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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - 50 BMG Ammo

Posted: 12/8/2005 12:57:55 PM EDT

Does anyone know where I can get surplus 50 BMG ammo?

Thanks,
Robert

Posted: 12/8/2005 1:31:11 PM EDT

[#1]

You want real surplus or remanufactured?

You might find some real stuff on Gunbroker, use to be a couple guys selling some old AP stuff there. You'll find remanufactured ammo there also.

There's Ammoman.com, Ammunitionstore.com, Patsreloading.com, Aimsurplus.com, Watsonsweapons.com, Hi-tech ammo....

Posted: 12/8/2005 1:33:59 PM EDT

[#2]

Right now I'm just looking for complete ammunition. I don't have a press & dies the 50 BMG yet. Actually, I just picked up the rifle yesterday. I've fired them before, but back then Uncle Sam was taking care of the ammo for me.

Posted: 12/8/2005 3:50:10 PM EDT

[#3]

I get my practice ammo from Ammoman. My FFL loads a 750 Hornady AMAX that I use for matches.

Posted: 12/8/2005 3:58:18 PM EDT

[#4]

Be careful with the mil surp. Much of it is corrosive.

I treat all my surplus .50 as corrosive, and haven't had a problem yet. Also, if you plan on doing any volume of shooting, i recommend going ahead and getting the reloading equipment. Lee offers a low cost reloading setup. You'll save a boat load.

Posted: 12/8/2005 4:29:37 PM EDT

[#5]

I'm looking forward to working up some loads for this thing. I've actually reached a point where I shoot so that I can reload! I'm one of those strange people that can sit down for an afternoon and enjoy turning case necks or truing up primer pockets. I just got a shotshell reloading set-up, that's a whole 'nuther animal. Only thing is that I'm used to things like 20 grs. of H110 or 23 grs. of 748, 200+ grs. is a whole lot of powder! Speaking of that, what powder measure do you use?

But at the moment I just want to get some decent ammo to shoot and then after it's unloaded I'll have a good supply of brass cases.

Posted: 12/8/2005 4:38:12 PM EDT

[#6]

I use a Lyman DPS-1200. It takes a good 2 minutes to throw a charge....lol..232 grains of H50bmg. lol.....

One very very important step with reloading .mil brass: ALWAYS SWAGE THE CRIMP OUT.

press it out, dremel it out, anything. I had a .50 primer go off on me. i didn't see but there was a little ledge left over form the primer crimp, and it snagged. My relaoding room is small and has a low ceiling. Felt like a flash bang went off. I was wearing safety glasses, but never even concidered wearing ear plugs.

Posted: 12/8/2005 5:17:16 PM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
I use a Lyman DPS-1200. It takes a good 2 minutes to throw a charge....lol..232 grains of H50bmg. lol.....

One very very important step with reloading .mil brass: ALWAYS SWAGE THE CRIMP OUT.

press it out, dremel it out, anything. I had a .50 primer go off on me. i didn't see but there was a little ledge left over form the primer crimp, and it snagged. My relaoding room is small and has a low ceiling. Felt like a flash bang went off. I was wearing safety glasses, but never even concidered wearing ear plugs.

Thanks for the pointer on the primer crimps. Reminds me of the time that I wanted to see just what a wild west shootout was like in a bar. I figured that if I loaded one blank .45 Colt with blackpowder, shut the door to my 12x20 shop, and fired it that I'd get a decent feel for what it was like then. I was wearing ear plugs, but I never dreamed that I'd have that much smoke, you could see it coming out of the door when I opened it! It would have made a good video for one of these tv shows.

Posted: 12/8/2005 6:16:30 PM EDT

[#8]

http://www.the-armory.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/hard2find.html

Scroll down halfway and there will be Bosnian ammo for sale. There is cheaper stuff out there but the brass you get is a crapshoot. This is decent brass for reloading and it's all the same year.

Posted: 12/8/2005 6:24:06 PM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
http://www.the-armory.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/hard2find.html

Scroll down halfway and there will be Bosnian ammo for sale. There is cheaper stuff out there but the brass you get is a crapshoot. This is decent brass for reloading and it's all the same year.

remember, it's corrosive. mfg date is 1998, but i had a run in with this stuff before.

Posted: 12/8/2005 6:52:54 PM EDT

[#10]

One thing that really confuses me is the myriad of military ammo in this caliber. For example, both M33 and M2 are ball ammo and as best I can tell from looking at TM-43-0007-27 they appear to be the same thing. And that's just one of the duplicates that has me confused. I'm also curious about bullet weight. What is the actual bullet weight in the various 50 BMG cartridges (ball, AP, API, etc)? Is GI brass consistent enough from case to case for good accuracy or would it be best to look for some commercial brass? And while I'm bombarding everyone with questions, what is generally speaking the heaviest bullet that will stabilize in a Barrett M99?

