.300 AAC Blackout Trajectory Tables

What Supersonic and Subsonic Loads Do From 50 to 300 Yards

Here’s what the .300 AAC Blackout actually promises, and it’s a real promise, not marketing: one compact platform, two completely different ballistic personalities. Drop in a light supersonic bullet and you get a flat, workable trajectory inside the ranges a compact rifle is actually used at. Drop in a heavy subsonic bullet and the same rifle turns into a low-velocity specialist with a flight path that behaves nothing like the first one. Same gun, same magazine well, two different tools.

That’s also exactly where the confusion starts. Go read enough forum threads and you’ll find people lining up a 110-grain supersonic load against a 220-grain subsonic load like they’re two flavors of the same trajectory. They’re not. Different velocity, different bullet weight, different ballistic coefficient, different practical envelope. So the question was never “which one is better.” The question, the one that actually gets you an answer, is: what does each one do at a defined distance, from a defined barrel, with a defined zero?

That’s the question this piece answers, from 50 to 300 yards, using the same job-first approach our Top 5 guide takes with specific products. The starting point is Federal’s own published ammunition data, run through a transparent, simplified trajectory model to fill in the points in between. Use it to understand the scale of the difference between the two loads. Don’t use it as a substitute for a chronograph, a manufacturer’s calculator, or an actual confirmed zero in your own rifle.

The two loads used for comparison

Federal lists the 120-grain Power-Shok Copper .300 Blackout load at 2,100 fps with a .251 ballistic coefficient, and its published velocity table shows 1,799 fps at 100 yards, 1,533 fps at 200 yards, and 1,307 fps at 300 yards (Federal’s conventional Power-Shok line in .300 Blackout also lists a 150-grain JSP at 1,900 fps, a different weight and construction worth knowing about even though it isn’t the exact copper load used here). On the subsonic side, Federal lists the American Eagle Rifle Suppressor load, a 220-grain OTM, at 1,000 fps with a .650 ballistic coefficient, with 970 fps at 100 yards, 944 fps at 200 yards, and 920 fps at 300 yards in the company’s own table (real, current heavy-subsonic alternatives in our own database include Scorpion’s 220-grain Subsonic and Winchester’s Super Suppressed 200-grain OTR).

I’m not presenting these two as some universal “best pair,” because that question doesn’t have an answer that means anything. The 120-grain copper load is the light supersonic side of the .300 Blackout world, built on a lead-free bullet. The 220-grain load is the heavy subsonic side, and Federal positions it specifically for suppressed rifles. Worth noting: when I checked Federal’s own product page, that 220-grain load was listed as unavailable, which is exactly why it’s worth keeping a real in-stock alternative like Winchester’s Super Suppressed 200-grain OTR in mind. Good reminder that ammunition selection is a supply question as much as it’s a ballistics question, no matter how clean the math looks on paper.

How the tables were calculated

Here’s the actual method, laid out plainly so you can judge it yourself. It’s a simplified point-mass approximation. Start with each manufacturer’s published muzzle velocity, then calibrate an exponential velocity-decay curve against the published 100-yard velocity. The published G1 ballistic coefficient is the comparison input, run with a standard-gravity assumption and a 1.5-inch sight height. The 120-grain load gets a 100-yard zero. The 220-grain subsonic load gets a 50-yard zero.

Those two choices matter more than they look like they do. A 100-yard zero is the practical reference point for a supersonic hunting or range load. A 50-yard zero makes the short-range subsonic trajectory something you can actually read, instead of pretending the bullet is flatter than it is. The tables report trajectory relative to the line of sight, not raw drop from the bore, so “0.0” at the chosen zero just means the modeled bullet crosses the modeled sight line at that distance.

One honest caveat: a full ballistic calculator can and probably will spit out different numbers, because it can run a more detailed drag model, exact atmospheric inputs, your actual sight height, twist rate, projectile geometry, and a measured muzzle velocity instead of a published one. Barrel length especially moves the number. Federal’s figures are manufacturer-published data; everything between those published points in the tables below is a model output built on top of them, not a separate measurement.

Table 1: 120-grain supersonic trajectory

Federal Power-Shok Copper, 120-grain Copper HP, 2,100 fps published muzzle velocity, G1 BC .251, 100-yard zero, 1.5-inch sight height.

The number that matters most in this table isn’t the 300-yard drop. It’s what a realistic zero buys you. With a 100-yard zero, the modeled 120-grain bullet sits about half an inch high at 50 yards and comes back to the line of sight right at 100. For a compact hunting rifle or range carbine that’s going to spend most of its working life inside 200 yards, that’s a genuinely useful pattern, and it’s the honest version of what “point and shoot” looks like with this load.

Past that, the bill comes due. At 150 yards you’re about 3.6 inches low, call it holding a bit over half a golf ball above your point of aim. At 200 yards it’s nearly 11 inches, closing in on a foot. That’s not the cartridge failing you. That’s just the arithmetic of a modest supersonic velocity paired with a small .30-caliber bullet and a moderate ballistic coefficient. The load still works at those distances, but only if you know the holdover ahead of time. A center-mass sight picture at 200 yards with this load is a guess, not a plan.

