Any .50bmg uppers that don't require you to take a lot of stuff out of your lower? I'm talking about as easy change as possible. I would love if it was just pop out two pins and snap on the upper, I know the buffer spring would get in the way but that's very easy to take out.

theres a few, some from spartan weaponry, single shot, no mag, i think the only item you need to remove is the buffer, on a side note: i do not recommend a polymer lower on this

Saftety Harbors requires just the hammer spring changed out for a stronger hit. Easy to do. Zel is the same way if I am not mistaken.

http://www.rifleshootermag.com/rifles/ar-15/love-child-zel-custom-t1-tactilite-review/
According to this it's a bit more intensive than that.

Forgot about the hammer. When I did my Safety Harbors, I decided on a custom lower from http://smosarms.com/cgi-bin/imcart/display.cgi?item_id=r50&cat=1&page=1&search=&since=&status= . Those little parts are easy to remove from a standard lower that was listed in the link you provided. Still the cheapest way to get into a 50BMG. If you do get into 50BMG, unless you have allot of money to spare, learn to reload. 3 bucks a round for surplus isn't cheap. Up to 5 bucks a round if you want to shoot the good stuff. Think I am under 1.50 per round reloading my own now.

I'm just theorizing right now. It'll be a long while if I ever do get a .50 as it's fairly low on the list of stuff to get. I just like doing a lot of research so I only ever buy once. Yes they are easy to take out but easy to lose as well. I would rather not have to change stuff in my lower to put the .50 on top. I wasn't looking for cheapest just most convenient way to carry a .50. The upper seemed nice if it was just snap on and snap off.

I am not real sure of what all has to be removed for my Ferret 50. I know that the buffer tube and spring. I am thinking that the dis connector and maybe the safety. And if I was to do it all again. I think I would buy one of those lowers that are a trigger group only. No mag well, no bolt release and so on. I would not allow your mandates to dictate which upper you buy. Just get a dedicated lower.

You're saying to not let my requirements decide what upper to buy and settle for a dedicated lower.... The entire point of going with just a .50 upper is to reduce weight and size of carrying one. I don't want to complicate things while trying to do this.

If you don't mind swapping the trigger group parts when switch between your AR and the 50, then just the upper will do for you. Or find a cheap lower to dedicate to the 50 upper. Either way works. I wanted a dedicated lower plus look half way descent to but could have swapped out from my AR. If weight is a concern, a short barrel like the 18 inch safety harbors sell might be the ticket. Look through the vids on this forum and see one of the members shooting his 18 inch 50BMG. Mine is a 22 inch. A bit heavy. Won't be back packin it though. Good luck on your choice. Don't forget to post some pics.

Well first you cant shoot just an upper. You need a lower too. A dedicated lower is going to be lighter. Esp if you get one of these lowers that dont have a magazine well. I believe there is less excess metal involved. Oh and if getting a lighter rifle was the point. Did you say that before? Hey if you dont like my suggestion. You dont have to act like an ass, just ignore and move on. Oh and I really thought the point is that you wanted a lower that did not need a lot of changes to slap an upper on it. My suggestion was meant to say get the upper you want and just put a dedicated bottom on it. A lot of people who compromise end up unhappy.

If you're going to spend $1500+ on an upper, might as well spend $150 on a dedicated lower for the .50.

I would still like to switch out the upper on to a 5.56 upper... A dedicated lower foils that plan.

Most of the drop on 50bmg uppers are going to require:

REMOVAL OF
1) Bolt Catch Assembly
2) Recoil Spring

REPLACEMENT OF
1) Hammer & Hammer Spring (requires special heavy duty to avoid light primer strikes)
2) Buffer Tube (if it is not currently rifle length)

You will also want a decent buttstock with recoil pad if you value your shoulder.

BOHICA used to sell an aftermarket bolt catch that worked with their .50 upper.  It let you leave the bolt catch in place when you swapped the upper out.





Personally, I would dedicate a lower.  Anderson's are $40 right now, so it doesn't really cost much.



ETA: here is a pic of their bolt catch - I like them because they will work on an AR57 upper to hold the bolt open.




       

 

You can just leave a heavy hammer spring in place and use it for both 5.56 and .50 BMG.



You could also get an aftermarket trigger like the Hipertouch.  They are stronger than standard AR15 FCG's and should work with the .50.

http://www.brownells.com/rifle-parts/triggers-parts/triggers/ar-15-308-ar-hipertouch-trigger-prod59835.aspx

       
 

Would there be an issue with pierced primers using the heavier springs (on 556) ? Would a UBR buffer tube work with the .50 or no? and is there anywhere to get that bohica bolt catch or does their new company make it? Thanks for the help.

Suppose it depends on the ammo, but I would think heavier spring alone would be OK.
The addition of a heavy duty hammer+spring as used on the SHF50 upper is likely a different story.
SHF50 Hammer

The UBR should work.  You just need enough tube length for bolt travel during ejection.

I run a UBR on one of my Safety Harbors, the bolt will go back far enough to cycle. Lost count but am well over a 100 rds on that gun and it hasn't collapsed yet. This is the only collapsible stock I would trust though. The UBR is rated for the 458 SOCOM & Beowulf rounds. I cut a piece of thick water hose and wedge in the gap, just incase the locking mechanism does let go.

