.50 AR

[RC3]

I have built plenty of AR 15's and have it almost down to a tee. I have been toying with the idea of building an AR 50 for a while know and has anyone here built one? I would love to get some pointers. Such as best stock to manage the recoil and should I go for a specific set of lower parts or just use my tried and true anderson lower?

Edited February 19, 2016 by RC3

[nightrunner]

What kind of .50?

.50bmg? .50beowulf? .50AE? Something else?

[RC3]

What kind of .50?

.50bmg? .50beowulf? .50AE? Something else?

My bad, .50 Beowulf so I can still use a standard ar 15 lower.

[mikegideon]

Raildog has a 50 Beowulf. Maybe he will chime in. Should be a standard lower. The upper uses a special bolt, and I'm sure the ejection port is milled out some. I have a .458 SOCOM. which is a similar deal

[CommsNBombs]

You can use standard lower.
I ran mine with an H3 weight buffer when I had it.

I went with Alexander Arms back in 2010 and even then they had crazy lead times and IIRC I paid almost 1400 after PA tax for the Overmatch A3 upper.

Id go with a complete 12.7x42 (its still a .50Beo) upper from Radical Firearms http://www.radicalfirearms.com/product-p/fu16-12.7x42-15fhr.htm

I have heard great things and for more than half the price ofo of an Alexander Arms upper its a good deal all youd have to supply is a complete lower and you can get in the game with less than 1K

Ammo is the other thing...its gotten a bit cheaper but the good news is since its straight walled you can reload it easily, with plated or coated cast bullets you can keep the cost down low after you source the brass.

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[samson7x]

Have you thought about a 458 socom?  Do you reload?

 

If you reload, the 458 is the better choice with more projectile options.

 

I've killed lots of deer and pigs with the 458 and it is a show stopper. 

[mikegideon]

Have you thought about a 458 socom?  Do you reload?

 

If you reload, the 458 is the better choice with more projectile options.

 

I've killed lots of deer and pigs with the 458 and it is a show stopper. 

 

He's right.Got nothing against Bill Alexander (own two Grendels), but the .458 SOCOM is a much better choice. It's not straight wall, but none of my rifle reloads are. Since it's a relatively low pressure round, you will get lots of reloads on a piece of brass. Anyway, my two cents.

Edited February 19, 2016 by mikegideon

[Johnny Rotten]

My bad, .50 Beowulf so I can still use a standard ar 15 lower.

They make a 50bmg upper

[nightrunner]

They make a 50bmg upper

Both a single shot bolt action and bolt action repeater using a horizontal magazine like a sten.

[CommsNBombs]

Must. Resist. Impulsiveness....

http://safetyharborfirearms.com/products/shtf-uppers/product/43-shtf-50-mag-fed-upper-conversion

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[Jct1911]

I went through this decision last year. I went .50beo. Reloading is much easier and more forgiving than bottleneck cartridges. Also, I didn't have a .50 anything.
I would skip radical firearms, they've had a few issues with barrel extensions coming unscrewed because they melonite the complete assembly after torquing. I went with the set from midway made by Liberty Barrels. It's an excellent shooter. i bought a .458 stripped receiver from AeroPecision(the port is opened up to eject larger cases). I found .50 beo stuff easier to source at the time. Reload data is scattered but available. Hornady included it in their most recent manual.
I highly recommend the new limbsaver recoil pad replacement for Magpul stocks, it took a good amount of sting out of the recoil with the heavy loads. I'll probably hunt with mine this year using 500grn cast, I'm sure it'll anchor just about anything.

[mikegideon]

I went through this decision last year. I went .50beo. Reloading is much easier and more forgiving than bottleneck cartridges. Also, I didn't have a .50 anything.
I would skip radical firearms, they've had a few issues with barrel extensions coming unscrewed because they melonite the complete assembly after torquing. I went with the set from midway made by Liberty Barrels. It's an excellent shooter. i bought a .458 stripped receiver from AeroPecision(the port is opened up to eject larger cases). I found .50 beo stuff easier to source at the time. Reload data is scattered but available. Hornady included it in their most recent manual.
I highly recommend the new limbsaver recoil pad replacement for Magpul stocks, it took a good amount of sting out of the recoil with the heavy loads. I'll probably hunt with mine this year using 500grn cast, I'm sure it'll anchor just about anything.

 

If you cast your own bullets, a 50 would work fine. Yep, the 50 beo is kinda just a big ole pistol round. That should really simplify reloading. The bolt should be fairly easy to get now.

[raildog]

Raildog has a 50 Beowulf. Maybe he will chime in. Should be a standard lower. The upper uses a special bolt, and I'm sure the ejection port is milled out some. I have a .458 SOCOM. which is a similar deal

Did someone call my name I have two of Mr Alexander's 50's a overwatch and precision his lead times are not that bad any more the precision was ordered in late September last year and was on my door step in 13 days here is the link to Wikipedia about the round

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/.50_Beowul


its basically a 50 action Express just a little bit longer case if you do it yourself you have to open up your ejection port in your upper I run A2 fixed stock with rifle buffer the round will feed reliably out of a standard milspec mag the ammo is a little steep for what it is but it will do devastating things to do animals out to about a hundred fifty yards if you want to buy some ammo to feed it you can shoot mine at the OK Corral if we can meet up Edited February 19, 2016 by raildog

[mikegideon]

Did someone call my name I have two of Mr Alexander's 50's a overwatch and precision his lead times are not that bad any more the precision was ordered in late September last year and was on my door step in 13 days here is the link to Wikipedia about the round

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/.50_Beowul


its basically a 50 action Express just a little bit longer case if you do it yourself you have to open up your ejection port in your upper I run A2 fixed stock with rifle buffer the round will feed reliably out of a standard milspec mag the ammo is a little steep for what it is but it will do devastating things to do animals out to about a hundred fifty yards if you want to buy some ammo to feed it you can shoot mine at the OK Corral if we can meet up

Yep. The 458 socom is also based on a lengthened 50 AE. 

[RC3]

I dont reload nor have much free time. Last time I went shooting was roughly 6 months go. This is something I will start stashing a few bucks here and there and maybe have it built by summer. My main concern was the buffer spring to use.