Hunting with a 50 BMG?

I'll send a PM, so we don't totally hijack this thread.

I have used a 50 bmg on a whitetail. Extremely effective I'd say less than 2% meat loss. She was a 120lb doe facing me at 125yds. Shot her straight in the chest. Bullet came out about an inch below the #2 hole. Finger sized hole in and out. Bullet was a 750 amax that should have hit her near 2700fps. She did a complete backflip and layed there motionless. Only blood was an 8in puddle that came out of her nose and mouth. Meat was perfect no ruptured blood vessels in any of the meat. Inside the rib cage was different though. All the internals were mostly mush. Shock defiantly destroyed the soft tissue. I did find the aluminum tip of the amax inside the deer. I believe a broadside shot there would zero meat loss if shot behind the shoulder.

Keith Warren has two videos on his YouTube channel taking deer with a 50. Its not As bad as one thinks

Sounds quite effective. Sounds like a bummer to pack around to hunt with even in a pack. What's the terrain like you're going to use it?

I have taken a deer with the 647 Barnes bullets a couple different times. Its kinda like anything else. If you make a poor shot you will ruin alot of meat but if you make a good heart lung area shot it doesn't seem to ruin much. Having said that my brother shot a doe with my 50, entry was at the base of the neck and the exit was in the hind end and it was the most disgusting vile think I'd ever helped clean. Its 90 percent shot placement.

A 338 300 SMK is worse than the 750 Amax in my experience. A 50 just seems to pencil. I even tried to make one blow and never got it to happen. Tried shoulder quartering to me and other angles and never got it done. I did get a shitload of dust in my eyes trying to do it.

This is a joke right? The .50BMG was made for airplanes, vehicles, buildings etc. Yes it's fun to shoot at paper but lets get real.

The only joke is the ignorance that goes into

Chesternutt said:

This is a joke right? The .50BMG was made for airplanes, vehicles, buildings etc.

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No joke man, if it'll kill an airplane/vehicle/building then it'll definitely kill an animal. Not just for punching paper!

Chesternutt said:

This is a joke right? The .50BMG was made for airplanes, vehicles, buildings etc. Yes it's fun to shoot at paper but lets get real.

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Whats more humane that shooting an animal with a 50 big? If it's used for airplanes and vehicles that just makes it over qualified for critters. You probably think it's dumb to shoot rabbits with a 458 win mag, but I've done it and I enjoy it. It's good practice for the big bores. Most people that don't think people should shoot critters with a 50 have probably never owned a 50 or haven't hardly any trigger time with one.

I think there's a lot of myths and falicies about the 50bmg that come from guys that have never shot or own one.

WyoHunter1 said:

If I was hunting elephant and the elephant was driving a Kenworth and I had to take out the engine block to stop the truck so the elephant would get out before I could shoot it and I could only use 1 gun then I would use the 50 BMG.

I have no issues with any one else using a 50 but I think for hunting anything in North America a 338 Lapua or in my case a 338AE is more than enough. No offense to anybody. JMO

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Thats hilarious right there! I darn near spit out my pop!

Some folks act like big bores are bazookas and blow critters up.

Yes, people do hunt with these. You should check out Dan Lilja's website (www.riflebarrels.com) because he has a really good article on long-range hunting. In summary, common everyday cartridges (.338 Lapua, etc.) built on small single-shot bolt actions are good to 1,200+ yards in the right hands. Large ones built on the .50 BMG are good to 2,000+ yards in the right hands and under the right conditions. Besides the other manufacturers already mentioned, Hornady also makes the .510" A-Max.