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Is going to .50bmg worth it?

Sinus211

SGN Dog Food Sniper
Full Member
Minuteman
Jun 29, 2013
113
0
Lynnwood, WA
Owning a .50bmg is on the list, but with all things considered is it worth it?

Pros and cons please and your overall worth rating. Please consider cost on ammo and platform and the overall usefulness and fun factor (ie. look at my big gun factor) of ownership.

If you say yes, which rifle would you choose assuming you are a blue collar construction worker with a house/bills?
 
Where do you plan on shooting it? Just asking because i dont know of any where to stretch a .50 on the west side.
 
The question can only be answered by you.....all of us have our reasons for the toys we have and justify them however we need to keep the little women ( or our conscience) from beating us to death. I've got a .50 cal version of the WWII British Boys anti-tank rifle. I shoot it when I can with ammo I load. The cost isn't too high since I bought bullets and powder years ago when they weren't made of gold. I enjoy shooting it and while I live in the flatlands of the midwest right now we do take it back home to the west sometimes and let it run long for a bit. I'd still have the thing even if I couldn't take it out there. Some want to hunt with them or shoot competition etc. You must choose for yourself and justify it to yourself as needs be.

Good luck

Frank
 
I have the Barrett 99 32" and I'm a Lefty and I really like it very much. I Reload for it and had the goods to do so for a while. It's fun to shoot but after 30 or so I have had all the fun I need. I sure as hell didn't need it but I wanted it. A very good friend has the same one so we get to shoot together which is a lot more fun. We just bust rocks and that's fun. If you have about $7000.00 extra go for it. Brass is about .58 each and tips are .50 for FMJ, powder you can get 8# for 69.00 but at 220gr it doesn't last long. I get my stuff from Pat's Reloading, good People to deal with. If you have the place to shoot with a Min of 500 yards, anything closer is a waste, then go for it. I'm keeping mine till my son takes it from me. Over my dead body if you get my drift. One happy 50BMG at 68 Young shooter. PS: 5.5x25x56 Nightforce is the only way to go.
 
For me, Ive never even considered getting one, I like what I got now. These beauties suit me just fine, wink.
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I have a Steyr HS 50 that I manage to get out from time to time. They are not expensive to feed if you reload using pulls. This is fine for plinking but to really realize a .50's potential you must use top shelf components. This is where things start getting pricy.

I'd say buy one just for the novelty! The gun still puts a smile on my face every time I pull the trigger.
 
I also have an M99 and its been a great rifle. its always the life of the party when ppl come out tht are new to shooting. we always end the day with a big bang. recently my boys 8and 10 started shooting it and the SMILES!!! o the SMILES!!! for me its also a novelty. my 338 is the work horse when I wana stretch out.
 
So it seems like the consensus is mostly a novelty item unless you really have some money to spend on quality components. That's exactly what I needed to hear, thanks guys!
 
If you can afford to buy it and shoot it, and if you want to do more than plink with milsurp, get setup to reload, then yes it is worth it.

I recommend starting out cheap in case you find you don't like the big 50 by going with a cheaper but very well built rifle like the ArmaLite AR50-A1B, which can be had for about $2,800 new at online prices.

You'll need a bi-pod, mono-pod and carry bag like Allied Precision carries. Your choice of rings and scope, but cheapest scope would be something like the SWFA SS mil/mil 20x42.

Once you get the AR50 setup with the APA bi-pod and mono-pod, it's steady and solid as a rock!

jytyrugy.jpg



Sent from my iPhone
 
50s always draw a crowd, but weight, trigger, recoil and lugging it around a real pain. Many ranges will not let you shoot them and hard to stretch them out to 1000 yds or more in many places. My 338 much more practical. Lighter, more accurate, less recoil than my 308, light trigger and can shoot more places. Ammo more expensive than 50, but still puts a smile on everyone's face and much more accurate. Had 12 year old girl shoot 5 shots in < than 1 MOA at 100 yds first time out. Much more practical ELR platform. Have shot many different 50s and after 2-3 shots I'm done! Shoot my 338 all day long without issues-not even sore afterwards. Really depends on what your goals are.
 