Thanks for all the answers,
Robert

Posted: 12/9/2005 5:35:43 PM EDT

[#11]

M33 is the plain Jane ball round ~647gr
M2-Armor piercing, black tip ~700gr
M1-Incediary, lt. blue tip~620gr
M17-tracer, dk maroon tip ~630gr
GI brass is fine but I would look for the same manu. and year. I have used IMI, FNB, WCC, and South African brass. All are good to go.
Your question on what the highest bullet weight your rifle can handle is a hard one to answer. The best answer I can give is-whatever works for you. I don't think anybody can say anything bad about the AMAX(750gr)other than the increasing prices. You will have your best luck with them I bet. Other than that there are solids that go up to 800gr. I have messed with 705gr Harlows but couldn't get them to shoot. Some will say that you shouldn't mess with bore-riders in a factory chamber but many have had success. So they may or may not work for you. Unfortunately it is very expensive to load test and tweak with the .50.
I would shoot the AMAX for accuracy and the surplus bullets for fun.

Posted: 12/12/2005 12:49:26 AM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
Be careful with the mil surp. Much of it is corrosive.

I treat all my surplus .50 as corrosive, and haven't had a problem yet. Also, if you plan on doing any volume of shooting, i recommend going ahead and getting the reloading equipment. Lee offers a low cost reloading setup. You'll save a boat load.

Is the WW2 stuff corrosive?

Posted: 12/12/2005 12:57:10 AM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Be careful with the mil surp. Much of it is corrosive.

I treat all my surplus .50 as corrosive, and haven't had a problem yet. Also, if you plan on doing any volume of shooting, i recommend going ahead and getting the reloading equipment. Lee offers a low cost reloading setup. You'll save a boat load.

Is the WW2 stuff corrosive?

Yes.

pretty much anything prior to the 50's is corrosive. And even lots of newer ammo is corrosive. I shot some Bosnian .50, dated 98, and it was corrosive.

Normally it's not much of an issue. Clean well and you're good to go. Same with .50. The problem is the muzzle break. I've got a fish gill brake, and it's a royal bitch to get in there and hit all the crevaces. I missed a bit, and my muzzle break got some minor damage.

Posted: 12/12/2005 1:25:38 AM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
pretty much anything prior to the 50's is corrosive. And even lots of newer ammo is corrosive. I shot some Bosnian .50, dated 98, and it was corrosive.

Normally it's not much of an issue. Clean well and you're good to go. Same with .50. The problem is the muzzle break. I've got a fish gill brake, and it's a royal bitch to get in there and hit all the crevaces. I missed a bit, and my muzzle break got some minor damage.

I guess that's where the rust on my muzzle brake came from. Dang.

Posted: 12/12/2005 1:30:37 AM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
I guess that's where the rust on my muzzle brake came from. Dang.

yep.....that'd be it.

I cleaned well and never thought twice about it. Then, after reading some info online about corrosive ammo, it was recommended to flush with hot water to flush out the salts. I did it, and holy cow.....lots of it. Apparently the oil covered it up.

Posted: 12/12/2005 11:51:17 AM EDT

[#16]

So what would be the proper way to remove all of the corrosive agents from a .50 break?

Posted: 12/12/2005 4:11:42 PM EDT

[#17]

Any US manufacture .50 BMG before 1956 will be corrosive. The most prevelent ammo I've seen is TW4, which will be Twin Cities Arsenal 1944. Most of it is AP. Damn accurate stuff. Just clean the bore like you would a muzzle loader after shooting black powder. Swab the bore with HOT soapy water till it comes out fairly clear. Then clean with your normal bore solution.

People are scared to death of corrosive primers. I shoot it through my rifles all the time. No big deal.

Posted: 12/12/2005 8:34:25 PM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
Any US manufacture .50 BMG before 1956 will be corrosive. The most prevelent ammo I've seen is TW4, which will be Twin Cities Arsenal 1944. Most of it is AP. Damn accurate stuff. Just clean the bore like you would a muzzle loader after shooting black powder. Swab the bore with HOT soapy water till it comes out fairly clear. Then clean with your normal bore solution.

People are scared to death of corrosive primers. I shoot it through my rifles all the time. No big deal.

I have this ammo (AP, linked). I'm not scared to death, but I'm not happy about it either.

Is all of the linked stuff so hard to de-link? I mean, is this 1944-era ammo linked to the same tension as new stuff?

Posted: 12/13/2005 5:22:50 AM EDT

[#19]

Put on a pair of gloves, twist and pull. That's the easiest way to delink them other then using an M2.

Posted: 12/13/2005 5:28:36 AM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
Put on a pair of gloves, twist and pull. That's the easiest way to delink them other then using an M2.

Sure, but is current issue stuff as hard to delink as this ww2 issue stuff?

Posted: 12/13/2005 6:43:04 AM EDT

[#21]

The older stuff will more than likely have a bit of rust under the links. Just rub it a bit with a scotch brite pad to get the little bit of rust off.

Wash your hands good and it makes it easier to delink. With the oils of your skin present, it makes it bit harder to grip the rounds to delink them.

