What got you into .50 BMG?

More than anything else I own, people ask, "what the hell do you do with that!"

If it wasn't for a couple years as an 0331 in "Heavy Guns" I don't think I would've had any interest.

I know it's not a technical topic, but it is relevant.

I think it was the fact that owning a 50 BMG rifle and knowing the power that it was capable of did it for me. Blasting things to pieces and shooting out to 2000 yards just made it even better.

I think the best part is seeing the looks on the faces of people at the range when you pull it out and set it up and then the smiles on their faces when I let them shoot off a round.

You have to admit that the 50 is just a crowd pleaser, even if people don't shoot it they are blown away at the noise, muzzle blast and if you take out a range target they'll never forget that day at the range. The 50 just has a way to it all it's own even if someone else brings the latest uber weapon with them to the range.

first response nailed it...

Yeah, what he said.

+1

I first got my .50 because punk-ass Governator signed the bill to ban the bmg so for me it was a case of get it now or never so I took the plunge and got it. No regrets either! Thanks Arnold!

I didn't have one, I wanted one, my wife bought me one.

My local gun shop does not sell TOW missiles!!!

What he said!

But oh boy are they fun!! 11H1P at the 82nd for 10yrs.

What got me into .50s? I was goofing off after getting out of the Army in '91. Hanging out with a friend that was one of the welders at Barrett. He asked me to come in for an interview. I went and got the job. Worked there until late '04. Was a lot of fun.

Shot an M2 in the early 70"s in USMC. then in 98 I saw one in Shotgun news and couldn't believe some one made a bolt action 50BMG. So I did a bunch of research for about 6 months and bought a State Arms Special Edition rifle in March of 99. After shooting it for about 6 months and having a blast out to 300 yards is all, could not shoot farther safely, Paul Harlow of AAA-AMMO told me about a 1000 yard match in Raton,NM that Fall. So I loaded up 200 rounds of AAA 705 semi bore rider ammo and headed to Raton. I showed up feeling like Jed Clampet at the Beverly Hills rifle range. I had my ammo loaded into 5 rounds to a ziplock sandwich bag, I shot off of 2 old sandbags, and had no other gear. I sat on an old folding chair with my jacket and the foam from my rifle case on top of the chair so I was sitting high enough to see through my scope. All around me on the line were a bunch of custom rifles that cost up to $8,000.00 with optics. Folks had Ransom rests and wind meters and flags and spotting scopes and about anything else one needed for serious long range shooting. After about the 6th person that walked up and looked at my set up and said: You will have a lot of fun here but you won't be able to compete with the BIG BOYS, I was so INTIMIDIDATED at that point I almost packed up and left, but I decided that after driving 750 miles and taking off work that I was going to shoot anyway. I enterd the UNLIMITED CLASS and the HEAVY CLASS. When the match was over I had won UNLIMITED CLASS and took 2nd place in HEAVY CLASS. at that point I had the 50BMG BUG. I went to the World Championship match the next year in July and took 3rd place in UNLIMITED CLASS and got bit harder by the BMG BUG. went to Quantico Marine Base in 04 and shot in the 1st 50BMG match held there and set a new World Record in Hunter class at 1000 yards, DAMN if I didn't get bit even Harder by that BMG BUG. Many matches, many years and many rifles and barrels later, and I now have 6 BMG rifles with as many extra barrels in the safe, and a room dedicated to shooting stuff.

Ed

You got a keeper there guy!!!!!!
Hope I find one like her!

I had $10,000 saved up to buy an M16... I searched for 2 years but couldn't find one that I wanted in that price range, they were all around $12-16K...

Meanwhile my wife got diagnosed with MS and left her job... my income decreased by half and I decided to forget ever owning a RR M16... so I started looking at AR10 variants... I heard that LMT was coming out with one so I decided to wait on that. I took half of the $10 large and gave it to my wife to buy a ring the other half I put in my gunsafe.

One night while searching Gunbroker I started looking at Barrett M82A1's... I had always wanted one but didn't want to committ to such an expensive rifle I have never shot and find out that I didn't like it. So I took $2500 out of my safe and bought a Bohica complete rifle. The other $2500, I bought primers, powder, brass, bullets, and full reloading set up. Tried it out, fell in love with it, and now I'm saving up for a Barrett...

- Clint

I own a .50 cal because they don't make a .51cal.


Really, though, I never saw myself owning a .50 cal because I'm not into long range shooting. Then, I saw a "lightweight" .50 cal rifle with open sights.

I own a .50 because it's a completely different shooting experience when you hit close range targets with 10,000 foot pounds of energy.

Was at a semi-private range and was shooting out about 150 - 200 yrds at bowling pins. Guy sets up beside me and turns out it was a 50 BMG rifle. I wouldn't shoot it that day. Damn thing looks to mean for me. Then about 6 months later Cali bans any new 50 BMGs. Told the wife, I am going to get one before some jack ass tells me I can't have one. Well as it turns out the bark is much worse than the kick and love shooting the brute. And I agree with others, its a kick to watch the reactions of others. Some are not real nice either. So, over all some love it and some hate it. And the shots I have given away. and I will tell you this. Each of those 3 dollar smiles have been well worth it. Esp. the 18 - 20 year old young lady that turned around after taking her shot and telling her dad "We got to get one of these!!".