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They're a novelty item.... yes, they have the "whoa" factor but that wears off pretty fast.
 
A few years ago I was shooting an F Class match and at the end of the day some of the long time shooters started talking about dumping thier 50's. The reason being was that they did not shoot MOA better than the smaller bore rifles.
Most them agreed it was about two years and then they dumped them.

A kid I shot Trap with bought one and I guess the novelty wore off in a year, so he was trying to sell it.
 
I'd love to shoot one someday. But as far as owning goes, I'd go for the .338lm first

Of course if you already have everything else, and still have money left over, you should buy whatever you want.
 
I also have the Barrett M99. Sadly I also say that it has mostly been novelty. Although I get great enjoyment from watching other people shoot it for the 1st time. I've been waffling back and forth over the last 6 months of whether to sell or not to sell. It certainly has benefits in certain circumstances but I would probably be better off if I would utilize the capital in a more realistic manner. BTW, I'm just a regular factory worker.
 
So it seems like the consensus is mostly a novelty item unless you really have some money to spend on quality components. That's exactly what I needed to hear, thanks guys!

Even spending the coin won't guarantee the gun will shoot, around here I've seen a lot, but never seen nor heard of a really accurate one.
A 375 Cheytac will kick the piss out of it.
 
I have a Barrett M107A1. Love it. Ammo is pricey, but I went 50 BMG for the variety of surplus ammo available. You definitely need a long range. Plus not many guns have a 700gr projectile. And you get crazy man points when your buddies shoot it.
 
Buddy of mine has a 50, and for a while was wanting a 338LM, after looking for components, he said his 50 was cheaper so scrapped the 338 idea. But I admit, I have no details of what he shoots now vs what components he was pricing out.
 
My photobucket is screwing up, I was trying to post a pic of a little half-naked cutie posing with my .50 to illustrate the "chicks dig it" factor; which is alot of what it comes down to. I acknowledge that my 50 isn't the best ballistic performer for long range, etc. but it is FUN. I have the Bushmaster BA50, which is everything a 50 should be: BIG, and HEAVY, and LOUD, and it just LOOKS like a 50. It has a 10rd detachable box, and a left-side-mounted bolt so you can keep your shooting position and cycle the bolt with your left hand, making it only slightly slower than the M92/M107, and with the 50, rate of fire to me comes down more to how fast I WANT to shoot rather than how fast I CAN shoot. The rifle may be ready instantly, but it takes ME a second or 2 to get situated again.
Being overseas 11+ months a year makes range membership impractical, but that rifle gets me on pretty much any range or hunting club in my area as a "friend" of a member, or even as a friend of a friend, because guys want to shoot it and I can get some good range time with my serious toys while they blast away at $3.50-$5 a round.
I passed the realm of "practical" quite a while ago with some of my weapons. There was a similar thread a few days ago about the .500SW revolver; very much the same thing: do we "need" it, or is it the best performer for it's intended "purpose", probably not, but when you WANT it, and you're able to buy it, then it just comes down to whether it's worth it to each of us individually.
 
My own experience: I bought a entry level single shot .50. After shooting 20-30 rounds, the concussions would give me a headache, and I would have to stop... so I sold it.

Mostly I sold it because I want something Magazine-fed. Single shot was annoying. So, the plan is to buy a barrett 99, put the biggest form 1 suppressor on it I can get away with, and go back to shooting. It was just too much fun. The BOOM..... pow of APIT was just cool. Not practical, but I'm not a practical shooter by any stretch of the imagination.
 
We had just this conversation, fueled by whiskey and dark beers a couple years ago, went on for several hours.

Our universal conclusion was " what are you gonna use it for, and are you walking or driving? If you had to walk, everyone agreed, the 338 was the choice. If you didn't NEED the 50 for downrange energy, then the 338 was still the choice.

