New to the .300 Whisper

[Godogma]

I have been looking through the information about the .300 Whisper, and thought that it might be just the thing I was looking for in a cartridge. However I'm new to custom gunsmithing or even converting anything beyond my Thompson Contender barrels from one size to the other and thus am looking for any advice that is offered before jumping head first into this project. The only .223 caliber weapon I have around is a Ruger Mini-14, and I have read many conflicting posts stating that the .300 Whisper in subsonic wouldn't cycle the gas chamber to feed another round, others say all that needs to be replaced is the barrel. I'm looking for some definitive information one way or the other. Also, if I do have to go with a new gun, what do you guys suggest? I'd rather not go with an AR, and havent been very successful in finding .300 Whisper barrels on the web that are available for ordering (perhaps I'm just not looking in the right place). If any of this is covered in another post I apologize, as I am typing this after having had little sleep (having spent most of the night going through .300 Whisper information).

Thanks in Advance,
Charles

[320pf]

Charles,

I have an AR15 with a Olympic Arms 16 in stainless steel barrel in 300-221 fireball and it just simply works! (NOTE: you can only legally use 300 whisper if you have your gun made from JD Jones of SSK industries). The gas port is in the pistol position and I have been able shoot both super sonic and sub sonic with it. It did not originally have an adjustable gas port so my max load super sonic rounds cycled the action a bit too hard and fast. The lower velocity super sonic loads were ok though. I have subsequently installed an adjustable gas port and it works well across the full range of loads... providing I set the gas port correctly for the load I am shooting.

Bottom line, I suggest the AR because there is a lot of different sources and parts available.

I got my upper from Del-Ton, Inc. (http://www.del-ton.com). I got into setting up an AR upper as a prototype and did not want to spend too much money if I discovered it did not work out. So I went with Del-Ton. The owner, Tony was very helpful and put together a nice upper for me.

Another source is AR15 barrels.com (http://www.ar15barrels.com/). Randall, the owner, is very knowledgeable and helpful. He can also build you a VERY nice upper using a high quality barrel. I am probably going to have a second upper built for me by Randall.

Good Luck and Have Fun

320pf

[Artful]

Well in theory any .223 weapons platform could be made to work with 300/221 you just have to enough gas at high enough pressure at the port to make it work.

I'd just order a T/C Contender barrel if you want to play with the round.

Part of the Reason I built an AR up was I wanted a suppressed weapon with ability to be rapid fire, and the only difference between 300/221 build and 5.56 build is the barrel all other parts were the same so If it was a bad choice I could swap over to 5.56 by just replacing a barrel.

Consider Bolt guns or single shots instead of Semi-Auto you'd get the same effect - Pac-Nor and others will do 300/221 barrels- remember for long heavy bullets you want a 1:8 twist or faster but any barrel maker who does 30 caliber barrels can get you the tube and your smith can rent the reamers.

[700X]

Godogma,

Information rec'd by both above is sound. I've gotten to know 320 a little bit, and I would believe him if he told me the sky was pink (almost).

If you go with the contender, I would only consider JD Jones in Ohio or Fred Bullberry in Utah. Mine is a Bullberry 15" and it's great. As mentioned by Artful though, you have to decide what bullet weight you want to shoot before you order the barrel since there is a big difference in proper twist rates for big bullets at subsonic speeds vs. the 125gr bullets I intend to hunt deer with at 2300fps.

Welcome to the club! x