50 BMG uppers for the AR

[rifleman14]

hi everyone, im very interested in eventually purchasing a 50 BMG upper for my doublestar ar 15. can someone with experience or knowledge on the matter give me a list of different offerings as far as they go for this market? what is the cheapest i can get, whats the accuracy like on these rifles, etc
also, what does the recoil feel like from one of these uppers if its just through an M4 six position stock with no recoil pad? magagable?
thanks,
dylan

 

[happygeek]

Wait, do you mean .50 Beowulf?

Wikipedia says that .50 BMG is 12.7x99mm NATO, which seems too long for even an AR10's mag well.

 

[rifleman14]

im talking about the 50 browning machine gun cartridge used in the barrett m107. there are many different uppers made that are single shot. the magwell is not used

 

[cbrgator]

Bohica Arms is a very common .50 BMG upper

 

[rifleman14]

any experience? feedback on the quality, etc

 

[Bovice]

Have you looked at the AR-50? It's a pretty affordable .50BMG rifle. I think I'd rather have a purpose-built rifle for that cartridge rather than just dropping it on an AR-15 lower receiver.

Now, by affordable I mean about $3500. Keep in mind that a Barrett is about $13000.

 

[cbrgator]

No personal experience, sorry. The general consensus is positive but you should look into that further, I don't want to mislead you.

With the right muzzle brake the recoil should be manageable. I'm sure there are plenty of youtube videos if you want to see it in action.

 

[Zak Smith]

article | Battle of the Budget .50 BMG Rifles

I have not been super impressed with this style of .50. In my opinion, the ArmaLite AR-50 is a better setup.

 

[50 Shooter]

Depending on what you plan on doing with it, I would buy the ALS or Ferret50 if I was going to use it for competition. If you just want one for plinking then I would look at the BOHICA, Safety Harbor, Ultralite50...

Most of these will hold MOA with quality ammo and the shooter doing his part behind the trigger. I would suggest a solid stock, that way you can fill it with lead to add weight. Also find a junk 20 round mag and fill it with lead also, the added weight will help cut down on the felt recoil. Being lighter you'll feel more recoil then a standard 50 BMG rifle.

Don't believe any of the naysayers that will tell you the upper will ruin the lower. If that were true the 50 uppers would've never gotten as popular as they are now. As for the lower, I would buy an extra one and have it set up for the upper. To me, having to change the lower for the different uppers would just be a PITA. Yes, you do need to remove parts on the lower to make the 50 upper work. It's not just a slap it on a go thing as some people might think.

ETA: Here's a couple write ups that a friend did on the two uppers that he has.
http://www.daplane.com/50bmg/ul50rpt.htm
http://www.daplane.com/50bmg/um50rpt.htm