When we sat down with Advanced Armament’s Kevin Brittingham last year, we learned that while Bill Wilson was involved in some of the early stages of the 300 BLK ammunition design process, he eventually opted for the Eric Cartman approach: screw you guys, I’m going home. Wilson Combat later came out with their 7.62×40 WT cartridge, which has gone absolutely nowhere. Now it seems that they’re finally hopping on the 300 Blackout express and making complete upper receivers as well as ammunition in the new caliber . . .
I know, its probably only really interesting to someone who’s been following the industry since the .30 cal ammo war began. But the fact that Wilson Combat is now making stuff for their competitor’s cartridge might be an indication that they’re about to drop their own caliber and admit defeat. It’s hard competing with a giant like Remington who can crank out millions of rounds of ammo without breaking a sweat and the widespread adoption of 300 BLK instead of 7.62×40 WT doesn’t bode well for the caliber’s future.
Just like VHS did to Beta, one of the two competing formats that do the exact same thing seems to be winning. But is that enough to sustain 300 BLK for the future? Will it become just another interesting footnote in ammunition history? Only time will tell, but I’m betting “no.”
I’ve been salivating over the Wilson Combat 300 BLK upper for about a year. I actually ordered one online for a little over a thousand greenbacks but was too late to get it at that price. I received a call about a month later explaining that they had discontinued that model but had the new model in stock for about 14 hundred. I opted out and bought a Noveske 300 BLK upper in stead for a little over 11 hundred. I’m using the 300 I saved for dies, brass and bullets…
Long live the 300 AAC Blackout!!!
I have a SBR upper coming in .300blk. I went with .300blk because it will work with the .30cal can I am waiting for ATF approval on, and all the cartridge components and AR parts are standard fare, aside from the barrel. Subsonic ammo + silencer = quiet!
I’m no fan of proprietary cartridges, so it’s good to see another dead-end chambering hitting the chlorine filter of the ballistic gene pool in favor of something more useful.
It’s going to take more than unobtainium-plated Wilson uppers to push the .300 BLK mainstream, though: it will take bulk ammo and generic upper components in the back pages of Shotgun News.
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