I will soon be ordering a Barrett 99 50Bmg. Does any one know what brass and bullets are good? Where is the cheapest place to get supplies? What are good loads? Are there any good 50 Bmg websites? Any help would be great and thank you.
50 Bmg info needed
- Thread starter cinch
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CatShooter
Well-Known Member
I shoot a 50BMG.
Everybody who shoots a 50BMG, shoots GI brass... it is the best and the cheapest. I have accumulated about 2,500 pcs over the years, most of it for 25 cents or less, about 1,000 for free.
This one of the more popular 50 cal boards
http://www.biggerhammer.net/barrett/wwwboard/
There is a fair amount of BS there, but it's no different than any shooting forum board. THey all have their blowhards.
Ask for sources there - there are several posters that sell supplies on that board.
Mil pulldown powder is CHEAP and good (~$30 for 8 pounds vs $110 for 8 pounds of H-50BMG)
But H-50BMG is slower, and if wou want the best velocity out of the Hornady 750 A-Maxs, this is the powder to use.
.
Everybody who shoots a 50BMG, shoots GI brass... it is the best and the cheapest. I have accumulated about 2,500 pcs over the years, most of it for 25 cents or less, about 1,000 for free.
This one of the more popular 50 cal boards
http://www.biggerhammer.net/barrett/wwwboard/
There is a fair amount of BS there, but it's no different than any shooting forum board. THey all have their blowhards.
Ask for sources there - there are several posters that sell supplies on that board.
Mil pulldown powder is CHEAP and good (~$30 for 8 pounds vs $110 for 8 pounds of H-50BMG)
But H-50BMG is slower, and if wou want the best velocity out of the Hornady 750 A-Maxs, this is the powder to use.
.
Ian M
Well-Known Member
Cinch
I don't have the experience with .50's that Catshooter has but I have recently been shooting quite a lot with a pair of Barretts for articles in the Barrett Annual that is about to come out. I shot ammo from a company called SUMMIT AMMUNITION and it is superb. They load both ball and match/hunting ammo. Their match/hunting ammo is 750 grain AMAX and LAPUA - I got my best 100 yard 3-shot group with the Lapua, exactly 0.250". Another source of good ammo is called TTI ARMORY, they load Barnes bullets in a 647 gr. XTP-HP load and one called Tactical Match with a 750 grain solid.
As for brass you could contact the fellow who runs LV STEEL TARGETS (www.lvsteeltargets.com) . He is selling new .50 brass very reasonably.
I am impressed with the accuracy of the M99's, hope you enjoy your new toy. Just remember to get the best ear protection, I would suggest face protection because the brake sends a lot of stuff backwards, tends to challenge your concentration when shooting prone.
We do the shooting down in the U.S. at a friend's ranch.
I don't have the experience with .50's that Catshooter has but I have recently been shooting quite a lot with a pair of Barretts for articles in the Barrett Annual that is about to come out. I shot ammo from a company called SUMMIT AMMUNITION and it is superb. They load both ball and match/hunting ammo. Their match/hunting ammo is 750 grain AMAX and LAPUA - I got my best 100 yard 3-shot group with the Lapua, exactly 0.250". Another source of good ammo is called TTI ARMORY, they load Barnes bullets in a 647 gr. XTP-HP load and one called Tactical Match with a 750 grain solid.
As for brass you could contact the fellow who runs LV STEEL TARGETS (www.lvsteeltargets.com) . He is selling new .50 brass very reasonably.
I am impressed with the accuracy of the M99's, hope you enjoy your new toy. Just remember to get the best ear protection, I would suggest face protection because the brake sends a lot of stuff backwards, tends to challenge your concentration when shooting prone.
We do the shooting down in the U.S. at a friend's ranch.
Cat covered it preaty good.Good surplus ammo aint as easy to find anymore and niether are good cheap bullets.The Amaxes will run ya $1½/piece these days.
Be carefull of pulldown bullets=they need to be resized properly to be real safe.Some of the loaded ammo you will find will also be suspect.Ben a while but seams like S African ammo was to hot and Yugo is blasting ammo at best.
Enough of the bad.The 50 is a blast to shoot and you will not likely put a whole lot of ammo through it.The guy that had mine before me had it for 8 years and didnt have 50 rounds through it.I had it for 8 more and was lucky to put 50 through it a year.
