Rifle, Anti-Tank, .55in, Boys

Beater said:
your a lot smaller fella than me, you musta really had to dig your toes in man. haha
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During MG98 at Wolverine, I shot 10 rounds through for demonstration purposes. I was wearing the desert uniform of khaki shorts and rolled up sleeves. I was laying on scrub prairie grass. At the end of the 10 rounds, my shoulder blade was bruised, and my elbows and knees were slightly bleeding.

I talked to an old vet who told me that in 39 they were training on the Boys rifle. He was told to dig his toed in to counter the recoil. He mentioned it was brutal, and told the next guy "don't dig your toes in...just let it push you".
 
stencollector said:
Beater: If I recall it was either from you or Bossanno Bob that I purchased 47 rounds on stripper clips and in bandoliers for the princely sum of $10 a round. That kept me shooting for a couple years, but when I saw the supply almost gone, I made the changeover to 50.
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was me . yes I was taught by an oldtimer to dig in my toes it would still push me back . had a cousin who wanted to try it so got him all down there and set up hangin on pulled the trigger, click, hang fire. he raised his head and dropped the butt then boom. split him open on his shoulder, needed 10 stiches and some rye
 
Awesome stuff!!! Love it!
Beater said:
back in the day I owned one of these, and I have personally put 200 + rounds downrange. it is , to say, considerably more recoil than a 50 BMG round. the rifle came with 400 rounds on strippers, and for a while we were shooting everything we could find. engine blocks, plate steel, whatever we could find that was big and heavy. sure made a big mess out of a 390 ford engine block. fist sized pieces everywhere. out of all the firearms ive had in the hay day, I can say this was the funnest one ive had to shoot and own
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Beater said:
was me . yes I was taught by an oldtimer to dig in my toes it would still push me back . had a cousin who wanted to try it so got him all down there and set up hangin on pulled the trigger, click, hang fire. he raised his head and dropped the butt then boom. split him open on his shoulder, needed 10 stiches and some rye
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WOW lol
 
Wish I still had mine. Sold it off to buy an engagement ring and wedding ring. Youve heard of shotgun weddings, mine was an anti-tank rifle wedding! As it turns out a poor trade, ah well, life.
 
yank said:
Wish I still had mine. Sold it off to buy an engagement ring and wedding ring. Youve heard of shotgun weddings, mine was an anti-tank rifle wedding! As it turns out a poor trade, ah well, life.
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Damn, bet you wish you had that one to do over.
 
Had i known then what i know now i would have bought every single one of them from International Firearms in Montreal 45 years ago . I bought one , fired it 8 or 10 times and traded it for a '66 Pontiac .
 
The Disney video was great. I could fire that gun and know where to aim on a WWII tank now. The Hitler cartoon at the beginning was hilarious. "I am being oppressed!!" Where have I heard that lately?
 
stencollector said:
Yes. They are frequently done for two reasons. In the US the primary reason is because at 55 cal it is a destructive device. Conversion to 50BMG turns it back into just a rifle. Here in Canada most are done so that they can actually be shot without having to spend $25 to $50 a shot for original ammunition, and that is when you can find it. There is no steady source for the ammo.

Now queue the guys who are going to tell us that you can fire form BMG ammo into 55, or else solder on the headspacing band onto the rear of the case. And that you can buy bullets from Australia, and how easy they will be to reload.

I took the easy route and changed mine over to a Kreiger match grade 50BMG. I have actually done 3 of them over the years. You can put the original profile on the barrel, and with a slight modification to the magazines, feed the BMG from a magazine.

Sure there are cheaper 50s out there, but none with the fine lines and superfluous machining of the Boys rifle. They are a work of industrial art.
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"just a rifle" eh? :)
 
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