AR-50 value?

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Father Knows Best

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I was just in my favorite gun shop at lunch today, and they had a new addition to their typically fine selection of used rifles. It's an Armalite AR-50L, i.e., a left handed AR-50 single shot .50 BMG. The tag said it had only been fired twice, and it looked to be in excellent condition. With an ATN scope, the price was $1,495.

I don't know much about .50BMG rifles, but that seemed quite low to me. Is it a good deal? Decent deal?

FYI, they also had a Steyr AUG on the shelf that I don't remember seeing before. I know some guys love 'em, but man! They sure look ugly to my eyes. The pricetag said $3799, which is a whole lotta coin for something that ugly and flimsy looking.
 
That's probably why it is less money no? Because it is lefthanded. Someone in the market for a .50 is going to expect to pay over $2,000, so they've got their mind set on forking out a lot of cash from the start. Given that, wouldn't they be more inclinded to buy a right handed model instead?


This is probably lower priced to entice those buyers who are not seriously in the buyer's market for a .50.


I wouldn't care if it is lefthanded even though I'm righthanded. A .50 at that price is simply awesome. Great anti-JBT rifle.
 
I didn't even know they made a left handed one. A new right handed one is about $2500 with no scope. Sounds like a great deal to me. I'd jump on it.
 
To shoot an AR-50 the opposite way it is built for; say a right hander shooting a left handed gun might not work to well, as the cheek rest ia a bent piece of steel. Take a look on their website. You might be able to get one for a right hand rifle though. Still a great deal.
 
Left or right, that's a REALLY good deal....I's snap it up...Even if you shot right, you can easily shot it left....Not like you gonna do "rapid fire" with it anyway.
 
Got it on hold for the weekend....

Well, I've got it on hold. I went back and looked it over today, and chatted with the shop owner. He's a really good guy, by the way, and I completely trust him. Our very own Oleg once said this particular shop was his "favorite gun store, above all others."

He told me that the gun hadn't been fired twice; rather, it's only had a total of two rounds fired through it! He knows because he sold the gun originally to the first owner, who is a longtime regular customer. He told me that he pretty much knows everything he sells this guy is going to come back at some point. He sold him 10 rounds of ammo with the gun, and when he took the gun back in trade the guy also returned 8 of the rounds and 2 empty cases. He said he'd fired the two shots, and never fired it again.

Incidentally, he originally sold the gun for $2400. I don't know what he gave the guy for it when he traded it in, but it can't have been more than $1500. Those were two VERY expensive shots that guy fired....

I was mistaken on the price, though. The tag said $1,595, not $1,495. It comes with a soft case, no-name rings and the aforementioned ATN scope. I figure I might be able to get a few hundred bucks for the scope and rings. The case is probably worth another hundred. That means the cost of the rifle itself is probably closer to $1250 to $1300.

Unfortunately, there is no way to shoot it right handed, because the cheek rest can not be swapped to the other side. The entire buttstock comes off, however, and I'm guessing I can buy a right handed buttstock from Armalite for a reasonable price. Anyone know? If not, I can always learn to shoot left handed. I'm left eye dominant, anyway, and I also write left-handed, so I might as well learn to shoot left handed.

I've got it on hold at the shop until Tuesday, so I have the weekend to think about. It seems like a smokin' deal to me, even if I have to buy a new scope and rings and deal with the left/right thing somehow. And I'm guessing I could easily sell it for a profit even if I never shoot it.

Whaddya think?
 
Buy it and then contact Armalite about the stock, ditch the ATN scope and then buy something that actually works. The soft case is nice (if made by Bagmaster) to transport the AR-50 in, just don't stack anything on it.

You could probably turn around and sell it the way it is right now for 2K+ if you decide you don't want it. Either way, if you want a .50 this is a deal you shouldn't pass on.

Put the scope on ebay with a low price, I've seen people go nuts for them when the opening bid is low. Add the rings with it and you'll probably get about $400 for it.
 
The bolt handle will hit the cheekpiece if you try swapping a RH one on it. Seeing as you really WANT to lose the ATN setup, you might give the rifle a try without the cheekpiece.