You can change over the required parts to go from a 5.56 to a .50 upper in 10-15 minuets but it involves drifting out the bolt catch retainer pin which is a PITA. Other than that everything else is a drop-in or removal. I do use the heavier hammer and spring for my SH 50s. I agree with everyone else that mentions a dedicated lower. They are dirt cheap right now so why not. Any cheap forged receiver will work, as long as its mil-spec. Unless your goal is to have a ultra portable system, using an interchangeable lower, then swapping over wouldn't be that big of deal if you aren't planning to do so all the time. I imagine that roll pin hole for the bolt catch will enlarge from frequent removal and replacement.

There is no other .50 BMG that is as portable, lightweight and quick handling as an 18-22" conversion upper on a AR lower. Most companies making these conversion uppers do offer a complete rifle that is  essentially their conversion upper on their own proprietary lower. Most of those are a little heavier and bulkier. The short barreled Serbu single shot would be close in weight/size to a conversion type. My 18" Safety Harbor with full 5 shot magazine complete with bipod and a 2.5lbs scope weighs about 25lbs and fits in a full size AR-15 soft case with the stock collapsed.

That is my goal which is why I wanted a very easy conversion. Thanks for understanding that.
It looks like I can modify a bolt catch so I don't have to take it out. So basically the only change needed would be to remove the buffer and spring. Would the buffer retaining pin need to be taken out? If so that would be another issue to overcome.

Correct the buffer spring retainer pin comes out or is not used. Also I think I did read about the bolt catch being cut down instead of removed, to clear wider 50 upper.

Any ideas to get around that?

You can grind down the bolt stop so that you won't have to remove it.  As for the buffer spring under no circumstances do you ever leave it in.  With the bolt release adapted for a 50 BMG upper and a buffer spring in the gun is a recipe for Kaboom.   With the bolt back against the spring and then hitting the bolt release the 50 BMG bolt can possibly fly forward fast enough for the firing pin to keep on moving forward as the bolt chambers the round WITHOUT THE LUGS ENGAGING.  So it's simple take the spring out.  I have a dedicated single shot steel lower for my rifle but at first I used my Bushmaster Varminter.  With the Bohica bolt stop and spring out I was able to switch back and forth without any trouble.  I much prefer having it's own lower and it just plain looks better with the single shot lower.

To be clear I wasn't asking about leaving the spring and buffer in but the buffer retaining pin. It sounds like I can leave that in though right?

I live the retaining pin in mine.  I was not trying to bust your chops but I do believe some of the kabooms that have happened were do to the bolt flying forward and not being fully into battery when the firing pin hit the primer.  I was just trying to let everyone know it is a preventable accident. I had a friend suggest that it was cool because of the way it pushed the bolt forward and I had to head that off quickly as an accident waiting to happen.

Haha I didn't think you were busting my chops. It just seemed like you took what I had to say the wrong way so I wanted to clarify. Even if you were busting my chops it would've been noted but I wouldn't have been offended. So I think I know the way I would go if I was to get an upper. Any issues with valley ordnance works? I understand they were the guys who had Bohica right? I live in AZ so everything would be done in person. I've found that reduces the chances of being screwed over quite a bit.

As Bohica Chris was great to me but he sure burned some bridges and I can't understand why.  When he made that post here about the ATF going to start registering uppers it didn't go over well since that was a couple of years ago and there has been no action on that part.

My opinion is that I would not get anywhere close to Chris from BOHICA or what ever he calls his company now days.

Max-Paul you've made your point abundantly clear many times here.  I stated facts about my dealings with Chris and the problems he also had on this forum.  I however have yet to hear a single complaint about his new company.  I don't think I would purchase one at this time but I assume he is still selling quite a few rifles.  I've not heard of any kabooms with them.  I have not inspected any of them but my Bohica has a lot of range time and still is a very accurate and well functioning rifle. My best friend recently died and he had two Bohicas.  One was a 30" barrel and the other has a 36" barrel.  His daughter kept the 30" Bohica and enjoys shooting it all 98 lbs of her.  The other was purchased by a friend and I helped him get it set up with the few items to personalize it.  Like a better trigger, firing pin etc.  Both rifles had single shot dedicated lowers.   The finish on all three of our rifles is fine without any problems at all.  They are comfortable shooters.  I don't know what Chris did to you but anytime a Bohica is mentioned you go off on it.  There are a lot of Bohica shooters that enjoy their rifles and shoot them often.  Nuf Said!

That's good to know about the spring retainer pin. I will probably put mine back in the lower receiver if it won't scratch the bottom of the bolt. I just never really checked it for clearance since my lowers are dedicated for my 50 uppers. Now if the bolt carrier release lever can be shaved down and left in place you could make the swap from 5.56 to 50 BMG a 5 minuet deal. For me it would mean having a spare AR lower ready to go in a clutch situation. Good stuff.

Yes to you I might have made my point very clear. But it was not meant for you that I said something about Chris again. It was meant for the new guy. So suffer if you must, but suffer all of the same. Oh Chris didnt really have problems in the forum. He had problems with those who he caused to have problems with him and his products. I see you have no problem with saying the name of his old company. But not once did you mention the new company's name. Yes there was a few rifles that where good guns. But so many more that were all messed up. Still has a less than safe hammer block before a high lock-up. Also the firing pin is not cammed back when the bolt is lifted.

Hey it is my opinion. I did not attack your opinion. I just threw out my opinion. Sorry if you dont like my opinion. Just voice yours, but dont attack me, unless your ready for me to call you on it before the mods. Enough as you yourself have said.

So....What is the name of BOHICA's  (really...bend over here it comes again...) new company.  Do share.
 

Valley Ordnance Works LLC

I am not sure if Chris owns this one or not.

Have heard not to call them up and mention BOHICA.