Cartridge case construction makes a difference, also. Developed by Alexander Arms, not much is known about the genesis of the 50 Beowulf as Bill Alexander is known for keeping company matters a closely guarded secret. 223 Faxon match series gunner profile, not walking, Need recommendation on scope choice for hunting and target shooting. The .50 Beowulf is a 12mm caliber rifle cartridge developed by Bill Alexander of Alexander Arms for use in an AR-15 rifle. There has been prototype body armor that had stopped .50bmg but it would still not save your life because of the blunt force. Would have been nice to see the 200 ARX Beowulf in this comparison. Press J to jump to the feed. The .50 Beowulf Entry carbine launches a 325-400 grain half-inch slug downrange at 1900-2000 fps. Similar to the .458 SOCOM, the .50 Beowulf cartridge was designed and produced in the early 2000s with the idea to generate a large bore cartridge that could be used in the AR-15/M16 style weapons that traditionally are chambered for the 5.5645 rounds. Im not quite sure withal. Personally, I prefer other rifles for long-range shooting, and when it comes to the AR-15, I appreciate pure power. You can watch the video on YouTube to see what to do to the magazines for this case but the rounds do feed (with the occasional lock up) from the mags without modifications. Adobe Premier Editing Software https://amzn.to/3aaXncJ2. The 50 Beowulf lists its maximum overall length as 2.25. Information technology was likewise equipped with the excellent and now combat-proven Aimpoint CompM2 blood-red dot optical gunsight. That said, DefRev also hasnt received any proof or confirmation that there are indeed whatever Mini-.50s currently employed by/deployed with any federal LE agencies or any co-operative or unit of the U.S. Armed forces. No spam. Annex: The idea of using dmrs is very strong and still massive amounts of damage compared to any ar or smg. If we take the averages of the rounds for each cartridge we see that there is never more than 100ft.lb difference between the two. Although several armies had special marksmen, it was only Marksmanship is the development of skills to hit whatever we aim at with certainty, at any range, within the effective range of our rifle. That 325-400 grain round would hit the target with so much energy/strength, information technology would probably take all the fight right out of the badguy, penetration or not. It is 100% true, the Beowulf round fires from standard 5.56 magazines which I have a plethera of being prior Army and invested into for my AR15. The competing weapon I mentioned at the beginning of this story is the phantom-similar Leitner-Wise LW15.499 Mini-.fifty. Other shots from left to right are. To provide a clean apples to apples comparison, a standard AR-15 carbine weight (7.5 lbs) will be used for each calculation. For in home defense and other close quarters scenarios, the subsonic round is perfect for reducing noise and flash that can be disorienting to the user. Re: 50 beowulf vs 50 bmg These two cartridges were never meant to be compared IMHO. But then Buffman managed to get his hands on a unicorn and a pegasus. The case body is very similar in dimensions to the .500 S&W Magnum revolver cartridge, being slightly longer and fully tapered for automatic feeding in the weapon. Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan! However, the chart below will give you a general idea of how much recoil each cartridge imparts on the shooter. 2023 GunMag Warehouse. Youre going to get more than enough penetration and energy to cleanly kill game up to 200 yards with both of these cartridges, and both have good hunting options that offer a little more expansion for maximal energy transfer. Body armor is critical safety equipment that law enforcement and corrections officers need for personal protection. Nikon D5600 24.2 MP DSLR Camera https://amzn.to/3Ny7NAW11. The TL;DR version is the vertical grip is legal because the firearm is longer than 26\", so is not a federally defined handgun, so is outside the scope of an AOW designation. The Beowulf utilizes a modified xxx-round 4179 STANAG NATO-spec box magazine. S&W 500 Magnum and 50 Beowulf vs CATI Body Armor ( eBay purchase ) 7,369 views May 5, 2019 97 Dislike Share C-Dub Outdoor 788 subscribers Put this body armor to the test!! A retainer of Hrothgar, assigned to guarding the . Abobe Photoshop https://amzn.to/3a2OvGi4. These are large diameter, heavy hitting rounds designed for close encounter situations where a lot of expansion might not even be wanted. On the other hand, the 450 Bushmaster and 458 SOCOM can remain supersonic past 300 yards. As you can see, 300+ yards is going to offer some difficult shooting for even skilled marksmen. In terms of ballistic coefficient, the 458 SOCOM has the highest at 0.236, followed by the Bushmaster at 0.21, and the Beowulf at 0.15. Its sufficient when it comes to stopping power, you can shoot it accurately to about 300 yards and best of all, its inexpensive, allowing you to get more practice in without going broke. At present, without doing the bodily math, that translates to some serious free energy numbers. From our experience, these rounds are more often than not in stock through online retailers. Still, for those on the fence of one round or the other, we will take a look at the kinetic energy (ft.lb) of our selected rounds. First, a few words of warning