There's this guy that takes his 50 cal barret rifle to the range I belong. He is only allowed to shoot it on the days it is closed to the public. Maximum range is only 200 yds. Just curious to know if 200 yds is feasible to try out your loads on 50 cal. I normally shoot my 22lr at the 200 yd targets so I know that makes it a little challenging for me. Every time he shoots one of those rounds is like shooting 30 of my 22lrs.
50 cal @ 200 yds.
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MachIVshooter
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Not much point to it, except to have a little fun at $4/round or more.
I took mine out at only 100 yards a couple weeks back, but that was just to fire a few rounds to check zero (which is about 28" high at that range).
I took mine out at only 100 yards a couple weeks back, but that was just to fire a few rounds to check zero (which is about 28" high at that range).
Win1892
Member
Try shooting a 1" 5 shot group at 200 yards with a 50BMG and you'll see the sport in it.
MachIVshooter
Member
Unless trying to do it off-hand, I don't see it. My AR-50 will make a ragged hole at 200 with ball ammo.
Standing-yeah, that's a challenge. Me at 5'10" 180 lbs and fit, I can barely hit a paint can at 100 yards with the 36 pound, 5 foot long gun held to my shoulder and unsupported.
Hell, I've shot my 50 BMG at 200 and 300 yards all the time.
50 BMG is no different than any other rifle. 200 yards is fine to see how your loads are doing. You'll get an indication of all the criteria you need to know if they are working as intended. You can shoot for groups just fine, get sighted in, compare loadings, etc.
It's also a great range to see the terminal effects if you're shooting at "fun" targets like propane cans, beer kegs, landscaping blocks, washers, dryers, automobiles.... you put that stuff too far out and you'll need a spotting scope to observe what happens.
A quarter mile or more is better if you're shooting tracers, so they have time to light up and trace a bit before impact. At 200 yards, they don't get much time to view, since it takes a bit for them to light up.
50 BMG is no different than any other rifle. 200 yards is fine to see how your loads are doing. You'll get an indication of all the criteria you need to know if they are working as intended. You can shoot for groups just fine, get sighted in, compare loadings, etc.
It's also a great range to see the terminal effects if you're shooting at "fun" targets like propane cans, beer kegs, landscaping blocks, washers, dryers, automobiles.... you put that stuff too far out and you'll need a spotting scope to observe what happens.
A quarter mile or more is better if you're shooting tracers, so they have time to light up and trace a bit before impact. At 200 yards, they don't get much time to view, since it takes a bit for them to light up.
Yeah, 50 cal projectiles weigh in at a 10th of a pound - takes a lot of air to make them move, but they also have a much larger cross section, so more air hits them. The same rules apply there as with any other projectile.
What they DO have going for them is sheer inertia. They move like a friggin' freight train. With a high BC they don't slow down as fast. Sure, gravity pulls them down just as fast as any other round, but the RATE of deceleration is much slower since they have inertia on their side. So they will still drop - a lot - but not slow down as fast as lighter projectiles, meaning their curve doesn't drop off as severe as lighter bullets.
50 BMG 750 Grain A-Max @ 2820 fps muzzle velocity loses 444 fps at 500 yards.
A .224 SS193 55gr projectile fired from a 5.56 cartridge leaving at 3165 fps loses *1568* fps in the same 500 yards.
Inertia matters.
What they DO have going for them is sheer inertia. They move like a friggin' freight train. With a high BC they don't slow down as fast. Sure, gravity pulls them down just as fast as any other round, but the RATE of deceleration is much slower since they have inertia on their side. So they will still drop - a lot - but not slow down as fast as lighter projectiles, meaning their curve doesn't drop off as severe as lighter bullets.
50 BMG 750 Grain A-Max @ 2820 fps muzzle velocity loses 444 fps at 500 yards.
A .224 SS193 55gr projectile fired from a 5.56 cartridge leaving at 3165 fps loses *1568* fps in the same 500 yards.
