GUN TEST
ATI ARCANE 300 BLACKOUT
Reliable enforcer streamlined for surgical, stealth counterstrikes!
By David Bahde
Pull-quote #1:
“The ARcane Blackout proved reliable, accurate and handy working around real-world
obstacles.”
Pull-quote #2:
“At 300 yards and in, the ARcane Blackout was deadly accurate.”
The 300 AAC Blackout cartridge, or 300 BLK for short, is fast becoming the belle of
the AR-rifle ball. For years, manufacturers have attempted to get 7.62x39mm ballistics out
of an AR with varying success. Several have come very close and even surpassed that goal.
Others, while having excellent ballistics, require different (or modified) magazines. Others
yet are either proprietary or simply unsupported by mainstream ammunition
manufacturers. But the very promising 300 BLK seems to have overcome all those
obstacles.
The vast majority of my time behind a weapon has been law enforcement related—I
have had little time to get involved in the competition or sports markets. This means I have
a rather focused approach at times, with “Will it work on patrol or in a team environment?”
typically being my first question of a gun. There is a lot of great stuff out there that in my
opinion simply has no practical use in the police world.
Given the liability-conscious environment that officers work in, our choices for duty
ammunition must be made with great thought. While I recognize my opinions falls outside
the mainstream, it is one born from 15-plus years of testing, approving and using duty
weapons and ammunition. Although I was aware of the 300 BLK cartridge as early as its
.300 Whisper days, my real interest in it came much later because of the focus on subsonic
ammunition for the 300 BLK.
To me, subsonic ammunition remains a unique novelty that has only very
specialized applications for law enforcement. What we need are bullets that both penetrate
armor and expand quickly and completely at practical ranges. The more energy that is
dissipated in the threat, the better. If the round will work suppressed, that’s simply a
bonus. In my experience, the 300 BLK seems to do exactly that, and very well for that
matter.
My recent testing of the 300 BLK in a 10.2-inch-barreled rifle was impressive—so
impressive that the firearm has become my primary rifle. It offers more energy on target
with proven expanding bullets and almost no recoil—a huge plus. When you add a
suppressor, it is even better. Suppressing short-barreled 5.56mm rifles can be a nightmare.
Not so with the 300 BLK, even with supersonic loads. It suppresses as well or better than
any similar caliber.
But suppressors bring up the usual issues for officers: They are expensive and
require months of waiting to acquire. The same is true of short-barreled rifles: Federal
paperwork is required and you can expect to wait months before you can use your rifle. For
precisely these reasons, a 16-inch carbine remains the first choice of most officers and
agencies, and American Tactical Imports (ATI), in conjunction with Head Down Products,
has created a rifle that will fit the bill—the ARcane Blackout.
Gun Details
ATI is offering several carbines perfectly suited to duty use and at reasonable prices.
A few of these are built using Head Down Products’ forends. Given the popularity of the 300
BLK, ATI is going offer two variants of the ARcane in this caliber: an NFA version with a
10.5-inch barrel, which requires the usual transfers, and a simple carbine with a 16-inch
barrel. Both are built in the U.S. with mil-spec parts. With a retail price at less than $1,000,
they provide solid options for most officers.
The ATI ARcane Blackout starts with a lower receiver forged from 7075-T6
aluminum, which houses a mil-spec trigger and internals. The rifle has an A2-style pistol
grip and a six-position collapsible, M4-style stock.
The forged upper receiver houses a 16-inch barrel with a 1-in-7-inch twist rate that
has been coated with Melonite inside and out. The barrel has 5/8-24 threading and is
capped with a Head Down PVX muzzle brake, a slim design with two ports on either side.
The carbine-length gas system is capped off with a slim gas block. The mil-spec Carpenter
158 steel bolt and 8920 steel carrier provide for reliability and strength.
The ARcane also features a 9-inch, free-floated Head Down Provectus quad-rail
handguard, which has a 1.8-inch inside diameter. (On the 10.5-inch-barreled version of the
ARcane, the handguard’s diameter allows a suppressor to fit inside of it). Numerous cutouts
in the Provectus assist in heat dissipation, while the majority of the forend remains smooth,
allowing use without rail covers. Locking tabs prevent rotation under hard use. Short rails
are present at the rail’s front to accommodate lights, bipods and other accessories. Each
short rail contains a non-rotating, quick-detach (QD) sling mount for push-button swivels.
The free-floated Provectus can be installed with a standard barrel wrench using the
supplied billet aluminum barrel nut.