Posted: 12/13/2005 7:02:30 AM EDT

[#22]

I never thought delinking .50 was that hard, it's big enough to where you can get a good grip on them. The newer stuff should be easier as it hasn't sat in a ammo can for 50 years, if it's really hard try using some WD40. Only use a DROP, don't go crazy with it and keep it on the links, when done wipe it off.

Posted: 12/13/2005 12:59:00 PM EDT

[#23]

On a related note, who reloads? I've been handloading ammo for a few decades, but never for anything quite so big. What I'm wondering is what powder measure do you use? Who makes them for charges of this size?

Posted: 12/13/2005 5:23:15 PM EDT

[#24]

Hornady makes a .50 powder thrower. It makes it a whole lot easier but you still need to trickle up. I think I bought mine from Wideners.

Posted: 12/23/2005 2:16:33 PM EDT

[#25]

On a related note, who reloads? I've been handloading ammo for a few decades, but never for anything quite so big. What I'm wondering is what powder measure do you use? Who makes them for charges of this size?

Check out Lee...They just came out with a new 50 press. It includes the Dies and adapter for regular dies. It also has a set up for large and small primers. I think it was $229 in the book.

Powder measure wise Hornady, Redding or RCBS sells a powder measure.

Posted: 12/23/2005 2:46:01 PM EDT

[#26]

Some people have said this is bar-none, the best powder measure for the BMG

HERE

Posted: 12/23/2005 3:11:39 PM EDT

[#27]

I also was told that abiut the Quick Measure.

For now I will use the Hornady I got. It's the super size on my Progressive press. I am most likely going to load match ammo anyway so I use the Lee powder spoons and a electronic scale.

Posted: 12/26/2005 5:49:41 PM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:
Some people have said this is bar-none, the best powder measure for the BMG

HERE

Looks like a great powder measure. Is the setting gauge neccesary to get the charge set or can I just use a scale like I do with any other powder measure?

Thanks Reaper,
Robert

Posted: 12/26/2005 5:57:38 PM EDT

[#29]

tag

Posted: 12/27/2005 9:52:07 AM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Some people have said this is bar-none, the best powder measure for the BMG

HERE

Looks like a great powder measure. Is the setting gauge neccesary to get the charge set or can I just use a scale like I do with any other powder measure?

Thanks Reaper,
Robert

I don't have one..... yet.
So I don't have an answer for you.

I found the link because of someone who posted here a while back.
He said it was far more precise than anything else on the market.

Posted: 12/29/2005 11:48:32 AM EDT

[#31]

Does anyone know if the ammo sold by CheaperThanDirt is corrosive? I spoke with them and they told me that the powder wasn't corrosive, but didn't know anything about the primers.

Posted: 12/29/2005 2:59:58 PM EDT

[#32]

What kind of ammo is it? If it's Talon you're fine, if it's the Bosnian/Yugo clean it as if it's corrosive.

It's not the powder that's corrosive it's the primers, just so you know.

Posted: 12/29/2005 3:09:54 PM EDT

[#33]

CTD ammo is Talon.

Posted: 12/29/2005 3:52:58 PM EDT

[#34]

Quoted:
What kind of ammo is it? If it's Talon you're fine, if it's the Bosnian/Yugo clean it as if it's corrosive.

It's not the powder that's corrosive it's the primers, just so you kn
ow.

Thanks, I knew that part, I just couldn't convince the person that I was talking to that I needed to know about the primers. As for who makes it, all that I could get out of them is what is already stated in the catalog; it's demilled and then loaded with new powder. I'm not at all certain that the person that I spoke to knows what a primer is!

Posted: 12/29/2005 4:36:54 PM EDT

[#35]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Some people have said this is bar-none, the best powder measure for the BMG

HERE

Looks like a great powder measure. Is the setting gauge neccesary to get the charge set or can I just use a scale like I do with any other powder measure?

Thanks Reaper,
Robert

I just ordered the Quick Measure.

The "setting guage" is simply a way for you to quickly go back to a previous charge.

For example, if you had it set perfectly for a mild load yesterday, and today you wanted
to work up some hot loads, you literally measure how far the screw is turned into the
dohicky. While quite crude, it is more accurate than any other device of it's type on
other brands of powder throwers. The Dillon, for example, just has a hex-head bolt.
Some people attach an indexed knob onto the bolt head to give them a way to
go between loads.

I did not order the kit. So I am not getting the "setting guage".

I don't change loads enough to warrant it, when all I need to do instead of using it is
weigh a charge, adjust the screw, and weigh another charge until it is where I want it.

I ordered the quick measure and the "optional" stand.
$195 powder measure + $40 stand + $20 shipping = $255
But the testimonies I've read say it is a better design, and more accurate than the
only other option. ( I think the only other option is a Hornady)

Now if I can only reclaim my gun room, and get my bench set up.

Posted: 1/17/2006 8:29:03 AM EDT

[#36]

+1 for ammoman.com,Eric is great to deal with.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - 50 BMG Ammo

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