New 50BMG Owner

Welcome to the 50 club.
I have a Barrett M82 and have only shot M33 ball ammo thru it (Federal and PMC). The recoil is not as bad as one would expect - but then the M82 is semi-auto and has a substantial spring loaded mechanism. Never shot a bolt 50BMG - I expect it to be "interesting".

13 - 14,000 ft.lbf of muzzle energy is a blast. Mine will blow water bottles and stuff off of the tables next to me.

I have not been overly impressed with the accuracy of the M82 - but, in all honesty, I probably need more time behind it.

Glass - I have a Nightforce NXS 5.5-22x56 scope on it. No issues after 100 - 120 rounds.

Good luck!

I have the Big Boar also and I've owned mine around ten years....probably close to 1k rounds. My personal range is limited to a max of 165 yards in the winter.

I keep a very inexpensive 3 x 9 x 40mm (I think its a Tasco) scope on it and has never lost zero.....I sighted it in at 300 yards while in Texas.

Some folks turn their nose up at the LAR and/or the scope I chose but it does what I need it to do.....enjoy your new rifle!!

Shown is mine. FYI; my rifle really likes Barnes 750 gn TAC-LR BT, #30702. My best load is 231.7 grains H50BMG.

I have a Barrett 95 and I use a Leupold Mark 4 on it. The Nightforce optics are pretty awesome as well. I think the key though, is really good scope rings. I personally use the Barrett scope rings.

Cheesemaker said:

The recoil is not as bad as one would expect - but then the M82 is semi-auto and has a substantial spring loaded mechanism. Never shot a bolt 50BMG - I expect it to be "interesting".

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The recoil isn't bad at all. I'd say it's about the equivalent to a 12 gauge, maybe even a little less. My brother has the M82 and it has less recoil than the M95 but it isn't a deal breaker in my opinion.

Here's a few hints to owning a 50:
keep people clear of the muzzlebrake! The Barrett's brake is angled in such a way that people can accidentally be in the "blast zone." Personally it has never happened to anyone while I was behind the trigger but I can imagine it would be incredibly uncomfortable, if not dangerous!
Buy ammo in bulk then lie about the price to people at the range . Your friends and people at the range have probably never had the chance to get behind a 50 BMG. Lots of people will ask to shoot it. It is expensive to feed the thing and people forget that.
I always recommend that people double up on their ears. A good set of muffs over top of foamies is how I do it.
Last tip. If you have a safe place to do it and some steel that you don't care about. API rounds are just plain awesome!

Welcome to the 50 club!

How tight is the match chamber?

I ask this as you might not be able to shoot some ammo unless you turn the necks on the brass. That means that you'll need to start reloading.

The Griz is a shellholder design, just means that you have to remove the bolt, place a round on the bolt, insert into rifle, fire, repeat.

One upgrade is to a better muzzle brake, every Griz that I've shot with a better brake on it was a major improvement. Their standard tank brake doesn't do much in the way of reducing recoil on the rifle. You can get one of the shark brakes from Serbu Firearms, call Mark and tell him what you have and what you're looking for. You can also try Armalite, they used to sell their AR-50 brakes but you might need to have your threads on the barrel redone for it.

Other then that the Griz is a decent rifle and you'll definitely like shooting it. The next thing you'll be looking for is a place to shoot it at longer ranges. 100-300 is okay if that's what you have but it gets old quick.

For a inexpensive scope that will hold up, look at SWFA's Super Sniper scope. They run about $300 but guys have had decent luck using them. What you need is at least 3" or more of eye relief or you'll get scope eyed from the recoil. The other is a company with good customer service, that way if you have trouble with it, you know it will get taken care of.

If you have the money, buy once cry once and buy the best scope you can afford. Nightforce, US Optics, IOR, Schmidt and Bender, Leopold Mk-IV, March... It'll cost as much or more as your rifle but will last forever and if you sell the rifle and buy another .50, just transfer it over.

I am glad I got into them at $1.25 a round vs now.

If you do start to reload, K&M makes some of the better case prep tools for working .50 brass. Just do a Google search on them and they'll pop right up.