Having said all that, we have a Armalite 50 cal, and have shot a pallet ( literally ) thru it. It rides in a jeep to the 2k yard range and gets set up at one end of the line. Invariably, everyone who has not shot it, wants to shoot it, male, female, young, old, rookie or experienced, everyone wants to say they did it. We keep a 55 gal drum at the 500 yard line for sighting in, seems whatever scope is on it, got "borrowed" for another project, so the resident recoil sponge ( that would be me) gets to shoot it in. That is when matching reticles in the spotter and scope are really REALLY handy. FWIW, the suggestion on the AR50 is good, it's pretty accurate, and solid as a rock, as an Armalite ought to be expected to be.

After all that, I built a 338LM for a LR rifle, supressed it, and it gets just a much CDI WOW factor, and it much easier to tote around, and much less painful for other shooters on the line.

As far as the cost to shoot, if you have to ask about that, then shooting anything bigger than a 300WM or 308, is likely not for you. At least the 338 and 50 stuff is available relatively easy, not so much for the Cheytac stuff. Truth is, any of them will work, some are MARGINALLY better than others, a good shooter will out do you every time, regardless of the magic caliber you possess Spend more time shooting, less worry about what bullet/caliber.

You know the correct answer - GET BOTH!!! Let us know what you decide, and how it worked out for you.
 
If you have the coin and a range to shoot it,then go for a 50.
Like any type of firearm,they have their purpose.
If you want a rifle caliber that will take a vehicle,or any breathing life form out of commission at all ranges,behind all types of cover,then you've found it's niche.
50 ammo isn't really expensive,compared to the other high end calibers.As usual,Reloading cuts the cost in half.
They are heavy,but you need the weight for the recoil.I've shot puny caliber rifles with half the power only once.The caliber doesn't make a rifle unbearable to shoot, the configuration does.
I've been shooting 50's for a long time.I hunt,plink and compete with my 50's.I've shot over 300 rounds in a couple of hours,and I'm still breathing.
The myths about 50 cals still amaze me.
Bolt actions are fun,but if you want to really enjoy a 50,go semi auto.
You lose a little in the accuracy dept,but it makes up for it in follow up lethality.
 

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I have a couple of the big boomers. A Barrett 82 and an AI-X in 50. I also have an AI in 338. I used to own a McMillan bolt gun in 50 BMG.

When shooting the 50s are hard on your body with the noise. The recoil is not that bad. Living in Colorado it is easy for me to find somewhere to shoot out past 1,000 yards within a 30 minute drive.

Shooting 338s are hard on your wallet because there is no surplus components avail.

Both my 50s are heavy. Both 30+ pounders.

I shoot my 338s more. When Thunderbeast finally makes a 50 can, I bet my 50s will get out a lot more.







 
If you get to shoot with these 2 beauties, HELL YES!!
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/T_HnAH5aoag" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Goddamit! Im buying one!
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/hTAZ_FhA-vw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
I have had the joy of shooting a few 50s, including 82A1, 107A1 (old and new style), Armalite AR50. They are fun to shoot a few times but imo, not worth having one unless money is no concern.

The AR50 absolutely smokes the semi auto Barretts in accuracy. Even Barrett will tell you the M99 is the most accurate model they produce, I have yet to try one though.

Recoil on the AR50 was considerably less also. The AR50 might be a single shot but I see no reason to spend the extra 5k+ to get a semi.
 
The Steyr HS50 has won the 50 cal world championships the last couple of years in what's called the Hunter Class. That's basically the non custom bolt action rifles straight out he box. I haven't seen anyone mention the Barrett M95. It's their bullpup mag fed version.


"Ex Umbris Venimus"
 
Thanks for the info and opinions here guys. I'm still on the fence and wondering if I too would just end up getting bored with it.

