I’m sure many of you have recently started seeing an increasing amount of firearms in stock at local dealers. Prices on many of these items have certainly stabilized and, in some cases, are declining. One dealer near my home now has a couple of Barrett .50 BMGs, a .bolt-action 338 Lapua Mag and a fair amount of ammo in stock. Unfortunately, prices on these have not declined at this dealer as they’re asking a ridiculous amount for the base version of the M82A1 ($12K!)l, but I took a look anyway and am intrigued.
Now I can get the Barrett for less than $9K elsewhere, but I’m not sure I want to spend that much for a once and a while long range toy. I’m also aware of many other .50 BMG offerings from Bushmaster, Safety Harbor, EDM, Serbu, Accuracy International, Armalite, ALS and others. Some are uppers only and others complete rifles in semi-auto or bolt action configurations.
Does anyone have any experience or advice on some of the other manufacturer’s products? That is, can you get a decent 50BMG for less than $9K and/or would you?
Are there better, lower cost options having long range capabilities that would be nearly as fun e.g., 338 Lapua Mag, .338 Extreme. etc. (I think the Cheytac is right out >> $9K)?
Again, I’m thinking about a range toy primarily for sharpening my long range skills (which are pretty freaking dull) and, of course, entertainment value. I would expect shooting no more than 100 rounds per year and probably less. I have no aspirations to employ this as a SHTF rifle…but one never knows… I’ll add the portability and weight are not a major factor.
If you have the coin to drop…get a barrett.
A model 99 msrp is 4k… a model 95 msrp is 6500.00
I went with the .50 upper option instead of getting a full blown rig. I can attach it to my standard lower and get it on whenever, wherever. I saved a ton of money this way and had money left for ammo, optics and accessories…
The cheytac looked good on paper and the media coverage but good luck feeding and supplying it.
The .416 is nifty and so is the .338 lapua but why not just get a .50 and call it a life…you will never have a want for more.
I’m leaning toward the Barrett bolt action, but am still noodling the semi. I think I’m going to wait a few months to see what happens with prices (and finish the other five ARs I’m building). I have a feeling the BMG prices are going to drop appreciably.
However, if I happen to find a gun shop that is selling any one of these for a “reasonable” amount in the near future…well let’s just say that the wife is going to be pissed
Or a bolt action with a mag??? Something about a self loading .50 makes me nervous. I would want to be damn sure I am ready to destroy something before even putting one in the chamber.
It all depends what you want to do with the rifle.
If you plan on blasting car doors at 100 yards with military APIT a Barret M82 or bolt gun may be what you need.
If you want to shoot sub MOA steel targets at over 2 Klicks a precision bolt gun (McMillan/EDM/etc) is the only way to go. This is what i wanted and bought my rifle accordingly.
In my limited experience the good thing about the Barrets is you can feed them shitty ammo and they normally will go bang, a precision rifle they are not however.
On the other hand, you can roll a McMillan/GAP/etc custom built precision rifle shooting AMAX or other high BC bullet and kill shit waaaay out there.
Its all a matter of what you want to accomplish with the rifle.
CheyTacs Extreme Long Range course (Shooting Sub MOA steel to around 2300 yards) with my .50 and .408.
I prefer a rifle for the latter, i.e., long range shooting with accuracy. Perhaps I should have been more clear when I mentioned the word “fun” as I was thinking about sport or entertainment, not a SHTF type of firearm. I don’t have any realistic aspirations of shooting sub MOA at 2,300, but it would be nice to know that I had a rifle that could. Damned impressive, BTW.
On a side note- very close to taking the CheyTac course and renting one of their 408s. In fact, my uncle knows the guy/lives in Arco.
That post was just for info in general and not directed completely to you. A lot of guys think buying a .50BMG means they can smokecheck cans of beefstew at a mile …and it really doesnt. Most .50’s shoot like ass, especially when fed questionable ammo and topped with shitty optics.
Not to hijack here, but what ammo are you using in your .50?
I bought some of the HSM A-Max and also of the Solid Brass Alloy Sniper Match rounds from 50 BMG Ammo Supply, although I haven’t had a chance to really shoot any of it.
Dave,
currently running both 690 grain AP and AMAX both loaded by B&B armory…sorry i dont have a link. AP is not all that accurate in my rifle…but the AMAX sure as shit as.
HSM is a couple of hours down the road from me stateside and im thinking about swinging down there to grab some next im home.
Let me know how those solids shoot in your stick when you get to send some downrange man.
I have one of their business cards which is sitting on my desk in the states right now:mad: but that sounds like the same outfit. Bought about 500 rounds off of them a while back. Good stuff.
