiting for my barrel to get here and I'll have one.

That said, if you're going to get into the cartridge, plan on A) reloading for it; B) suppressing it; and C) short barreling it.

Yeah, like in my OP I'm going with a 9" threaded barrel. SBR + can is the only way to go IMO. And by the time I have all the paperwork done and upper in hand I'm sure there will be a couple more manufacturers loading for it. I'll have a reloader by then as well.

Welcome to We The Armed Mr. Silvers, and thank you for weighing in.

don't knock the Edsel: it was a great car mechanically, just considered by many (myself, perhaps strangely, not included) to be hideously ugly.

I wasn't bashing the car so much as just making a correlation on how old I feel when I text on my dumphone.

As much as I hate AT&T I wil probably go with T-Mobile and the Samsung Galaxy S. The $50 per month for talk, text and web is only $6 more than what I pay just for talk and text. And no one out of the big three can touch that price per month.

On topic, now that our new member verified that you can shoot Whisper out of a .300 BLK, why would anyone want a barrel in .300 Whisper? Man, I don't look forward to getting a year older but in this case, I hope time flies!