OK, crazy question for you guys.  The only close range where I could shoot my .50 BMG bolt action rifle has closed; I have to either not shoot it or drive a very long distance so....



I was wondering if anyone makes some sort of .50 BMG barrel insert or some sort of dummy round that takes rounds such as .22LR or .223/5.56mm?



I have Googled this question and came up with nothing....



I got the idea for this while looking at the X-Caliber shotgun barrel adapters.



Thanks in advance.



X-Caliber adapter below to give you guys an idea what I am talking about.

popular question

again

wonder if these guys would make one for you

Thanks for the quick reply RyJones.  

What state do you live in? Go find a sand pit or go out to the woods and shoot. Just stay away from rounds that start fires.

If I'm going to the trouble of dragging out my 40 lb. AR-50 and setting it up at the range, I'll be damned if I'm not going to fire 50 BMG ammo out of it.

I have my own range on my land here in Florida but some idiot recently built his home 1.4 miles downrange so for safety reasons I had to stop shooting .50 BMG rifles there.

Call, tell him to open doors on both sides of his house and advise him you are "playing thru".


Damm - SUCKS doesn't it.

Thanks, I need that, you made my day with your comment!  



 

Thats a bit paranoid i think. If every gun range went off a standard like that we would have hardly any. Do you not have a backstop?

Kinda of a neat idea so you could practice with cheaper ammo but how would you get say a 30-06 round to work without a sleeve that goes the whole length of the barrel.

There is nothing paranoid about that, it is called safety.  The recommended downrange safety distance for a .50 BMG is 5 miles.  Yes I do have a backstop.



 

I wonder if something like an adaptor chambered for one of the 50 caliber pistol rounds woule work or a 50 beawolf .
If you handload your 50 bmg you can use cast bullets and trailboss powder and use very reduced power loads.

Safety is important.

I skipped a few rounds over a Boy Scout outing early last Spring which got a few adults very excited. The woods that have no public access which the owner said I could use for safety reasons, were being used without permission of owner for Boy Scout training that week. (teaching good values about trespassing). I had shot into a small backstop with a muddy hill behind it which I thought was sufficient backstop, it wasn't as the projectile was skipping off the mud after penetrating 16" of old rotten railroad ties with dirt behind and in between. I was using 800 grain solid brass projectiles.

Im not saying to not have a little wiggle room behind the berm but worring about 1 1/2 miles behind? There is no way to tell if it would go straight back anyway. There is safe then there is giveing people the wrong idea. Kinda like wearing a helmet in car because of the chance of side impact. If i was worried about skipping a round out of my berm that much i would install a roof to stop it. 5 miles beyond is just paranoia and sets the wrong idea in my opinion. But thats my opinion.

If you were to have a rifle setting on the bipod with no monopod with the muzzle elevated about 37 degrees and have (ND) negligent discharge, the range on my loads is 5.8 miles.

I choose safety.

I can appreciate the way your thinking but if you build a back stop that will for sure catch 50 BMG rounds you should be okay.  I had the same problem but I've tractor tires filled with chunks of concrete and dirt.  It stops my 50 just fine.  I just don't let people I don't trust to hit the target evert time.
Ron

I can appreciate the way your thinking but if you build a back stop that will for sure catch 50 BMG rounds you should be okay.  I had the same problem but I've tractor tires filled with chunks of concrete and dirt.  It stops my 50 just fine.  I just don't let people  shoot I don't trust to hit the target every time.
Ron

From AccurateShooter.com

"In our Shooters’ Forum, there was an discussion about a range that was threatened with closure because rifle over-shoots were hitting a farm building over two miles from the firing line. "

"How many degrees of muzzle elevation do you think it would take to hit a barn at 3000 yards? Ten Degrees? Twenty Degrees? Actually the answer is much less — for a typical hunting cartridge, five to seven degrees of up-angle on the rifle is enough to create a trajectory that will have your bullet impacting at 3000 yards — that’s 1.7 miles away!"

I concur with the other member on here. While I can't knock you for wanting to be 100% safe with no possibility for anything going wrong, just the fact that your wielding a weapon, already increases your risk. Someone could be trespassing on your property just a mile back (or closer!)

Anyways, I think at the end of the day that as long as the only people shooting are those that you trust to shoot follow all the gun rules and you have a good backstop, there shouldn't be an issue. Your finger should NOT be on the trigger until you are aiming directly at the target you intend to destroy. Have I had a ND in the sense that it surprised me? Sure, more than a few times. It usually happens when I get used to a weapon with a very heavy trigger and then go to one of my light trigger rifles. However, before my finger is on the trigger I'm always aiming at what I want to destroy. So the only negative consequence of those ND is that the shot drifts an inch away from bullseye( from jerking the trigger). It's not one of those 'oh it slipped my mind scenarios'. You rifle should NEVER be 5 degrees titled and your finger even close to the trigger. If by some freak chain of events it is, I see that as possible as a freak chain of events leading to a ND in my own home , or while cleaning the firearm, or holstering or etc...

There were company's making sabots, firing .30 cal out of .50

These don't work so well out of a rifle with a break. The pedels start opening up with in it and could cause issues

With a lighter projo I would think that there would be less recoil. Thus I would think you could remove the brake and shoot without it.

Years ago when people were first playing with sabots like those -that's just what they did and the recoil was just fine.

The problem then was the twist rate was all wrong for the length/weight of the projectile
you got rediculus velocities with no stability
after a few hundred yards it was a real roll of the dice where it would go...

How about reduced power using cast bullets?

I've got a mold that casts a 820 50 Caliber bullet with gas check.  I've still not figured out a load that is very accurate and I think there is something that happens when the gas check goes through the brake. I'm still working on doing a better job of casting that big bullet without any voids. The mold is so heavy with the 3 large bullets that I pulled a tendon the first time casting a batch.  It takes a lot of lead to throw a batch of 820 grain bullets.

I bought a 1919 barrel for my 20x102. I should be able to turn it down to fit in the bore and headspace on the shoulder.
Still need to have it turned.

Won't be terribly accurate.

if I was worried about NDs at all angles, I would have to hunt above the artic circle to eliminate all risk...   that said, 50 BMG is closer to a cannon round than a centerfire rifle, you need one hecukuva backstop.   You can recess it with berms, panels or a roof on top.    Maybe a giant culvert that is flush to the target.

You also need a pretty clean skip to worry about them at extreme ranges.  

Any solid contact on a decent backstop should mangle the bullet pretty badly or send it straight up at a high degree of angle.