Have fun and enjoy.The wide open spaces of Wy will give you a lot of long range opertunities.Just be carefull with API,APITs,Bue tips and spotter tracers.Thier real fun to shoot but will start a fire in a rain forest let alone the dry prairiie!!
I might as well burst your bubble now the 50BMG only puts a ½" hole in a prairie dog or coyote and will put every prairie dog heading for his hole within 2 miles whe you pull the trigger BTDT.
Be real patient with the biggerhammer board and use the search funtion,you will have better results.If you can find a 50 cal shoot try to attend they are real fun and you learn a lot from guys that have ben doing it for a while.
Be carefull of pulldown bullets=they need to be resized properly to be real safe.Some of the loaded ammo you will find will also be suspect.Ben a while but seams like S African ammo was to hot and Yugo is blasting ammo at best.
Enough of the bad.The 50 is a blast to shoot and you will not likely put a whole lot of ammo through it.The guy that had mine before me had it for 8 years and didnt have 50 rounds through it.I had it for 8 more and was lucky to put 50 through it a year.
Have fun and enjoy.The wide open spaces of Wy will give you a lot of long range opertunities.Just be carefull with API,APITs,Bue tips and spotter tracers.Thier real fun to shoot but will start a fire in a rain forest let alone the dry prairiie!!
I might as well burst your bubble now the 50BMG only puts a ½" hole in a prairie dog or coyote and will put every prairie dog heading for his hole within 2 miles whe you pull the trigger BTDT.
Be real patient with the biggerhammer board and use the search funtion,you will have better results.If you can find a 50 cal shoot try to attend they are real fun and you learn a lot from guys that have ben doing it for a while.
Cinch I also shoot the 50 but in a state arms but if you want information on the 50bmg look a www.fcsa.org the have a vistior form but to get the real good information you'll have to join and there's a world of knowledge there. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
CatShooter
Well-Known Member
One other thing I would like to add.
A lot of 50BMG owners buy the gun, shoot it a few times and put it the back of the safe.
If you are going to really become a 50BMG shooter (hundreds of rounds or more a year)... you are either going to have to hand load, or you are going to go broke fast.
Loaded ammo (even MilSurp) is very expensive.
The BEST-est loading press is the Hornady, and there is no second place - it is like the RCBS, but very much inproved.
Same with the Hornady dies - they are match type with the sliding collar in the seater.
I use the Hornady dies (and bought a neck sizer from them also), and the Hornady seater for A-Maxs, and I use an RCBS seater for MilSurp bullets, so I don't have to change the adjustment... plus the Hornady seater is so close to the match bullet diameter that it will get stuck with the pulled MilSurp bullets - no problem with the RCBS, precision wise, the RCBS seater is a pig!
The most fun are blue tips, brown tips-VLRT, (Very Long Range Trace) and M-48s which are a hoot!!!
And a word of caution... I shoot an AR-50, that has a muzzle brake that has been discribed as a condominimum for pigions.
The blast is formidable, and the first day I shot the gun (over 100 rounds) that night, my front teeth hurt from the concussion.
Now I shoot with my mouth closed /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Enjoy it... it's a "Blast" (I made a pun /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif )
.
A lot of 50BMG owners buy the gun, shoot it a few times and put it the back of the safe.
If you are going to really become a 50BMG shooter (hundreds of rounds or more a year)... you are either going to have to hand load, or you are going to go broke fast.
Loaded ammo (even MilSurp) is very expensive.
The BEST-est loading press is the Hornady, and there is no second place - it is like the RCBS, but very much inproved.
Same with the Hornady dies - they are match type with the sliding collar in the seater.
I use the Hornady dies (and bought a neck sizer from them also), and the Hornady seater for A-Maxs, and I use an RCBS seater for MilSurp bullets, so I don't have to change the adjustment... plus the Hornady seater is so close to the match bullet diameter that it will get stuck with the pulled MilSurp bullets - no problem with the RCBS, precision wise, the RCBS seater is a pig!
The most fun are blue tips, brown tips-VLRT, (Very Long Range Trace) and M-48s which are a hoot!!!
And a word of caution... I shoot an AR-50, that has a muzzle brake that has been discribed as a condominimum for pigions.
The blast is formidable, and the first day I shot the gun (over 100 rounds) that night, my front teeth hurt from the concussion.
