was considering a fifty . i have shot the armalites , but after reading a report on several 50's that were tried , i decided against the armalite , so my question is what would you guys with hands on experience recomend ? i've been eyeballing the grizzly , but i was wondering if the bull pup desighn would cause problems with the muzzle blast being closer to your face ?

My experience with shooting the LAR Grizzly is that it has the worst felt recoil out of all of the .50's. I thought the original BFG was kind of harsh and so did others, Mark Serbu redesigned the muzzle brake and that helped to tame the BFG.

I can't understand why LAR hasn't redesigned the muzzle brake on the Grizzly. I have seen other peoples Grizzlies with AR-50 and K&P muzzle brakes on them. On the plus side, the accuracy out of the Griz seems to be on par with the rest of the entry level .50's.

What was he problem with the AR-50? I have never had any problems with mine and most people that own them have no problem holding it at MOA with quality ammo.

thanks for the low down on the grizz , 50 shooter . i myself don't have a problem with the armalite , my experience with 50's amount to about 5 rd,s . that is why i am asking for opinions , my decision not to go with armalite is based on a test shoot done by a gun rag that claimed the armalite wouldn't shoot moa . the 50 shooting i have done with a 50 was a armalite and i agree , recoil reduction was great , i'm just concerned about the accuracy . so , maybe i should ask a man wearing the shoes , how accurate is your 50 ?

I love my AR50 and would gladly do it again. If you are looking for an entry level 50 give the Serbu BFG, Barrett 99, and State Arms a look.

Clak,
With Talon (remanufactured) ball my AR-50 will hold just over 1 MOA. With AMAX handloads it will shoot under MOA, other guys that I shoot with that have AR-50's also have got the same results.

Two things I didn't like about my AR-50 when I got it was the wimpy Harris bipod and the stock trigger. I changed both and it made a big difference in how the AR-50 shot. Armalite did come out with a trigger upgrade but the AR-50 uses a Rem. 700 set up so I changed it out myself for a better unit.

I think I read the same article from Gun Test, if I remember right the AR-50 came in second behind the BFG. The only reason it did was the fact that they were fighting the trigger and they mentioned that in the article. Dave from Spider Firearms (Ferret50) posted a pic of his upper that he sent in for the test. They some how managed to push the scope so far forward that the magnification ring of the scope was hitting the top of the receiver. Needless to say it didn't do well in the test but I've seen a Ferret shoot and it did very well. So I guess you have to take "test reports" with a grain of salt and remember that the people doing it are human also.

I'm using a Ferrte50 36" with the Serbu Shark Brake and getting sub 1MOA using A-Max from HSM and about 1.25moa with Yugo Ball

thanks jeep , 50 , and skidly . really appreceate the info . there's a shop not to far from here offering the ar-50 with springfield 50 cal. scope , for 3800.00 , i think i have seen the ar's advertised in the low 20's , doesn't that sound high to ya'll ? 50shooter that reman. talon , is that pretty similar to the surplus stuff ? well i think i'm going to check out some of the manufacturers you've recomended . i have been setting on a hundred rounds of south african 50 for about two years now , lol , yep i got it bad after i shot one the first time . i have recently sold several rifles and almost got enough for the rifle . from what i have seen so far i suppose i'll be looking at another 750.00 to 850.00 for a scope too . what scope are ya'll using ?    "So I guess you have to take "test reports" with a grain of salt and remember that the people doing it are human also." certainly have to agree there also .

claketyclak:   Hawk1 has a barrett99 loaded with ammo in the EE for sale for a good deal,just thought I would mention it to ya cause it is a good deal.

that is HIGH for an AR50 $2700 new is about right, Springfield scope new about $650

Check State Arms, Serbu BFG, and Anzio. If you get an 50 BMG upper theres Ferret50, Ultra-Mag, MMag 50, ALS. if you buy an upper for the AR15 lower I would stay with a barrel shorter than the 36" I bought. Good for the range ... but not too portable. As for scopes, I have a Nightforce NXS 5.5 - 22 x 56, I would highly recomemend it. At least get a Leupold XIII, IOR Valdada, Leupold Mark IV, don't skip on optics .... I learned the hard way

Check Guns America for prices, $3,800 is on the high side. Look under Armalite or Big Fifty Rifles on their home page, I've seen them go for as low as 2K. At the minimum I would go with a Springfield scope, stay away from ATN. Leupold and Nightforce have the best track record on .50's plus their warranties and customer service are top notch.

Talon ammunition is remanufactured from surplus components so basically it's just surplus without corrosive primers. Stay away from Maine Cartridge Co., Dominican Rep. "yellow tip" and TNW's .50 ammo. People have had their .50's blown up from this ammo. The SA ammo that you have will do just fine, you can check www.ammoman.com for Talon. If you want some AMAX match stuff try The Hunting Shack (HSM) as they have good prices. www.thehuntingshack.com  

I would expect to pay $2200-2400 max with some minor looking.  Your gunshop wants too much.

Quote-Jeep29 "If you are looking for an entry level 50..."

I am a newbie to 50's.

What is a entry level 50?

And what other levels are there?

Thank you for your time.

Dan

Wheelgunner:
New 50 BMG rifles (complete rifles) start at about $2,000 and go up to $7,200 for stuff like the Barret semi-auto and the EDM Windrunner.  The Armalite AR50 is about $2,700 retail with several other "entry level" rifle priced in the $2000 to $3000 range.

Thre are upper receiver "halves" that convert an AR15 to a 50 BMG rifle that are conciderably less expensive, so this would be the least expensive way to get into a 50 BMG rifle IF YOU HAVE AN AR15 to donate to the cause.

Of course one will need a scope on this and some ammo, some come with a decen case, some do not.

And you need a secure place to store your 50 BMG, although I think it would look impressive on the fireplace mantle.....

how about these uppers , have you heard of anyone damaging thier ar uppers ?