Birdman was hilarious. His site is no longer up but the video is still on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_XX2lIT1tQ
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Writer here with a 50 Cal. reload question
- Thread starter FilmGuy
- Start date
Birdman was hilarious. His site is no longer up but the video is still on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_XX2lIT1tQ
Bullets can be cast (bad idea for the 50 BMG but could be done) brass can be reused many times, could likely get away with using trail boss powder with said cast bullets but generally 50 BMG powders are not the same as what you would use for most every other round. The 50 also uses different primers than everything else so they would have to "reload" their primers too.
In the end they would have loads, that if they worked would not have the same POI as any normal 50 BMG round. So they would need to rezero and work up what load they can safely.
Could be done but if your bunkered down away from bad guys, not very safely. Not to mention everyone in the audience would fall asleep before you were done.
In a movie something like an expertly placed bullet shot by a bad guy would put the rifle out of commission with a shot that just missed our hero and our hero would then out smart him with some rudimentary contraption.
Go watch some old MacGiver shows for ideas.
In the end they would have loads, that if they worked would not have the same POI as any normal 50 BMG round. So they would need to rezero and work up what load they can safely.
Could be done but if your bunkered down away from bad guys, not very safely. Not to mention everyone in the audience would fall asleep before you were done.
In a movie something like an expertly placed bullet shot by a bad guy would put the rifle out of commission with a shot that just missed our hero and our hero would then out smart him with some rudimentary contraption.
Go watch some old MacGiver shows for ideas.
JeepHammer
Moderator
*IF* you are being 'Futuristic' then consider some of the current weapons in production for testing...
Rounds that penetrate, then explode into shrapnel, that can be nearly instantly programmed via the ranging optics to explode over/behind targets or after impact with a door or wall...
Rounds that self correct in flight, artillery that can be fired up to a mile off target and GPS guide themselves to the target coordinates.
Some current military weapons systems can be fired at high angle (more flight time) and barrel declined, fired again, ect, and can deliver several rounds on target at the SAME TIME.
Reducing angle reduces flight time, so rounds impact at the same time.
Some long range, and I do mean long range, like two miles, use a computer controlled weapons mount with Doppler radar to figure wind, air density, ect to have first round hits...
Right now, its a weapons mount that takes a pickup truck to haul around, but you know the DDP (Defense Department Procurement, or as we called them, Death & Distruction People) they won't stop until its man portable...
Since its fiction/'Future', you can do anything you want...
I keep telling people the best 'Zombie Gun' is your fingers,
Just go 'Bang, Bang, Bang'...
If you want a 'Silencer' then go 'Pssst'...
Since zombies are fictional, your fictional gun never needs ammo, never misses, and is always with you!
Rounds that penetrate, then explode into shrapnel, that can be nearly instantly programmed via the ranging optics to explode over/behind targets or after impact with a door or wall...
Rounds that self correct in flight, artillery that can be fired up to a mile off target and GPS guide themselves to the target coordinates.
Some current military weapons systems can be fired at high angle (more flight time) and barrel declined, fired again, ect, and can deliver several rounds on target at the SAME TIME.
Reducing angle reduces flight time, so rounds impact at the same time.
Some long range, and I do mean long range, like two miles, use a computer controlled weapons mount with Doppler radar to figure wind, air density, ect to have first round hits...
Right now, its a weapons mount that takes a pickup truck to haul around, but you know the DDP (Defense Department Procurement, or as we called them, Death & Distruction People) they won't stop until its man portable...
Since its fiction/'Future', you can do anything you want...
I keep telling people the best 'Zombie Gun' is your fingers,
Just go 'Bang, Bang, Bang'...
If you want a 'Silencer' then go 'Pssst'...
Since zombies are fictional, your fictional gun never needs ammo, never misses, and is always with you!
F. Guffey, I miss the old burlap gunny sacks. They were much better for making ghillie suits than the new plastic feed sacks.
FilmGuy,
The Tracking Point system is only as good as how consistent the ammunition is to the referenced load input into the TP scope computer. In theory the scopes of the future would be able to hold multiple zeros and the shooter would simply have to flip through the menu to choose the load they want to launch.
Still, if you can't reload consistent ammunition, you can't get consistent hits no matter how high tech your gear.
The other issue is that any scope that requires a battery essentially has a single point of failure. Batteries go dead, and even rechargeable batteries have a limited number of charges.
In the future, the 50 BMG will still be around. It may not be the baddest on the block, but it has such an established industrial base that there is no point in getting rid of it.
Additionally, if you want to go with a "future 50" ammunition, the DARPA self correcting projectile program has been demonstrated down to 20mm, and those aren't something that a reloader can "cobble together" in their basement. If the scope did the auto ranging, auto drop correction, and in flight correction, then there is pretty much no way to replicate that using half inch copper pipe and a reloading press....
But if you right it into the backstory that this guy brought a 50 cal with 100 rounds of ammo (or any number you like) then bam, that is that. Even if the people you are writing about are reloaders, most reloaders don't have a press big enough, or dies on hand, to reload the 50 BMG. The cheapest option is from LEE, but I don't know anyone who has one who doesn't already own a 50 BMG.
Hope this is helpful.
Jimro
FilmGuy,
The Tracking Point system is only as good as how consistent the ammunition is to the referenced load input into the TP scope computer. In theory the scopes of the future would be able to hold multiple zeros and the shooter would simply have to flip through the menu to choose the load they want to launch.
Still, if you can't reload consistent ammunition, you can't get consistent hits no matter how high tech your gear.
The other issue is that any scope that requires a battery essentially has a single point of failure. Batteries go dead, and even rechargeable batteries have a limited number of charges.
In the future, the 50 BMG will still be around. It may not be the baddest on the block, but it has such an established industrial base that there is no point in getting rid of it.
Additionally, if you want to go with a "future 50" ammunition, the DARPA self correcting projectile program has been demonstrated down to 20mm, and those aren't something that a reloader can "cobble together" in their basement. If the scope did the auto ranging, auto drop correction, and in flight correction, then there is pretty much no way to replicate that using half inch copper pipe and a reloading press....
But if you right it into the backstory that this guy brought a 50 cal with 100 rounds of ammo (or any number you like) then bam, that is that. Even if the people you are writing about are reloaders, most reloaders don't have a press big enough, or dies on hand, to reload the 50 BMG. The cheapest option is from LEE, but I don't know anyone who has one who doesn't already own a 50 BMG.
Hope this is helpful.
Jimro
Have them go raid an Academy store (they stock 50 cal ammo) or have them set up with a super duper long range bow and a box of a thousand arrows.
Either way, they will last a little longer until the hero comes and saves them. I assume that The Rock will be the hero since Arnie is too old and wrinkled.
Either way, they will last a little longer until the hero comes and saves them. I assume that The Rock will be the hero since Arnie is too old and wrinkled.