8.6 Blackout: Q’s New Cartridge Is All Hype and No Substance?

The 8.6 Blackout, also known as 8.6 BLK, or 8.6mm Creedmoor is a new cartridge from Q. Q is the company behind the Honey Badger, The Fix bolt action rifle, and its own line of suppressors. The 8.6mm cartridge is.338 caliber and, while it’s a lot smaller than standard.338 cartridges (.338 Win.), it’s still a great choice. Mag. Mag. It’s designed to make it easier to put a lot of lead downrange. So 8.6 Blackout is a tactical hat with no cattle. It all depends on what you use it for. 8.6 BLK inside,.300BLK outside. Photo by Faxon Firearms.8.6 BLACKOUT SpecificationsThe 8.6 BLACKOUT is actually a modernized version of an older idea. The 8.6 BLK cartridge is an intermediate medium bore cartridge. These aren’t new. Both the.351 Winchester Self Loading cartridges and the.35 Remington cartridges were exactly the same thing, and both predated World War I. This is not a bad thing..351 WSL,.35 Remington cartridges were very popular, and for good reasons. They allowed you to hit a deer or hog within reasonable distances without having to worry about your shoulder. Photo: Wikipedia. 8.6 Blackout has an interesting angle. It was designed with suppressed shooting and is optimized for it. This is enough to bring back the old cartridge design ethos of the 21st century. The 8.6 BLK cartridge uses the 6.5mm Creedmoor case as a parent case. The case is trimmed to 1.8685 inches (the 6.5mm Creedmoor case, which is 1.92 inches, is 1.92 inches) necked to 0.338 inch so it can hold the same.338 caliber bullets that other cartridges in this caliber. To preserve powder capacity, the bullet is seated in the case at a very shallow depth. Although it is possible to fit almost any.338-caliber bullet in the case, there are very few factory loads currently available. Gorilla Ammunition is the only manufacturer that has any available. Gorilla currently offers a 300 grain self-defense and hunting load, a 300 gr Sierra MatchKing subsonic, a 210 gr Barnes TSX, and a 285 gr fracturing subsonic load. These loads appear to be very similar to the 300 grain self-defense/hunting load. Gorilla 300-grain Sierra MatchKing 8.6 blackout ammunition. You can order ammunition that is optimized for a 16 inch, 12 inch, or 8-to 12-inch barrel. The factory claims that the 210-grain Barnes TSX load, which is advertised at 1,970 fps with a 12-inch barrel, is the only supersonic loading. Faxon Firearms and Q have published load data for a wider range of projectiles and loads. According to their data, a 210 grain Barnes TSX would achieve 2,065 fps in a 16-inch barrel, and 1,950 fps in a 12-inch barrel. Their 160-grain Hornady GMX load was advertised as achieving 2,200 fps with a 16-inch barrel, and 2,085 fps with a 12-inch barrel. Faxon stated that the maximum velocity was 2,400 fps for a 160-grain Barnes TTSX Bullet on 35.8 grains Accurate 1680. This was from a 16 inch barrel. Q designed the chambering with a blistering twist rate at 1-in-3 inches to maximize stabilization. For rifles of.338 caliber, the typical twist rate is 1 in 10. These numbers are not always accurate.8.6 Blackout ballisticsBased on the velocity and bullet data, we can calculate the trajectory. The following tables were created with ShootersCalculator. They used a 100-yard zero, a 2-inch overbore (common with AR platform rifles), 10 mph of 60-degree crosswind, and no corrections to atmosphere. The 300-grain Sierra MatchKing Bullet has a G1 ballistic coefficient.750 below 1,800 feet per second. Here’s the 500-yard trajectory of the 8.6 BLK load at 1,030 fps. It retains momentum extremely well at 500 yards, where it retains almost 90% of its velocity (and almost 75% of muzzle energy). This gives it great penetration potential. The trajectory makes the.30-30 seem almost flat-shooting but it is still a viable cartridge for hunting any game within 200 yards. This is the typical hunting distance for most of the country. It can be used with a short-barreled rifle, AR pistol, or suppressed. What about supersonic loads? Faxon’s load data on 210-grain Barnes TSX shows the trajectory with the same zero and height. The bullet travels transonic past 625 yards but retains 1,000 feet of energy (the legal minimum for big game in some states) up to 525 yards. The maximum point-blank range (less than 150 yards) is very short and the big pill has dropped to 5 feet at 400 yard. However, it still holds 1,000 foot-pounds of energy. This is more than the.338 Federal which is a much more powerful bullet at less than 23 feet compared to the more unhinged,.338 magnums. What about the smaller, but still powerful,.300 BLK Here’s a Sierra load data table that shows the trajectory for 155-grain Sierra MatchKing HBT (G1of.443) at a typical trajectory (1.900 fps for a 16 inch barrel). Like 8.6 Blackout, the.300 Blackout supersonic loads, which will go transonic at 600 yards, will also drop quickly after 225 to 250 yard. However,.300 Blackout drops below 1,000 feet at 100 yards and 8.6 Blackout is carrying more energy at 400 miles than.300BLK at the muzzle. Here’s the subsonic trajectory with Hornady’s 190-grain SubX load (G1 at.437) at a velocity 1:050 fps. Although the subsonic loads of 8.6 BLK have more energy at 500 feet than the subsonic loads of.300 BLK at their muzzles, they travel at a speed of 1,050 fps. It drops approximately the same as subsonic loading of.300 BLK, but the bullet’s mass is much higher than that of.300 BLK, so the 8.6 delivers more energy to the target. What does this ballistic profile mean? It can poke deep into things and will also poke them hard with a lot more lead than a soft-shooting cartridge. If you don’t have the right scope, it won’t be able to shoot long distances. You will need a lot of Christmas trees! You put in enough time behind your gun. 8.6 BLK versus.300 BLK at Gorilla Ammunition. Faxon Sentinel includes an AR-10 pistol (8 inches), a 12-inch AR-10 pistol (12 inches) and a 16 inch carbine (16 inches). Faxon’s Overwatch bolt action rifle line includes a 16 inch rifle with a traditional Stock, a 12-inch AR-10 pistol, and a 12-inch rifle with pistol grip. The MSRP for the Faxon Sentinel is just under $2,300, while the Overwatch series starts at $3,299 Gorilla Ammunition has the GF-10 8.6 Blackout carbine, which comes with an 8- or 12-inch barrel, as well as the aptly named GF Bolt Action Rifle that comes with a 16 inch barrel. These rifles are available for purchase starting at $3,499 with options. Gorilla GF bolt action rifle.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. Is 8.6 BLK worth the trouble? New calibers are often little more than a blackguardly plot to sell new rifles. Q is a mainstay in Gun Culture 2.0, but that doesn’t mean there’s anything new. We have a pallet 7mm Remington Express on a bridge we are selling if that’s not news to you. It’s not worthless that 8.6 BLK. It’s possible to find a niche in it. It’s up to you to decide if you are in that niche. It is a serious brush gun due to its high velocity and energy retention. The 8.6 BLK is a great choice if you hunt in heavy timber and foliage. 8.6 Blackout is a great choice if you want to really hit deer, hogs, or whatever you have at will and make them go down. It’s not a good choice for personal defense. Although it would appear to be able to play that role, it’s too early to tell if more. Gorilla Silverback 8.6BLK 300-grain self defense/hunting ammunition. It could be used by police departments or military units as a better round to punch through glass, vehicles, and other light structures. It will also make a great silhouette shot with steel steel. It’s enough to convince some people to give the new round another chance. Target grids and bullseye sizes can be downloaded in MOA. This is a great option for long-range shooting. Enter your email address below.