Effectiveness of .50 AE?
- Thread starter Drjones
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hksigwalther
New member
The .50AE is :
Not very effective in punching relatively small holes in paper.
Is very effective in punching relatively big holes in paper.
Not very effective in keeping the noise level down.
Is very effective in making a loud BOOM.
Not very effective at shooting a deer 300 yards away.
Is very effective in shooting a deer 50 yards away.
Not very effective against tanks.
Is very effective against the New Beetle.
Freedom Arms makes a Model 83 in .50AE. (Previously known as the 555.)
I think there was a .50AE conversion for the AR.
Not very effective in punching relatively small holes in paper.
Is very effective in punching relatively big holes in paper.
Not very effective in keeping the noise level down.
Is very effective in making a loud BOOM.
Not very effective at shooting a deer 300 yards away.
Is very effective in shooting a deer 50 yards away.
Not very effective against tanks.
Is very effective against the New Beetle.
Freedom Arms makes a Model 83 in .50AE. (Previously known as the 555.)
I think there was a .50AE conversion for the AR.
The 50AE is a VERY popular round for guides and such in Alaska. Freedom Arms revolvers are very popular up there for this reason. I have a 50AE FA revolver that i carry when hunting. I cant stand the Desert Ego guns but the 50ae is a cool cartridge. It is mainly a close range gun. Out past 100yrds the 454 casull has more juice.
brass shower
New member
As hksigwalther mentioned, it's very effective at smashing big holes through your target. I got a Tromix .50 AE upper for my AR lower this summer, and I love it. It's effective at depleting my bank account when I feed her and it's is also effective at ripping up my shoulder with the A2 checkered butt. Love hurts.
hksigwalther
New member
It was pouring down here Sunday morning. Didn't think it would be better up in Midvale. Sounded like it cleared up just in time for the shooting to start, though.
I will be there the first plate shoot next year.
I will be there the first plate shoot next year.
At my range, the .50AE was the rental weapon of choice for guys with inadequate natural male endowment who didn't care about retaining any hearing past the age of 40. The range owner would send a cab for anybody who wanted to rent it since the ammo was about $35/box of 20 (and you had to buy the ammo there). One idiot was hit in the head when the gun recoiled and knocked out cold. They still rented it, but posted pictures about how to hold it.
Other than the fact that the Desert Eagle weighs 4 1/2lbs unloaded making it, let us say, a bit unwieldy for a carry weapon, how can you realistically say that the .50AE isn't as effective as the .45acp?
A few figures from the book, "Cartridges of The World", 8th Edition.
The most powerful standard load, 230gr, .45acp factory cartidge has a muzzle velocity of 875 ft/sec and a Muzzle Energy of 405 lb/ft. +P load figures are MV of 1140 ft/sec and ME of 534 lb/ft.
Compare this with the .50AE and it's MV of 1579 ft/sec and ME of 1568 lb/ft. Almost twice the velocity and over three times the energy of the standard .45acp load. The .45acp +P is 25% more powerful than a standard .45 load, but doesn't approach the stopping power of the .50AE
Practicality wise, the .45acp wins, hands down, but it doesn't look like much of a contest to me, power wise w/the .50AE. Of course, maybe you were just funning with us.
Nightcrawler
New member
.50AE for self defense? Of course, it'll work. It'll make a big freaking hole going in and a huge gaping maw coming out. The bullet will keep going some distance beyond that, mind you.
The noise, if fired inside without ear protection, would probably cause you to bleed from the ears.
If you scored a center of mass hit, though, I doubt the badguy would be getting back up.
The noise, if fired inside without ear protection, would probably cause you to bleed from the ears.
If you scored a center of mass hit, though, I doubt the badguy would be getting back up.
Hand_Rifle_Guy
New member
.50 A.E.'s suffer from the same reservations that the .44 mag does for self defense: slow shot-to-shot recovery, and over-penetration. Something about great big bullets at magnum velocities, I suppose.
Platform choices are severly limited. Freedom,s SA's, or Bowen conversions on the Ruger DA's for revolvers. The Desert Eagle, the L.A.R Grizzly .50, or the AMT Automag V for autos, not including the rifle set-ups.
Eagles are tanks. Grizzly's are 1911's on steroids, and are also tanks, albeit lighter ones. Automag V's are AMT's, which is hard to call an achievment.
