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Posted: 3/14/2012 2:30:40 AM EDT
| I am a newcomer, so bear with me. I was a local gun store and saw a .50 cal (.50 BMG-DPMS-Watson) single shot, for sale for $1100. I cannot find any info about it, and all the dealer knows is that it was fired once , owner passed away, and has been in storage for the past 10 years and appears to be quite new. Weighs 49 lbs, green drab, no scope. Has tripod and top rail. I would appreciate any info. Did not see any info at the Watson site. Checked many other online sites to no avail. No pics, but will try to take some at the shop. Thanks in advance. |
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I can give you a little history on them.
The "Watsons" upper was actually designed by Dan Franklund in Bismarck, North Dakota in 1999. He called his operation, "D & J's Habitual Tinkering" The "J" stands for Jennifer, his wife. He sold a set of plans/blueprints along with a barrel extension and bolt so others could make their own 50BMG on the cheap. I have set number 8. The information was all contained in a white binder with sections as follows. Introduction, Parts List, Mechanical Drawings, Colar Photos, Procedure, Tooling, List of Vendors, Conclusion, Credits, and Disclaimer. Unfortunately, like many innovators and pioneers in the gun industry, the second man to bat, gets all the credit. Insert Watson. |
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Quoted:
I can give you a little history on them. The "Watsons" upper was actually designed by Dan Franklund in Bismarck, North Dakota in 1999. He called his operation, "D & J's Habitual Tinkering" The "J" stands for Jennifer, his wife. He sold a set of plans/blueprints along with a barrel extension and bolt so others could make their own 50BMG on the cheap. I have set number 8. The information was all contained in a white binder with sections as follows. Introduction, Parts List, Mechanical Drawings, Colar Photos, Procedure, Tooling, List of Vendors, Conclusion, Credits, and Disclaimer. Unfortunately, like many innovators and pioneers in the gun industry, the second man to bat, gets all the credit. Insert Watson. Thanks for the info, where can I research it? |
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If it's not on the Watson page, post a pic and we'll try to help you out.
What info is on the receiver? Any paperwork with it? Is it an AR lower with a 50 BMG upper or a single shot rifle? If it's a single shot rifle it could be one from State Arms, now Eastridge Gun Co. http://www.statearms.com/ |
| Watson's has only sold two types of .50BMG's, the DPMS AR-15 upper based guns with a screw-in bolt, and later the complete shell-holder rifles. The earlier uppers had a couple options as far as the upper receiver (low pro or high), came with an M60-style bipod, and used a tank-style brake similar to Barrett's. |
| Update: Ok, here are the updates , it is a single shot, screw in bolt. Weighs 20 lbs (not 49 as indicated previously). Print on barrel is DJHT, BMG . Lower receiver print, Model YRS, 223. DPMS. Patent # lower receiver 6,212,814. I took pics, but do not know how to attach. I e-mailed D&J's in Sturgis ND. Awaiting response. Anyone know how to break down this info? |
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Quoted:
If it's not on the Watson page, post a pic and we'll try to help you out. What info is on the receiver? Any paperwork with it? Is it an AR lower with a 50 BMG upper or a single shot rifle? If it's a single shot rifle it could be one from State Arms, now Eastridge Gun Co. http://www.statearms.com/ I took pics, how to post them? |
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1st you have to host the pics on picasa or photobucket or some site like that
then copy there adresses then hit the reply button here on the thread the 4th button from the right is the picture button enter the hosting address for the picture there this is the short answer but you should be good to go |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
If it's not on the Watson page, post a pic and we'll try to help you out. What info is on the receiver? Any paperwork with it? Is it an AR lower with a 50 BMG upper or a single shot rifle? If it's a single shot rifle it could be one from State Arms, now Eastridge Gun Co. http://www.statearms.com/ I took pics, how to post them? Still baffled , sucscribed to photobucket, still learning about it. I can e-mail you pics , I know how to do that. Will that work? |
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Quoted:
1st you have to host the pics on picasa or photobucket or some site like that then copy there adresses then hit the reply button here on the thread the 4th button from the right is the picture button enter the hosting address for the picture there this is the short answer but you should be good to go I can e-mail pics, still baffled about photobucket, I would have to read the fine print of how to. But i did subscribe to photobucket and pics are there. OK to e-mail? |
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Quoted:
1st you have to host the pics on picasa or photobucket or some site like that then copy there adresses then hit the reply button here on the thread the 4th button from the right is the picture button enter the hosting address for the picture there this is the short answer but you should be good to go http://s1160.photobucket.com/albums/q486/pmakki/ Website for photos (learning) |
pmakki, when your at your photbucket site, look down below the picture you want to show, the one that says IMG code, hover your mouse on the right of that where the code is, you cannot see the whole code at once but, right click mouse over that and select copy. then come back here, and paste it in your reply box, submit, and your good to go! 
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Quoted:
http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q486/pmakki/066.jpg pmakki, when your at your photbucket site, look down below the picture you want to show, the one that says IMG code, hover your mouse on the right of that where the code is, you cannot see the whole code at once but, right click mouse over that and select copy. then come back here, and paste it in your reply box, submit, and your good to go! OK, got it, thanks for the walk thru |
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Pretty much considered an "antiquated" design. Slow to use and kind of a pain to operate.
Every time you want to reload you have to pull the rear pin and hinge it open...then unscrew the bolt. You end up with a muzzle brake in the dirt quite often. You won't find a whole lot of bad about them though. They work. They offer everything you should ever expect for a rifle in that price range. As a whole rifle (sans optic) for $1,100 the price is appealing. There is usually a tool that is used to unscrew the bolt...does he have that, too? Any ammo? Case? Do realize 50BMG is a committment and is not cheap in any regard. Ammunition is expensive, quality optics to handle the recoil are expensive, ammunition and components are expensive, cases are expensive, safes large enough to house them are expensive. If you don't mind a bare-bones rifle...and you aren't in a hurry to shoot off $3 a trigger pull...it would be a good entry into the 50BMG world. A few years ago I saw a few Watsons just like this one hit the forums and sit for months in the $1,000 for just the upper $1,300 with complete lower type price range...given inflation and more election/2012 paranoia...$1,100 sounds reasonable. To be honest, I'd buy it. Heck, if nothing else use it as a stepping stone. IF you don't love the big fifty, sell out and not lose an arm and a leg...if you love it, sell it late this summer during the peak of 2012/Election drama for a profit and buy something a little nicer. |
| The lower you have is a CA single shot lower that DPMS made, to bad it wasn't a regular lower or else you could've used it for a regular AR when not shooting 50 BMG ammo. Other then that the last post sums it up, it's outdated other then something cheap to get into 50's before stepping up to a regular rifle. I would consider it a cheap way to find out if you like owning a 50 or not, as the set up isn't expensive and you can turn it around for about the same as what you paid. |
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