The cool thing about .50BMG is the ammo is extremely prevalent. It's been in use in some capacity since World War II. There's tons of it around. THe .416 Barrett (I believe) shoots a flatter, farther trajectory. You won't be able to find it just anywhere, in fact, you will most likely be able to only order it from Barrett. If you're going to go big bore, get the .50. You'll love it.

I have several big bores, and long range set-ups. I usually shoot one of my Lapuas 4-to-1 over my Barrett. Although, if I was just shooting for recreation (fun) and not tactical type drills, I would be shooting the .50 more. I enjoy the concussive feelings every time I squeeze one off. Price wise, I only shoot Lapua brand ammunition from my 338's, with HSM, or other customs when specialty loads are needed, but cheaper ammunition is available if you are just wanting to plink. Prvi Partizan in fact has very affordable loads for the .338. Accuracy is also easier to achieve with the Lapua. Shooting the BMG is just different somehow, and requires a bit different technique.

The Lapua will handle 90% of the shooting chores you may have, with the exception of anti-material work. The .50 on the other hand, is much more of a blast to shoot, pun intended. For recreation, it would be more of a personal thing, than fact-based decision.

-PC-

No matter what you do, reload for whatever caliber you pick. You'll thank me later if you do.

Price of surplus ball or new FMJ "blasting" ammo- $2.25-5 a round

Match ammo goes for 6-8 bucks a round or more.

Price of FMJ, API, or APIT reloads (buying bullets in bulk and resizing them yourself)- $1.10-1.50 a round. Match grade Amax loads $3.00-3.50 a round.

The reloading kit pays for itself within a couple hundred rounds. Not to mention the various perks of hand loaded/tuned ammo vs. factory.

Make sure you can shoot 50BMG where you go shooting,some places don't allow them.

I've had a fifty of some kind since around '00. I don't shoot them much, but it is too much fun to be without.

Are the 50bmg 's hard on optics,?as long as you go excellent quality they don't tear good one up

it is hard on all optics. Its just matter of how well built the optic is. Don't go cheap on it, unless you go for SWFA SS fixed focus scope.

I may just go for the 338 lapua, start out alittle smaller and maybe in the future "provided you can still get em" of for the 50bmg.

I bought a 375 CheyTac... it doesn't have to be made by them to own a rifle in 375CT loading. Mine is a Stiller TAC 408 repeater action, a brux, 1:10 30" barrel, RWS brake, PDC chassis, jewell trigger, 34moa base, 5.5-22x NightForce NSX scope.. You can probably build one cheaper than a 50cal. but, I've never really shopped for a 50. Mine was around 4k to build the rifle... then, of course, you have to scope it.

After a lot of thought, I decided on 375CT ( it's the improved version of the 408CT ).... You can load it on your ol' rockchucker... the custom dies will set you back a bit but, the 375 will reach 2000yds almost 3/4 a second faster than the 50bmg in almost all loadings... it will shoot a LOT flatter and shoot inside a 50cal in the wind to boot... like I said, you will also not need to re-buy all of your loading equipment but, you will need a large capacity brass trimmer.

You can get a 350gr lathe turned solid to about 3200fps at .941BC... you can run the ballistics on that yourself and see the numbers this beast will put up.... With those numbers, it shoots further, flatter and inside the wind any 50bmg loading you can come up with, IMHO. ( 135+gr of retumbo under that 350gr lathe turned solid ) The other plus in the equasion is that you can have a 375CT and it won't weigh as much as a 50 will. You can get one in about 20lbs instead of the 30+ pounds in a 50 cal... actually, I don't know how light a 50 can be had for but, the 408CT action is smaller and lighter than a 50 action so the rifle components are usually lighter. After I put up some numbers into ballistic calculators with some assumptions, I was finding that the 350gr solid was going to go subsonic at sea level etc. around 2800yds and the 50 cal by just replacing the bullet bc and the velocity going subsonic at 2600yds... not much difference really... the elevation required to get there was around 20moa less come up with the 375 and it got there a lot faster but, the windage was only slightly less with the 375... I guess it's the fact that even though it's going faster, it's a much lighter bullet so the 375 slightly beat out the 50 on that.

Now, if you're not going to reload for it, that's a whole other story. If you aren't going to reload then, the 50 is really the only choice... ammo cost would be prohibitive.... The 50bmg rounds can be had more inexpensively than any 375CT or 408CT ammo you can find loaded. There is also more bullet types available for the 50bmg. About the only thing you can find for the CT are lathe turned solids...although I believe Rocky Mountain has some lead core bullets available but, I'm not sure they're cheaper.

Now, I love the 50 round and probably will own one someday just so I can say I have one. Not trying to take anything away from them either... it's a great round and they can't be beat for the, "WOW" factor! You can still shoot either a 50 cal or a 375CT over a mile and a half and hit something that far away.

Good point i was doing more reading about 338's and came to the decision that i may as well do the 50 just cause.
And if i want something precision i will either spend some time and money on my 300 mag or maybe invest in a
long range hunter in the future. Thanks everybody i really appreciate the help and innsight. so i will order the armalite
AR-50A1 monday!

the APA bipod and monopod really are nice for the AR50. I really liked them on mine. The carry handle was nice too. Expensive for what you get, but it was nice to move the rifle around.

I will do so and yes the picture thread is great but almost "bad"
it just makes you want everything!!!
Does anyone have an idea about Millett scopes, i have a 4-15 on my 204 varmint ar
i could swap out if it would take it.

A lot of guys go with a fixed scope because it's cheaper you can pick up a SWFA SS for $300-400, compared to $1K+ you may spend a quality variable scope. The SWFA SS hold up will to the recoil of the 50BMG as well, some scopes won't I run a high end Burris adjustable 4-16 on my AR-50, went with that over the SWFA SS is because I got a good deal on it. You made the right decision going with the 50BMG you won't be disappointed, my uncle has a 338 and while it's fun to shoot, it's not near as much fun as shooting the 50BMG, although the 338 is probably more practical for hunting.