Contimplating the M82A1

[MT GUNNY]

What are the ins and outs of this rifle?
I have started to save for this and would like to know where the best deals are. I would like some usefull info from those who have experiance.
What is the actual max effective range of this .50 cal?
How accurate are they?

 

[CanonNinja]

you're going to be disappointed if you plan to shoot this 500+ yards and maintain "decent" groups... a bolt-action repeater is going to give you far better results at distance

 

[Logistics]

Canons right...

Get the 95 or the Accuracy Intl .50 instead if you want to be the least bit accurate.

 

[CanonNinja]

i believe people have been happy with Cobb's results as well... and you can put the extra left-over cash into optics, ammo, reloading gear, etc.... I'd start buying all the reloading components you can get right now, since Talon is possibly backordered until late this year

 

[Geno]

Ferrett 50 is extraordinarily accurate!

Many people are capable (according to the owner) of firing the Ferrett 50 in sub-.5 MOA beyond 500+ yards. To boot, the AR-style conversion costs a mere $1,650? There are other equally accurate .50BMGs. The ALS and the Serbu have excellent reviews.

www.ferrett50.com

www.serbu.com

For me, I like the Ferrett 50.

Doc2005

 

[Hoppy590]

http://www.ferret50.com/

thats the link

 

[ForeverArmed]

My understanding regarding the .50 BMG is that there isn't much good ammo out there. IIRC, a lot of military .50 ammo tends to be around 6 MOA. Rifles like the M82A1 are really more for disabling equipment and vehicles than for shooting at man-sized targets. (Their weight makes them somewhat subpar as a standard sniper rifle.)

I'm not sure there's any match-grade ammo, though I could be wrong. Of course, handloads might do great, but I'd be really sure I knew what I was doing when handloading for that mother.

If you want good groups with a lot of power, you might also consider the .338 Lapua. I'm thinking of a .300 Win Mag or 7mm Rem Mag myself for a rifle with 1000-yard range, then putting in a lot of practice.

Oh yeah, then there's the .50's recoil. I've fired bolt-action and single-shot .50s. My size is 6' 2" and ~210 lbs, and I'm not very recoil-sensitive, but let me tell you: those things pack a wallop! For some perspective, the free recoil energy of a 30-pound .50 cal rifle is around 100 ft-lbs. That's about the energy you'd soak up by being shot with a small handgun at close range. Obviously it won't do the same damage, but it will give you a good jolt, and that will take some getting used to.

One big point in favor of getting the .50 is simply this: Since most gun owners don't seem to want to (physically) resist the theft of their rights, .50s WILL eventually be banned or severely regulated. If you really want one, then now's a good time.

I've not fired a Ferret, but I have fired a Serbu. It seemed to be of very good quality. I'd probably take one of those over the Barrett and then spend the money saved on other rifles, ammo, optics, etc.

Good luck

 

[RecoilRob]

Wow! Not many 82A1 fans here.

I have fired one and it really impressed me. Very high quality build, felt great and shot well. The owner has fired 1moa groups with it (with carefully built handloads). At 1000 yds.

The stories about inaccurate 82's is probably due to the ammo fed them. No, they are normally NOT as accurate as a bolt gun. But, the bolt gun cannot put 10 rounds onto target in 10 seconds either. Most 82's will do 2 MOA without much load development. If yours does 6 MOA, there IS a problem....with shooter or ammo.

If your bank account can withstand the price, you most definately will be happy with the rifle.

Match grade ammo IS available, at $4+per, but I prefer to load my own....and I feel that ANY 50 owner is missing the boat if he/she doesn't handload their own ammo.

Talon makes some good milspec stuff, and I have shot sub 4" groups at 600 yds with my AR-50 with it. You need to cull out the bad run-out ones and save them for busting rocks but about 60% of the several hundred I have bought were fine.

The Barret 82A1 is unique in the 50 field (until Serbu gets his semi online...two more weeks) and well worth the investment. I have met several fellows with them and they all think their money was well spent.

 

[Father Knows Best]

The M82A1 is a nice rifle. For my money, though, the best combination of accuracy and firepower in a .50BMG is the Cobb FA-50T. The "FA" stands for "fast action." It's a straight-pull bolt action with a ten round detachable box mag. The bolt handle is on the left side of the receiver, so a right handed shooter can manipulate the bolt with his left hand while his right hand maintains a firing grip. You can easily put 10 rounds on target in under 10 seconds with the FA-50, and with better accuracy than the Barrett. I've seen it done.

The FA-50 is about as expensive as a Barrett, though. MSRP the last time I checked was somewhere north of $6500. Still, it's what I'd buy if I had the cash for a repeating (magazine fed) 50. Then again, I can't imagine when I would ever have a need to blow through 50 ammo that quickly. At $2+ per shot (even reloading!) it gets expensive darn quick.

As it stands, I'm making do right now with a single shot -- an Armalite AR-50 that I picked up complete with optics and accessories for $1700.

 

[Zero_DgZ]

I'd be interested to see the mechanism on a straight-pull .50 BMG and I'd like to know how it doesn't lay the bolt handle across your face every shot.

 

[LoadedDrum]

The bolt handle is similar a side charging AR. If you keep you face far enough forward to get hit with the bolt handle when retracting it you will likely have already been hit in the face with the scope during recoil.

 

[Father Knows Best]

I'd be interested to see the mechanism on a straight-pull .50 BMG and I'd like to know how it doesn't lay the bolt handle across your face every shot.

Head on over to www.cobb50.com and take a look. The charging handle is forward on the receiver -- very similar to the position of the charging handle on a FAL. Even in the fully retracted position, it is well forward of your face.

