Survival Arts

Another day at the range, this time with the .50

A couple of weekends ago, I finally took out my Armalite AR-50 .50 BMG for a spin. I've owned it for quite a while, but I hadn't gotten around to shooting it: I wasn't yet convinced until recently that I wouldn't break the scope I was hoping to mount on it, a Leupold Vari-X III mil-dot model with a Premier Reticle (3.5-10 x 40mm). Once I was convinced, I mounted the scope and took it out for a bit of fun, using some surplus South African ammo I'd ordered a couple of years ago. No intention of serious zeroing, but I figured it would be fun to get at least a rough zero at the longest range I could manage.

The range was only about 300 meters deep, so for fun I set up to shoot at a vertical paper target, figuring I'd try to adjust for about one foot over point of aim. My first shot, with the elevation and windage on the scope set to "0", resulted in a hit right over the target... 4 feet over. It didn't take me long to get the hits down to roughly where I wanted them. Like I said, this was simply a set of warmup shots (also remembering that the first few shots through a new barrel will change point of impact.)

One of the things that amazed me about this weapon is how light the recoil was... and how loud it was! Both aspects make perfect sense given the combination of the weight of the weapon (37lb/16.8kg) and a well-designed muzzle brake (the size of a Coke can.) The muzzle brake, in the course of doing its recoil reduction job, introduces a lot of noise to either side and back of the muzzle. You do not want to be within 10-15 feet on either side of the weapon when it lights off! Interestingly, in the shooter's position behind the gun, it's much more bearable... but less so 6 feet behind the shooter. Interesting acoustics.

I plan to take this lovely piece back out to the range in the next few weeks, under more controlled conditions. I'll write about it at length, and may even have someone do a video of the firing sequence, so you all can see and hear it in action. This thing is fun!