By 300 yards the model has the bullet about 40.6 inches below line of sight, better than a yard. The 120-grain bullet is still supersonic in this model, but retained energy and wind sensitivity aren’t in the same league as a .308 Winchester or a modern 6.5mm long-range round, and they shouldn’t be, that’s not the job this cartridge signed up for. So here’s the actual rule for a .300 Blackout hunter, the same one our where the cartridge fits piece covers from the role side: your ethical range comes from verified accuracy, terminal performance on the bullet you’re actually running, your state’s regulations, and field conditions on the day. Not from “well, it can physically get there.”

Table 2: 220-grain subsonic trajectory

Federal American Eagle Rifle Suppressor, 220-grain OTM, 1,000 fps published muzzle velocity, G1 BC .650, 50-yard zero, 1.5-inch sight height.

This is the table that should end the “one caliber, one zero” habit for good. Zero at 50 yards and the 220-grain projectile is already about 7.6 inches low by 100. By 200 yards the correction is over four feet. By 300, it’s past 11 feet. Read that again: eleven feet of hold, on a cartridge people casually call “just a .30 caliber,” which is exactly the caricature our full report library exists to correct with real numbers instead of a nickname.

To be fair to the load, it earns its keep in other ways. It retains energy well for how slow it’s going, and that high published BC does real work resisting drag. But a high BC doesn’t repeal gravity, it just slows the argument down. This bullet leaves the muzzle at roughly half the speed of the 120-grain supersonic load, so it spends a lot more time in the air, and gravity gets a lot more time to work on it. So the honest way to say this: the subsonic trajectory isn’t a broken version of the supersonic one. It’s the visible cost of choosing to stay under the sound barrier on purpose.

Federal lists that 220-grain load at 1,000 fps, and for what it’s worth, SIG SAUER lists a different 220-grain .300 Blackout OTM load, also at 1,000 fps, out of a 9-inch test barrel. Two manufacturers landing on the same number is a useful data point to lean on, but it’s not a guarantee your rifle will match either one, and the platform side of that variability is exactly what our platform guide walks through. Temperature, barrel length, lot-to-lot variation in the ammo, and the specific gun in your hands all get a vote.

The direct comparison at a glance

Here’s where it lands when you put the two side by side: the gap doesn’t grow politely, it grows fast. At 50 yards both loads look easy, half an inch of difference, nobody notices. At 100 yards you’d better already know which load is chambered, because the gap is over 7 inches. At 200 yards the two trajectories aren’t cousins anymore, they’re operating in different worlds, nearly 41 inches apart. A zero or reticle solution built for one of these loads does not transfer to the other. Not casually, not “close enough,” not at all.

There’s a trap hiding in this table too. A suppressed rifle can feel deceptively easy at 50 yards, quiet, soft recoil, calm range session. But that same load needs a big correction as the distance opens up. Quiet and flat are two completely separate properties of a load, and it’s worth saying that out loud because the sound signature tricks people into assuming the trajectory follows along. It doesn’t.

What changes when the zero changes?

Here’s a rule worth stating plainly: a zero distance isn’t a property of the ammunition by itself. It’s a relationship between the rifle, the sight height, the aiming angle, and the specific load you’ve chosen. Zero that 120-grain supersonic load at 100 yards and it hits a different spot at 50 yards than the same load zeroed at 200 would. Zero the 220-grain subsonic load at 50 yards and it hits a different spot at 100 yards than the same load zeroed at 100 would.

The 50-yard subsonic zero used in this table is a deliberately conservative choice, and it’s easy to verify on a short range, which matters if you’re actually going to check it yourself. It also keeps the later numbers honest instead of flattering. If you pick a 100-yard subsonic zero instead, sure, your 100-yard correction shrinks, but now the bullet sits higher at 50 yards and still drops steeply past the zero. No zero, however clever, makes a 220-grain bullet moving 1,000 fps behave like a 2,100 fps supersonic load. That’s just not the physics you’re negotiating with.

So here’s the practical takeaway: document each load on its own. Load name, bullet weight, barrel length, optic or sight height, zero distance, confirmed impact at the ranges you actually care about. One generic “.300 Blackout dope” sticky note covering both loads is not a system, it’s a liability – and if that documentation turns into your own chronograph numbers, submitting them helps the next reader work from more than a modeled table.

Wind is where simple tables become less simple

Everything above is vertical only. Wind drift isn’t in these tables because it depends on wind speed, wind angle, air density, and the drag model, and folding all of that in would turn a readable comparison into a spreadsheet nobody checks. That omission is also a good reason to treat a 300-yard .300 Blackout shot with more skepticism than a flat “300 yards, no problem” range number suggests – our Sub-X entry and its published data are the kind of specific, sourced figure that skepticism should point you toward instead.

Run the two loads against each other on wind and neither one wins outright, which is the honest answer. The 220-grain subsonic bullet has a relatively strong published BC for its class, but it’s in the air for a long time, and a crosswind gets a lot more time to push on it. The 120-grain supersonic bullet gets downrange faster, but its lower BC still leaves it more wind-sensitive than a proper aerodynamic long-range projectile. Neither table is a promise that you can hold the same wind correction twice in a row under different conditions.