 

[PvtPyle]

Your friend may have gotten 1 MOA out of it (and he should compete in the national competitions with that kind of accuracy) but that is not the norm or what the rifle was designed for. And while it may be fun to shoot every now and again, try lugging the pig around. It is not even that much fun to shoot compaired to the 99 or the other guns USSOCOM is using now. Most of us would rather take any of the many other wonderful guns available to us. It sucks.

 

[Zero_DgZ]

Head on over to www.cobb50.com and take a look. The charging handle is forward on the receiver -- very similar to the position of the charging handle on a FAL. Even in the fully retracted position, it is well forward of your face.

I wasn't talking about recoil pushing the rifle back (I'd be more worried about the old scope black eye in that case) but I was always under the impression that straight-pull actions had trouble staying locked under the punishment of very high powered cartridges, which is why they're so uncommon these days.

 

[MT GUNNY]

Tell me more.

The semi auto should have less felt recoil than the other bolts mentiond?

Accuracy wise, id be happy with groups within a dinner plate at 1000, is it atleast going to do that?

again where might be the best place to find one at a better price?

Those Ferret's look nice!

 

[Zak Smith]

The M82 will probably not do "dinner plate" at 1000 yards. Keep in mind that's about 1.2 MOA (for a 13" plate!). I am pretty sure it can do "minute of oil drum" at 1000, however. There are a lot of bolt-action 50's that will hold 1 MOA.

There is match-grade ammunition available for the 50BMG, as are the components you would need to reload your own. Reloading is the way to make shooting 50BMG "more" affordable.

If all you want is a 1000-1400 yard caliber, there are a LOT of cheaper and lower recoil choices.

-z

 

[CanonNinja]

for plinking ammo, the $2 a shot thing is null.... until recent backorders and increases, I was barely paying a $1.17 per for new Talon by the 150rnd cans. My hand-loads on unfired pull-down brass, surplus IMR 5010 and NEW, unpulled BTFMJ 630gr were coming to just under 85 cents each

 

[Father Knows Best]

You certainly can't buy reloads at that price these days. The best I've found for FMJ (the only thing allowed at my range) is about $1.65 per round including shipping when you buy in bulk (150 rounds). Even reloading only gets you down to around $1 a round. At that price, putting "10 rounds on target in 10 seconds) means you're spending $10-15 for 10 seconds of shooting. For that kind of money, I'd prefer to rock and roll on a rifle with "da switch."

So for me, 50BMG shooting one shot at a time out of the AR-50 is just fine.

Unless you happen to have a real 50 cal Browning MG you wanna share. I'd pay a LOT for some trigger time on one of those!

 

[CanonNinja]

150rnd cans of NEW Talon these days is still about $1.65 per round shipped at most. Sportsman's Guide was $185 total shipped for the longest time on the 150rnd cans. The deals are out there online, just gotta look and be patient. I lucked out and ordered my ammo in July and August before the long backorder waits.

 

[HorseSoldier]

The M82 will probably not do "dinner plate" at 1000 yards. Keep in mind that's about 1.2 MOA (for a 13" plate!). I am pretty sure it can do "minute of oil drum" at 1000, however. There are a lot of bolt-action 50's that will hold 1 MOA.

The SOTIC guys I know would generally much rather have McMillan .50s, but the M82/M107 is what the powers that be bought, and so . . .

Personally, I'm not a big enthusiast (no insult to .50 cal shooters intended). Recoil with the M82 is not that bad, but having your head that close to the detonation of a .50 cal round putting steel downrange eventually makes each shot feel like you're getting rabbit punched in the base of the skull. After about a magazine you've gone from "fun" strictly into "work", at least in my personal experience.

 

[Wes Janson]

The problem with the Sportsman's Guide stuff is that it's all API at this point (or at least, the "cheap" stuff is, if you can call $1.70 a pop cheap). Incendiary and APIT isn't too hard to find right now, but loaded surplus-component AP and ball seems to have vanished in the last two months.

 

[Father Knows Best]

Incendiary and APIT isn't too hard to find right now, but loaded surplus-component AP and ball seems to have vanished in the last two months.

Yup. That's exactly the problem I'm having. I can buy all the APIT I want, but I don't want it. What I need is ball, and it's gotten rare and expensive.

 

[Sniper X]

Buy an accuracy international in .338 lapua magnum and you'll kill the .50 guys in accuracy and lower recoil and be able to find match grade ammo. But buy re-loading equipment, big bores are EXPENSIVE to shoot!

 

[Father Knows Best]

Buy an accuracy international in .338 lapua magnum and you'll kill the .50 guys in accuracy and lower recoil and be able to find match grade ammo.

No thanks. A .338LM is awesome and all, but it ain't a 50 BMG. It's like the distinction between a BMW and a Dodge Viper. Sure, the BMW may be the "better" car in lots of ways, but it's no Viper. The Viper is obnoxious and impractical, but oh! What fun!

 

[ForeverArmed]

Buy an accuracy international in .338 lapua magnum and you'll kill the .50 guys in accuracy and lower recoil and be able to find match grade ammo.

No thanks. A .338LM is awesome and all, but it ain't a 50 BMG. It's like the distinction between a BMW and a Dodge Viper. Sure, the BMW may be the "better" car in lots of ways, but it's no Viper. The Viper is obnoxious and impractical, but oh! What fun!

Well, Sniper X is right about the accuracy. Sure, the .50 is more powerful, but it's not likely to achieve the accuracy of the .338 Lapua.

Which caliber is better depends on what you want to do with it. For taking out vehicles, especially from fixed positions, the .50 is better. For an anti-personnel sniper rifle you can sneak around with, or for long-range target shooting, I'd take the .338.

Then again, .50s will be banned or NFA-regulated before the .338, so that's a consideration.