I recently picked up a H&R handi rifle in 300Blk and a good friend of mine offered his reloading set up and time so that I could put together a few subsonic loads for it.

Because I have never reloaded anything and my friend has never gotten in to 300Blk, neither of us have a very good idea of what would be ideal for what I’m wanting to do with this particular rifle.

The rifle:
Single shot
16.25” barrel
1-7 twist
Running it suppressed with a SilencerCo Saker ASR 7.62

What I want to do with it:
Pest control between 25-100 yards
Plinking between 25-200 yards
Perhaps some whitetail up to 150 yards

What I’ve already bought:
Accuracy Arms 1680 powder
Hornady brass
208 grain Amax projectiles

I’m under the assumption that 220 grain projectiles would have been better, but 208 Amax was all that was in stock at the store I was shopping.

Any and all information would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.accuratepowder.com/load-data/

If you do facebook, there is a whole 300 blk group with tons of info too.

You also probably will want to add some dies to your list.

Also, it's  a good idea to test your loads unsupressed first to check fr stabilazation.

The 208 Amax is just about worthless for hunting...it won't expand at subsonic speeds, so at best you are stabbing the animal with a .30 caliber ice pick.  Yes, there are people who have taken animals with it, but it is very reliant on perfect shot placement into something vital like the heart or brain.   If you really want to hunt subsonic look at some of the expanding subs out there now.  They are a bit pricey, but worth it to ensure a good humane kill.

It does work well for subsonic plinking however, but keep in mind that it will have a ton of drop at 200yards...something close to 5 feet or more!  You'll basically be lobbing artillery which could be fun!

I hunt deer and other critters with the 300BLK and have personally decided to go exclusively supersonic for hunting for a couple of reasons.  I've harvest 5 deer with the Nosler 125gr BT bullet loaded at about 2100FPS.

1) More practical trajectory inside of 200yards (with a 50 yard zero it will be ~6" low at 200), with my own limit being 150yards for bullet performance
2) Energy = 1/2 * mass * (velocity^2).  I'm loading supersonic bullets that are 1/2 the mass but roughly 2x the velocity of subs, meaning double the energy on target
3) At super sonic speeds there are bullets that expand and perform every well

With a can you will have no problem still getting follow up shots.  The super sonic crack often scares things initially but often times animals like deer aren't sure what the sound was and may come right back to the spot 5 minutes later.

Powder selection is the key...with heavier subs the powders like 1680 and H110 work fine, and those also work great for supers as well.

A powder like 1680 is only needed to cycle a semi-auto action.  As you are using a manual action, you can use fast burning pistol powders of which there are many to choose from.  Faster powders produce much less noise.

There is no reason to use heavy projectiles, especially in a manual action rifle.  I run 150gr subs in my AR's but have played with lightweight plinking loads in the 100gr weight in my 300 BLK bolt gun.  With a small charge of pistol powder those loads can be stupendously quiet.

The 208 Amax is a Useless round for hunting even out to 100. it will NOT expand.

Hornady now has a subsonic expanding factory wound in the 190 range. I have not tested it.

I switched to 125s supers for hunting & subs for plinking.

Leigha Defense makes some NICE Subsonic Expanding bullets.

I would look at LilGun as a faster powder for the single shot. It is what I switched to for my bolt gun. I use 1680 for my AR.