Prior GD thread

Any thoughts on this design?





My state is getting squirrely.  I'm writing & will fight the ban attempts that are forthcoming, but all that said, a .50 is looking appealing more now than ever.  Yes, it's expensive - a little more than a M107A, actually - but I figure if I'm going to get 1 more (I have almost every class of rifle I've wanted for my collection up until now.  Only thing missing is .308, & what I want in that category is unobtanium), so might as well go big.

If you have the $$$, purchase one.
Never know when there will be another import ban.
I'm surprised that 'they' have not pursued the .50 BMG.

The nearest price point comparison is an M107A, which lists at ~$12,000 MSRP.  Definitely on the extreme end.

My main concern with the Lynx, barring price, is the magazines, which I've heard are individually "custom" fit to each rifle.  Now, I could perhaps understand this if the guns were hand made, but these are CNC manufactured, so there shouldn't be much variance in the tolerance stack up between units..  Scratch that.  Being single stack 5 rds is another annoyance when staggered stack 10 round mags make a lot more sense on a 50 BMG rifle that is so relatively handy.  Not sure what the thinking was concerning this.

I'm going to have to call the importer & ask some questions.

Spoke with Tactical Imports in Canada, the NA importer for the rifle.  They do keep spare parts on hand, but lead time for parts has not been a problem & their supply has been steady.  It was claimed that there haven't been any issues with particularly chronic, high wear parts on the rifle.  Also, the magazines are not custom fit, as has been rumored, though they are expensive @ $375 a piece , no doubt due to the manual welding involved in fabricating them.  Any of the mags will work in any rifle.

It may sound petty, but the 5 rd mag capacity is a little off-putting; almost a "feature flaw" IMO.  Seems like 10 rd mags should've been a no-brainer from the start, especially @ $375 per.

I'm willing to grapple with the cost, but could still use some experienced advice on this.  Is this a petty criticism?

That's a turn off for me. 10 rounds go too fast. 5 is just silly.

That's where I am.  It's a perplexing design decision, given how relatively mobile the platform is.  Then factor in the higher price tag.

Probably a Canadian regulation.

Except it's made in Hungary.  It could have been designed for a staggered, 10 rd stack mag, with a 5 rd restricted variant (eg. floor plate spacer).  But the magazine well is designed for a single stack mag, so there's no way a wider, staggered column mag could be made to work with it because of the geometry, where the length that inserts into the receiver would be too long for a follower to push all the rounds up & also feed the last round or 2 all the way into the chamber.  It's a puzzling design decision.

It appears they are manufactured as is in Hungary.

While the GM6 is really cool, watching the M82A1 occasionally going for $6,600 would be far more appealing. At that price point you have extra $$$ for good optics, a few more mags, and a couple hundred rounds of AMAX.

The price point is stratospheric.  I was considering it because of looming ban legislation in my state, so it was going to be a hail Mary kind of buy, since I don't anticipate being able to clear out of here anytime soon.  That said, they market it as a rather handy 50 BMG rifle, but then hamstring it with a 5 rd mag, which is a bit of a letdown.  If 10 rd mags were available, I'd be on it.

I've also been looking at the Leader 50, which, although not as sexy as the Sero, frankly appears to do everything better, uses Serbu 10 rd mags, & costs a little less.  Not sure if that brake can be removed to install a suppressor, though.



I really like the bullpup 50 concept.  I was really jonesing for the Barret XM500 to come into production, but they dumped or shelved it for reasons unknown, although I keep hoping they might revisit the idea.

I'll be scouring for info from the upcoming SHOT Show.

Now that looks like a pretty nice option, especially as its only about 1,600$ over the M82s best price. Also those BFG-50A mags are only $140

Been thinking about it for a bit, & the brake seems to be the key element that manages recoil with the Leader, since it uses a long stroke operation, which doesn't impart any sort of recoil mitigation, & you don't get something for nothing.  Thus, I suspect the design is front-heavy - add another ~2# forward with a bipod mounted - & this makes sense when viewing demo shots fired:



It's questionable as to whether the Leader can host a silencer if the brake is what keeps it manageable.  I suppose it can, but the recoil would undoubtedly be greater.  It doesn't appear to be tunable for load variations, either.  The Sero does have that going for it.

