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TX, USA
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Posted: 4/27/2024 9:54:30 PM EDT
It seems like there are many single shot rifles but way fewer mag fed ones and they are usually a whole lot more. I just don’t understand why these companies don’t add a mag well as standard. I’d think it would cost them little and they could dominate the market. It feels like it would be easy to just leave the space there for one even if it meant using a competitors mags like Barrett’s yet there is almost always an upcharge of thousands to get that feature.
Can anyone please explain why that is? I feel no other caliber has the same issue and mags (even if internal mags) are standard so you don’t end up with a single shot gun. |
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Posted: 4/28/2024 3:57:00 AM EDT
[#1]
Other than Barrett, who makes a 50 BMG magazine?
This may be the problem, as most 50 BMG bolt actions are made by small companies that don't have the money for a very small run of a huge, unique magazine by any of the magazine makers like Magpul, Mec-Gar or Checkmate. |
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Posted: 4/28/2024 9:36:56 AM EDT
[Last Edit: 50cal]
[#2]
A mag fed bolt gun is not easy to manufacture and get reliable from batch to batch.
Yes, Barrett has it down pat. But it was a hell of a lot of trial and error. The older M90 was still pretty much hand fit in all the trigger components. Getting the sear to cocking piece fitment was a real PITA. After the modification to the M95, it became easier. It would take a large company on the order of S&W and the like with a large R&D budget to bring something like a mag fed bolt gun to market. |
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TX, USA
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Posted: 4/28/2024 2:07:47 PM EDT
[Last Edit: henryfrank]
[#3]
Thanks. Is there a reason that to solve the magazine issue they couldn’t just use Barrett mags as standard? Hell, maybe even just include a plug for the mag well upon sale that can be removed to use a mag if they don’t want to ship with a mag. That process seems to work for other platforms that take glock mags or p90 mags to avoid having to redesign something that is genuinely very tough to do right like the magazine.
I agree that there are more critical dimensions to worry about at that point but is it still really that infeasible? Seems to just need feed ramps, and two points for mag to lock in a the right position and an extended firing pin/striker in a longer bolt to clear the mag in thinking about it more just now I think that maybe it might be about receiver strength too? If there is a huge hole in the bottom for the mag, maybe the receiver would need to be redesigned from a single shot to be wider to keep more meat. Still though, I might be in the minority but single shot 50s aren’t nearly as compelling vs magazine fed ones personally. |
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NV, USA
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Posted: 4/28/2024 7:39:10 PM EDT
[#4]
The Ritchie's had mag fed bolt guns down for a long time...EDM Arms and Vigilance Rifles at an admirable price point. Well, finding an old EDM Windrunner at a decent price is challenging.
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TX, USA
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Posted: 4/29/2024 12:22:01 AM EDT
[#5]
Yea. Seems safety harbor and mccutchen are the only budget offerings now and both of those are uppers for ar15 lowers. Anyone know if either is decent?
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AK, USA
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Posted: 4/29/2024 2:02:15 AM EDT
[#6]
Because most people aren't looking for a repeater in .50. Adds weight and complexity. Everyone LOVES the BMG, but few people want to shell out the money to own one. So you have the Barretts, which are well established, and everything else, trying to enter the market at a lower price point.
AI offers one... Go price that out and get back to us. |
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Posted: 4/29/2024 2:20:19 AM EDT
[#7]
 EDM Windrunner |
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FL, USA
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Posted: 4/29/2024 11:47:20 AM EDT
[Last Edit: Kalashnikov762]
[#8]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By henryfrank: Yea. Seems safety harbor and mccutchen are the only budget offerings now and both of those are uppers for ar15 lowers. Anyone know if either is decent? I had a Safety Harbor complete rifle with mag from new. It had chamber problems so I had to return it twice...the second time it was permanent. Many here claim their SH rifles and uppers are reliable. I liked that they were light compared to most 50's and had a magazine option at a good price. I'm pretty sure they are not manufacturing the complete rifle right now so you may have to look at their upper option if they got their ATF dispute cleared up. |
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Posted: 4/29/2024 2:20:01 PM EDT
[#9]
Originally Posted By henryfrank: I just don’t understand why these companies don’t add a mag well as standard. I’d think it would cost them little and they could dominate the market. I think you’re grossly overestimating the size of the market for starters. Also you can’t just add a magwell to existing designs and expect it to be good and in many cases it isn’t even possible to add. It really needs to be designed from the ground up to be a repeater. An action designed as a single shot conventional bolt action (like the Armalite) doesn’t really have the room and material to cut a giant hole in it for a mag to go through. The market is strange. Most people don’t want to spend a ton of money and that’s why you see so many of the cheap single shot guns. People with money jump directly to expensive stuff like an 82/107 or fancy bolt guns. Guns like the 99 fall into a weird place where they are more money than the cheapos want to spend but maybe too plain for the guys with bigger budgets. There have been numerous bolt guns made. The Cobb/Bushmaster/Remington was made in quantity and they never seemed to sell well. I think a single shot is more than enough for most people. I can shoot my single shot guns as fast as I want to and if you need to go fast you get a semi. |
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Posted: 4/29/2024 2:22:10 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kalashnikov762: I had a Safety Harbor complete rifle with mag from new. It had chamber problems so I had to return it twice...the second time it was permanent. Many here claim their SH rifles and uppers are reliable. I liked that they were light compared to most 50's and had a magazine option at a good price. I'm pretty sure they are not manufacturing the complete rifle right now so you may have to look at their upper option if they got their ATF dispute cleared up. What were the problems. I haven’t shot mine much but it has a tighter chamber than my Barrett. The crappy talon ammo I had that locked up my 82 was super tight and could be hard to eject in the Safety Harbor. |
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Posted: 4/30/2024 2:32:25 PM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By engineer61: Other than Barrett, who makes a 50 BMG magazine? This may be the problem, as most 50 BMG bolt actions are made by small companies that don't have the money for a very small run of a huge, unique magazine by any of the magazine makers like Magpul, Mec-Gar or Checkmate. AICS AX50 ELR 
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Posted: 5/1/2024 6:18:47 AM EDT
[#12]
The mcmillan tac 50 is a nice mag fed bolt. Not cheap though.
