Deer Hunting with 50 BMG

Unfortunately the work load has been so high this year, my range time has suffered terribly, I have it only sighted in out to 1 mile, with any precision, I can hit 45 gal drums now at 2, but not consistant enough yet for smaller items . Am hoping I can spend some time at the farm still but with over 40 customs still to build this year its not looking too promising. I also want to upgrade the scope as not enough magnification in the 32.
This years vacation plan of taking August off, well I am still catching it from the Mrs. about August having more tha 8 days in it.
For those not in on the conversation, a friend of mine in the US sent me a video of him shooting an 18" pumpkin at 1.5 miles with his 50 cal last year, so I had intended to return the favor but at 2 miles, just to 1 up him.
Time has not been available to work on it as mentioned, but I still want to try.

I know excuses excuses, well back to work
 
Shot deer number 2 today with the 50, this time with 750 grain Amaxs. NEVER again, horrible mess, the bullet came completely apart. The bullet did NOT exit the body, which shocked the hell out of me, I figured it would whistle right through both sides. WRONG!!! I did recover alot of the jacket and found the aluminum tip intact lying beside the body. Where the lead core went is a question, hope to be able to answer that when the butchering is done.
The shot placement and distance was nearly the same as deer number1, no hydraulicing effect this time, but truly significant damage to the rib cage and gut, fortunately very little lost meat.

The thing now is I have to wait 12 months to try the 800 gr spire point and the bonded 750 gr mag tip.
 
The whole idea was to see what was and what wasn't fact and fiction with the 50 and the various bullets, so yes I have photos, will post them soon, some are truly not suitable for younger viewers or those who have eaten recently. More to follow
 
alberta tactical rifle said:
The whole idea was to see what was and what wasn't fact and fiction with the 50 and the various bullets, so yes I have photos, will post them soon, some are truly not suitable for younger viewers or those who have eaten recently. More to follow
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As long as I can't smell it I'm fine ;)
 
Take it to Africa, they have a minimum cal. restriction ;)
I can't say I would enjoy being in the same county hunting deer with someone shooting these weapons afield.
I don't have the details , but someone must have the size of a .50 cal template. Its more than a quarter section for sure.:eek:
Frank
 
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Rick, you big meanie, shooting poor defenceless bambi's with that evil .50 caliber machine gun cartridge that only a terrorist could possibly need for shooting down aircraft. :)

BTW The 750 AMAX is the bullet the CF used to kill those Taliban in Afghanistan so it makes me wonder what that bullet did to them. :O
 
Levi Garrett said:
Take it to Africa, they have a minimum cal. restriction ;)
I can't say I would enjoy being in the same county hunting deer with someone shooting these weaponds afield.
I don't have the details , but someone must have the size of a .50 cal template. Its more than a quarter section for sure.:eek:
Frank
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We shoot 50 caliber out to 2 miles, I am not certain what the actual dangerous range of 50 is but figure 5 miles easily,under ideal conditions. According to the CFC course, 300 win mag is dangerous to 3 miles.
The key here is responsible shooting style and intelligent decisions BEFORE a shot is ever made.
Both my hunting partner and I are EXTREMELY aware of the potential of these rifles, so unless there is a very significant backstop behind what is being shot at, the target is in a safe to be shot at position, and a VERY thorough survey done of the area between the shooter and the target, to be 150% sure no-one is in or near the line of fire, a shot is not taken.
The other precaution we use, is hunting on privately owned (my familys) posted land, so only a person trespassing would be in any danger.This is still a concern.
That all being said, I too am a bit nervous knowing there are other hunters, out in the same areas I hunt, with ANY caliber rifle.
I have seen many guys that give zero forethought to where their bullets will
finally stop after a shot has been taken, regardless of caliber.
 
Suputin said:
Rick, you big meanie, shooting poor defenceless bambi's with that evil .50 caliber machine gun cartridge that only a terrorist could possibly need for shooting down aircraft. :)

BTW The 750 AMAX is the bullet the CF used to kill those Taliban in Afghanistan so it makes me wonder what that bullet did to them. :O
Click to expand...

Anyone who can swing a 61lb gun to try and shoot down an airplane is a person to be feared anyway.
The 750 gr Amaxs make for VERY ugly wounds, I will only be shooting targets with them from now on. As stated I will never use 1 again for any hunting purposes, ever!!

Interesting that the 30mm is not covered by firearms, I had a rather in depth discussion with the CFO about my wanting to build the 30, was told I could build it but not sell 1. I don't know if this is correct, so few even want to buy 50s I would think that the 30mm market would be REALLY small anyway, but I can not see any reason not to scale up my 50 to shoot the 30mms I have aquired.
 
50 BMG is running between $10.00 and $15.00 per round depending on bullet type and so on, I have had to pay upwards of $40.00 per rnd for 20mm, for the Solothurn, I wish I had bought tons back in the 60s when it was $2.00 per rnd. 30mm goes for about $50.00 per rnd, if you can find any. Needless to say it is really scarce, as there are VERY few sources of it. I have been asked by quite a few guys to sell them a piece for their collections, having no viable way to replace them I really don't want to part with any, to build a rifle for 500 rnds is not a cheap thing to do, if I sell some of the non replaceable ammo then what is the point of the expense and time of building the gun? So far I have not found anyone who can make dies for it either, so reloading does not seem to be an option here, I may end up trying to make my own dies, that should be a challenge.
 
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