Inertia matters.
MachIVshooter
Member
Affected? Yes, but not much. Even a stiff 25 MPH wind will drift .50 ball less than an inch at 100 yards. 7.62mm NATO ball or 5.56mm M855 gets shoved about 1-3/4" at 100 yards by a 25 MPH wind. At 1,000 yards, that 25 MPH crosswind will drift .50 ball about 9 feet. The M855? About 21 feet.
A 750 gr. A-max starting at 2,650 will drift only 6 feet at 1,000 yards in a 25 MPH crosswind. The Ballistic coefficient of that bullet? 1.050. .50 Ball is around .680.
Thanks for the information.
LJ-MosinFreak-Buck
Member
Just makes me want a Big Fifty more and more!
SharpsDressedMan
member
If you have a ballistics program, and know the data for the round you are firing; i.e., ballistics coefficient, velocity, etc, then sighting in at 200 for whatever impact is given for ANOTHER ZERO, like 1000 yards, is easy. Say you want to have your rifle zero'd at 1000 yards, but do not have a 1000 yard range available, but your ballistics program can tell you where your bullet should pass on the target at 200 yards when sighted at 1000, then you simply plot a reference target (where you want the bullet to strike) on a point on the 200 yard target, and AIM at the regular bullseye (which will be some serious feet/inches LOWER than that, depending on one's load), making adjustments to push the bullet impact up until it meets your "200 yard" impact plot. I do not have a .50, but I shoot my .300 Win Mag and sight in for 1000 yards at 100 yards this way. Actually, using the 100 yard range will be better for sighting in for long range in this manner, as impact will be lower at 100 than 200 yards for a 1000yd zero. Knowing your calculated impact points for you ammo at each 100yd distance will allow one to easily place shots from 100 to 1000 yards without elevation adjustment, if using a mil-dot scope properly. My .300 mag does so out to 1100 yards without adjustment, and will go to 1200 with a certain number of upward elevation with the load that I use. Each cartridge and load will be different. Once you are set up for this, and get the hang of it, you only need to get the windage adjusted.
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MachIVshooter
Member
It gets you close, but I've found universally that to know where you're bullet will impact at 500 or 1,000 yards, you need to shoot at 500 or 1,000 yards.
I was off by almost a foot at 880 yards when calculated and zeroed on a 100 yard range.
SharpsDressedMan
member
It gets you close, but I've found universally that to know where you're bullet will impact at 500 or 1,000 yards, you need to shoot at 500 or 1,000 yards.
I was off by almost a foot at 880 yards when calculated and zeroed on a 100 yard range.
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Of course you'll be off a little. Hell, most people can't judge the wind that close, or even hold that steady. Any variables like deviation in the ammo by 50fps throw you off at 500-1000 yards. AND, I agree with you 100% about needing to VERIFY any ballistic chart.....nothing beats shooting at the real distance, and writing it all down. But, for a cold shot, sighted at 100 yards, and then shooting at 1000, one year at Camp Perry I sighted in and began shooting after two sighter rounds by doing it. I was shooting for record before the REAL professionals master class) were done sighting. I like to think (as a trained police sniper), I just might have been the FASTEST on the target, which makes a big difference in a serious encounter. I believe the ballistic calculators are great tools, as long as you pump them full of accurate information.
I was off by almost a foot at 880 yards when calculated and zeroed on a 100 yard range.
__________________
Of course you'll be off a little. Hell, most people can't judge the wind that close, or even hold that steady. Any variables like deviation in the ammo by 50fps throw you off at 500-1000 yards. AND, I agree with you 100% about needing to VERIFY any ballistic chart.....nothing beats shooting at the real distance, and writing it all down. But, for a cold shot, sighted at 100 yards, and then shooting at 1000, one year at Camp Perry I sighted in and began shooting after two sighter rounds by doing it. I was shooting for record before the REAL professionals master class) were done sighting. I like to think (as a trained police sniper), I just might have been the FASTEST on the target, which makes a big difference in a serious encounter. I believe the ballistic calculators are great tools, as long as you pump them full of accurate information.