If you have the coin and a range to shoot it,then go for a 50.
Like any type of firearm,they have their purpose.
If you want a rifle caliber that will take a vehicle,or any breathing life form out of commission at all ranges,behind all types of cover,then you've found it's niche.
50 ammo isn't really expensive,compared to the other high end calibers.As usual,Reloading cuts the cost in half.
They are heavy,but you need the weight for the recoil.I've shot puny caliber rifles with half the power only once.The caliber doesn't make a rifle unbearable to shoot, the configuration does.
I've been shooting 50's for a long time.I hunt,plink and compete with my 50's.I've shot over 300 rounds in a couple of hours,and I'm still breathing.
The myths about 50 cals still amaze me.
Bolt actions are fun,but if you want to really enjoy a 50,go semi auto.
You lose a little in the accuracy dept,but it makes up for it in follow up lethality.
Nice rifles! Is that the Serbu SA sitting closer in the pic? If so, how does it compare to the Barrett?
 
Has anyone here tried out a Steyr .460? I bet that cartridge has some potential. And I would think with the right powder and bullets the .416 Barrett would be a helluva round.


Anyway, I dont know yall, Mr Kirby Allen has a .50 BMG Improved that can push out 750 AMAX`s at 3000fps. I would think that would come pretty dang close to any .375 or .338 load out there. Not to mention what that case would do with one of the 800gr + bullets.

Although I will say that Kiwi Greg is getting 3100fps with the 425gr CE bullets which is very potent.
 
I have shot a couple different 50s on several occasions that were owned by friends.
I equate them to owning a pet elephant. It is cool as crap and people always ooh and ahh when they see one, but they are pretty unpractical for 95% of the people who have them.
There are smaller calibers that do better in my opinion.

However, if you want one, and have the means to buy it and feed it, go for it.
Make sure to squirrel away some extra money for excedrin. After about 10 rounds you will need some for your headache.
 
Corvettes, private jets, oc choppers, and 50's. Why the heck not if you want it and have the means.

Think the ar50 is the first realistic price point though.
 
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I have shot a couple different 50s on several occasions that were owned by friends.
I equate them to owning a pet elephant. It is cool as crap and people always ooh and ahh when they see one, but they are pretty unpractical for 95% of the people who have them.
There are smaller calibers that do better in my opinion.

However, if you want one, and have the means to buy it and feed it, go for it.
Make sure to squirrel away some extra money for excedrin. After about 10 rounds you will need some for your headache.

BIG +1 on the Excedrin, the recoil is nothing on the BA50, my friend's 8yr old daughter shoots it with no issue, but the CONCUSSION feels like it's bruising my organs. I feel "off" for about a day after a range session with mine, almost like a low-speed car crash with a bass drum. STILL love the damn thing though, not for any practical purpose, just BECAUSE.
 
For me, it's mostly a novelty but one that has not worn off. I really wanted a Boys but could never find one I could afford.

Eventually, i found a Croatian single shot in .50BMG. It satisfied my requirement of being an actual military item, and the price was reasonable.

I rarely get a chance to shoot it but I'd never sell it.
 
Where do you plan on shooting it? Just asking because i dont know of any where to stretch a .50 on the west side.

Yakima. Not the city, though it could probably use it, but the surrounding desert. I got one place mapped out that's about a 5 mile open stretch with what seems to be no real elevation. Just south of YTC, west of Hanford (won't be on most maps). You can also shoot between mountain passes and hillocks. It eliminates having to clear and make safe 2 miles of area, and you won't find that short of a clear cut. There's a guy on here that sponsors shoots out to a mile and does just this. Limit is .338 to shoot with him though. Just shoot south of Rainier park. That land is BLM land and it belongs to you.

But in Lynnwood, yeah, it's gonna be a drive no matter how you cut it. I've never shot on Tiger Mtn., and I think they screwed that up anyway. Besides, probably no range for that.

Ft. Lewis has the range, but by law they only have to make one available and that's 15. 300m max. They SHOULD open one of the 20's, particularly the UKD range and stage the firing lines on weekends. But those are mostly 1000m. The 155mm impact area (it's awesome because nobody ever went there!) and this one "sniper" range (the narrow one with the attic and culvert) are the best I've ever shot.

