50BMG at Bills - Who wants to shoot it?

[gunderwood]

Last year I brought a Barrett .50BMG down and let people shoot it. As a general rule of thumb I have no problems letting people shoot any of my firearms for free. However, this one is so expensive to feed that if I give away free shots I'd go through hundreds of dollars in ammo. So, for this firearm only, I ask that you cover the cost of ammo. That works out to be around $5 a shot.

So the point of this thread is to get an idea how much ammo I need to bring. If you're interested in shooting it, please reply to this thread and an approximate round count. I'll bring extras for me (duh), but it would be nice to have an idea. No commitments, you can change your mind and back out...it's purely logistics.


Also, a gun like this costs way too much to risk on ammo I don't know where it came from, so please don't bring ammo and ask to shoot it.

[Jakeiscrazy]

I'm in and so are 3 others in my group most likely. Thanks!

[jdonovan]

Ahhhh so there might be two Barrett's there. I was planning on bringing my 95.

So should I leave mine home and let gunderwood cover the .50 BMG angle, and bring the .338 Lapua instead?

The Lapua isn't quite as expensive to feed as the .50, but with my costs of hand tuned match ammo at $3 a pop, I'd also likely need to as for a bit of assistance covering the ammo bill.

[allingeneral]

OOOO! OOOO! Pick me!!

[Tweaker]

JDonovan, a .338 Lapua is on my short list, so please bring it for me to try!

What make model is it?

[jdonovan]

JDonovan, a .338 Lapua is on my short list, so please bring it for me to try!

Will do.

What make model is it?

Rem 700

Might want to check with Bill to see if he has a spare shoulder sling if you are thinking about more than a few rounds; it kicks worse than the .50

[allingeneral]

JDonovan, a .338 Lapua is on my short list, so please bring it for me to try!

Will do.

What make model is it?

Rem 700

Might want to check with Bill to see if he has a spare shoulder sling if you are thinking about more than a few rounds; it kicks worse than the .50

No way!

[jdonovan]

Might want to check with Bill to see if he has a spare shoulder sling if you are thinking about more than a few rounds; it kicks worse than the .50

There is a different feel to the recoil, the 50 is a longer, slower push, the .338 is quite sharp.

[jdonovan]

Now if we want to play with ouchy recoil, I can bring a 500S&W and a T/C in .375 JDJ

[Palladin]

6 rds between Glen and Evan, please!

Owch

[Jakeiscrazy]

I'm in and so are 3 others in my group most likely. Thanks!

Make that 5 total shots for my group my friend wants to shoot it twice, once suppressed, once unsuppressed. I'll also take one .338 at $3 a shot please!Maybe more I'll talk with the rest of my party. As always thanks for letting us play with the fun toys.

[Tweaker]

No brake on that .338? I want to take the full hit. I'd rather find out sooner rather than later that I 'gasp' bought TOO MUCH GUN!
edit - I beat G-money to the muzzle break causation! My knowledge gets a gold star!

If I may run the risk of hogging, G-money's thread for my own purposes:

I reload and if anyone wants to shoot my guns to their hearts content (within reason, no quick change barrels ) I only ask for reimbursement for my reloading costs.

I haz:
Kel Tec RFB 7.62 NATO
KT Sub 2000 9mm (With EEEEVIL HIGH CAP MAGAZINES)
AR's .223 (too bad my Slide fire solutions full auto bump fire stock ain't here till next week!)
A Taurus Judge (so you can say you shot one, and don't have teh embarrassment of admitting to buying one for yourself! )
A competition modified Springfield XDm 9mm (trigger worked)
Nothing else crazy, but a variety of handguns.

[gunderwood]

Might want to check with Bill to see if he has a spare shoulder sling if you are thinking about more than a few rounds; it kicks worse than the .50

There is a different feel to the recoil, the 50 is a longer, slower push, the .338 is quite sharp.

It's very dependent on the muzzle brake installed and the firearm. My DTA SRS .338 doesn't kick as much, especially suppressed.

[gunderwood]

No brake on that .338? I want to take the full hit. I'd rather find out sooner rather than later that I 'gasp' bought TOO MUCH GUN!

You shouldn't shoot a .338LM without a brake, same with .50BMG. Both approach or exceed what is generally considered dangerous levels of recoil otherwise. Not saying it can't be done, but that it's generally unwise. You do NOT want a detached retina or something.

[Tweaker]

Holy crap! You're scaring me Garrett! A detached retina sounds like something Beavis would have screeched about after gettin' his arse kicked!

