Has anyone ever hunted anything with a 50bmg?

[SprayAndPray]

Is there any known animal that has been taken with a 50bmg rifle?

The 50 bmg is based on a 30-06 case I've read, Is'nt it time to magnumize/WSSMize/RUMize is by now? This seems to be the trend so why should the bmg be be excluded?

Is'nt it better if its short and fat? Maybe if the recoil would be reduced and the case redesigned WSSM-style it could be used as a proper hunting round. Or?

 

[Hutch]

The 50 bmg is based on a 30-06 case I've read

You read something that is incorrect. All of your follow-on questions or hypotheses are invalid. Sorry to sound abrupt, but there's not a lot of wildcatting interest in the .50BMG (I don't think the .408 CheyTac is based on the .50). The sheer size of the .50BMG, with it's requirement for non-standard die sizes, primers, etc., makes it relatively uninteresting as a basis for other cartridges.

FWIW, JMHO, etc.

 

[Southern Raider]

Allegedly, John Browning created the 50 BMG by upsizing the 30-06 and preserving the size ratios. Probably not strictly correct, but I think that's the link to what you refer.

 

[rondog]

Sounds like the OP doesn't really know what a .50bmg is. I wouldn't use that on anything smaller than a T-Rex, it would blow 'em apart.

 

[W.E.G.]

I thought everybody had seen that video on youtube that was originally (falsely) described as US soldiers killing Taliban. In actuality it was US bubbas killing marmots.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?emb=0&eurl=http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=marmot&v=ZcIn3M0Adm8

 

[Chipperman]

Guys, a lot of people have successfully taken game with the .50 BMG cartridge.

Yes it's a big round, but it's not artillery fur cripes sake.

 

[Bwana John]

I shot a prarrie dog with a Boyes .505 Anti-tank Rifle once.

I saw a guy shoot a 37mm towed gun at a covey of quail at the Big Sandy Shoot.

The 50 bmg is based on a 30-06 case I've read

Silimar geometry, but scaled up X4.

 

[waterhouse]

From wiki. Although the 30-06 is not pictured, there is a 300 Win Mag and a .308 for some size comparison.

If I recall, some guys on the long range hunting forum were using a .50 to take game at pretty long distances.

 

[SHOOT1SAM]

I used to hunt brontosauruses and wooly mammoths with it, but quit because it destroyed too much meat.

Sam

 

[XDKingslayer]

I've only ever shot through schools with it...

 

[SageMonkey]

I have read of people using a 50bmg for hunting. I suppose with the right load it could be usable for long range shots on large game if you are hunting from a stand near your car. I would expect to loose some meat, but a sane choice of ammo should not "blow apart" large game. Check local hunting laws to be sure its legal to use. Really its not a good choice, but if its all you have...

Why would someone magnumize a 50bmg? I don't see a market for that, though there were a few variations designed to circumvent the Cali-ban... I think one of those was actually more powerful and had "fat" as part of its name?

 

[SprayAndPray]

You know I just thought it would be a fun idea, I mean all other cartridges are magnumized or in some way or shortened and fattened to make them more exciting ("efficient") why not make a new 50, you could call it the 50 fatboy.

 

[redneckrepairs]

Practical ... NO , however you just gotta see a coyote at 400 yards . It strongly resembles a praire dog at 100 with any centerfire you could care to name . Now i dont own a .50 but i am fortunate to have a couple of friends who do , and they shoot on me because i have all the range they need . So i have shot a few , and frankly i like them but just like a true african rifle i wont own one . No matter how i like them i just cannot pay that much for a pure toy . For myself were i to take a single shot after say a bear , bison , or maby t-rex well it would be a .50 bmg since it makes all the " old " elephant level cartrages look like pikers . I dont do such hunts tho , but i will tell you that if you hit a chevy 350 high on the block that ol .50 will do some amazing things to that motor lol .

 

[Tarvis]

I think the idea was to create a short mag out of the already "magnum" cartridge. It's an idea but would have to have a serious improvement for long range match shooters to make the switch.

 

[50 Shooter]

This isn't anything new, people have been using the .50 BMG for hunting. There was an article in field & stream or one of the more popular hunting mags that questioned using a .50 BMG for hunting. There are hunting rounds made for it all you have to do is look them up. Why people seem to think that it's going to destroy the animal when hit is beyond me. One more urban myth about the .50 that just keeps on going like that stupid taliban video.

The .50 BMG round is/was based on more then one cartridge, with the .30-06 and 13mm TuF rounds being at the top. To say that the .50 BMG hasn't been wildcatter isn't so, there are plenty of .50 BMG wildcatted rounds out there but the cost to do them is what keeps most people away. The one wildcat round that will more then likely stay will be the .50 DTC as it uses all the same components as the .50 BMG.

Ask the owners of Barrett .416's and Steyr .460's how long they think those cartridges (both of which are wildcatted form the .50 BMG) will be available or the rifles. If you think .50 BMG costs alot, look at the prices for either of these two.

 

[paintballdude902]

i read in i believe outdoor life of a housband and wife that hunt in pa with them for deer

they average shots at 300 yards

in one part of it the husband was hunting on a very cold day and his cheek got frozen to the metal cheekpiece of his rifle

ill check ym old issues and see if i still have it

 

[Crunker1337]

I haven't.
But if I could, I would. It's the closest guarantee there is to a one-shot kill, I can't really imagine even the largest land animals surviving a shot from such a powerful firearm.

 

[50 Shooter]

That's probably it, they would be the Henry's. She was on the cover of FCSA's magazine Very High Power a couple years back. She took a Moose or Elk at about 900 yards with her .50. Her and hubby are/were regulars at alot of the FCSA's competitions.

 

[Z-Michigan]

I used to hunt brontosauruses and wooly mammoths with it, but quit because it destroyed too much meat.

I've only ever shot through schools with it...

Just more proof of how flexible and useful this fabulous cartridge is! I mostly use mine to blow up [censored] from 100 miles away while doing upside down backflips and pulling the trigger with my pinky toe. Those pistol grips sure do come in handy!

On a barely more serious note, in that infamous youtube video labeled as .50 BMG prairie dog hunting, are they actually using .50's?

 

[oklahoma caveman]

there was actually a article in i think outdoor life that was about a man and his wife who use 50bmg for extreme long range elk hunting

 

[RNB65]

Is there any known animal that has been taken with a 50bmg rifle?

Do terrorists and insurgents count? A lot of them have been taken with a .50BMG rifle.

 

[oklahoma caveman]

there was actually a article in i think outdoor life that was about a man and his wife who use 50bmg for extreme long range elk hunting

 

[elmerfudd]

For myself were i to take a single shot after say a bear , bison , or maby t-rex well it would be a .50 bmg since it makes all the " old " elephant level cartrages look like pikers .

There used to be some 2 gauge, black powder, elephant guns that purportedly developed more kinetic energy than the .50 BMG.

Not surprising when you consider a 2 bore round ball would weigh half a pound.

 

[50 Shooter]

The article was in F&S, here's the link.

http://www.fieldandstream.com/fieldstream/hunting/photogallery/article/0,13355,1575411,00.html

 

[N1150X]

Ask the owners of Barrett .416's and Steyr .460's how long they think those cartridges (both of which are wildcatted form the .50 BMG) will be available or the rifles. If you think .50 BMG costs alot, look at the prices for either of these two.

I'm almost positive that the 416 was designed from the ground up and is not a wildcat
of the 50bmg