I chewed on that question for a while.  While I never doubted their effectiveness or potential benefits, I was a bit stuck in my ways.  I had spent years in the military and had completed a career in law enforcement, many of those years as a range instructor,  without using one.  I’m an avid user of hearing protection, doubling up (foam inserts under muffs) when I’m teaching classes, or a single pair of electronic protection when I’m hunting.  

But a few years ago, when my oldest son was just getting old enough to take an interest in hunting,  I built a .300 Blackout AR with youth hunters in mind.  With my nephew already hunting and two sons of my own coming behind him, the need was real. I was already a fan of the platform, but not so much a fan of the .223 that is so common. 

  One simply cannot own that caliber of rifle, especially in the AR platform, without crossing the suppressor bridge. While I had never doubted the upsides and benefits, I remained hesitant for a few years, but the thought never truly left my mind.   It wasn’t until I fell prey to a BOGO sale from Silencer Central that I decided to give it a try.  

To defend my purchase let’s break down the potential positives.  Remember that I am writing this specifically from the viewpoint of using a .300 blackout for hunting.  Primarily eastern whitetail deer hunted from a ground blind with a youth hunter pulling the trigger.  And they’re legal to use where we spend the majority of our time hunting. 

When you take young kids hunting, the reality is that they sometimes miss.  And sometimes more than once!  Fewer decibels means less impact to the hunting environment.  Even if the kid I took hunting doesn’t miss, there’s a chance we want to take more than one animal (we often hunt for donated deer for our local food bank, and when you’re donating deer, quantity counts).  This lessened impact allows for more opportunities at follow-on shots.  That’s one positive. 

Youth hunters are also more sensitive to felt recoil.  This can be mitigated by the heavy tripod that I use to mount the rifle on if possible, but even at that, some of the younger kids can be intimated.  Every little bit helps, and suppressors certainly help reduce felt recoil.  That’s two huge positives.  

The downsides?  Although I don’t regret the purchase in the least, there are some downsides.  

First, you absolutely do need a suppressor wrap.  Even after just a few shots, it gets HOT!  Also, it appears to be incredibly tough and well built, but it costs more than my rifle.  A lot more in fact, so I want to protect it.  In the videos I will link in this blog the wrap hadn’t come in yet, but it’s on there now.  

Second, and maybe I can overcome this with some tuning of the gas block in the future, but the gas blowback is more than I anticipated.  This is amplified by the fact that I usually sit at the shooter’s 3 o’clock position and am pretty exposed to the ejection port when the rifle fires.  After the shot I need a second to overcome the gas.  Also please note that I bought a general .30 cal suppressor, not one of the variations on the market specifically marketed for a .300 BO, so I acknowledge that may be a bit of the issue.  Not a deal breaker, but certainly something that I am going to attempt to address with tuning.  If I can’t tune it out then I’ll just live with it.  My boys love it and it’s serving its purpose well. 

Subsonic ammo:

How loud is a suppressed  300 Blackout shooting subsonic ammo?

Supersonic ammo:

#300blk suppressed: 125 grain supersonic

One potential downside that must be noted is the length it adds to the rifle.  Yes, my 16” barrel with an 8” suppressor is still not a long rifle.  But one of the reasons I purpose built this rifle in the first place was to be compact, light, and easy to maneuver in a blind.  You lose some of that with a suppressor.  Once 2026 rolls around I’ll closely monitor the tax stamp situation with SBR’s and possibly take that route.  But until then, I’ve had to be a bit more careful setting up the tripod in the blind.  

What do I think?  I’ll get there in a moment….my youngest shoots my suppressed .300 BO like it’s a BB gun.  He loves it!  He is accurate and has no fear of the recoil.   Although I’m hesitant to drop down to subsonic ammo for hunting, and there is still some noise with the 125 grain Sig Sauer ammo that we hunt with, it makes it much more manageable.  Also, for practice, I have let him shoot subsonic and he is incredibly  confident with it.  My oldest loves it too, and although he may soon step up in calibers, I can still see this being a go-to rifle for him for years to come.  

Overall I like it.  I’m very happy with the setup and believe that with a more rifle-specific purchase and some quality time spent on the range tuning it, the results can be even more impressive.  If you are on the fence like I was, it’s time to get off and make the purchase-you wont regret it!