"My liver! My liver!"

I'm bringing you them 100 .30 cal 175 grain boolits, I'd appreciate the one's you mentioned. I have given up any hope of <2 moa accuracy for the RFB. That's ok. It is a battle type rifle anyhow. I still like it. Much more when I go for a can I bet!

[argentina]

¿Remember me? I´ll be going to the meeting as you encouraged me to do, and be willing to try your Barrett .
See you ,
Karina from Argentina.

Last year I brought a Barrett .50BMG down and let people shoot it. As a general rule of thumb I have no problems letting people shoot any of my firearms for free. However, this one is so expensive to feed that if I give away free shots I'd go through hundreds of dollars in ammo. So, for this firearm only, I ask that you cover the cost of ammo. That works out to be around $5 a shot.

So the point of this thread is to get an idea how much ammo I need to bring. If you're interested in shooting it, please reply to this thread and an approximate round count. I'll bring extras for me (duh), but it would be nice to have an idea. No commitments, you can change your mind and back out...it's purely logistics.


Also, a gun like this costs way too much to risk on ammo I don't know where it came from, so please don't bring ammo and ask to shoot it.

[jdonovan]

You shouldn't shoot a .338LM without a brake, same with .50BMG. Both approach or exceed what is generally considered dangerous levels of recoil otherwise. Not saying it can't be done, but that it's generally unwise. You do NOT want a detached retina or something.

The .338 does have a radial brake, but I don't think its as helpful as I would like.Radial brakes don't counter balance recoil like a clamshell type brake does.

The .458 Lott I have has 90% energy than the .338, and no recoil reduction system. But its a helluva kicker. Haven't heard of people knocking there eyeballs loose, but It will rattle your fillings

[gunderwood]

You shouldn't shoot a .338LM without a brake, same with .50BMG. Both approach or exceed what is generally considered dangerous levels of recoil otherwise. Not saying it can't be done, but that it's generally unwise. You do NOT want a detached retina or something.

The .338 does have a radial brake, but I don't think its as helpful as I would like.Radial brakes don't counter balance recoil like a clamshell type brake does.

The .458 Lott I have has 90% energy than the .338, and no recoil reduction system. But its a helluva kicker. Haven't heard of people knocking there eyeballs loose, but It will rattle your fillings

There have been plenty of injuries over the years with those African game rifles. Its a least risk or what's worse decision. When hunting dangerous game you don't want to handicap your hearing and a muzzle brake would cause serious damage to it, so they suck up the recoil. IIRC, many hunting preserves specifically ban brakes because of the guides hearing loss. Generally you don't shoot many of those rounds either.

If you do a quick Google search you can find references and discussions of it. For example:

Field and Stream: http://books.google.com/books?id=Gb1zJ7 ... le&f=false

Middle column, middle of that column is the question.


There also have been examples where tens of thousands of lesser calibers have caused problems (mostly with world class shooters who practice a whole lot with a 12ga or something). That being said, it is a rare event and is treatable if you do it early. Also, age makes you more susceptible to it.

[jdonovan]

There have been plenty of injuries over the years with those African game rifles. Its a least risk or what's worse decision. When hunting dangerous game you don't want to handicap your hearing and a muzzle brake would cause serious damage to it, so they suck up the recoil. IIRC, many hunting preserves specifically ban brakes because of the guides hearing loss. Generally you don't shoot many of those rounds either.

Yes, I was aware of the risk, but hadn't heard of people doing it with a .338. The big Africa stuff, sure.

[gunderwood]

There have been plenty of injuries over the years with those African game rifles. Its a least risk or what's worse decision. When hunting dangerous game you don't want to handicap your hearing and a muzzle brake would cause serious damage to it, so they suck up the recoil. IIRC, many hunting preserves specifically ban brakes because of the guides hearing loss. Generally you don't shoot many of those rounds either.

Yes, I was aware of the risk, but hadn't heard of people doing it with a .338. The big Africa stuff, sure.

I'd guess that's because .338LM is a tactical cartridge where suppressors and brakes are the norm. I don't recall ever seeing anyone actually shooting one without some sort of brake/can. Perhaps a really heavy benchrest gun, but .338LM isn't the best caliber for that. The total recoil energy is about the same as dangerous game rifles.

With a good brake there isn't much to worry about, even on a .50BMG. Besides breaking their Barrett's, that's another reason the military did not adopt a can. They noted that most can designs increased recoil to dangerous levels. Mine increases it to just under what they deemed as the practical limit, which is still a good deal less than their no shoulder firing rule.