Now I shoot with my mouth closed /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Enjoy it... it's a "Blast" (I made a pun /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif )
.
Does anyone know if the Magtech brass is good? It seems fairly resonable in Midway. My buddy has a McBros that is actually serial #50 with a Lilja barrel. I think he has gotten me into an expensive journy. This seems like you have to learn about reloading all over again. Anyhow, thank you all for your comments.
$$$ you bet.The reloading part resembles other rounds but bigger.Very little of the reloading stuff you have now will be big enough,they charge a little more for bigger too.
Cat missed the yellow tip spotter tracer rounds for the fun list....they trace in a big arch for over a thousand yards than give you a ball of smoke on impact that you can see for miles..... cool stuff but a real fire hazzard!!
Brass quality is usualy good and Magtec is as good as IMI or Berret.
Shot the grader blade
Cat missed the yellow tip spotter tracer rounds for the fun list....they trace in a big arch for over a thousand yards than give you a ball of smoke on impact that you can see for miles..... cool stuff but a real fire hazzard!!
Brass quality is usualy good and Magtec is as good as IMI or Berret.
Shot the grader blade
CatShooter
Well-Known Member
Hey, Mach V, how come your loading bench looks neater than mine, and I just cleaned my up /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
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"Cat missed the yellow tip spotter tracer rounds for the fun list....they trace in a big arch for over a thousand yards than give you a ball of smoke on impact that you can see for miles..... cool stuff but a real fire hazzard!!"
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Nope... I wouldn't miss that one - it's my favorite...
It's called the M-48 (look at the written discriptions on the side of the rounds... and they will trace a hellova lot further than a 1000 yds, and as bright as a railroad flare.
.
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"Cat missed the yellow tip spotter tracer rounds for the fun list....they trace in a big arch for over a thousand yards than give you a ball of smoke on impact that you can see for miles..... cool stuff but a real fire hazzard!!"
[/ QUOTE ]
Nope... I wouldn't miss that one - it's my favorite...
It's called the M-48 (look at the written discriptions on the side of the rounds... and they will trace a hellova lot further than a 1000 yds, and as bright as a railroad flare.
.
Fiftydriver
Official LRH Sponsor
I would also recommend joining the Fifty Caliber Shooters Association. THis is the very best source for information on the big 50 cal round.
As far as loading componants, it all depends on what you want to do.
I read one of the posts that said all 50 BMG shooters use Military surplus brass. Well, I know alot of 50 cal BR shooters and hardly any of them use surplus brass for their match cases.
If you want to load plinking ammo, thats one thing but brass for the BMG is just like brass for any other rifle, there is good brass and bad brass. I have always used PMC brass until recently when I have switched to IMI and now with that becoming hard to get I will give the Magtech brass a try and see how it does.
The problem with Surpus brass is that it is often mixed and you will have to sort it out. Also, if its once fired, it has been fired in an M2 Browning heavy machine gun and in most cases the chamber specs are not all that tight in the browning. Also, if the headspace is not set up properly by the gun crew, the cases will be stretched just ahead of the case head.
Now if your like most of the other 50 cal shooters I know that drop $3K on their rifles at least, they do not want to take the chance of finding a case with a thinned case head and have a problem when they load it.
If you get unfired surplus brass that is a different story but then you have to deal with removing the sealer in the neck of the round and that can also be a pain in the rear!! You also have to remove the primer crimp on the mil cases which is not hard to do but there is no need if you just buy commercial 50 BMG brass.
The thing about 50 BMGs is that if they are loaded properly you will not go much over 50K psi in chamber pressure. The best way to check your loads pressure is to shoot a round and extract the case, then put that same case back in the rifle and close the bolt on it in the chamber. It should chamber easily with no real resistance. If you can not rechamber that fired case or you have to lean on the bolt, you are loading your rifle to hot.
Loaded this way , you will really never wear out a batch of 50 BMG brass so there is no need to skimp on brass prices, get some good stuff. Also, you will have a single shot rifle with the M99 so even 50 rounds is alot. I would dare say unless you have a group of shooters shooting your rifle, you will not put 50 rounds of ammo through your rifle in on day of shooting unless your shooting comp at a FCSA match.
I tell my customers not to go overboard with brass, get 100 rounds for a single shot, 200-300 for a big semi auto and that is plenty.
