I’m just starting to contemplate and research the reality of getting into 50 BMG, and would welcome advice from those who have already done so.
My goals; to have a long range high energy rifle to be used in a casual non-competitive setting. Initial ranges desired will be within 600 yards, and eventually out to 1000 yards once skill level reaches that point. I do have the land to exercise the rifle’s abilities, and it will likely never see a public or club range.
Why BMG and not say .338LM? If I’m going to play the $5 a trigger pull game, I’d like to have the ability to shoot the fun options the BMG has to offer at closer ranges (API, tracer, cheap ball etc). Also, call it a macho characteristic, but I’d also like to have the “wow” factor of shooting the BMG for personal satisfaction.
My thoughts on rifle platform; After some brief research, I am leaning towards the Barrett M99. While the M82/107 are appealing, I’d rather have a more accurate rifle over one that I can to a mag dump with. From what I’ve gathered (I may be wrong) the M82/107 are 3-4 MOA guns with good ammo, while the M99 is capable of 1 MOA or better. I do not have a problem feeding the rifle one round at a time. The AR upper options do not appeal to me.
Initially I will be using factory/ surplus, but I will handload for it eventually.
Optics:
My first thought is a Viper PST 6-24x50 FFP EBR-2 in MOA. I am a fan of FFP, and think the EBR-2 reticle will work well with a FFP setup. The reticle has 36 MOA of substensions from center to bottom of post. If I have my ballistics right, the BMG has around 24 MOA of drop at 1000 yards. From my limited knowledge, I think this will be ‘enough scope’ for me. Again, in my inexperience, I’d rather use the reticle over doping in the scope if I can. This is just the way I shoot my .308’s. Same goes for choosing MOA subsensions over MRAD. I’ve used MOA based reticles on everything else I’ve owned, and would like to stay with it.
If my thoughts are off base, or if others have a different opinion on what route to go, please throw out some guidance.