Posted about 2 years ago about buying a .50 BMG to replace my BOHICA Mark III which I haven't shot in years due to lack of space and a probably unfounded fear of kB.

I've always wanted an M82A1. Irrational desire to own a semi-auto .50 BMG. But I recognize that it's not super practical and not accurate; possibly even less so than the BOHICA.

At the time I was guided towards the AR-50 for its performance and overall value. But as I was ready to buy, they went out of stock everywhere. Then the election started looking worse and worse and I ended up buying 3 MP5 clones, multiple cans, 2 more Steyr AUGs, a FAL, a PTR, and a bunch of other assorted stuff in addition to NODs, so the .50 went by the wayside.

Now it's time to fill that gap in the next 4-6 months. Thoughts?

Rifles i'm considering (ceiling 8Kish)

M82A1 - want one for the cool factor and the semi auto factor, not for any rational reason. Expensive (cheapest I'm seeing is 8Kish, far cry from this time last year) and inaccurate. Looked up a lot of 50cals old posts and disappointed that the newer ones aren't expected to do much more than 2.5-3MOA. I'm not looking to get into long range competition but that just doesn't seem awesome. That said, it's something I want deep down and not sure any other rifle will scratch that itch.

AR50A1 - less than 1/2 the price, way more accurate, just as heavy or heavier. Probably the smart choice. But no one has any in stock and haven't for a while now.

M99 - Similar to the AR50 performance and pricewise, supposedly extremely accurate. Possibly another smart choice.

M95 - I like the idea of it, but being priced almost exactly halfway between a M82 and an M99 seems a little high for the added convenience of a magazine. But having a repeater might be enough to scratch the semi-auto itch. Accurate, but supposedly the recoil is more noticeable than the others.

BA-50 - Seems like it's out there in smaller numbers than the M99 and AR-50. I haven't seen much bad written about it. Costs ~$1K more than the M99 and a little more than that over the AR-50, but is also a repeater and supposedly performs pretty well.

Serbu BFG-50A - Still seeing mixed reviews on it. I know they've talked about how it has more accuracy potential than the M82/M107 but haven't seen any hard results proving that. The feeding issues and recent mixed reviews on their site have me concerned that it's still not a refined product 4-5 years after release.

Vigiliance semi is out of my price range. EDM is no more. Don't want another upper or any other single shot bolt models.

Any thoughts? Like I said, although I'd be open to shooting long range matches down the road, right now this is just more for fun and expensive plinking. Seems like the AR50 and the M99 make the most sense. Not sure either will scratch the M82 itch but I could always get another rifle down the road.

Any experience w/ the BA-50? Seems like it fits well in between, main concern for me being whether Freedom Group/Bushmaster survives to provide service for it.

If you have the means to get an m82, then you should do it. You have stated yourself that all the other rifle won't scratch that itch. There's no sense in settling for something less than what you want if you have the means to do it. The M82 is not as accurate as the others but it is an anti material rifle after all. If you get any of the others, you'll still be wanting the M82. I know I have settled for lesser guns in the past because I didn't have the means and usually just end up selling it later on to eventually get what I want. It would have just been better to save my pennies and wait for what I truly wanted.

If you want to do precision shooting stuff, consider a single shot.
But nothing will be more fun than a semi 50 for cool factor, and destroying things.
For what it's worth, I can get atleast 1.5moa if I carefully hand feed amax in my m82 20".

It sounds like you want the Barrett.
That's the one you should get.
If you get any other .50 you're just going to constantly self reflect and ask yourself why you didn't get the .50 you wanted.

Maybe considering waiting a bit on the price though. They're currently on the high side.
I see them drop down to 6500 every once in a while.

It would definitely be a lot more palatable at 6500. I will have the means to buy one in a few months but it’ll pretty much be it for the rest of the year if I do.

Whereas an AR50 or M99 would obviously let me save some $$ for a rainy day or as a layaway down payment on a M82 down the road.

On the other hand if I wanted to get into long range shooting later, I could always get one of the bolt guns or even a .338.

Eh, moot point.

Kentucky Gun Co has a backorder/preorder for the M82A1 w/ the 3-10 SHV for $6999 + 3% for CC, and they offer layaway. The deed is done.

Wise choice. Too good a deal to pass up.

Not bad at all. Have to pay now or when it delivers?

30% down

So they over backordered them and I’m the one odd one out. Pretty irritated at KyGunCo although they say they’ll refund me within the next few days.

Classic has the same package but it’s an extra 1K and no layaway option. Everyone else is selling them without scope for over 8K.

Given that cluster, any additional input on alternatives?

I think I would just wait it out.

Possibly.

What made it really annoying is that before placing the order I had spoken with their CS on the phone about it and they had indicated that the backorder was good with fulfillment in ~4 weeks.

+ 1  B Patient

There are a few decent not great deals on gunbroker. One with leupold mkV for $7500. I got mine here on the EE with a partial trade for a great price. Typically people don’t shoot these guns often so they usually have really low round counts when buying used.

I haven’t looked at state arms, will check them out. Have thought essentially if I went bolt it’d be the M99 or AR-50 since they’re both great rifles at a decent price point. I really wish they’d refine the BFG-50A so that it’d be more durable and reliable.

I figured, but also don’t want to get the one owned by the guy who liked to shoot super hot reloads.

Check out prepper gun shop online or give them a call. Awesome to deal with and you can pretty much "name your price" on the 82 and 82 cq. Plus no credit card fees.
Very highly recommended.

