.50 BMG For Big and Dangerous Game ?

[GeorgiaDave]

Hello from Georgia,
   I would like to know if there is anyone currently using a .50 BMG rifle for hunting. It would certainly be adequate for any situation and would perform well from a considerable distance. I am aware of some of the custom made rifles shooting Nitro Express cartridges currently being used on Safaris and would LOVE to have one, but the price is a bit out of my current budget. The .50 BMG's being made these days however are well within my budget and I will be aquiring one this summer. I am already buying brass as well as loaded rounds and will be getting the whole reloading set up as soon as I buy the rifle.

   This is a true " Big Bore" that does not seem to get much use in the field.  I will probably never use one for hunting but the option will be open just as soon as I break down and buy one. Thanks for all responces.

Dave

[lefteyedon]

                                                            50 BMG on ATV? ( Rat Patrol?).
 
 IMHO using a 50 BMG to "hunt" with is silly. As a sniper weapon in a war zone it is a very effective weapon. To take game with it is cartoonish.

 For "dangerous game" often found in close range 50 BMG rifles are to clumsy. A 27-40 lbs rifle does not swing fast or well. A 10-12 lbs in 375 H&H to 460 Lott will handle quickly in the bush. Its speed on target is that matters.
 
  Long range? yes the 50 BMG is super at long range work.
Is shooting an elk at 1900 yards hunting? each shooter has to answer that one for themselves.
If one of the Super fast 338 rounds won't "git hur done" then the shooter needs to learn how to be a better stalker.

Using a sledge hammer to kill a fly does not make the fly any deader it only ruins the furnaiture.

All that said I am sure someone somewhere is hunting with a 50 BMG.



 

 

[EDELWEISS]

First of all, the fifty WAS originally designed for dangerous game, the two legged type!  Its been used most effectively for that purpose for almost a century.

As for hunting in the traditional sense, no game animal that walks on four legs is dangerous much beyond arms reach.  Thats why the express cartridges and double rifles were made.  Before them were the really big 4 and 8 bores.  671 grains from a BMG may seem like alot but imagine a quarter pound(+) of lead from a 4 bore. Samuel Baker had a 2 bore, thats a half pound of lead!  Think about that the next time you go to McDonalds...

Ive owned both and shot enough to say that I have yet to find a BMG Id take hunting for anything that wasnt SHOOTING back.  If its got claws, teeth, and or horns I'll take my doubles.  I'll admit Ive uesd and use big rounds for small game.  Try showing up in deer camp with a 375 H&H and see what your buddies say.  Theres nothing wrong with big rifles and cartridges; but some are just out of place.  What happens when you see the record breaking animal of your hunt and you cant be sure of your back stop???

All this said, if you're still thinking about hunting with a fifty, first contact the Fifty Caliber Shooting Society, and consider some of the reduced load wildcats.  Check Cartridges of the World for options.

Oh yes welcome to the world of big bores. 

[Redhawk1]

The round was conceptualized during WW1 by John Browning in response to a requirement for an anti-aircraft weapon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.50_BMG#History

[Cheesehead]

I heard the 50 BMG has been used in Africa on Cape Buffalo.

Cheese

[fe352v8]

Do not know what it would do on a cape buffalo, but I have first hand experience, with what a Ma Duce, will do on domestic Asiatic water buffalo, or at least what a 3-5 round burst will do.  Tracking a wounded animal will not be an issue.

Life is no joke but funny things happen

jon

[S.S.]

The Germans used an Anti-tank rifle in WWI that was right at
.50 caliber. I believe that the inspiration for the cartridge came from that.
But Browning did want it in an aircraft role. I know it gets used on a regular basis
for point shooting of personnel in the Sniper role, But is it not against the Geneva
convention to do so? The concept of the heavy caliber man portable rifle was not
for tagging tank commanders at 1500 yards or so, It was as an A.M.R. or Anti Material Rifle.
Drop a two man team behind enemy lines with one of these nice heavy caliber semi-automatics
They work into position next to an airfield and start putting half inch holes in Engines,
Radar dishes, a nice API round into a fuel truck, That sort of stuff. Two men can precisely
do a lot of damage in a very short period of time from a decent distance away.
Then they were to disable the weapon, abandon it and disappear to be picked up at a pre-determined place. As I understand it, these teams were first used in Panama but I am not exactly
sure of what weapon they used. There was also a 20 mm weapon that fires a Sub-caliber Sabot-Flechette projectile That will penetrate just about anything armored except the heavy tanks.
These may no longer be in service though. I have a picture of one somewhere, I will try to find it.
It was a Brute of a Weapon. To answer the initial question though, I know of no one who uses
one for hunting. not only because of the over-kill factor, But because toting one around in the field
would make for a miserable hunting experience. I Have heard they do quite well when chumming up and blasting Sharks from the upper deck of a boat though. I've Never done it but I would bet it would be a hoot...

[moxgrove]

LAR marketed the Grizzly Big Boar in the late eighties. It was supposed to appeal to long range big game snipers. I believe it was built on the Iver- Johnson single shot turn bolt action. It was a flop. It was supposed to appeal to the same crowd who bought their grizzly win mag pistols.

[GrassLakeRon]

Watching the "shooting gallery" on the dish.  They were at Knob Creek.  Saw a 13 pound 50 BMG and a light 20mm.  All titanium with a large muzzle break.

Ron

[corbanzo]

I have to agree with above that for the most part (however hugely expensive titanium version left out)  The 50 BMG doesnt really count for a "dangerous game" rifle.  At the effective range for the .50BMG, large animals are no longer dangerous, plus at short ranges again with mobility. 

I would rather have a lever action .45-70 than a .50BMG for short range protection from dangerous game. 

I am a big fan of using any gun for hunting, tanks aside.  There is just so much difference in what you can do with a gun.  The .50BMG just changes to game to a whole new level, a deer at 2000yards might be that level.  Or a cape buff at 750 yards.  Is it dangerous game hunting at 750 yards?  Nope.  Is it still hunting?  Yep.