Budget Battle: Shooting .50-caliber Rifle Alternatives

By G&A Staff

The big .50 BMG has captured shooters’ imaginations since its invention almost 100 years ago. Through most of those years the M2 Browning machine gun was its primary platform. However, the last 30 years have seen the potential of the .50 BMG round wrung out by both civilian and military long-range precision shooters. And it’s fair to say we’re in the golden age for the big .50 BMG.

My first experience with the .50 BMG came at the 2004 Rocky Mountain Fifty Caliber Shooting Association’s (RMFCSA) annual machine-gun and .50-cal. shoot held in Cheyenne Wells, CO, as a fundraiser for a local volunteer fire department. At the time, several of my shooting buddies had .50s. Once I saw the arc from a tracer launched at a target vehicle 2,000 yards away, I was hooked. There’s nothing else like shooting a .50 BMG.

Getting right to the numbers, standard .50 BMG bullets range from about 640 grains up to about 800 grains, and a 30-inch barrel will produce velocities between 2,500 and 2,850 fps depending on …Read the Rest

Source:: Guns and Ammo