I was just curious, how accurate is the Barret 82A1.  Just wondering as (I believe) it's the only semi-automatic .50BMG on the market.

Also, I saw some pretty impressive groups from an ar-50 on another thread (4gma was his name)and although I've only heard small amounts of feedback, most who have it like the rifle.  (especially the price!).  My question, do the higher end (price wise) rifles put out much better results?  I mean, especially Robar, AI, Barrett, and EDM, twice the price, but are they much better rifles??  Any experience with this.  I guess just wandering what makes $2,500 worth of difference??  Or is Armalite just putting out one badass package?

Thanks

Gundraw

About 5 years ago I had the chance to shoot 2 seperate barret 82's.  I had the bug bad and wanted a semi auto 50 REALLY BAD.  Well, thankfully, I shot 'em before I spent the cash.  Accuracy was dismal!  3+ moa was the best I or any other shooters could do.  I have been told that accuracy has since improved, but I cant verify this from personal experience.

My thought at the time was, why get something that can shoot for miles if you cant hit it?  So I tabled the 50 idea.

About 7 months ago, I got to shoot a Barrett 99, a Serbu, and an FN 50 ( forget the model #), accuracy was good 1.5 MOA or less with ball and the bug was back.  I mentioned my desire to a range buddy/FFL here and he invited me to shoot his AR-50.  Up to this point, I was pretty settled on the  Serbu, as it seemed the most accurate for the $ (the FN gun was nicer but VERY expensive, nothing wrong with the barrett, but why spend the extra $$ if you dont have too).  

Well, after shooting the AR-50, I had to have one.  Yeah, its not perfect - its HEAVY, the trigger while crisp is heavy at 4.5 pound (and if you mess with it you void the warrenty and yes, per a source at Armalite they weigh and record each rifles trigger pull before they ship), and to fit it in a case you have to remove the back of the stock.

Plus side is it has very little recoil (less than a 12 with heavy loads to me) and its accurate as hell!  I have 3 friends with AR-50's and all shoot MOA or less with certain flavors of ball.  So in my opinion Armalite is putting out a fairly badass package.  It would be better if they had an adjustable trigger that was lighter, but this is only in development stages for now.  Lighter and a folding stock would be an improvement, but you cant have it all.

Yes there are better, slightly more accurate rifles out there, but unless your shooting in long range matches , eg 1000+yards does the difference between .5-.6 MOA to .4 to .3 MOA justify the increase in cost?  Only you know the answer.

Hell, if your located close to OK, you can come shoot mine.

I agree with 4gma's sum up on the AR-50. My money was well spent on mine.

Satisfied!

Danny

Dammit!!

You guys are supposed to tell me that only the top end ones are worth buying so they wouldn't be in such a tempting price range.

I definitely agree with you on the accuracy.  I hate when people ask "how much accuracy do you need", but isn't that part of the essence of a gun, especially a rifle??  Not to mention a .50 Cal.  3 MOA??  If I want to fling lead aimlessly, I imagine I could save money on a cannon.

Hmm.  Even from the minimal amounts of feedback I've got so far, I think it's about the 4th time the trigger has come up.  Someone said something about a remington style being available??  Not true, or is this the same one you were talking about.(4gma)

So you are finding very pleasing accuracy with selective ball ammo, would .5-.4 moa using match grade ammunition be realisic?

Really appreciate the input so far 4gma and minuteman! Thanks in advance to any more advice/experience.

The trigger swap on the AR-50 is easy, it's a Rem. 700 trigger group. You can do it yourself or have a gunsmith do it for you. I swapped mine out for a standard Shilen and now have it set at 2 pounds. It made ALL the difference in the world when it came to getting the AR-50 to come into it's own.

I agree on the money part, why pay anywhere from 2-4K more for a rifle that's only alittle more accurate. It won't make any difference if the person pulling the trigger can't shoot anyway. If your not shooting in matches then you really don't need a benchrest .50 and yes I know the FCSA has their Hunter (bipod) class.

I havent tried the trigger swap yet.  My source at Armalite told me that (memory lapse so I may screw up the details) either they were concerned that the rifle would accidently fire while closing the bolt with a lighter trigger, or it actually happened when they lightened the pull themselves during development.

Currently, they have adapted a Timney (I think?) to the 30 cal version and are moving forward toward doing the same for the 50.  I was told (read I dont know from personal experience) that a Jewell trigger would "not work" from my source.

Of course, now reading how the swap is simple, I have a 1000 yard bolt gun that's collecting dust, perhaps its Jewell trigger needs a new lover!  Or maybe I could pull out one of the replaced Remy trigger groups and mess with that.

Hmmm...

I havent shot any match ammo yet --- the ball I bought for brake-in works so well, I just cant get motivated to spend the $$.

4gma,
Do the swap, I tried everything I could to get the AR-50 to fire after I did the swap. I did everything from slamming the bolt to holding it up and bouncing it on the stock, didn't fire.

Of course this is no endorsement and I used a snap cap while doing it. I will say that there is NO SAFETY with the standard Shilen BUT you still have the safety on the bolt. Here's another thing, the reason Armalite probably had it fire was probably the same reason mine did. The bolt safety is so strong that when you flip it off, the whole weight of the firing spring is pushed forward. The standard Shilen doesn't have a safety feature built in and the force of the bolt safety/spring riding forward causes it to force the sear down or jump it. I never use the bolt safety so it's a non-issue as I only load it when I'm going to shoot. That and my safety is between my ears.

The competition Shilen does have a safety feature built in but then your trigger will be 2 ounces. I shot a .50 with a trigger that light, as I put my finger in the trigger guard it brushed the trigger and BOOM! Way to light for me, I'll stick with the 2 pound on mine.

Sorry for the thread hi-jack Gun Draw. There's a company called K&P that has been tuning M82's for awhile. I've heard that they can get them to shoot about 1 MOA with match ammo after they tune them. Can't find their info now but if you decide on an M82 let me know and I'll look for it.

Sorry? Hi-Jack? No..

This is the stuff I wanted to know, from people who have these things.  If I end up with an ar-50 (which is sounding better and better) I definitely want to know all this before I consider and aftermarket trigger.  Maybe I by that time they will have fixed it, but I like the information all the same.

Please, talk more...

Thanks a bunch for all the very valuable info so far.
P.S. I don't believe I'll be going with the 82  

Well there's another thing to buy for the beast!  Gundraw get ready for a larger than expected drain on the gun funds when you get one!

I just paid over $50 for shipping alone on ammo!

50,

I dont use the bolt saftey either.  I suspect your explaination as to the probs. Armalite has had is correct.

4gma,
I got my trigger from Bruno's Shooters Supply www.brunoshooters.com as they had the best price at the time.

If your not sure on doing the swap a good gunsmith could probably do it and have it adjusted in an hour. The hardest part was keeping the sear in place with one hand and putting the retaining pins in with the other.

Where did you get your ammo? Ammoman has free shipping on his .50 BMG www.ammoman.com and I've had good luck with Talon.

Let the hijack continue....!  Sorry Gundraw

They are not the cheapest but I picked up some talon ball at the last Tulsa show for $149/150 rounds from www.ammunitionstore.com/index.htm  Since it shot so well I ordered more from them. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on ammunition.

Shipping for 200 bullets and 300 rounds in cans was roughly (had to had the invoice quick from the wife so I cant remember the exact amount!) $53.