The rule here is simple and it’s the same one that applies to everything else in this piece: log wind direction and speed when you practice, and confirm the number against actual impacts. Wind changes, the solution changes. Barrel or ammunition changes, the solution changes again. There’s no shortcut around that.

Barrel length and published velocity

Federal’s own numbers for the 120-grain load are 2,100 fps at the muzzle and 1,799 fps at 100 yards. The 220-grain suppressor load comes in at 1,000 fps at the muzzle and 970 fps at 100 yards. Keep in mind these are published product figures, not physical constants. A shorter barrel than Federal’s test barrel can produce a slower muzzle velocity. So can a different chamber, a colder day, or a different lot of ammunition.

What that means for trajectory is straightforward, so let’s just say it plainly: a supersonic load that leaves the muzzle slower than its published spec will generally arrive later and drop more than the table shows. And a load that’s nominally subsonic but sitting close to the sound barrier can have a small shift in conditions matter twice over, once for the sound signature, once for the trajectory. That’s the real argument for a chronograph and an actual confirmed zero over copying a table off the internet, even a table as carefully built as this one – our methodology explains why we ask for that same chronograph discipline before we publish a number.

Treat barrel length as part of the ammunition specification, not an afterthought. A load tested out of a 16-inch barrel and a load tested out of a 9-inch barrel aren’t automatically comparable just because the box says “.300 Blackout” on both. Different tool, different number, even with the same name on the label – the exact reason our platform guide treats barrel length as part of the ammunition spec, not an afterthought.

What these tables mean for hunters and range shooters

For a hunter, here’s how the two loads sort by scenario. The 120-grain supersonic trajectory is the more forgiving of the two: a 100-yard zero keeps the modeled path close to your line of sight through the first 100 yards, and the correction at 200 and 300 is large but predictable, as long as you know it ahead of time. What bullet you choose still has to answer to species, state regulations, bullet construction, shot angle, and demonstrated accuracy in your own rifle – real, current supersonic options worth weighing include Hornady’s Frontier 125-grain FMJ for cheap trajectory verification before you commit to a hunting load. Nothing in a trajectory table overrides any of that.

The 220-grain subsonic trajectory is a specialist’s tool, not a generalist’s. It has a real place for lawful suppressed recreation and short-range applications where the shooter understands exactly what they’re trading away for the quiet. What it is not is a reason to stretch distance. A 50-yard zero puts the modeled projectile 51.7 inches low at 200 yards, and that number alone should be enough to talk anyone out of casual range extension with this load – the same warning our subsonic load guide gives from the bullet-construction side.

For range practice, both loads are genuinely good teachers, maybe the best part of owning this cartridge, the same case our subsonic load guide makes about the three heavy-bullet categories specifically. Shoot them from the same rifle if you want, but keep rigorous ammunition control, separate notes for each, and a confirmed zero for each. Once you’ve read both tables side by side, you understand why optic, zero, and bullet choice in a .300 Blackout have to be treated as one system, not three independent decisions.

Bottom line

The .300 AAC Blackout doesn’t have one trajectory, and treating it like it does is where most of the confusion in this cartridge comes from. It has a supersonic trajectory and a subsonic trajectory, each with its own bullet, its own zero, its own barrel context, and its own job to do. Get the actual scenario question right, for what job, for whom, at what distance, and the two tables stop looking contradictory and start looking like two tools doing exactly what they were built for. In the modeled comparison here, a 120-grain supersonic load zeroed at 100 yards runs about 10.9 inches low at 200 yards and 40.6 inches low at 300. A 220-grain subsonic load zeroed at 50 yards runs about 51.7 inches low at 200 yards and 137.5 inches low at 300.

None of that is a reason to write off either load. It’s a reason to respect what the cartridge is actually doing in each configuration. Use the published data as your starting point, verify it in your own rifle, keep separate solutions for separate loads, and treat every table, this one included, as a model, not a promise.

If you want the rest of the picture beyond these two tables, our Top 5 .300 Blackout guide breaks down five current factory loads by the exact job each fits, our piece on where the cartridge fits covers the role side of this same question, our platform guide covers what changes across AR-pattern, bolt, and single-shot rifles, and our subsonic load guide goes deeper on the three heavy-bullet categories touched on above. Our full report library and about page explain who checks these numbers and how, and if you’ve chronographed your own .300 Blackout load through a barrel length nobody’s published, submitting that data is how the next reader gets a real number instead of another test-barrel figure. Real, current alternatives worth pricing against the two loads modeled here include Federal’s American Eagle 150-grain FMJ and Magtech’s 200-grain Subsonic FMJ for cheaper range-day trajectory verification.

The numbers in these tables are calculated editorial comparison values, not manufacturer ballistic tables. Verify your own rifle, ammunition, zero, atmospheric conditions, and current legal requirements before you rely on any of this. This article does not replace a manufacturer’s ballistic calculator or professional instruction.

.300 AAC Blackout Trajectory Tables