Olympic Arms New AR! 300

[Britton]

Attached is a photo of Bob and Brian Schuetz standing over the first kill by an Olympic 300 (Gamestalker®), utilizing the new 300 Olympic Super Short Magnum (300 OSSM) with ammunition manufactured by HSM, Stevensville, MT. It was taken in Cody Wyoming on Sunday, September 13th at 261 yards (lasered distance). Remember, a 150 grain bullet at 3,043 fps out of a standard, unmodified AR15 lower receiver! 30-06 ballistics from an unmodified AR lower…

Naturally, we are all very excited. Enjoy!

 

[dtkw]

Cool, looked like they had fun outdoor. What is a 300 OSSM? Are they expensive to shoot?

 

[shooter521]

Just what the world needs, another proprietary caliber that does the same thing as an old standby...

 

[Britton]

Just what the world needs, another proprietary caliber that does the same thing as an old standby...

I know you want one!

 

[dave29]

I know you want one!

I do

 

[Britton]

FYI. MSRP for the first year of production will be $1349.00, our regular price will be about $1195.00 to $1249.00. Then there will be site supporter discounts. Remember folks, this uses a standard AR lower. Not sure about the spring, magazine or buffer, but will find out.

 

[IndyGunworks]

hate to say it here, but a 261 yard kill shot on an animal that size is not THAT impressive, a .223 out of a similar gun could easily have done the same thing.

 

[melensdad]

Just what the world needs, another proprietary caliber that does the same thing as an old standby...

I usually agree with your assessment of things and bow to your greater knowledge on some technical issues but this is one issue where I think you are sadly and completely missing the point.

The AR15 is now the most popular rifle in the US. Literally hundreds of thousands of them are out there, most in some tactical form, but most people have little use for a tactical rifle. So what are all these new AR15 owners going to do after they run a few hundred rounds through their guns . . . learn that a tactical roll while carrying a long gun just gets them bruised and muddy?

Now what I see is that there are a couple MILLION AR15s out there in civilian hands, it is now the MOST POPULAR rifle in America. It seems like most of those sold are 16" carbines chambered in 5.56.

What I see NOW is that lots of people own these guns are they are nifty toys, but not very good for hunting, not very good for target shooting, not very good for popping prairie dogs, etc.

SO what I think MAY/WILL happen is that companies will get very creative in offering alternative calibers and alternative style uppers that are suited for different tasks. High velocity calibers like the 223 WSSM may become more common for long range prairie dog control. Thumper calibers like 458 Socom may be more common for deer hunters and boar hunters. At least 2 different companies are introducing 30 Caliber rounds, with associated uppers, specifically for the hunting market. This OLY is one of those two rounds. The 6.8 Remington, while not the tactical wonder it was designed to be, seems to be becoming a modern day equivalent of the old 30-30 deer hunting round. Wildcatters are pushing the 35 Gremlin (6.5 Grendel necked up to .358) and 358 WSSM as brush busting deer rounds for use in woodland hunting.

So what I see is that OLY (and a couple other smart companies) is simply taking the logical step that many are already seeing germinate. These rifles may be hampered by a short magazine that limits the overall length of the round, but there are innovators out there that are taking the rifles to their logical next level and turning 'nifty toys' into 'useful hunting tools' to broaden the use and acceptance of the guns.

If I was in the gun business, I would be focusing on building/selling alternate caliber uppers, and potentially working with ammo manufacturers to make the ammo for these calibers more common. There are plenty of small ammo companies that could provide batches of ammo for the uppers and the ammo is one of the current stumbling blocks that may be slowing down the sales of alternate calibers.

Have you tried to find 6.5 Grendel ammo at your local gunshop? How about 458 Socom? Or 50 Beowulf? Even the 6.8 SPC is very scarce and there are at least a half dozen AR companies offering that chambering in their rifles/uppers. So if I was building guns, I'd also sit down with a company that makes ammo to increase the availability of BOTH uppers & ammo.

But mark my words, the next big thing with AR15 platform guns will be specialized uppers. Most will be 5.56 configuration but I expect more and more alternate calibers to expand the usefulness of the guns. The 30 caliber round is America's favorite, it is very logical to pursue the 30 OSSM round and while it may be proprietary it is from a large AR builder and they license their products to some high quality custom gun builders so we are bound to see some other innovations in configurations.

Facts are facts, this is a good round. It beats the 308 ballistics and do so out of a rifle that is smaller, lighter and easier to handle than a traditional 308. While some long bullets may be a challenge to load due to magazine limits, this will be a great hunting round, but MORE IMPORTANTLY it will be one of many calibers that will help transition the AR15 into the hunting fields of this nation, forever making it a 'legitimate' sporting arms in the eyes of the hunters who FORMERLY held it in distain as an "assault" rifle.

 

[6birds]

Do my eyes decieve me, or are both of them carrying Swarovski binos. Man, them glasses are expensive. Nice mass on those goat horns, and long live the 6.5 G!

 

[Britton]

Sweet post melensdad. I was just getting ready to post the exact same thing, sure I was.

 

[Zoub]

It beats the 308 ballistics and do so out of a rifle that is smaller, lighter and easier to handle than a traditional 308.

OK, but have you ever handled a light weight AR in .308? Since it already exists and many traditional hunters like .308, the option is already there and they are nice. Don't forget the long standing .243 Armalite.

While nothing special, my 16" Saiga in .308 is not bad either, lighter and more compact than a FAL, Garand or M1. Guess who sold it to me..........Shooter. Go figure.