My Dad always wanted one and my twin brother and i sold our motorcycles so we bought a Barrett so now my dad can say he has one. But really its a monster and an awesome piece of equipment.

Don't own one YET, but firing my friend's Barrett has convinced me to start saving!

Took mine out a few days ago. Some guy drives up and says "you`re the guy that has a blah,blah blah."......


To make a long story short.........he still had a grin from ear to ear. I had let him shoot it the last time I was out.Even let him have the brass he had fired too. Was a freebie. I love moments like that!

Oops! To stay on topic, Somebody let me shoot their 50 and gave me the brass I had fired. One piece was all I wanted as a keepsake. Never been the same since.

I took 3 rifles and 1860 rounds of assorted BMG ammo to a FUN SHOOT in Colorado in 2005 and let the public shoot their choice of rifles and their choice of ammo for a buck a round and let them alll take home one piece of BMG brass and a smile. Left for home with less than 50 rounds of ammo and a lot less brass than I took with me. I figured at the price I paid for components I had about .86 cents in each round. Lost money on that adventure and pissed off the guy next to us that was charging 5 bucks a round to shoot his Barrett 82. But I went there to promote the sport and the State Arms rifles. Since then I have been contacted by several people that bought BMG's after shooting one at the Fun Shoot. That was a fun 4 day's even though I spent a good bit of it cleaning barrels.

Ed

I'm into AR10's and saw the AR50 on armalites site, so I bought it, not knowing one thing about 50's. Now I have a semi M2 plus a can for the AR50.

All my friends say Im compensating for something...


But seriously, a year behind an M2 convinced me it was time to add one to my collection.

All my friends say Im compensating for something...


But seriously, a year behind an M2 convinced me it was time to add one to my collection.

Pics of the can? I can only imagine the size of that!!!!

I walked into my local gun shop on a rainy day back in 2002. Talking with one of the guys there when i saw a State Arms 50 sitting on the floor.
"Hey Friz, who's 50?"
"Mine, you want to buy it?"
"How much?
"$1800 gun/scope/bag/ 400rd of ammo."
"....Give me 10min to go get $$"


Friz passed away this winter.

Cause I'm used to working with big things.

For me it was always go big or go home. I've thought about a 20mm, but that thing is pretty silly. I've always had a thing for barretts, and they are fun to shoot. Just about everyone knows what a barrett is.

Na it's not the size of the rifle that means you are trying to compensate for something. It's the dup reply that means your trying to compensate for something. Sorry could not pass that up when I saw that you did a double tap.

Derf, sorry to hear you friend past away. Bet you think of him from time to time when you pull out your 50 BMG. BTW do all of you guys from PA have strange 4 letter names?

I never had any interest in .50 BMG guns until I heard about them possibly getting banned. You don’t have to be very smart to know that getting something BEFORE it’s banned will result in owning something that becomes 2 to 3 times worth what you originally paid. When sitting on paper money in a bank starts to pay as good, I’ll be buying paper.

Sure do.
I was told that if i ever sell the gun, it HAS to go back to the shop where i got it. I wont sell it, but if the time ever comes thats where it will go.

HAHA
Mine is nickname i got at my first job out of collage.
Everyone had name plates outside their office, except for me even after 3 years. I didt care really, people couldnt find me that and left me alone.
One of my smart ass co-workers made a plate that said Fred (my name is Nate)
Well on the reflection of the glass wall across the hall....derF

Because a 20mm was too expensive to shoot


Actually it was the movie Tremors II.

Hadn't even heard of the .50bmg before that movie came out, I was more into pistols at that time. At the next Knob Creek machine gun shoot, this was like '96 or so, I bought a .50 bmg round and started paying attention to them. In the meantime I got into long range precision shooting. Then 7-8 years ago I got a windfall selling some timber and bought an AR50.

I now own two .50s, the LAR Grizzly and the Ferret50, and have owned the AR50 and a Bohica.

Bitchin.

Always wanted one.

Bought myself a Barrett M99 after graduating from college as a gift to myself. Got tired of it after a while and sold then. Then I got the bug again and got a Barrett M82A1.

Too much money, and not enough sense.