Aren’t the leader 50s vapor wear. I followed it for years and it never seems to go into production.

Yeah, Micor was supposed to be the mfger initially, but then that partnership disintegrated for some reason.  Now they're made by a company under the designer's name, St George Arms.  I'm getting a "boutique" vibe, juxtaposed to Sero, which is an established mfger.  That 5 rd single stack mag, though...

I asked the GM of Sero about the Lynx, & although he was quick to answer my initial query, he didn't respond back when I asked about the possibility of a 10 rd mag in the future, which I take as a "no".

The XM500 had functioning problems. Ronnie just wouldn't listen to input from me and another guy in assembly.
Charles St. George at Leader worked at Barrett for some time. Hell of a nice guy.

The XM500 looked good.  I'm going to guess it wasn't far from realization.  Frankly, if Barrett had stuck it out, made it work, & released it, I would've been a customer.

I recently read that the 50 BMG 3 lug bolt was patented by Charles back in 1982, & Barrett got a patent for the same/similar design in 1989.

I confirmed with the importer that the barrels are not chrome lined.  Should this be a concern?

For sure.  I only ask since both the Leader & Barrett have it, presumably for durability reasons.

From my perspective as a potential consumer, guess I just feel like for being at the top of the price pyramid, it should have those features.  But maybe that's an uninformed opinion.

Well, the Leader 50 is definitely out of consideration.

Bullpup forum thread on civil suit against Charles St George concerning lack of service for production flaws with a delivered Leader 50 rifle.

Good grief.

The thing is, this is the only real 3rd party, independent discussion I could find on the L50 at all.  There's just nothing else out there to counter this.

Judging from that thread, it also appears my assessment of the massive brake being the functional lynchpin of the system was correct.

Well, I learned that while not chrome lined, the GM6 Lothar barrels are LW-50 steel, which is a variety of stainless akin to 17-4 PH stainless (albeit lower on the hardness scale), so there's some inherent corrosion resistance with better wear life.  That's a plus.

Neat gun.
I legitimately considered putting down the 10k+ for one a while ago, but at the end of the day the 5rd mag was the dealbreaker.

The 5 rd mag is a real head scratcher; don't know why they didn't go 10.  Maybe a functional design issue, but don't know.  It's worth noting that the Barrett 99 has a 5 rd mag also.  Not sure if that's somehow owed to the bullpup config or what.

The mag is single stack, so a 10rd mag would be too long.
They should've made it use the proven barrett 10rd mag.
The leader is nice, but being a southpaw, both rifle's are of no use to me.
SJC

Yeah, the single stack is the curiosity.  Seems like a staggered 10 rd would've been an obvious choice, but that would require a wider mouth cut in the receiver.  I'd like to believe there's a rational decision behind the direction taken, but there's no way to know at the moment.

Reviving this thread, but like the OP I am strongly consider the GM6 to fill the .50 void in my collection.  Has anyone here taken the plunge on one yet?  The main attraction to this rifle over the Barrett M82A1 for me is quite simply that it's different and unique and unlike anything else out there.  5 rnd mags may not be ideal but that wouldn't be the deal breaker for me.  5 consecutive shots of .50 BMG before needing to reload is plenty for me as the gun in reality is a novelty.  Finding space to stretch either of these gun's legs is no issue either.

But the Barrett is obviously an icon, and being able to pick one up now for $6xxx vs nearly $15k is a huge incentive.  Almost seems foolish to pick the GM6 over the Barrett, and yet why do I want the Lynx so much.  Just to have a conversation piece when that bad boy comes out....maybe?

Actually had a Lynx in my cart before doing the M82A1... Just a couple thoughts:

1) Like you, 5 rounds isn't actually an issue in my book. I have four ten-round magazines for my M82A1 and I've only filled them to five or six rounds max. At $2-3 a round, myself and others shoot it slowly to savor the experience and joy. Shots two, three, and four are usually the best as far as run and rewarding go then five and six start to diminish a little and it's time for something smaller to reset your perspective. While it's nice to know I can double that if I want to, I wouldn't get hung up on the magazine size. YMMV and I'm sure there's no shortage of people who like to mag dump fiddy BMG on steel plates or don't want to be bothered with reloading.