As one who hunts with AR's for me it was the gun not the caliber, since among other things I use it on Deer (.223). A gun designed ot be carried a lot and shot a lot is great for hunting. The trick is to get more shooters, who are non-hunters, into the field with their very clean AR's. Caliber is not a magic bullet. It won't create new AR hunters, just be attractive to those who hunt and use AR's already.

It is cool but gone in 3.5 years, unless it uses Glock mags and is a .45

 

[Britton]

unless it uses Glock mags and is a .45

What?

 

[fireball168]

It is cool but gone in 3.5 years.....

Maybe so, to my knowledge the only company currently chambering anything in WSSM is Cooper. To my recollection,its been nearly 4 years since the WSSM died with USRAC and Browning dropped them too.

It isn't any problems finding WSSM brass - they've made several runs of it every year since. If I'm in a pinch, you can make it from WSM brass as well.

This cartridge is nothing more than the WSSM necked up to .308. Wisely, they called it something else to keep Rick Jamison at bay - much like I did with the BFG.

Case capacity will be .5g more than the 308 Winchester.

A 147-180g (with the exception of some VLD's) projectile seated to AR-15 magazine length will gobble up within .5g of the same amount of case capacity as the 308 W when seated to 2.800"

So - 308 velocities and pressures with similar load data is a no brainer.

But that brass is good to just shy of 64,000 psi in other WSSM chamberings.

A typical 308 Winchester 168/175 SMK Varget load generates less than 51,000 psi.

So...there is quite a bit of "wiggle" room there.


I'm of the opinion that maybe Olympic went a bit far with some of their velocity claims - even if it did do it - but there are always folks out there that are going to push the limit.

Not a fan of anything making 60,000 psi that close to my chubby cheeks - if it were mine, I'd stick with 308 W velocities, or just over, and run it.


Investment? $2500 for Hornady to tool up for stocking die sets, $145 for a carbide neck/throat reamer to use with their existing WSSM body reamers - everything else is carry over from their existing WSSM builds.

Looking at it that way, its a big winner to me at the price point they are quoting.

 

[melensdad]

OK, but have you ever handled a light weight AR in .308? Since it already exists and many traditional hunters like .308, the option is already there and they are nice. Don't forget the long standing .243 Armalite.

Those are large AR10 frame guns NOT the smaller, lighter, easier to handle AR15 frame guns. It should also be noted that the 243 WSSM, which is also available in the AR15 guns, totally blows away the ballistics of the larger heavier 243 Winchester in the Armalite!

The trick is to get more shooters, who are non-hunters, into the field with their very clean AR's. Caliber is not a magic bullet. It won't create new AR hunters, just be attractive to those who hunt and use AR's already.

Actually I'd say that a variety of calibers may well be the magic that brings the AR15 into the hunting fields. Honestly the AR15 in 5.56 is reasonably worthless for most game. Sure it can take deer, but 22-anything is illegal for most deer hunting in most states. So change the caliber and give the shooter a familiar, durable, easy to handle rifle and all of a sudden the ONLY gun than many service people have ever used is a viable big game rifle.

... unless it uses Glock mags and is a .45

There is at least 1 AR15 that I know of that uses Glock magazines, but it is a 9mm. I do know of one company that is considering bringing out a dedicated lower for the Glock 45 and 10mm magazines but that gun is NOT in production.

 

[r6vr6]

I will not buy another odd caliber firearm again but others may want that choice. Who knows maybe the 300 WSSM will be the new .223. The more options we have the better off we'll be and just becuase its available doesn't mean you have to buy it. I like the fact that it uses a standard lower.

 

[Britton]

FYI. First production run will only be 100 rifles.

Some more info:

OA2.org :: View topic - New 300 Olympic Short Magnum Ballistic Info:

OA2.org :: View topic - Oly-Arms Model: GameStalker 300-OSSM ... Details

 

[wideglide3]

Hello i am new to the site, and this is the first time i have posted a coment to things i have been reading on the site. i would like to address the issue about the 300 ossm, i for one have the 243 wssm made by oly and it is a fantastic shooting rifle, it will do same hole groups at 100 meters from the bench, i have not tried to target shoot it any farther than 200 meters on paper. I used it to take a nice deer in western oklahoma at 318 yards and it fell like a rock from a shot to the heart with a 95 grain bullet traveling 3250 from a 24 inch heavy bull barrel, which is the barrel i like best. I liked this rifle so much that i purchased the 300 ossm and have it in my safe as i write. im still thinking about which scope i will use on it. but as one of the other guys pointed out on this site, the fact that it is a 30 cal in a light weight platform is why i made the choice to buy it, and i to believe it will be like the next 223.it will be perfect for the common deer hunter who likes a semi auto rifle. for years every one thought the only place to get any kind of accuracy was from a bolt gun but today these rifles will shoot well under a min. of angle and do it on. a platform that is more versatile than any other out there. I believe the only other rifle that has had so many accessories made for it is probably the ruger 10/22 and i believe this platform and all the various different cals that will be made for it is just the beginning. i for one cant wait to shoot mine just need to figure out which scope i want to put on it, so , good shooting and happy hunting to you all, Dennis.

 

[dhdoug]

welcome to INGO!........good first post.

 

[308jake]

the more calibers and choices, the merrier.

 

[Duce]

Check any reloading manual, many caliber just mimic another, 7x57 and 7MM08 just to name one...........Duce<><