If you want to load lower priced ammo, save your money on bullets and powder but realize that accuracy will suffer as well. Most of the military surplus bullets can be had for very little price. The last batch of 700 gr FMJBTs I bought came in a 250 round pack for $60. Thats pretty darn cheap.
One thing to watch for is loose cores though. I go through all my surplus bullets and shake each one. You can actually hear the cores rattle on some of these bullets. Those that do get culled out and used for either velocity testing or just as plinkers for someone that wants to give the big 50 cal a try sometime.
Sorted bullets are actually pretty accurate generally holding around 1.5 moa at 1000 yards if sorted. This is not great but for the price of the bullets its very good and generally more then enough for causal rock busting.
Powder is where you will save alot of money if you want to load cheap ammo. Surplus pulled ammo is very cheap but you buy at a risk of getting low quality powder. Powders such as WC872 is also very low price and you can get this powder new that has not been pulled down and get very good results with reasonable price.
Again, do not figure brass costs into your ammo cost, the cases will probably last you the life of the rifle so after a few firings, its cost is already reduced to pretty much nothing.
Now for accuracy work, this is a totally differnet story. Just like any long range rifle, what you put into it will determine what you get out of it.
You will need match grade bullets, the A-Max is the most common and easiest to get. Wildcat Bullets makes some good 50 cal bullets as well as does Barnes with their new non-bore riding solids.
For match 50 BMG loads I have only used H-50BMG and have never had a reason to look for another powder as it is perfect for the big BMG. Most 50 BMG rifles loaded with a 750 gr A-Max will use around 205 to 215 gr of H-50BMG. If you load to the top charge listed on the bottle of H-50BMG which is 233.0 gr you will have a VERY high pressure load. This data is for a M2 rifle with a very loose chamber and throat.
Your rifle will have a match throat or at least a throat MUCH tighter then any M2. As a result pressures will jump much more quickly. Most start with 195 gr of H-50BMG under the A-Max and work up from there using the same rechamber the fired case technique to get a read on pressures.
Most accuracy loads with the A-Max will be in the 2400-2550 fps range. Some will push them to 2600 fps but not many that are really after extreme accuracy. The reason is not that the bullet will not handle the added velocity, the reason is because the recoil level increases dramatically with the 50 BMG with this bullet weight as velocity increases.
Primer wise, I have only used CCI-35 primers. I will tell you that if you get some primers, by them by the 500 brick or more if you can afford it. At times it seems there are primers all over available to the handloader, at other times you will go 6 months and not be able to find any of them, keep stocked up with primers, I keep a brick of 500 on the shelf at all times at least!!
If you want to shoot surplus ammo, I really would recommend you get joined up with the FCSA as they are a wealth of knowledge about surplus ammo and what is good and what is bad.
YOu do not want to run some corrosive surplus ammo through your find rifle!!!
Anyway, good luck with your big 50 cal, you will have alot of fun with it!!
Kirby Allen(50)
As far as loading componants, it all depends on what you want to do.
I read one of the posts that said all 50 BMG shooters use Military surplus brass. Well, I know alot of 50 cal BR shooters and hardly any of them use surplus brass for their match cases.
If you want to load plinking ammo, thats one thing but brass for the BMG is just like brass for any other rifle, there is good brass and bad brass. I have always used PMC brass until recently when I have switched to IMI and now with that becoming hard to get I will give the Magtech brass a try and see how it does.
The problem with Surpus brass is that it is often mixed and you will have to sort it out. Also, if its once fired, it has been fired in an M2 Browning heavy machine gun and in most cases the chamber specs are not all that tight in the browning. Also, if the headspace is not set up properly by the gun crew, the cases will be stretched just ahead of the case head.
Now if your like most of the other 50 cal shooters I know that drop $3K on their rifles at least, they do not want to take the chance of finding a case with a thinned case head and have a problem when they load it.
If you get unfired surplus brass that is a different story but then you have to deal with removing the sealer in the neck of the round and that can also be a pain in the rear!! You also have to remove the primer crimp on the mil cases which is not hard to do but there is no need if you just buy commercial 50 BMG brass.
The thing about 50 BMGs is that if they are loaded properly you will not go much over 50K psi in chamber pressure. The best way to check your loads pressure is to shoot a round and extract the case, then put that same case back in the rifle and close the bolt on it in the chamber. It should chamber easily with no real resistance. If you can not rechamber that fired case or you have to lean on the bolt, you are loading your rifle to hot.
