.50 bmg for hunting longrange

[splattermatic]

got a message i haven't posted in awhile, busy at work and some playing.
got a new mcmillan stock in last evening. bought the remington bdl pattern in forest green with black and white marbeling, pillars too.... wow ! she's purdy, going on my 300 rum.

working the details out for a barrett model 99 single shot .50 bmg....

besides hornady a max's, barnes has a few, but, what else is there for a hunting (expanding , non fmj) bullet ??

would like like to punch holes in things large and small, as well as lr elk....

got my cow elk last season at 723 yards with my 300 rum....so a bmg is not really needed, but it sure would be neet to send a 750 gr. .50 cal at one......

 

[Tyler Kemp]

Do you really need an expanding bullet if there is already a .5 inch hole? I have seen some cast bullets with humongous hollowpoints, but no other jakceted hunting rounds.

 

[lazylabs]

I found these on the net, no experience with them yet.

50 bmg & 12 GA FOSTER SLUG

I believe Richard at wildcat is also make some 50 bullets. I am still getting my gun settled in and haven't shot any game with the AMAX yet. I hear they can be explosive if you hit a bone.

 

[cinch]

Everything I've seen has just left a 1/2 inch hole. We shot a 55 gallon drum full of water and recovered an Amax. It looked mostly intact, only deformed a little. I have a new never fired Barrett 99 for sale if you want to drive to Wyoming. I also have lots of ammo and components.

 

[splattermatic]

cinch,
sent you a pm. whatta ya want for it.
i am in the dealing/ordering stage right now for a barrett 99 with the standard acc's plus a bushnell 3200 10x scope and rings for 3300 plus 50 shipping, from rsr thru a dealer friend.
scope and rings going into storage, and a 6.5-20x50 30mm luppy is going on.

as for hunting /target loads, most states have a no fmj bullet law for shooting big game. so an a-max is not considered as such.

just getting into this type of cannon, so i have lots to learn........

also for some reason, i cannot log on here from my cell phone, so i can read, but not reply.

 

[long ranger]

Having been hunting using a 50 for several years, have tried several bullets for game. I too figured the Amax would work well, given the expanding bullet requirements. WRONG!!! They expand about the same a grenade.
In 40 years of hunting I have never seen such destruction of a body.
I have tried some bulets made by a fellow in Mesa AZ, his work well. Richard Graves at Wildcat made some 750 gr RBBT hollow points that performed very well for me, wish he could make another batch or 10.
Talking with Tom Berger today he informed me that Berger will be making a 50 cal hunting and match type bullet very soon.

 

[splattermatic]

great news on bergers !

how is a lee press for loading 50's ?
there is a company on gunbroker selling a lee press and 50 dies real cheap, plus the usual acc's with the press.

seems awful cheap, thinking its junk ???

what loads are you using ? seating depth, as in seated how far from the lands for best accuracy ???
or is this the same as loading for normal smaller cartridges......

anyways, cinch, soon as my money gets here from my poyer l1a1a sale . we'll work out the details, be patient please, you can mark your barrett as sold.

thank you...

 

[Tyler Kemp]

Definetly not a 50, but I load on a Lee press and it does fine, no flexing at all with 7mm Rem Mag, 6mm AI, 45-70.

 

[GREYGHOSTt]

I use the lee 50 kit and it works for me .

 

[long ranger]

I guess the question is how much you plan to shoot, followed by whether you get decent brass to begin with.
I shoot my 50s LOTS!! Got a bunch of brass that I would suspect was fired from a well worn Ma Duece, the cases were significantly swelled just ahead of the web.
I had a Lee kit and broke the press neatly in 2 trying to size these cases.
I pitched the press and that brass. Now I am using an Ammo master, the RCBS dies are not the best I found I needed to take .010 off the bottom of the size die to get proper case length, have since invested in a set of CH dies and like them alot.
My advice by the best you can afford, if you have to skimp on the loading kit, buy new brass 1st time around and you should be fine.
50s seem more forgiving in seating depth, getting close to the lands can be difficult unless you use long bullets like Amaxs.
I have had great success with US869 powder and as it is signifcantly less costly than alternatives I can shoot more.