There's one 1000y range that's in Cle Elum or Elbe or somewhere out there. I've never shot it. They limit that range to .50 only like one weekend a month if memory serves.

Just ordered a DTA, don't have it yet. I liked that one because lots of folks gave it praise (one guy on here owns others and bought that one because it impressed him enough). It also appears cost effective, AND you can order the barrel and chassis separate, and that'll help a lot with cost I imagine. The list of features on that rifle sort of speaks for itself. Good folks to deal with. If you want it suppressed, Elite Iron indexes the can to the individual barrel and they're who I'm going with. DTA HTI uses a funky threading, so not everyone will make a can for it. But after you talk to the owner, you won't care; his shit doesn't look ninja, but he doesn't blow smoke up your ass either and appears very honest. It sucks having to wait on the barrel, then the can after that, but hey, you want it accurate, right?

Scoping it is expensive as hell, loading is expensive as hell, it is hard on parts and brass and the barrel won't last nearly as long. The can is expensive. Primers are WAY expensive. Like fucking ridiculous. You'll want a 4 wheeler or a long range wireless cam for targets, steels cost more because the thinner shit won't work. There WAS an armor manufacturer that was willing to make me some targets out of steel way stronger than AR500 but they aren't in business anymore. There is a guy that can make 'em in (.75"?).

BUT, it'll have some reach and the KE of that round is bar none. It does have a big dick factor, but I wouldn't show it off much, and you won't be shooting it at ranges others frequent anyway.

Since you live out here, take into consideration weight. You're likely gonna have to hike it in to ranges, and you won't wanna leave it if you go downrange and are alone. Oh, and the suppressor is damn nice, a big deal. Some of those fuckface antis hike out there and if they pinpoint the location of a shot, they'll be calling it in --regardless of the fact it's legal. And that .50 is one hell of a lot louder than my 6.5G I imagine. There's a picture on a WA land site that shows a guy shooting a 9mm in a fucking clear cut. Miles of open stumps around, and some asshole took his picture from so far away you can barely tell what he's doing (any closer and they'd have been spotted) and they posted it like it's illegal, which it was, but because he was next to a road. But they let that detail slide.

Be careful and know where you can shoot. And if you don't REALLY want a .50, don't get it. A .338LM would make most happy and it's far more useful on a day to day basis. I mean, it uses normal shit at least. I almost got that until I got my settlement, then it was .50/.375CT all the way.
 
I would buy one if we could have them in CA. I have a M99 in .416, a .338 LM, and a .300 RUM and I would still get a .50 if given the chance. Are they practical...no, are they exceptionally accurate...no but I like shooting large caliber rifles. While I don't use my M99 as much as others, I would never sell it as I still enjoy taking it out when I go to areas where I can shoot it.
 
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Thanks for the info and opinions here guys. I'm still on the fence and wondering if I too would just end up getting bored with it.


Nice rifles! Is that the Serbu SA sitting closer in the pic? If so, how does it compare to the Barrett?
That's a serbu,barrett and a Ma deuce.All semi's of course.The serbu had some issues,but I got them taken care of.It's way more accurate than the barrett,but time will tell about it's durability.
The serbu has the ability for major customization,unlike the barrett.In the future,I'm certain that the serbu will have some caliber change options,like the savage rifle platform.
 
I had an AR50 for a few years. It was awesome to shoot. Recoil wasn't bad at all. My 5ft wife enjoyed shooting it. I had always thought a .50 would be awesome but never thought I'd get one. I ended up getting a grea deal on the AR50 and a reloading setup for it. It was fun for a while. The most fun was watching friends and other range shooters try it. My local range stopped allowing .50 and the 1000yd range is 3.5hrs away. I never got to develop a good accuracy load after my range closed. It was too much hassle to bring it to the 1000yd range along with the other rifles I like to shoot long range. Plus, I always felt shooting it, having to warn all the other shooters I was going to fire.