Loaded this way , you will really never wear out a batch of 50 BMG brass so there is no need to skimp on brass prices, get some good stuff. Also, you will have a single shot rifle with the M99 so even 50 rounds is alot. I would dare say unless you have a group of shooters shooting your rifle, you will not put 50 rounds of ammo through your rifle in on day of shooting unless your shooting comp at a FCSA match.
I tell my customers not to go overboard with brass, get 100 rounds for a single shot, 200-300 for a big semi auto and that is plenty.
If you want to load lower priced ammo, save your money on bullets and powder but realize that accuracy will suffer as well. Most of the military surplus bullets can be had for very little price. The last batch of 700 gr FMJBTs I bought came in a 250 round pack for $60. Thats pretty darn cheap.
One thing to watch for is loose cores though. I go through all my surplus bullets and shake each one. You can actually hear the cores rattle on some of these bullets. Those that do get culled out and used for either velocity testing or just as plinkers for someone that wants to give the big 50 cal a try sometime.
Sorted bullets are actually pretty accurate generally holding around 1.5 moa at 1000 yards if sorted. This is not great but for the price of the bullets its very good and generally more then enough for causal rock busting.
Powder is where you will save alot of money if you want to load cheap ammo. Surplus pulled ammo is very cheap but you buy at a risk of getting low quality powder. Powders such as WC872 is also very low price and you can get this powder new that has not been pulled down and get very good results with reasonable price.
Again, do not figure brass costs into your ammo cost, the cases will probably last you the life of the rifle so after a few firings, its cost is already reduced to pretty much nothing.
Now for accuracy work, this is a totally differnet story. Just like any long range rifle, what you put into it will determine what you get out of it.
You will need match grade bullets, the A-Max is the most common and easiest to get. Wildcat Bullets makes some good 50 cal bullets as well as does Barnes with their new non-bore riding solids.
For match 50 BMG loads I have only used H-50BMG and have never had a reason to look for another powder as it is perfect for the big BMG. Most 50 BMG rifles loaded with a 750 gr A-Max will use around 205 to 215 gr of H-50BMG. If you load to the top charge listed on the bottle of H-50BMG which is 233.0 gr you will have a VERY high pressure load. This data is for a M2 rifle with a very loose chamber and throat.
Your rifle will have a match throat or at least a throat MUCH tighter then any M2. As a result pressures will jump much more quickly. Most start with 195 gr of H-50BMG under the A-Max and work up from there using the same rechamber the fired case technique to get a read on pressures.
Most accuracy loads with the A-Max will be in the 2400-2550 fps range. Some will push them to 2600 fps but not many that are really after extreme accuracy. The reason is not that the bullet will not handle the added velocity, the reason is because the recoil level increases dramatically with the 50 BMG with this bullet weight as velocity increases.
Primer wise, I have only used CCI-35 primers. I will tell you that if you get some primers, by them by the 500 brick or more if you can afford it. At times it seems there are primers all over available to the handloader, at other times you will go 6 months and not be able to find any of them, keep stocked up with primers, I keep a brick of 500 on the shelf at all times at least!!
If you want to shoot surplus ammo, I really would recommend you get joined up with the FCSA as they are a wealth of knowledge about surplus ammo and what is good and what is bad.
YOu do not want to run some corrosive surplus ammo through your find rifle!!!
Anyway, good luck with your big 50 cal, you will have alot of fun with it!!
Kirby Allen(50)
Thank you all for your advice. I am sure I will be calling on you all again.
DanM55
Member
Can you reload regular ammo with the hornady or rcbs 50 press? Ive been using a lee 50 press and i started using it to reload 577-450 martini henry with it. Cones with an adapter. Apparently u can reload other ammo with it too.
Its too bad 50bmgsupply burnt up in a fire. They also had bought almost all the remainig surplus pulled bullets before. Like the AP,apit, ext. They had apis for like 30 cents a piece. Try looking on forums for brass you might be able to get sum secondhand for cheap. But i think fmjs arent too pricey.
Its too bad 50bmgsupply burnt up in a fire. They also had bought almost all the remainig surplus pulled bullets before. Like the AP,apit, ext. They had apis for like 30 cents a piece. Try looking on forums for brass you might be able to get sum secondhand for cheap. But i think fmjs arent too pricey.
