When the .300 Blackout (a standardized offspring of the wildcat .300 Whisper) was introduced a few years back, it immediately garnered a lot of attention. Despite its similarity with regards to the ballistic trajectory to the well-known 7.62×39, this was a round that promised improved terminal performance through more modern bullet design. This made a lot of sense to manufacturers, as research on the .308″ diameter bullet used in the .300 Blackout could prove beneficial to all other calibers that use the .308 round. With few modern manufacturers investing research dollars into the 7.62×39’s .311″ diameter bullet, this seemed to be a win for those willing to buy into the new cartridge.
But it didn’t really, at least for the early adopters. Unsurprisingly, a number of the early rounds put out were using projectiles designed for the .308 Winchester. That meant lackluster expansion, as the rounds were designed for higher velocities. After a couple years to give manufacturers time for R&D (as well as the certainty that this wasn’t another flash-in-the-pan cartridge), companies such as Barnes and Lehigh Defense came out with projectiles tailor-made for the .300 Blackout and its inherent strengths and weaknesses. The consensus favorite for medium game hunting is undoubtedly the Barnes 110 gr VOR-TX round.
Below we have two videos designed to show what this round does, and doesn’t do. The first is a slow-motion gel test by YouTube user Brass Fetcher. The effective expansion and dramatic result is easily apparent. The second video is by user TWANGnBANG, and covers car door penetration results. While it isn’t a laboratory test, it is a good example of real-world obstacles to bullet penetration (like window motors).
Check em out!