I shot mine for years with low rings and no cheekpiece. Just machined a spacer to fill the slot in the stock and it worked pretty decently.
 

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I shoot in a prone leaque and several guys have swapped to shooting left handed because of shoulder and or eyesight issues.This is something that could be difficult in a situation that called for a lot of speed like hunting or self-defence but in a target shooting situation where you can take your time and work things out it would work out fine for most people,with you being left eye and hand dominate the question isn't if it would work for you but why the heck have you been shooting righty at all?
You need to jump on this deal,Great way to get a brand name 50 at closeout price,you can always ditch it and make a couple of $
 
why the heck have you been shooting righty at all
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Long story. The short version is that I learned to play most sports right handed. I throw right handed, bat right handed, bowl right handed, etc. So when I began shooting (around 8 years old), I shot right handed. I just closed my left eye.

I didn't discover I was left eye dominant until I took up shotgun sports a few years back. You need both eyes open to shoot shotgun, of course, or you have no depth of field. I couldn't do it, and an instructor showed me I was left eye dominant. I've actually started practicing shooting shotgun from the left side, already, but it's hard to break a 30-year-long habit.
 
RecoilRob, It looks like the bolt is open in the pic you posted. I bet one could notch the cheek rest so the bolt would still open all the way. Could I get some more pics of the rear of the stock, I might have an Idea for a nice cheek rest. Kind of a spin off from my S.A. cheek rest.

Father knows best: We'll get ya fixed up yet.
 
Thanks, all. Well, I bought it today. I brought the case and scope home, but the rifle is staying at the shop with a "Not For Sale -- Display Only" tag on it until I get a bigger gun safe.

The scope is an ATN 8-24x75, illuminated rangefinding reticle, 1/8MOA clicks and a bullet drop compensator with the correct cam for 50BMG. The rings apparently came with the scope. MidwayUSA sells it for $650 with the rings: http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=319851. I know it's a low end scope. If I sell it, what should I be looking for as a replacement? Is a variable really necessary? I tend to favor the clarity and ruggedness of fixed power optics, and would think that a fixed power somewhere in the 10x to 16x range would work well on a rifle like this.

As I was waiting for the NICS to clear, a guy called on the phone and asked about it. As I was signing the credit card slip, another guy walked up to the counter and said he was there to buy it. Almost missed out....
 
The tag said it had only been fired twice, and it looked to be in excellent condition
Click to expand...

How could someone only fire a gun like that twice? Unless it scared the ***** out of them. Great find man!
 
Additional pics of the cheek rest/bolt as requested. Would be doable to clearance for the bolt on a lefty, but would take a bunch of material to be removed.
 

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Great buy! Sounds like you got just in time. How much do you want to spend on a scope?? You can get a nice Super sniper from swfa those are fixed power, and seem to work well. I am saving my dough for a NightForce nxs 5.5x22.

To buy ammo for it. you might want to go to www.ammoman.com They have talon ammo get some ball ammo for barrel break in, and general plinking. you will want to clean in between each shot for the first ten then every 5th untill you have 20 down the tube since it's still new.

Make sure you use a copper cleaner / remover, and a carbon remover. I use a Tipton carbon fiber rod from midway, AAA also makes a Stainless Steel rod.


Eventualy if you like the .50 you might want to begin reloading. I am still gathering parts for that... Almost there though.


Any other questions just ask, I'm sure I missed something. There are a few other .50 shooters here too.


EDIT: thanks for the pic's Rob. It looks like you could modify the cheek rest, and still be safe. There looks to be a quite a bit of meat there.
 
Thanks. I am actually a reloader, already. I've got a couple of Dillon 550's (one set up for small primers, the other for large), a Dillon SL900 (shotshells), and an RCBS Rockchucker. I load large amounts of pistol ammo as I compete in cowboy shooting and IDPA. I also load some rifle ammo. Loading for .50 BMG will be new to me, though, and of course will require all kinds of new equipment. Still, if you're going to shoot the Big 50 a lot, you pretty much need to reload.
 
Don't forget that Mountain Dew goes great with the AR-50.

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