Hornady's AMAX are great projos to use and brass solids are another option for accuracy. Problem is that they are expensive, they run on avg. $2 each. If you plan on shooting long range 1000+ yards, they're a definite must as surplus just don't cut it.

Have you decided on a scope yet? Nightforce has a new line called the SHV, they run $900 - $1,300 if your budget can go that high. US Optics has their ST - 10 fixed power for about $1,200, not bad pricing from two of the best scope manufacturers out there.

blaisenguns said:

I do not know the chamber dimensions as of yet. The gun is still en-route. I have heard they tend to fit most anything other than Korean ammo.

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Then it's probably not a true 'match' chamber and that is just a marketing ploy they use to encourage people buy it.

My .50 BMG came with an actual match chamber, would not chamber hardly anything, sent it back and got the correct chamber I ordered. (I think they called it an "Ordinance" chamber.) Now it eats just about anything I feed it.

If I was planning on long distance precision shooting where I hand loaded every round, I would probably want a much tighter chamber.

Not what I bought mine for, more of a range toy and good anti-material rifle for moderate ranges. It's good at that.

One other thing, save your brass so you can reload it. New brass is about $1.50 for regular and match brass is about $4 each.

Which Mk-8?

Leopold has one that costs $6,100, don't think many people will buy one. I'm sure it's marketed towards the military and law enforcement.

Yeah, for a quality scope that can hold up to a .50 and has enough MOA to get you to 2000+ yards. You can look at spending $2,500+ these days and not blink an eye.

Back in 2000 when I bought my Nightforce it was $1,800, so the price of them and others now is about right considering the upgrades done and even better glass.

See the grin? I always grin after firing it.


We also had a tight chamber that precluded us from shooting Talon and other re-loads. I sent it back to Utah where Doug did a number on the chamber. Now it shoots just about anything.

My loads cost about $1.50 each if you don't count the brass. Primers, however, are almost expensive as GI pulled bullets.

Most of our shooting is from 100 to 300 yards as Michigan does not have many wide open spaces/ranges. Our scope is a cheapie Tasco 6 to 18 power. It has seen 500-700 rounds and still has its crosshairs. I was so worried that it would not hold together under recoil that I bought a backup scope. That backup is gathering dust on my shelf!

Please PM me. I have something you might use.

My loads cost about $1.50 each if you don't count the brass. Primers, however, are almost expensive as GI pulled bullets.

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And you realize that you can only load 30 rounds off a pound of powder.

Check out Jeff Bartlett and GIbrass.com
He sells surplus powder and other components. You'll definitely save on feeding your .50.

I don't have a .50, and probably never will. However I have a couple of large magnum rifles. I bought a quantity of WC-860 powder some years ago. $5lb. I can shoot my .300RUM for less than a .30/30.

The one .50 I have shot was a Barrett with a NightForce scope. Impressive gun. Recoil wasn't too bad, however muzzle blast is another matter..

I apologize Blaizenguns....hit with another medical glitch.

I love mine and I chose the standard chamber over the match-chamber. Other than using AE 660 gn for shooting and brass, my loading is all with Barnes 647 TAC-X and 750 gn TAC-LR and I use Hodgedon H50BMG and CCI primers. I can usually get around thirty-plus loadings from a can of powder.

Although some (prob a lot!) criticize the Tasco scope I installed on mine, the rifle hits where I aim and I have never adjusted this scope since installing it. There are MUCH better scopes out there but I hit what I want, when!

Buy the best glass you can afford. But as mentioned the SWFA SS offers a lot for the money for fixed power.

For target shooting:

Bullet: Hornady AMAX is really the only game currently.

Primers: CCI No. #35

Powder: Hodgdon H50BMG

Cases:Sorted USGI un-fired brass,Hornady($$) and Lapua($$$$$) offer new brass now.

If you want to fire mil-surp projos to have fun you can use all types bullets and use mil-surp take down powder.AP bullets seem to be the most accurate.

I don't like using once fired 50bmg brass because it probably was fired in a M2 Browning and MG crews tend to set the head space a lil loosey goosey for reliability.Read that case stretch.