Hello All,

Hope everyone is doing well. We have had an awesome fall. Was still 10 Celsius today and we should sering double digits in the negative! A coworker mentioned awhile back that he bought 50 Cal bullets long ago simply to own them. So I asked to buy one as always been fascinated by the size. It is truly amazing how the bullet feels in your hand and what it is capable of doing.



At home I took off the bullet and removed the gun powder. Didn't want to risk dropping it or someone else dropping it and causing serious injury. Trying to get my head back into airguns but work has been busy, banking hours for days off at Christmas.

Have a great week!

Pedro

Hey Pedro,
Yep the 50 BMG is a pretty cool round. So are the firearms that use them. I have shot many of them and I am sure that others on the forum have too. The empty brass is pretty cool too, and you can make all kinds of neat trinkets out of it. You can cut a cresent out of the side and make a nifty bottle opener, for one. Be sure to spray some WD40 into the primer to make it safe too. I used to keep a 50 round on my desk next to a 17 HMR just for fun. Thanks for the post.
Later,
Jeff

WD40 works to eliminate the chance of primer going off? I thought of using a center punch with the bullet out to ensure it will never pose a threat.

Good call on primer Jeff !
That is a biggin Pedro . Oddly enough I have only shot a .50 cal airgun and it was custom made by a friend . I have seen lots of rounds and guns at shows but never got to shoot one . Maybe someday . My boy has a few ( I hope ) ( they are for sure)model grenades they sell at the shows and we also have some HUGE tank or ship mortar brass that we made into banks . They must be 4"dia x 2-0" tall I check the caliber . I've seen on TV they shoot them for avalanche control up in your neck of the woods . That might be fun for a couple times .
Enjoy the cold ! They are callin fer 3-5" snow this weekend in middle Michigan. WOOHOO

Thanks
Kurt

Hey Kurt and Pedro,
Ouch, I don't envy you the cold and the snow. Hey, I think I saw that same show on the avalanche control. Now that looks like it is almost as much fun as a Barnes Shoot. Do you think those guys get paid to do that, or do they have to pay someone else to have that much fun?!?

I once had the opportunity to visit the Fabrique National plant in South Carolina for a law enforcement familiarization day they held for all of the surrounding jurisdictions. The head security manager came out on the stage in their presentation room and addressed the crowd. He said "thanks to all of you law enforcement people for visiting us today, but I just want you to know that we have X number of 50 caliber machine guns currently in inventory and 5 million rounds of ammunition. If we do have any trouble, I think we can hold em off until you guys get here to save us!" It was hilarious. We then got to play with everything they made (not just the big guns) and shoot up as many of those rounds as we wanted. It was quite a fun day and one that I won't soon forget.

I have had other opportunities to shoot 50 caliber rifles (bolt operated and self loaders) and they are quite impressive too. I've read that there is a 50 'Caliber Shooting Society,' and I bet there are some members in your local area. See if any of your gun shops have any info on 50 shooters and I'll bet that you can track down a place to shoot one. It truly is a (huge) blast and I know you would like it!!!

Take care all,
Jeff

Hey
That's a great idea and I even have few friends that own gun shops . I did find time to snap a couple pics of the mortar shells I picked up 10 yrs or so ago .
The first is a 90mm about 2ft tall and the second is 18 pounder shrapnel shell called a fac-simile at about 1 ft tall . The men loading and unloading these had some Cahones. A Navy friend of mine told me stories about the ship listing when they fired !
Crazy stuff . I've seen lots of trench art but not a complete shell to often.

Thanks
Kurt

Hey Pedrog,

You are going to have to step up your game against Kurt. I have to give this round to Kurt. ha ha . .

Kurt thanks for showing those. I was in the Navy Way back and have seen those fired. I saw one of the battle ships now retired firing and it was pushed sidways when it fired a broadside. I was NOT in the Battleship but I bet those guys are really banged around all over the ship.

All kidding aside Pedrog the .50 is powerful round and in my time I fired a few hundred rounds in the Navy for fun. We had several types and you can google what they had then and must have some really cool rounds now.

Great posts thanks Pedrog and Kurt I enjoyed them both.

Larry

Larry,

Lucky guy! Shooting a few hundred rounds for fun!
I would love to try someday, but likely never be exposed to such a large rifle.

Thanks for sharing.

Pedro

Hey Kurt,
Great pics, thanks. I love that the one says 'flashless' and 'smokeless.' But I didn't notice anything saying NOISELESS! Man I bet it was a special kind of chaos when those went off. Good luck getting to shoot a 50 BMG, I hope you can find someone to help you out there.

Pedro,
Thanks for starting this topic it's been a lot of fun and has brought back some cool memories.

Larry,
I'm sure there are others here who have done the same thing with the big 50. If I remember correctly the FN's that we fired had three cyclic rates so that you could use them as needed. I don't correctly recall their actual military desingation, or all of the designations that the 50 cal machines have had through the years, but I do believe there have been several. I also remember that when on the lowest rate they just sat there and chugged along like a rocking horse. But when turned up you just held on and rode them out. What fun!
Later all,
Jeff

Happy to post. Glad others are enjoying as I haven't posted much lately.

Thanks all for comments!

Pedro

Thanks Pedro,

I'd have commented, but you boys were having fun with your BB guns. 50 cal, we were shooting 87s at the SKEETER SHOOT. hehe.





Gary



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/2015 07:13PM by barnespneumatic.

Hey Jeff
The Fac-simile which I never heard of had bullet/ end cap as long as the shell filled with shrapnel I guess . WMD !!

Thanks
Kurt

That would leave a mark - OUCH!

Hey Pedro,

You might want to take a second to check the base of the pulled bullet to see if it's metal or composite, if the latter it might be a tracer round. Tracers are usually marked on the tip of the projectile with dark (black, brown, burgundy) paint or ink, but there's not a lot of standardization out there so you never know. Regular "ball" rounds will have lead or copper at the base, but tracers will typically have a dark reddish disc, it's the ignition compound for the tracer and there's some fairly nasty stuff in it, phosphorus, etc. If it is a tracer you can just burn it off outside, push the projectile into the dirt well away from flammables and ignite it with a propane torch or a long match with a bit of gunpowder. The flame (usually red for U.S. ammo) that shoots out the back will be about two or three feet long, doesn't last but a couple seconds.

To inactivate the primer you can just let it sit for a couple hours with a bit of light 3-in-1 oil poured down inside, or use a good spray of WD-40 like the other guys said. You can also set it off with a punch after you've poured out the powder, but it's LOUD, shockingly loud in fact. Don't do this indoors, as a certain young idiot that I know once did. Your ears will ring for days...I mean, theoretically, I've heard....

Rotorhead,
Lol on the primer noise. I've even heard of another young idiot that might have done the same thing??? Maybe. I really appreciate the info on the tracer round. I never knew that. Phosphorus is truly nasty stuff. Thanks for the education!
Later,
Jeff