about shooting .50 Beowulf rounds from an AR-15 it will be very loud, meaning you better not forget to put your hearing protection on. In contrast, the 458 SOCOM fires a 0.458 diameter bullet which is much more common as this bullet diameter is used by rounds such as the .45-70 Government, 458 Winchester Magnum, 450 Marlin, 460 Weatherby, and 458 Lott. Of course, with the internet, you are going to be able to get your hands on whatever you need, but it might take more time. Whatever your endgame is for these cartridges, recoil is going to have a significant impact on any shooting scenario. Before we get into our comparisons, there is one more note that we would like to make. The 450 Bushmaster, 458 SOCOM, and 50 Beowulf are three big bore cartridges that add a lot of stopping power to the AR-15 rifle. Of course, the noise and the recoil are both part of the fun. The 450 Bushmaster is also unique in the fact that there are single shot and bolt-action rifles available for hunters that are required to use these firearms whereas the 458 and 50 are relegated to the AR-15 platform only. This e-mail address is already subscribed. I tin guarantee the reader ane thing: this gun is worth obtaining simply for the sole purpose and pleasance of recreational plinking. Theres a reason why this class of rifle cartridges are known as thumper rounds. Free recoil is dependent on bullet weight, rifle weight, muzzle velocity, and powder charge. Love Ammo? It is recommended to use steel mags for 458, also there is a 458 follower, for more reliable feeding. Sam Bocetta is a retired engineer who worked for over 35 years as a defense contractor for the U.S. Navy, specializing in electronic warfare and advanced computer systems. For 450 Bushmaster ammo, inexpensive Remington UMC factory loads can be had for as low as $1.50/round while premium hunting ammo like Federal Fusion or Barnes VOR-TX will cost around $3/round and up. Restricting the maximum overall length of a cartridge to 2.26 and demanding kinetic energy values over 2,000 ft-lbs means that bullet design must take a back seat to external ballistics. Best 9mm Ammo in 2021 [Self-Defense & Target], 6.5 Creedmoor vs .243 Win Cartridge Comparison, 458 SOCOM SBR Hornady Interlock JHP 300gr, 458 SOCOM Buffalo Bore Jacketed Flat Nose 350gr, 458 SOCOM Underwood Ammo Lehigh Controlled Fracture HP 300gr, 458 SOCOM Buffalo Bore Subsonic Jacketed Round Nose 500gr, 50 Beowulf Alexander Arms Rainier Plated HP 335gr, 50 Beowulf Underwood Ammunition Bonded JHP 325gr, 50 Beowulf Alexander Arms Millennium Solid Brass Spitzer 350gr, 50 Beowulf Underwood Ammunition Xtreme Penetrator 325gr. Who will win, well stay tuned. We have collected the velocity (fps) data for all of these rounds from the muzzle out to 500 yards. Sorry that some of the video is a bit cloudy. Does the 50 have to have special magazines and other equipment to function. The .50 Beowulf average at this mark is 1570ft.lb while the .458 SOCOM average is 1,462ft.lb. Another factor that goes into a cartridges stopping power is the penetration of the bullet. So, those who were successful in hunting the bird were nicknamed, Snipers. Theres no denying that the pairing of the AR-15 platform and the 223 Remington is an exceptional match. The 450 Bushmaster and 458 SOCOM have similar ballistic performance out to 250 yards, which is the maximum effective range for both rifle cartridges. Receive exclusive gun deals once a week and all our great reviews right in your inbox. Of course, with some tinkering with your rifle, you can make this recoil much more manageable. Although factory loads can be a little pricey for these big bore AR rounds, handloading is one method shooters utilize to reduce their overall cost per round. This body armor is recent production, never worn. The reason was again because of the low stopping power with the traditional rounds, and a large, .50 cal cartridge gave the promise for a round with devastating power in close quarters to mid range shots. Availability of components to outfit your rifle for these cartridges, how they feed, and other factors are not going to be discussed here. Even 500 yards might be overkill, but it was a nice round number. Even these numbers can change depending on the variables such as powder charge, type of powder, and firearm weight. In contrast, as the 450 is SAAMI certified, there are considerably more rifle options including bolt-action rifles like the Ruger American and Savage 110. Updated: 7m ago. Ballistics & Accuracy. It, along with one other competing weapon(read Addendum), literally creates its own new niche. A .50 Beowulf Entry model might be a welcome tool if a unit had to get up against a well-armed and armored threat, or 1 barricaded behind a car or inside a dwelling of some kind, particularly if the good guys wanted to be able to put the threat down with i shot. I have fired about 400 rds thru it so far and have had no problems of any sort. Gearing up to take your AR-15 to the range? The Aimpoint immune me to null the gun quickly on the target while keeping both eyes open. Founded by Frank Galli in 2000, Snipers Hide has been offering informational videos, podcasts, and other support to its users in one location. Even if the .499 caliber round failed to penetrate the armor, who cares? The cartridge has found some popularity in the civilian shooting world as well and is very popular among AR enthusiasts and hand loaders. Factory ammo from Alexander Arms will run you around $1.70/round while custom ammo for hunting or personal defense will typically cost around $3/round. Specifications. Therefore, short and thick bullets have to be used instead of more aerodynamic designs. 