expeditionx The .50 bmg might be heavy to cart around but as far as a fmj .50 BMG not having a real effect against a bear because it does not expand, hmmm, I would wager $20,000 that it would drop A grizzly, brown, or polar bear with FMJ. Ive seen soft point ammo for that caliber too
http://www.rbcd.net/50 BMG.html . A friend that used to be in the Reserves said he learned to file off the tips of FMJ to achieve expansion. Either way the Bear is going down.
Something more like this would be great too but is expensive per round
http://www.accuratereloading.com/700ne.html
I'LL TAKE THAT BET...
Heavy, you carry 35 lbs around and try getting your gun up to aim--can't do it too quickly--too damn heavy—SO, drop down to the ground, open the bipod and then what...granted in a stress attack with seconds to spare you could do it from the hip, but there goes your accuracy...
That picture at the Accurate Reloading site of the Austrian rifle…I mean I like big bore rifles, .416 Rigby, .425 WR, .458 Lott, .500 NE but I’d be damn scared to shoot that one…the recoil has to be massive…
I’m just wondering, have you ever fired a .50 BMG say at a shooting meet at 600, 800 or 1,000 yards ranges…I’ve done it a goodly number of times, when I’ve visited the US as, like I said before, because they are ILLEGAL in Canada, where this person hails from…
Filing the tips off the end of Full Metal Jacket bullets is against the Hague Convention Rules of Warfare and is a big NO-NO, you should tell your friend…Oh, and by the way, it doesn't work worth beans, take it from someone who has tried it, with all the military calibers from 5.56 to 38/9mm and up to 7.92 besides...
Most hunting locales have banned the use of FMJs for the taking of big game animals, because, like in war, they wound, why, because they don’t expand…I’m not talking solids that you would use for Rhino or Elephant…
I’ve also seen expensive, expanding, hunting rounds go right through an animal and never be found because the hunters were too close to the animal with rifles of too much velocity…you can read about incidents like that in all the hunting, shooting magazines as it is a fairly common occurrence…that is why so much research is going into developing new hunting rounds---that will perform the same way in all conditions, at all ranges and in most all game animals…
Yes, you can get custom target rounds and hunting rounds for the .50 BMG but they go for about $15.00 to $25.00 each...a little expensive to use just to protect yourself...like I said for the $2,500.00 price tag of the .50 BMG I can get a lot of off the shelf rifles or shotguns and have a lot left over...
I not complaining about the price, that is quite reasonable, as I have many rifles and shotguns that cost a lot more, but this gentleman is looking to provide himself with a inexpensive (he mentions Mossberg), defensive weapon that he can handle effectively…
Ah, like me a lover of the obscure, English rounds; the .700 Nitro Express, only one double rifle made for it by Holland & Holland and weighs about 14 pound and at the tune of about $150,000.00 and the shells, last time I checked, were going for about $50.00 each...I mean both of my main hunting rifles are Westley Richards custom bolt actions, circa 1953, and in their propriety chamberings of .318 WR and .425 WR, talk about obscure…
OneInTheChamber how about the .416 rubgy round. I saw one at the range.... it's around 400 grains
The .416 Rigby is a superb cartridge but it does require an extra long magnum action to chamber it, so there is a very long bolt throw but Ruger builds both their bolt action and single shot in it and CZ makes a boltie for it also and both makers can be purchased for a reasonable amount…if I didn’t have my .425WR I would carry a .416 Rigby…