2) While I go out of my way to try to prevent this possible reality, I expect 50 BMG rifles to go the way of machine guns and possibly become destructive devices with a closed registry. The M82A1 is iconic but also rather mundane compared to the Lynx. To that end, I would expect the Lynx to reflect even more exotic pricing in that scenario sorta like an HK21/MP5SD vs an M16.

3) The actual logistics of the Lynx lend itself to being easier to take out and shoot. The M82A1 is just shy of 5 feet long assembled and, more than likely, will need to be transported in a disassembled state and, in my case, be reassembled to not take up a ridiculous amount of room in my safe. It's not hard to break down but it is something of a small chore to assemble and disassemble every time you want to send a few rounds down range with it. The Lynx, though, collapses into itself for quick transport.

4) But the rough part... At $14k, you have a lot of alternatives though I think I'd rather have the Lynx than any transferrable you can get for a similar price. You can throw $7k at an M82A1 to get something truly awesome with money left over for 500 rounds of fifty BMG and at least three other fairly exotic guns like an AUG or Benelli M4. Or, while I'd rather have the Lynx, you can also get the M017A1 and the Barrett suppressor with tax, transfers, stamps, and money to spare. That also means it's going to be much harder to sell for its full value down the road if you ever need to barring circumstances that make its value absolutely surge.

IMO if you have the money for it and really nothing else has your eye, I don't think you'd regret the buy in the slightest. But the Lynx is in another league and I'm just not playing that game. Despite my interest in the Lynx, I ended up going with a 29" M82A1 and I have absolutely zero remorse. Still very exotic and easily the best fiddy available. Two great options!

Thanks Reiko for the breakdown and your thoughts.  Love the unbiased review with you being a M82A1 owner.  I agree the Lynx is a bit more exotic than the Barrett and the price obviously reflects that, however it's not everyday you see a Barrett at the range or any .50 cal for that matter so I probably shouldn't get too hung up on that.  I think anyone would be in awe at either of these 50's!

Speaking with regards to the size, that's actually another good point you bring up.  The Lynx looks like something I'd actually use more regularly simply for the convenience.  I love a big rifle and I have a few but nothing quite as big as the Barrett, but there are days where I don't bring them out because I don't want to deal with it.  It's surprising how much energy I expend getting ready for a day of shooting when I'm lugging around 50 lbs worth of targets and other gear plus the guns on top of that.

I agree you could have a Barrett and some other nice guns for the price of a Lynx.  Funny enough you picked a couple on my list like the AUG and Benelli.  For me the M107A1 doesn't make as much sense as I'm not really looking to suppress it...at that price point I'd jump to the Lynx, but the M82A1 is right in that sweet spot.
But 2020 is the year I've been really going after some of my most desirables...I think too much spare time at home with the stay at home orders.  Like you, I don't think I'd have any remorse with either rifle and they are the most desirable of the 50s in my mind.  Still leaning a bit towards the Lynx but I'll need to make a decision fairly soon if I want to get in the 6 month build queue.

@Master_Blaster
Like you I was looking for something in 50BMG and the Barrett M82 was on my list. I already had a 50 in a bolt gun so semiauto was the next step. After looking at the options and price point I decided on an M2HB in semiauto. Yes it's BIG, yes it's a chore getting it out to shoot but now that I have it I don't regret the decision. You can get a M2HB made from all new parts built by one of the best names in the business  for ~$10K. It's nice having a belt of 100 rounds and not having a magazines to buy and load.
Give Ed at CWA a call if you are interested

The M2 is cool & I've always wanted to take one for a test drive.  However, it lacks the kind of man portability that the GM6 has, which is largely what draws me to it, along with the long stroke recoil mitigation.  Unfortunately, the recent turn of events has put everything on hold for me.  Fortunately, I'm still working, though the long term outlook is unknown, so I'm putting off big disposable commitments until circumstances stabilize.