Firing a .50 cal BMG rifle standing?

[LaEscopeta]

There are a few stories from WWII/Korea/Vietnam of soldiers standing up and firing .30+/- caliber machine guns from the hip. I’m guessing this is not possible with a M2 .50 cal machine gun. But how about a .50 cal BMG rifle? Anyone know of a he-man (or wannabe) standing a firing one of these? Anyone have access to one and want to enter interweb legend by having you self videoed/photographed trying, and posting the results? Bonus he-man points (close to Chuck Norris level maybe) if you fire it from the shoulder. Hell, you will earn a point if you can hold a BMG rifle to your shoulder long enough to aim.

(No responsible for busted butts or bruised egos of anyone who tries this.)

(And there is no real reason for asking this except it’s Monday after a holiday and the coffee has not kicked in yet.)

 

[MachIVshooter]

I've fired my AR-50 from the shoulder just to see if I could. Had to lean way back to keep the 36 pound rifle from tipping my 180 pound chassis forward, and I couldn't hit a damn thing.

 

[foghornl]

Most of us could do that...

ONCE! ! ! ! !

 

[taliv]

i've fired the serbu 50bfg and barrett m95 50bmg from standing repeatedly.

if you can hold them up, they are comfortable to shoot. it is not harder to hit targets standing than with any other heavy rifle. it always makes me take a big step back to keep my balance though.



edit: a word of caution... like mach4 was saying, you either have to lean way back or take a much more bladed stance with less of the rifle in your shoulder. the latter can be tempting, but it's not a good idea to go too far. you're just asking to eat that optic

 

[sbarkowski]

There's a video on youtube of a soilder shooting one off hand just for fun.

 

[wayne in boca]

It's easy to fire my Serbu BFG 50 from the shoulder.It weighs 22 lbs.without the optics,and recoil is tamed by the shark brake.

 

[spiroxlii]

If ANYBODY tries this, take taliv's warning seriously. lol. If firing a pistol-grip 12 gauge has given people split lips (because they have no buttstock to seat into the shoulder), then firing a .50BMG rifle from the shoulder without FIRMLY seating the buttstock in your shoulder may be a really good way to get a scope lodged in your face and pretty bruises on your (now useless) shoulder.

 

[Justin]

Weren't there a couple of non-standard .50 BMG rifles that were designed to be fired standing? Instead of holding it like a traditional rifle, they were designed to be fired more like a rocket launcher with the shooter balancing the weapon on his shoulder.

 

[50 Shooter]

Justin,
Barrett made a couple M82's in the style you describe, it was the M82A2 bullpup.

Here's a link with photo. http://world.guns.ru/sniper/sn02-e.htm

 

[Zoogster]

If firing a pistol-grip 12 gauge has given people split lips (because they have no buttstock to seat into the shoulder), then firing a .50BMG rifle

The average 12 gauge with a stock is 6-8 pounds, less without a stock and a short barrel.
The standard loaded .50 BMG Barret weighs in close to 30 pounds.
Mass significantly impacts recoil.
A few ounces in a pistol make a huge difference in felt recoil for example.
The average pistol grip only shotgun is not semi auto. The Barret is, and the action absorbs a good amount of felt recoil.
A good muzzle break also reduces the recoil.

Bonus he-man points (close to Chuck Norris level maybe) if you fire it from the shoulder.

Here is a decent article that explains some of the stats of the weapon well:
http://www.tonyrogers.com/weapons/barrett_50.htm

The .50 caliber Barrett Model 82A1/XM107 produces modest recoil energy. The weapon operating mechanism combined with an efficient muzzle brake reduce recoil energy to about 36 foot-pounds.

That is about the recoil of many 12 gauge shotgun slugs.
Here is a table from http://www.chuckhawks.com/shotgun_recoil_table.htm comparing some recoil figures of a 12 gauge:

Gauge, length (oz. shot@MV) Gun weight (lbs.) Recoil energy (ft. lbs.)
.410 bore, 2.5" (1/2 at 1200) 5.5 7.1
.410 bore, 3" (11/16 at 1135) 5.5 10.5
28 gauge, 2.75" (3/4 at 1200) 6.0 12.8
20 gauge, 2.75" (7/8 at 1200) 6.5 16.1
20 gauge, 2.75" (1 at 1220) 6.5 21.0
20 gauge, 2.75" (1 1/8 at 1175) 6.5 25.0
20 gauge, 3" (1 1/4 at 1185) 6.5 31.0
16 gauge, 2.75" (1 at 1220) 7.0 21.5
16 gauge, 2.75" (1 1/8 at 1240) 7.0 27.6
12 gauge, 2.75" (1 at 1180) 7.5 17.3
12 gauge, 2.75" (1 1/8 at 1200) 7.5 23.0
12 gauge, 2.75" (1 1/4 at 1330) 7.5 32.0
12 gauge, 2.75" (1 1/2 at 1260) 7.5 45.0
12 gauge, 3" (1 5/8 at 1280) 7.5 52.0
12 gauge, 3" (1 7/8 at 1210) 8.75 54.0
10 gauge, 3.5" (2 1/4 at 1210) 10.5 62.9

Can you fire a shotgun slug standing? A 3" slug fired from a typical 7.5 pound Remington 870 has significantly more recoil than the .50BMG from the semi auto Barrett 82A1 used by the military.
The muzzle blast and noise is of course significantly higher from the Barrett. Recoil however is not a problem in such a platform.
Carrying the thing around with ammo is certainly no fun either.

 

[Pulse]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=397_1173806764

these guys dont seem to care mutch about that "legendary" recoil.

never shot .50bmg, but i shot a .338 lapua rifle, with and without muzzle break.

lets just say that i wont shot it ever again without the break, but with the break is was about the same as my k31.

 

[Zoogster]

Most big game rifles have significantly more recoil because they are much lighter rifles meant to be enjoyably carried in the field. They also do not often have muzzle brakes and are not semi-auto.

 

[Strongbad]

The model I've got, a State Arms Lightweight is probably the easiest 50 BMG to fire from a standing position of any 50 out there. 17lbs + scope.

It's plenty tolerable.

 

[taliv]

zoogster, the vast majority of barrets out there (esp in civilian hands) are not semi-auto. they are single shot or repeating bolt actions. the action tames none of the recoil.