[Jeff Higgins]

I only suggested the .357 lever gun because, well, you guys know I'm not into the whole black rifle thing. That, and the suggestion was made kind of tongue in cheek.

As far as the .300 Blackout, though, it has always struck me as being far to focused of a cartridge to have any real world use for a civilian, outside of being just a fun plinker. Which is totally o.k., don't get me wrong - we do this for fun. The other "military" rounds commonly found in these "black rifles", however, all seem to have real world applications for us.

The .223/5.56 is one damn fine varmint round and the most popular match rifle chambering today. The .308/7.62 is one hell of a fine big game hunting round, and an excellent match cartridge as well. The 7.62x39 is a dead ringer for the grand old .30-30 and, loaded with the right bullets, a pretty neat little deer round.

The .300 Blackout, however, simply doesn't have a life outside of close range, door-kicking in combat. It has far too arching of a trajectory to be a varmint round, not enough poop to be a deer round, and does not perform well enough at mid to long range to be a match round. It's meant purely to add some close range stopping power to the AR platform. If all you are "stopping" is tin cans at the gravel pit or silhouette targets at the local range, its added cost and inconvenience make little sense. The same rifle in .223 would be just as effective for that duty, and far easier on the pocketbook. Not quite the cool factor or conversation piece, but the value of that will have to be decided by the individual shooter.