-David

I will get it when I get back home in a few months

Several years ago one of my wife’s coworkers needed a place to shoot his Barrett. He had worked at Egland AFB in Florida back in the 1980s. Back when the Air Force had enough money to not bother turning 50 BMG ammo back in when they didn’t shoot it all in the AC-130. He started collecting it instead of dumping it. Eventually he had a thousand rounds of mixed tips or so and Ronnie Barrett came up with his rifle. I’ve got 400 acres of pretty wild land near Mangum Oklahoma and I said sure he could shoot it up there. Some other friends were invited and we made a day of enjoying shooting his Barrett, a Desert Eagle 50 AE my AR-10, M1 Garand and a few AR-15s. Over the years he had moved so many times that the tips on the ammo had worn off so we didn’t really know what we were shooting. One fire later we got educated on Incendiary ammo. We were able to put it out without much trouble and I ended up hooked. In the process I got the bug for a 50 BMG. I tried to figure out what kind I wanted, want scope I wanted and ended up getting a Bohica and putting it on my Bushmaster Varminter. I also figured with what I saved I could afford a Nightforce 8-32X56 NXS Scope. I ended up with a gun that I enjoy shooting and over the past 3 years I’ve put together a pretty good batch of ammo. For giggles I shoot API because I picked up a couple of thousand bullets for .26 cents each. If I want real accuracy I go with the Hornady 750 Amax or Barnes 647 HP brass bullets. They both shoot much better than the API. I’ve got 2 friends with 50s now also and we enjoy letting friends and even just guys I meet shoot my rifle. The smile on their face after the first shot is worth it. I’ve never charged them so much as a penny. I do however turn the Lake City brass and the API bullets into 50 BMG bottle openers and have sold 350 of them since December 2010. Everyone needs a 50 BMG rifle.

"What got you into .50 BMG?"

Obama's election.

When you think of it, that is the best answer there is. During the first year of his "RULE" I've heard that there was enough guns and ammo sold to outfit 3 American sized Army. With him trying to defer the UN into making rules for how we live and are able to purchase guns. That is why I do my best to expose as many people as I can to the joy of shooting the 50 BMG. I've got a 10 year old son and I fear what is going to be left of this country when he grows up.

I think the first time I saw a 50 rifle was in the movie Robocop. There's a classic.

I've had one since 2000. I'm surprised so many have been "turned" by Obama. Seems every time there's an anti-gun agenda in office it sparks a gun/ammo buying frenzy. I love that it ends up that way, though not that it takes such people in office to create that kind of sentiment. My 70 year old father-in-law has bought an AR-15, Benelli M4, and a few tactical pump shotguns due to Obama. If it wasn't for a perceived fear of ban-age he'd of had no interest. It's pretty cool, though that we can enjoy such guns together. He was tempted to buy a .50, but didn't see a practical use.

I was really in to 1919's so I had to get one.

I've noticed several people on here say the m2 was there first in the army. The m2 was my first also

Nice! I have a Sokolov mount for use with my 1919, but I still want to get an M2. Gotta shop for some real estate in NV first tho.

Love the sokolov mount. Mines 1917 dated and has a bullet hole in the side. One wheel is a later replacement, Looks like a bullet shattered the left wheel and impacted the mount fron the underside and came out the top.

That's kinda cool - it certainly suggests your mount saw some action. Mine only has the bullet dent in the armor shield, and I heard that was from "proof testing" by an officer's Tokarev demonstrating to troops its worthiness.

Sorry for the hijack, guys...

i got my tactilite because my credit card had a zero balance, but i remember somewhere in the nineties seing left over barrett sniper rifles from desert storm on gunbroker for less than two grand and i really wanted one then. when mr president became mr president i stopped wanting stuff and started buying it. i woukd like to thank him for my first black rifle purchase because it led to the other three and a few other toys.

Mostly because the libtards don't want me to have one.

I always wanted one , Had a chance to trade into one AND the devil Made me do it.

PS ,it is the ugliest 50 made , RAP model 50 (amac 1500)

i have a small pee pee

Better?

Shame, we had a real nice thread going and then the last two post.

all joking aside same for me , the wife looked at me the next day and said your getting the .50

I bought mine when there was a lot of talk about them being banned, and I was a little concerned that I would never be able to own one if the future I didn't get one at the time. The best part about owning one is shooting it and letting others shoot it. My uncle and cousins shot mine several years ago and now every new person that comes up hunting gets the story about shooting 50cal, especially if they ask questions about the empty casing on his shelf, he also has one at his office on a shelf, so when people ask he tells them. There is probably some pride in owning one as, considering in my area there are only about 5-6 people that own one.

"There is probably some pride in owning one"



Maybe a little. Took mine out today. Had 3 people come out of nowhere including one who was visiting his Mom about a block down the road from the range. He was from SC and said his mother had heard the thing going off & thought it might be a 300 Winmag or something. When he heard it, he said to his mother, that`s no 300 Winmag! Walked up the street & showed up at the range where I was at. Took some photos of my piece. We talked some more & then he left. Two other guys showed up from the clubhouse on the property to see what all the noise was about too. One made a video of me shooting it with his cellphone cam. He played it back to me & boy oh boy....didn`t realize the thing was moving me back at the bench so far! Would have let him and his friend shoot it but I was working with a limited amount of ammo trying to get velocity data and grouping info. I think from the looks on those fellows faces, they were" tweaked ", regardless. I hope I see them again on a normal range day when I am there with a little more ammo and not worrying about chrony speeds or grouping with unknown loads. They each have a piece of brass coming to them if they want to try out the big bore.

Copyright © 1996 - 2013 :: AR15.Com LLC :: All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.