Anyone have any experience, knowledge, opinions, links, etc.

I know nothing about them but their package looks appealing for a good price on their site.

http://www.safetyharborfirearms.com/SHF_R50_/shf_r50_.html

Feel free to flame me if this is discussed in detail somewhere else, I tried searching and got zero hits.

Well, you asked for opinions.  Here's mine.  For me, I would stay away from the Safety Harbor 50's.  I have never fired one, or seen one fired, but I have fired an ALS, and a State Arms.  I have been given the impressions that a heavier rifle is better for managing the recoil on the 50.  The Safety Harbor firearms look just too light weight for my tastes.  I have been doing a lot of research on 50's and chose to order a Ferret 50.  It should be here in another week or so.  The Ferret fits what I want it to do.

Thanks for the response. I have just started seriously researching all the different compamies and configurations so expore threads from me asking foradvice and opinions.

Would you(and anyone else reading this) consider the Serbu BMG-50 to be too light as well?

I like the size and price of the Serbu but I really want a magazine fed bolt gun. This Safe Harbor rifle seems to be very similair to the Serbu but with a magazine feed is why I liked it. The carbine Serbu is listed at being the same weight as the SHF .50(17 pounds) so I was ASSUMING(yeah) the SHF with the 29" barrel weight 22 pounds like the Serbu.

(btw...I would prefer a mag fed .50 but have in NO WAY ruled out a single shot) The Serbu BMG-50 with a 36" barrel looks very appealing as well.)

Have you looked at the Cobb BA50T?

Cobb BA50T

Why can't I find a price on that?

I don't think its too light, I fired 10rnds (2 mags) worth through one and it was less than my 30-06.
Shot fine
needed some tweaking though, hammer springs, and now the owner is having issues with the magazines from what I've heard, and i feel that if you re going to pay over $100 for a magazine, the damn thing aught to work right.

It's listed in the .50BMG Price posting pinned at the top of this forum.
.50 prices

Too,  I own one the the UltraMag50s that Safety Harbor Firearms makes.
It's basically the same as the SHF/R50, but I supplied my own lower.  Works fine for me. Recoil isn't any worse than a 12ga w/3" mag loads.

Here's my review of it from a few years back:
UltraMag50 Review

A recent pic of me shooting it at Lytle Creek Range:

Quoted: It listed in the .50BMG Price posting pinned at the top of this forum. .50 prices

AH...I see. I was searching all the manufacturer links that are up there in the sticky thread but failed to see that thread. Thanks.

Too,  I own one the the UltraMag50s that Safety Harbor Firearms makes. It's basically the same as the SHF/R50, but I supplied my own lower.  Works fine for me. Recoil isn't any worse than a 12ga w/3" mag loads. Here's my review of it from a few years back: UltraMag50 Review

That is about the level of kick people are claiming to have with .50's I am finding in that weight range/length.

I read on another forum that a longer barrel the harder the same rifle will kick. I think I read this in relation to the Serbu. They claimed the 36" kicked harder than the 29".
Has anyone else found this to be accurate/true?

Yes, the short barrels seem to recoil less...
Probably due to the bullet exiting sooner and all that extra burning gas dumping out the muzzle brake rather than pushing the projo further down a barrel.

I've read that the 'optimal' barrel length for a .50bmg cartridge is around 42"
Most of the lightweight guns are around 29".  My Serbu rifles are 29 and 30" and have no trouble driving a 750gr projo to the 1000yd targets at ~2650fps.

My UltraMag50 has a 22" barrel and it drives the same ammo to only ~2450fps.
Not the ideal performance envelope for an AMAX target round, but still a great .50 plinker out to 5 or 6 hundred yards.

The Serbu 22" Carbine is a real comfortable shooter too with it's efficient brake.
Here's one being shot at one of the SoCal shoots at Lytle Creek:

Thanks for the info/post/pic

Why is it women look better holding firearms than we do. ;)

I am starting to lean towards Serbu just because of their 36" barrel option and quality/price ratio.(this statement is made still in n00b status)

If your looking to get into .50 join www.FCSA.com it has much info.

Can't think of any .50 that isn't covered on that forum.

Quoted: If your looking to get into .50 join www.FCSA.org it has much info. Can't think of any .50 that isn't covered on that forum.

I had a hard time finding it. It's FCSA.org not .com. ;)


Thanks a lot for pointing me that way though.