Hi!

So my wife wants to get me a BMG, but we are really confused about which direction or company to go through. I'm left eye dominant so I wanted to go with a left hand or ambidextrous set up. We found a couple of different gun smiths and have browsed different companies like Armalite, Anzio, Bluegrass Armory, and McMillan. We are aware Barrett doesn't make Left hand 50 cals according to their website. When she called up one of the custom shops, they told us we needed to buy all the parts and they would assemble them. Problem is, we don't know what all the parts are, or what we need - we only know what we do want.

What we are looking for is:
left handed
bolt action magazine fed
a ~33" target taper barrel (stainless or chrome moly)
an F Class LBR 50 looking Stock (like the blue one from McMillan)
fixed sling loops
20-30 minutes of adjustment on a scope mount
a bipod mount

The rest is largely unknown territory for us, although my wife and I both like the look of the Defiance Machine's Rebel Bolt actions, particularly the shiny spiral looking bolts, and I recently found out McMillan makes something similar for about $2700. We were looking at Lilja Precision Barrels but we aren't sure those barrels are "complete enough" for our assembly person.
We know nothing about actions and magazine ports, except we don't want the 90 degrees like in the Zel Custom .50 Upper. My wife's AR30 has a beautifully huge Muzzle Break and we rather like the AR50's supersized version, I think they call it "clamshell". I heard some people say it's loud and ugly but I've also heard it works really well.

In terms of budget, we are trying for between 3500 and 7000, and want to keep some costs down because our smiths are charging by the hour. Part of our plan to stay in budget is to hold off on buying the Bipod (probably a Harris), the Scope Rings (probably quick detach), and the Scope (probably a Nightforce or US Optics). If the cost before scope, rings, and bipod ends up being too high, we are probably going to cave and get an AR50 - who's one big drawback for us is the single shot action.

any help in this venture would be greatly appreciated. Pictures would also help.

Thanks!

McMillan makes their receivers any way you want them, plus you can buy the rifle from them. Another custom shop is Action Gun Works but you might have a little wait as they build to order.

The other is to buy an AR-50 in a left hand version if you can find one for sale.

Do you want a comp rifle or an every day shooter? If you want a shooter I would go with an out of the box Tac-50 or an M96 Windrunner but you'll have to contact EDM Arms to see if they still make LH Windrunners. If they don't I think you can still get a LH stock set up for one, call Bill and ask him.

I paid $700 for my left handed Ferret 50. Gently used.

We are looking for something a little closer to competition, although the Windrunner prices look somewhat steep compared with the Bushmaster BA50. We aren't too concerned about weight (we would prefer 25-35 lbs), aren't feeling a need for fluting, and actually prefer the aesthetics of detachable clam shell muzzle brakes like the AR50 and Barrett over the stove pipe/shark fin ones like Serbu and EDM. We would like at least a 5 round magazine.

I don't believe a left handed $700 option is in our future.

For some reason, I keep coming back to McMillan for parts. Is that normal, or is there some other parts company I'm missing?

Good catch Nam, How in hecks name did you find a LH Ferret for only 700 bucks? Did you forget to put a "1" in the front?

I think his project may have hit a bump in the road.

Pretty sure Barrett refuses to do any sales or support to California. Not sure if that includes the .416 or not.... but i know there was a big to do some years back.

I moved from NorCal to WA this year after completing a degree at University of California, but the wife is already a WA resident (schools don't consider you a resident unless you live there for a year, so changing it on the net hadn't occurred to me yet). I'm still getting used to things up here, like the knock on the door an hour ago with a guy delivering a box that said "ORM-D" from Elite Enterprises. If you've never lived in California, I have to tell you this is an experience you simply don't get.

Unrelated to Residency, question: McMillan Clamshell Muzzle Breaks?
I saw one featured at Action Gun Works: http://www.dierksind.com/Hclass_50.htm

But I didn't see anything like it on McMillan's Website.

Those brakes are from K&P and work almost as well as the Armalite, not sure how hard it is to get one.

As for ORM-D, I've never had any issues here in CA and that's shipping or receiving.

Actually, I live in CA and I buy and receive boxes labeled "ORM-D" (ammunition) on a regular basis. Heck, I even own a Tactilite T1 upper in .50 BMG - and my local Sportsman's Warehouse chain carries virgin .50 BMG brass for reloaders like me. Granted that I cannot assemble my T1 upper (into a rifle) or fire inside CA, but I do all of my "fun shooting" in Nevada anyways. I just plain feel better about spending my money in Nevada.

Point is, if you want to keep the option open to visit CA for any reason (and have your .50 BMG stuff along with you) then it may be worth considering the purchase of an "upper" as opposed to a complete rifle.

Why don't you join the fifty caliber shooters association and post there.
It will be WELL worth the investment.
You might also try bigger hammer.net.


Randy @ action gun works does more than just screw and click them together.
They require fitting, and final chambering among other things.