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Posted: 5/1/2024 11:56:40 AM EDT
[#13]
Steyr made the HS50 in a mag fed model for a little while too
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Posted: 5/1/2024 2:28:46 PM EDT
[#14]
So what’s your budget? Might find some used guns.
Used Remington https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1048606338 |
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FL, USA
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Posted: 5/2/2024 8:13:06 AM EDT
[Last Edit: Kalashnikov762]
[#15]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By ALASKANFIRE: What were the problems. I haven’t shot mine much but it has a tighter chamber than my Barrett. The crappy talon ammo I had that locked up my 82 was super tight and could be hard to eject in the Safety Harbor. Stuck brass. When new, brass would stick with every shot. It didn't matter if it was factory ammo or reloads. Sent it back. Chamber was polished and returned to me. Then, only half of the cases stuck. Still unacceptable so it went back for refund. Then I bought an AR50 and have had zero issues. |
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AL, USA
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Posted: 5/2/2024 8:50:58 AM EDT
[#16]
I was really hoping the Barrett MRADELR was going to fit this bill... I still feel like they missed the boat on that one... I wanted to have a quick change .416 Barrett and .50 BMG...
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TX, USA
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Posted: 5/2/2024 11:26:17 AM EDT
[#17]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Falconpilot1: I was really hoping the Barrett MRADELR was going to fit this bill... I still feel like they missed the boat on that one... I wanted to have a quick change .416 Barrett and .50 BMG... 
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Posted: 5/2/2024 11:44:32 AM EDT
[#18]
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AL, USA
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Posted: 5/2/2024 12:40:47 PM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Ehtacs: You and me both, my dude! I'm still hopeful that they'll do it one day. While a 50 MRAD would not outperform the ELR, I bet it would outsell it. Well at least until USSOCOM buys 5,000 of the ELRs Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Ehtacs: Originally Posted By Falconpilot1: I was really hoping the Barrett MRADELR was going to fit this bill... I still feel like they missed the boat on that one... I wanted to have a quick change .416 Barrett and .50 BMG... It would made more sense in the long run as the ELR cartridges will be growing in length... ELR is here to stay and will be growing in popularity.. |
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Posted: 5/2/2024 12:41:47 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kalashnikov762: Stuck brass. When new, brass would stick with every shot. It didn't matter if it was factory ammo or reloads. Sent it back. Chamber was polished and returned to me. Then, only half of the cases stuck. Still unacceptable so it went back for refund. Then I bought an AR50 and have had zero issues. Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Kalashnikov762: Originally Posted By ALASKANFIRE: What were the problems. I haven’t shot mine much but it has a tighter chamber than my Barrett. The crappy talon ammo I had that locked up my 82 was super tight and could be hard to eject in the Safety Harbor. Stuck brass. When new, brass would stick with every shot. It didn't matter if it was factory ammo or reloads. Sent it back. Chamber was polished and returned to me. Then, only half of the cases stuck. Still unacceptable so it went back for refund. Then I bought an AR50 and have had zero issues. Mine did that with Talon but one of the new manufacturers I had didn’t I just can’t remember which one. |
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Posted: 5/2/2024 12:48:22 PM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Falconpilot1: It would made more sense in the long run as the ELR cartridges will be growing in length... ELR is here to stay and will be growing in popularity.. Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Falconpilot1: Originally Posted By Ehtacs: Originally Posted By Falconpilot1: I was really hoping the Barrett MRADELR was going to fit this bill... I still feel like they missed the boat on that one... I wanted to have a quick change .416 Barrett and .50 BMG... It would made more sense in the long run as the ELR cartridges will be growing in length... ELR is here to stay and will be growing in popularity.. Making it unnecessarily heavy doesn’t really make sense in the long run. At this level people who want one aren’t looking to save a few bucks and run a bunch of calibers. Down the road they can make a dedicated 50 if they think there’s a market. I’m not sure there is. It’s really a different market segment. One of the reasons there’s so few mag fed guns is because it’s so niche. |
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NV, USA
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Posted: 5/2/2024 2:35:43 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By ALASKANFIRE: It’s really a different market segment. One of the reasons there’s so few mag fed guns is because it’s so niche. One of the suppressors I make, is for the .50BMG, and you are right it is a very different market segment. There is the small d*ck big gun crowd, there is the I have more money than God and want to buy cool shit crowd, and then you have the guys who just love the .50. It's a very unique market for sure. |
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AR, USA
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Posted: 5/3/2024 10:45:02 PM EDT
[#23]
Can't forget the French PGM Hecate II...if you can find one and have the budget
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TX, USA
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Posted: 5/12/2024 1:01:05 PM EDT
[#24]
If you cant do in one shot with a .50 BMG you're doing it wrong.
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