The benefit of .50 over .338 is being able to load milsurp bullets, powder and brass. That saves a lot for just plinking and letting others try it. My 800gr lehighs were $2 per bullet though.

It's an awesome caliber and if you have a place to shoot it I say go for it. I don't have access to any private land where I can really let her rip. I finally decided to sell it because it only got shot 4-5 times a year and was taking up room. I sold it and all the reloading stuff to go with it. It's partially funding my AIAX purchase. I'll get a ton more use out of it.
 
One really neat thing about the 50 is all the "active" bullets that can be had. API, APIT, Tracer, Incindiary. You always know what you hit with using API or APIT because of the bright white flash. We were shooting at an oilfield reject in Cheyenne Wells some years back from 1850 yds with iron sighted Boys rifles. You couldn't lie about hitting or missing because the hits would flash on the target for all to see. The target was about 4ft in dia and 15 or 20ft long. We found the AP penetrators sticking through the backside of the tank or laying on the ground at that range....pretty impressive. Tracers are neat because they allow you and all your friends to see what trajectory is all about. Rainbows and lasers for all to see. The APIT gives you the best of both, trace and flash though we've found that the tracers are not always reliable in these bullets. This is one thing that makes the 50 a bit unique, visuals that you don't get with regular ball ammo. Sure the militarys of the world make tracers and other active bullets for their .338 or .30 cal stuff but its tough for us peons to get them.
The .50 BMG bullets are what make the 12.7X48 or 510 whisper so cool too. Silent shooting of subsonic tracer lets you hear the hiss of the compound burning as it goes downrange. Tossing subsonic API at steel 250yds away lets you hear how loud that incindiary pop really is....
neat stuff

Frank
 
Has anyone here tried out a Steyr .460? I bet that cartridge has some potential. And I would think with the right powder and bullets the .416 Barrett would be a helluva round.


Anyway, I dont know yall, Mr Kirby Allen has a .50 BMG Improved that can push out 750 AMAX`s at 3000fps. I would think that would come pretty dang close to any .375 or .338 load out there. Not to mention what that case would do with one of the 800gr + bullets.

Although I will say that Kiwi Greg is getting 3100fps with the 425gr CE bullets which is very potent.

If you want a 50 BMG bullet to really move, try the Anzio 20/50. It's basically a 20mm Vulcan case necked down for the 50 BMG bullet.

20-50-shotshowVegas.jpg


•750 or 800 grain solid going 3200 to 3600 fps
•Overall length 5' 8"
•Barrel length 40" Optional 36" or 45"
•Take-down barrel
•Maximum range 3500 yards

Anzio-big-bore-selection1.jpg


New ANZIO 20/50 - Anzio Ironworks

Or you could just go for a 20mm Vulcan. lol

MAG-FED 20MM RIFLE - Anzio Ironworks
 

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very interesting. I have been thinking about one of the AR uppers. will eventually mill out a single shot lower for one like my other 80% lowers so I don't run into issues with the extra power hammer springs on my .223 uppers.
 
I guess I could say the 50 BMG isn't for everyone. Cost, size, weight, noise or blast, etc., are factors to consider. Go shoot a friends rifle first or rent one of you can to see if it's for you.

Some of you sound like you can't handle the muzzle blast. I can understand that with rifles like the AR50 because that brake directs the blast on to the shooter and pretty much everyone beside you.

I was at a 100yard range for the first shot because I couldn't wait to shoot the AR50. The range had a concrete slab, and a really low tin roof. It started to sprinkle a bit of rain. Like a fool, all I had was ear plugs in, and not good ones. First shot, my hearing went to zero, I heard a weird noise like (see if I can spell it like it sounds) cheeerrrrooooohhhhmmmm, and then my hearing slowly came back with ringing. Scared the crap out of me! I thought I was going to lose my hearing! When I let other folks shoot it (with borrowed muffs), the blast was knocking the rain water off the tin roof.