4 Views. Recently, the author has learned (from a highly trusted industry source) that Leitner-Wises failure to deliver a gun to us may be due to some kind of reliability/functioning or immovability problems with the Mini-.50 that the company could be experiencing. But some shooters wanted morethey wanted more muzzle energy, more fps, more stopping power. CQB (Close Quarters Boxing) against a determined enemy or criminal subject field wearing heavy trunk armor and/or hyped-upwards(on drugs) might be another niche useespecially if theyre holed up inside a structure like a business organisation building or bank. Since weve seen some new caliber comparison articles pop up recently it seemed like a good time to republish this. Many reasons why I hate how ubi chooses firearms I feel that they find anything that looks cool and just add it rather then a actual useful firearm and theres plenty and Im also mentioning variants as well. it fires .50 beowulf which, compared with 5.56, looks like this: https://i.redd.it/55i14yk4o5gx.jpg, Of course it won't be quad stacked but it would probably have more than 10 rounds. It is also not an SBR due to lack of being designed to fire from the shoulder. Westcott Flex Daylight Set https://amzn.to/3Oylpxf5. This is not the same as the kick you feel when firing, but increased recoil energies do translate to increased felt recoil. Because these two cartridges share a lot of similarities, it can be easy to get on the track of determining which is the better cartridge. You might come across them, but the selections for both are going to be limited. On top of that, the heavy grain bullet paired with the velocity at close range is going to neutralize threats quickly and the recoil is also extremely manageable. Our other favorite optical sight for CQB and recreational plinking is the EOTech 552 Holographic Weapons Sight (HWS) a.thou.a. DefRev highly recommends the Aimpoint CompM2 red dot optical gunsight to anyone interested in a top of the line tactical crimson dot site for CQB or recreational plinking. We both enjoyed the fact that when we pulled that trigger, nosotros actually felt similar we were shooting something. The 50 Beowulf fires wider and heavier bullets than the 458 SOCOM. Sourcing reloading dies is fairly simple for each cartridge as Lee and Redding both have die sets for each caliber. Yes Indeedy! But thats the case with just about every round. So this firearm is not any of the possible NFA categories of firearms, even though CA law defines it as a handgun/pistol. Nonetheless, to date, DefRev hasnt received any solid bear witness, i.e. For the 50, Alexander Arms is the primary supplier of all rifles, parts, and upper receivers for the 50 Beowulf, though BCA is another option at a lower price point. Thanks to Casual707 for filmingFor legal details of this firearm, see the ATF letter attached to the first video I posted for this thing. In regards to ballistics, the .50 BMG has a bigger, heavier bullet that delivers a reliable killing shot at ranges up to 3300 yards and take down medium-sized game at these incredible ranges. Jacketed 45 ACP bullets measure 0.451 in diameter while the 450 Bushmaster requires the slightly wider 0.452 diameter bullets. Enjoy! Most bullet weights fall in the 300-350gr category, and there are much larger options available for subsonic rounds. Though all of the rounds we looked at dropped below the 1,000ft.lb mark at the 300 yard mark, there is still enough energy to drop medium size game with a well-placed shot, especially considering the size of these rounds. Although the 50 fires the largest caliber bullet of the three, its inefficient bullet design hemorrhages velocity and kinetic energy down range and has gone completely subsonic at 200 yards. The 458 SOCOM was designed for a very specific purpose. At the 300 yard mark, we see the biggest difference between the cartridges with a little over four inches of difference with the .458 SOCOM round having the flatter of the trajectories. brass . .50 Beowulf Entry for military Spec-Ops and LE SWAT use? So, we will stick with comparing the actual energy (ft.lb) that is generated from firing the rounds. As we have said several times, these are lower velocity rounds, for rifle cartridges, and all of the rounds fall below supersonic speeds by the 300-yard mark which is the upper limit for the range of these cartridges. You have seen the performance specs, and if nothing stood out to you in those areas, it might come down to price for you. He teaches in Ottawa, Canada as a part time engineering professor and is the national affairs correspondent forGun News Daily. Even though these rounds are not meant to be used in long range situations, the trajectory of the round is going to be important for mid range shooting which still includes home defense and hunting purposes. Caliber Armory. While we dont necessarily recommend making a decision based on price, we know that it is a major factor we all have to take into account. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. It is also not an SBR due to lack of being designed to from... 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