I have an Automag V. It is the lightest of the auto .50's at 49 ounces and comes factory ported to help deal with recoil. In my example, it's not quite enough, and the gun is reliability-challenged. It suffers from a variety of recoil-related issues with extraction/ejection, feeding, and unplanned slide lockback. The slidestop has a large spring plunger and detent, and it STILL pops up during the violent cycling sometimes. The gun is plenty accurate, but it operates as if it went into production before all of the engineering bugs had been completely ironed out. This and AMT's rather colorful reputation for spotty quality control probably helped this model to achieve poor sales and subsequent discontinuation.
Even now, Grizzlies and Eagles sell for around $1000, but the most I've seen on an A-M-V is $700. However, A-M-V's are a lot less common than Eagles or Grizzlies, and the weight difference is substantial. I certainly have no wish to dispose of mine, reliable or not.
H_R_G
Platform choices are severly limited. Freedom,s SA's, or Bowen conversions on the Ruger DA's for revolvers. The Desert Eagle, the L.A.R Grizzly .50, or the AMT Automag V for autos, not including the rifle set-ups.
Eagles are tanks. Grizzly's are 1911's on steroids, and are also tanks, albeit lighter ones. Automag V's are AMT's, which is hard to call an achievment.
I have an Automag V. It is the lightest of the auto .50's at 49 ounces and comes factory ported to help deal with recoil. In my example, it's not quite enough, and the gun is reliability-challenged. It suffers from a variety of recoil-related issues with extraction/ejection, feeding, and unplanned slide lockback. The slidestop has a large spring plunger and detent, and it STILL pops up during the violent cycling sometimes. The gun is plenty accurate, but it operates as if it went into production before all of the engineering bugs had been completely ironed out. This and AMT's rather colorful reputation for spotty quality control probably helped this model to achieve poor sales and subsequent discontinuation.
Even now, Grizzlies and Eagles sell for around $1000, but the most I've seen on an A-M-V is $700. However, A-M-V's are a lot less common than Eagles or Grizzlies, and the weight difference is substantial. I certainly have no wish to dispose of mine, reliable or not.
H_R_G
Pigshooter
New member
HRG,
AMTs are spiraling upwards in price, I don't know why. I have some ideas, of course.
I traded my IV, with 5 mags, for a 10mm witness compact. I should have just used it on myself, I'd have felt better.
But at the last show, I saw several, of all models, for $900 to $1400, none of them looked like anything special.
So hang on to it.
AMTs are spiraling upwards in price, I don't know why. I have some ideas, of course.
I traded my IV, with 5 mags, for a 10mm witness compact. I should have just used it on myself, I'd have felt better.
But at the last show, I saw several, of all models, for $900 to $1400, none of them looked like anything special.
So hang on to it.
itgoesboom
New member
Dr.Jones,
i know you hate mouse guns and all, but .50AE???
I.G.B.
i know you hate mouse guns and all, but .50AE???
I.G.B.
It is probably the MOST effective round
for inducing a FLINCH.
I was shooting NEXT to a guy shooting one he just got. His shots were plowing dirt about 12 feet in front of him. He got to where he was almost THROWING the shots to get em off.
He asked me if I wanted to try it. I said no. But I did ask why he got it. Typical yuppie answer. Well, we just bought a cabin and there are BEARS up there, you know.
Them's bad bears that won't stop for a 12 ga. shotgun.
for inducing a FLINCH.
I was shooting NEXT to a guy shooting one he just got. His shots were plowing dirt about 12 feet in front of him. He got to where he was almost THROWING the shots to get em off.
He asked me if I wanted to try it. I said no. But I did ask why he got it. Typical yuppie answer. Well, we just bought a cabin and there are BEARS up there, you know.
Them's bad bears that won't stop for a 12 ga. shotgun.
Brad Johnson
New member
MOST effective at inducing flinch?
The big .50 is pretty good at it, I suppose. But my nod has to go to the ported Taurus Titanium snubby in .357 mag. Viscious recoil and brutal muzzle blast. An all-around nasty little critter.
Brad
The big .50 is pretty good at it, I suppose. But my nod has to go to the ported Taurus Titanium snubby in .357 mag. Viscious recoil and brutal muzzle blast. An all-around nasty little critter.
Brad