Well, not exactly. It was still pressurized. We were at an old landfill. Damn thing blew the leaves off of trees 50 feet away. Smelled like a brewery downwind.
We also found out (at the same place but on a different occasion) that 50 BMG tracer rounds, will, indeed, start a brush fire. One round hit the hill, deflected, made a beautiful arc up and landed behind the hill. The hill was over a quarter mile from us. The round came to rest somewhere "beyond". (I wasn't the shooter on that one, I was spotting for a friend who owned an AR50 upper).
About 5 minutes later, I see a thin white trail of smoke coming up the other side of the hill. I pointed it out and we all jumped in to my truck. The area it was coming from was inaccessible to 4WD - I drove as close as I could get us, then we all jumped out, and ran another half mile to where the fire was.
By then it had spread in to a rough 16 foot circle. The grass was above waist height there, so some of the flames were taller than I was. The middle area was burned out already - it was just spreading slowly, leaving bare ground behind.
I jumped in and started stomping on the grass. My friends stood there watching in disbelief, until I yelled at them to help. Stomp a few times, move to clean air, breathe, hold breath, go back and stomp a few more times, go to clean air, repeat...
We knocked out the fire. Couple of scorched pant legs, but it didn't spread out of control.
Anyway, now we only shoot tracers when it's raining or there's snow cover.
We also haven't shot any more beer kegs. Propane tanks, yes, but no more beer kegs. Too expensive, and quite a waste.
BK
Member
I'm tempted to use this as my signature line.
Same holds true for 223, and 308. We've never set a brush fire with the smaller caliber tracers, but still exercise caution... Those big 50 BMG tracers burn with the fury of a butane torch, though, and they burn a LONG time.
We occasionally get local LEO's driving out to "watch" when we're doing 50 BMG shooting. I imagine this is in response to a complaint about noise. They sit up by the road, watching us, but don't enter the private property to interfere.
We occasionally get local LEO's driving out to "watch" when we're doing 50 BMG shooting. I imagine this is in response to a complaint about noise. They sit up by the road, watching us, but don't enter the private property to interfere.
I shot a yote thru the ribs at 150 yards with a 750 gn. A-max round. 3/4" in and out hole. Every internal organ had shock damage. The lungs, liver and heart were pate.
I'm trying to figure a way to set up a sling system so I can carry my 18" FA Ramo M2.
I'm trying to figure a way to set up a sling system so I can carry my 18" FA Ramo M2.
MachIVshooter
Member
We started one with .30-06 tracers. Were shooting down into a sandy ravine, but it caught something just right and went flying back up, about 40 yards into the field on the other side. By the time we got to it, the fire was already about 6' across.
Have you ever chronoed with that? Just curous, but it seems that .50 out of such a short barrel suffers horribly. I wouldn't want one any shorter than my 30" AR-50.
Float Pilot
Member
The height and composition of the back-stop would be a major concern. The 50 BMG round has so much range and mass, it can easily overcome the safety precautions of ranges designed for standard rifle cartridges.
We had one guy who had problems with an M-2HB on the Fort Richardson machine gun range.
Once he got her up and running he decided to fire a few bursts into a safety berm that was only 100 meters away. (1100 meter range) Not only did he eat a big hole in the berm, which exposed some target control cables, but some of the tracer rounds or parts of them, bounced up over our heads and started landing behind us on the highway.
Much doo-doo flowed down-hill on us for that one...
We had one guy who had problems with an M-2HB on the Fort Richardson machine gun range.
Once he got her up and running he decided to fire a few bursts into a safety berm that was only 100 meters away. (1100 meter range) Not only did he eat a big hole in the berm, which exposed some target control cables, but some of the tracer rounds or parts of them, bounced up over our heads and started landing behind us on the highway.
Much doo-doo flowed down-hill on us for that one...
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