But, I discovered at my 300 yard range that has the tin roof way higher up (at least 2 stories), the blast isn't so bad. If you shoot in an open field, it's even less bothersome.

Just remember to warn everyone before you fire. It would not be cool at all for someone who didn't know about the 50 BMG noise and blast to get a dose of that in a low roof range with weak hearing protection. I always look for kids and anyone not at least wearing good ear muffs to warn before I fire.
 
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When shooting the 50s are hard on your body with the noise. The recoil is not that bad.

I am quoting this because it needs to be brought to the OP's attention. In my limited experience, it's not the recoil that starts to wear on the shooter. It is the over-press, blast, or whatever you wish to call it.

My suggestion is seek out someone who has one and shoot theirs.

I am not against the 50 at all. Ballistically, it doesn't perform at longer ranges as well as other calibers. But that's usually not the issue.

You are discussing a lot of coin so you need to have a complete understanding of what you are getting into.

TTR
 
for many year s i wanted a .50 cal until I got the chance to shoot one, then a few months later a different model, after a year or so i had shot 5 dif 50 cal and i didn't like any of them so now i am just plain content with a 338 edge.
 
for many year s i wanted a .50 cal until I got the chance to shoot one, then a few months later a different model, after a year or so i had shot 5 dif 50 cal and i didn't like any of them so now i am just plain content with a 338 edge.

What exactly did you not like about them? What models did you shoot?
 
I agree with Milo from some posts back. Im still int he penny saving mode to move into big bore myself and doing my homework. It is likely i will go 375 when the time comes. I like the 408 as well. Whatever caliber it ends up being, the chassis will likely be DTA.
 
For those larger calibers the DTA HTI is the only way to go, but wait time for that platform is about a year out. Hopefully, will have come down some by the time you're ready to buy!! Good Luck and Good Shooting to ALL.....
 
I'm new to the .50 BMG but so far I'm very impressed. As others have mentioned there are two ways to go - cheap milsurp ammo / reloads or match quality reloads. When I bought my rifle I was lucky enough to get 100 factory match rounds with it. The rifle is the Rangemaster 50 and the rounds were made by a custom manufacturer using what looks like Lapua 800 grain solids.

http://www.rangemasterprecisionarms.com/rpa-target-hunting-and-tactical-rifles/rangemaster-50-rifle/

I shoot it on MOD field firing ranges where you can engage targets (mostly tank hulks) out to 3000 yards with some electronic targetry out to 1800m. This enables you to get some idea of just what a serious long range performer the .50 is. Furthest I've shot so far is 2600 yards, will be reloading some tracers soon which are really good fun at extreme range. The Rangemaster is extremely accurate and a pleasure to shoot. Absolutely no problem spotting shots and keeping on target. Only trouble is the fearsome component cost (think at least double the costs here in the UK) and the weight of the rifle! Still totally worth it.
 
If you want a 50 BMG bullet to really move, try the Anzio 20/50. It's basically a 20mm Vulcan case necked down for the 50 BMG bullet.

20-50-shotshowVegas.jpg


•750 or 800 grain solid going 3200 to 3600 fps
•Overall length 5' 8"
•Barrel length 40" Optional 36" or 45"
•Take-down barrel
•Maximum range 3500 yards

Anzio-big-bore-selection1.jpg


New ANZIO 20/50 - Anzio Ironworks

Or you could just go for a 20mm Vulcan. lol

MAG-FED 20MM RIFLE - Anzio Ironworks

Yessir, Ive seen that before, makes ya wonder what powder they were using in that thing. Does anyone know what powder they use in that cartridge? Maybe they are getting 3600fps with the 750s, but then again they should with a case capacity of 645gr H2O.

Also, by chance, does anyone know, on Mr Mcmillans .50 Fat Mac, IIRC he had a forward ignition primer system in the case. Anyone have more details on that? Did he just put a hollow tube through the primer hole up into the case and have the primer at the bottom of the tube?