.50 Beowulf

[WhiteyMacD]

Yeah, exactly. So the answer is no - nothing in that general family of .45-50 cal, fit-in-.223-magwell, short-range magnum-buttstomper rounds will have off the shelf ammo at Academy, if that's what you mean. But I think they do have their place, as a heavy-barrier penetrator, or maybe a walking-hunting pig gun - very limited place however, other than cool factor. Of those, I like the .50 Beo the best of that general category of round.

I can only agree with this if we are sticking to the black rifle variants. Honestly, I think they were solutions to non problems, or solutions to problems that could have been fixed by going to a more suitable platform.

Out of the .45-.50 "rifle/non pistol caliber" AR casings, I gotta go with the .458. Preference based off a mixture of the ballistics and backstory.

For reference, I have not shot the .50B, the .450B or the .458S. All statements made off the "ammo availability, ballistics, intended platform" conjecture.


6.5G is still hard to find, and would never be one of my options.

 

[JimmyC]

If you're looking for a big bore like a .50 Beowulf with more available ammo I would recommend the .450 Bushmaster.

The .450 has been around a little longer. The ammo is sold just about everywhere on the internet. It's pricier than .223 ammo but is a little cheaper than the .50 Beowulf but much more available, and about 1/2 as much as the .458 SOCOM. The Ballistics for all three are about the same.

So to answer your question... The .450 is similar in ballistics to the .50 Beowulf. The upper is compatible with any AR15 milspec lower. So yes you can just slap on the upper and go. And the ammo is more commercially available.

 

[henschman]

So you want a fatter, slower round with more stopping power and cheap ammo? How about a 7.62x39 upper?

That or a .45 ACP upper, and get the hottest load you can find. A .45 ACP coming out of a rifle or carbine-length barrel is nothing to sneeze at, as lots of Germans and Japs found out.

 

[LightningCrash]

I REALLY like the idea of this, but is there anything out there similar to this where I can just slap on a upper and go but uses more commercially available ammunition?

Not an AR15, but: a 12ga Saiga with 3" slugs.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Not an AR15, but: a 12ga Saiga with 3" slugs.

Just to expand on that a bit.

Several years ago, I myself thought about jumping on the .50 beowulf bandwagon. Then it hit me - what's the one thing better than a .50 caliber short-range & semi-auto (but expensive) Hammer of Thor?

Answer: A *seventy-three* caliber short range & semi-auto (but less expensive) Hammer of Thor. Hence I got a Remington 1187 'Sportsmans Deer', which is a 12 ga slug rifle, with 21" rifled barrel, and a cantilever scope mount.

 

[davek]

If you step up to the AR-10 then another option is a .450 Marlin upper from Accuracy Systems.

 

[Wall]

11 1/2" .45ACP
[Broken External Image]

 

[davek]

Too bad Tromix doesn't have the .50 AE ARs anymore.