Thanks to the 16-inch barrel of my test rifle, I could evaluate the ARcane’s longerrange ballistics. To facilitate accuracy, I used a Leupold 1.5-5x20mm Mark 4 MR/T tactical
scope with a lighted 300 BLK reticle and 30mm tube. Its standard M2 knobs feature zero
stops and remain low profile. The lighted reticle has seven intensity settings with an offposition between each setting, which aids fast activation and deactivation. The scope was
mounted in a Leupold Mark 2 IMS 30mm integral mount. For stability, I mounted a
lightweight BlackHawk bipod to the ARcane’s bottom rail. This bipod installs easily and
works really well with most AR rifles.
Range Time
Accuracy testing was completed from prone using the bipod. So far, 300 BLKchambered rifles I’ve tested have exhibited pretty stellar accuracy, especially when loaded
with match ammunition. The ARcane Blackout was no exception. The rifle’s best group,
measuring 0.75 inches, came from Remington’s 125-grain OTM ammo. This has been the
norm with this load—it produces true match accuracy. It’s probably not the best duty
round for most departments, but it is proving to be precision-rifle accurate. Everything else
was between 1 and 1.5 inches, well within any necessary duty accuracy.
Moving out to 300 and 500 yards, the ARcane Blackout performed very well. With
the Remington 125-grain OTM and Leupold reticle, the rifle put me on steel at both ranges.
It did take a few rounds to get the wind down at 500 yards. With a storm coming in, there
was plenty of wind with strong gusts. Using the wind holds in the scope, the rifle came very
close to point of aim. For this kind of work, the real issue is the trigger—the standard was
adequate but anything but crisp. Adding a solid two-stage would be a huge help, but 500yard ranges are not really a consideration in the police world. At 300 yards and in, the
ARcane Blackout was deadly accurate.
I was provided an aluminum D&H Industries magazine for testing. It has a grayish
green color, OD green follower and stainless springs. D&H has developed quite the
reputation in the aluminum magazine business, and the one provided worked fine. I also
recently acquired a set of Magpul’s Gen 3 PMAGs, which are reliable in 300 BLK, and used
them most during testing. The ARcane is the second weapon I have used the new PMAGs
with, and there were zero malfunctions. Most of the aluminum mil-spec mags seem to work
without issue. The Lancers are also flawless.
Final Thoughts
Moving in and around obstacles the real world, this rifle is handy. This is one of the
strongest points of the caliber to me. You get a .30-caliber round with 7.62x39mm energy
and AR accuracy in a very portable platform. That’s pretty hard to beat. For an activegunman or rapid-transition rifle, the ARcane Blackout is just about perfect.
The muzzle brake worked fine—loud but not overpowering like some. Recoil was
minimal with very little dust being kicked up from prone. And proven controlled-expansion
300 BLK rounds are already on the market, making them suitable for close-quarters work.
Barnes is making a military/LE 110-grain TTSX that may just be the perfect patrol round.
Several companies are starting to load it, and it was accurate in the RTBA (Right to Bear
Ammo) load used in testing. Remington also makes an excellent 125-grain AccuTip round,
it’s just a tad hard to find.
The ARcane Blackout proved reliable, accurate and handy working around realworld obstacles. And the 300 BLK cartridge is really catching on, with new ammunition
companies coming on board all the time. Solid duty ammunition is available right now with
costs commensurate with those of many 5.56mm rounds. While it will certainly never
supplant the 5.56mm, the 300 BLK offers a truly versatile alternative. Conversion can be
accomplished with a simple barrel change, and most standard magazines will work fine.
ATI’s ARcane Blackout represents a solid offering in 300 BLK at a decent price ($999). For
more information, visit americantactical.us or call 800-290-0065.
Performance: ATI ARCANE 300 BLACKOUT
Caliber:
300 BLK
Barrel: 16 inches
OA Length: 32-37 inches
Weight:
8 pounds (empty)
Stock: Six-position collapsible
Sights: Optics-ready Picatinny rail
Action:
Direct impingement semi-auto
Finish: Hardcoat anodized black
Capacity:
30+1
MSRP: $999
Performance: ATI ARCANE 300 BLACKOUT
Load Velocity
Accuracy
DoubleTap 110 TTSX
2,375 1.15
Hornady 110 V-MAX 2,450 1.00
Remington 125 OTM 2,340 0.75
RTBA 110 TTSX
2,410 1.25
Bullet weight measured in grains, velocity in feet per second (fps) by chronograph, and
accuracy in inches for best five-shot groups at 100 yards.