Nashville Gun Shop has M82A1 w NF scope and Pelican case new for $7995 delivered.

I ended up with the same package for $7200 shipped

Just found this thread.
I am selling my Serbu 50BMG and others, to fund, buying an M82A1.
Always wanted one!
Mainly shooting from 100 to 500 yards only.

My only question is:
do I get the 20" or 29" barrel?
Would rather have LESS recoil and muzzle blast.

Please guide me.
Thanks!

I haven’t shot the 20” yet but I can’t imagine it ever being better than the 29” blast wise and I am guessing the recoil difference is negligible.

29" has less blast.
I recommend the 20", you get a chrome lined barrel.

Got an M82A1 today!
Black.
29"
Badass.
Looks like all the barrels are chrome lined now.
Nice Pelican Case, Bipod, Monopod, Carry Handle.

oh interesting, what serial number did they start chromelining the 29" barrels?

Not sure.
Mine is new, fresh.
Website says barrels chrome lined.

Serbu BFG 50A here.

Has been rock solid since I learned what I was doing wrong when reloading.  Also rock solid when using commercial ammo.

The website does now say chrome lined bore and chamber.  It used to be only the chamber in the M82 29".  You only got a chrome lined bore if you went to the M107.  I'm going to pick up an M82a1 very soon.  Have not decided between black and FDE.  I wonder if the current deals on M82s are due to Barrett selling old stock with only chrome chamber cheaper?  You can get an M82A1 as low as 7K even right now.  I seen a few go under 7k brand new which I think is as good as it's going to get.  I don't want to miss these deals so does anyone know if that is the case?  Are the cheap M82A1s due to them have a chrome chamber only?  I certainly would want a chrome bore but I don't want to pay 2k more for it if these deals dry up.  Anyone have any inside knowledge on this?

The normal 82's have been selling around 7k on sale for a decade or better. It actually amazes me they still pop up around that price especially when the 107's are so much more money. Gather your money and watch for a sale. Black Friday had a Nightforce scoped 82cq for under 7k so there are some amazing deals to be found.

Don't worry about the chrome bore. They were built without them forever and some guys run thousands of rounds through the damn things. I think the first guns with full chrome bores were the CQ but am not sure. The vast majority of people who buy these things don't care about stuff like chrome bores so you aren't going to see any discounts unless it's a super old gun with the short rail or something that is beat up and battered.

Ok that's good to hear about the price being in the 7k range for a while.  I have only recently got the bug for a semi 50 and have not been watching the real price.  What is so odd is the dealers I've seen that will run one or two for 7k to 7500 have the rifle normally priced around 9k.  That's a huge difference.  Who would pay 9k for a M82A1?  Anyway I agree with you the chrome bore is not a big deal to me but I would prefer it if I can get if for my same money.  One of the main reasons I would like to have a chrome bore is I still have about 500 rounds of factory surplus igman 88 that is the "mildly corrosive" stuff.  I would like to be able to safely shoot that if possible but it's not  a deal breaker.  I'm asking the dealer I plan to purchase if the rifles he has in stock are chrome bore.  I thinking they will be because he turns his inventory pretty quick.  I will post back when I get an answer in case anyone else is curious.  One more question since you seem to know these guns pretty well.  I'm trying to decide between black and FDE.  FDE typically runs about $500 more but seems to be more desirable.  I originally wanted just plain black as I don't particularly care for Cerekote but I do like the look of the FDE.  Any thoughts on that?

I don’t know how they are finishing the black guns. In general I’m with you in avoiding cerakote when tougher finishes are available but on the flip side The spray on finishes look great. Honestly if you like the looks but it and move on. By the time you wear it out you won’t care.

Life’s too short to not get what you want especially when it’s a big ticket. Worst case get a blank one and have it sprayed whatever color or pattern you want.

For those that are curious or following this thread.  I heard back from the seller and the lower priced M82, sold for just slightly under 7k was an older chrome chamber only (New unfired gun).  So my guess is dealers are getting special pricing on the 82s that Barrett has with chrome chamber only barrels.  Now may be the time to pick one up if you are on the fence.  Myself it has taken a while to figure out the exact model between 82 or M107 and black or FDE.  The 107 just does not seem to be worth the extra 2k if you are not going to use the suppressor and I like the steel upper instead of aluminum.  M82A1 29inch FDE is the one for me.  One last check for me is if I can get the chrome bore for a few hundred more I may go for that but it's not worth a grand or more IMO.

I doubt they are giving a discount but stranger things have happened. Changes like like just happen and the vast majority of the time the distributors and dealers have no idea because the info from the manufacturer isn't updated unless they do a major redesign.

Actually the dealer I will likely buy from told me they have been getting deals from Barrett which is why they dropped the price significantly on some models.

The fact that they are buying directly from Barrett instead of through distribution makes them the minority.

You might be right on that.  I'm not sure if he said from Barrett or their distributor, probably distributor like you said, but either way it sounds to me like dealers are getting some special pricing on occasion and that ends up at a lower price to us.  There was another larger dealer on gunbroker that had an FDE 29 last week for $6999 and a black version that sold for like $6595 but I missed that one and they only have normal priced M82's (8K Plus) on their website now.

High 6’s has been the sale price on these guns for years. Grabagun has had them under 7k quite a few times.

Grabagun can't compete for me as they are in Texas.  That means almost $500 in sales tax!

Nevada charges tax on all guns so I feel your pain. There are other places that come in cheaper but you really have to watch.

Semi: M82A1
Anything else: BA50