I noticed from a post in the Reloading forum that some people are not getting the accuracy that is claimed for this round. For those that have tried this round what has been your experience?
Is the 458 SOCOM better? I was getting serious about buying one for deer hunting.

Go over to www.AR15.com as they have a lot of info on the .458 SOCOM. After many months of contemplation, I decided to go with the .458 SOCOM. I really wanted to go with the .50 B as I wanted a .50 caliber semi to go along with my .50 AK pistol and .50 BMG rifle, but there were just too many questions. The inability to use a heavy crimp caused me the most concern even though I had not heard any negatives about it. The .458 S has a shoulder and you can crimp to your hearts content. On rounds of the .45-70 class of power, I want a heavy crimp. I have seen bullets in my .45-70s get seated deeper or unseat during recoil, so it can happen. The .458 SOCOM also allows a wider range of bullets to use, from 250 gr. XFN to 600 gr. RN. Plus you can use spitzers which are readily available in .458, but not in .500. I would have been even more reluctant to switch to the .458 if the .50 B had been .512 instead of .500.
Again, Lee makes dies for the .458, Corbon loads ammo for it, Starline is making brass (Lee and Starline so far have been special group purchases, but since they have the tooling now, it is only a matter of time before they offer it to the public at large). The .458 S has much better down range ballistics than the .50 B when using spitzer bullets.
Accuracy with the .458 SOCOM has been outstanding from all the reports I have read at AR15.com. Now, all I have to do is wait for my upper to arrive...

Well I have a 50 Beowolf carbine and have fired off 300 rounds so far. I have not done any serious benchrest shooting for accuracy, but...

1.) Alexander arms claims the recoil to be like a 20 gauge shotgun. That must be one very light 20 gauge shotgun. Mine kicks considerably harder than my 870 12 gauge shooting slugs.

2.) When I was shooting the factory loaded 325 gr Speer HP bullets, I got 2" groups at 50 yards. These opened up to 5" at 100 yards. These were shot either freehand or with minimal support of my off hand. In short I know that they would tighten up if I shot from the bench. Would they tighten up to 3/4", I seriously doubt it.

3.) I have had no problems with bullets seating deeper or falling out. Keep in mind that the 325 gr Speer is only pressed into the case about 0.2"! So I think the roll crimp works well enough.

4.) All the load data provided with the dies, what little there is, is with pistol powders and primers which leave a considerable amount of air space in the case. I have been experimenting with IMR 4198 with soso results. I am going to try IMR4227 next and I think that this will get me what I am looking for. I am also going to use the Barnes X bullets that are now coming out for the 50 S&W. The biggest problem with the IMR4198 is that the powder is not burning well and I am left with partial, unburned powder kernals. I am also only getting a muzzle velocity of 1820 fps with the 325 grainer. Accuracy seems to be somewhat better than with the factory loads.

5.) As you might expect. The trajectory of this cartridge is similar to a mortar! I had to increase elevation about 4" to get it on target when I moved out to 100 yards from 50 yards.

I like the rifle, but at the same time I think there is a "little" salesmanship being practiced to.

Kent

I shot a Beowulf precision rifle off a bipod, and was easily able to hit bowling pins with it at around 400 yards. The recoil wasn't bad either, quite alot of fun.

Urodoji, well I must be a wimp or my rifle is screwed up cause mine kicks plenty good. BTW, I am used to shooting a 500 Jeffery.

What type of sighting system were you using on that 400 yard rig? Where was it zeroed? I have shot my rifle out to 300 yards. It took me about 10 rounds to walk it in to the target and that with the benefit of a spotter!

Kent

I don't recall what kind of scope it was, it was one of AA's demo guns. I shot it from the prone, and it was zeroed for that range. I recall that the rifle didn't have any lead in the stock, Mr. Alexander told me that over time, the lead slugs would literally drive themselves into the stock under recoil, and split them.

I was given a .50 beowulf upper in a trade and have played with it a bit. I have used Rl-7 and the AA 334gr bullets with pistol primers of course!. Recoil is very very MILD( less than a 20 guage IMHO) . I put a muzzel brake on the gun and I'm sure that effects the recoil. I put a Bushnell holosight on it and at 50 yrds it shoots as well as I do offhand. I don't doubt that from a rest it will do 1 MOA at 100 yrds. I use a accuwedge on the colt lower and have a competition trigger in it.
I still think the .50 Beowulf is a pretty wierd round the only thing that makes it work is the single stack magazine. -Rob

Robgunbuilder,
Would you mind sharing your load with me?

Thanks,
Kent

For whatever it is worth. I mounted a Leupold 3X-9X on my AR15 and shot it off the bench. With the factory loaded 334gr loads the best five shot group was 3.5" at 100 yards! The other 3 groups ranged between 3.5" and 4".

With my latest IMR4198 load and 325gr Speer HP it shot three groups of 5 into 3" at 100 yards. Two groups at 3.5" at 100 yards.

Robgunbuilder, if it isn't too much trouble, would you please share your accurate load with me.

Kent

Jeff Quinn gave a little write up: http://www.gunblast.com/50Beowulf.htm

cas,
Thanks for the link, it was interesting. The groups that were in that story look alot like the ones I get at 50 yards. The best 50 yard group I have shot is just over 1". I considered it a fluke though since I have not been able to do better than an 1.5" since.

Seems the 400 grain loads are the best accuracy wise. I heard that Rainier bullets makes both the 334gr and 400gr bullets that AA sells. Anyone know if this is true?

Kent

Kent in IA. The load I'm using is 53 grs of Rl-7 with the 334 gr Alexander arms bullet ( I got 500 free with the upper) and a CCI Large pistol primer. I use a taper crimp on the case so that it headspaces properly. With a roll crimp I'd be very concerned about headspace effecting accuracy. As I said before, I have a holosight on mine ( no magnification) and offhand at 50 yrds it will group 2 inches( my son and I shot it today in fact) so I'm sure with a scope it will do much better. Let me know what combo gives you the best accuracy. Mine does not kick much at all by the way, kinda like an old Ruger .44 mag Rifle.-Rob

[ 07-21-2003, 09:45: Message edited by: Robgunbuilder ]

Robgunbuilder,
Thanks for sharing the load information. I have figured out what made shooting my rifle so uncomfortable and I have "fixed" it. The checkered recoil pad was grinding the skin off of my shoulder. I sanded the points off of the damned thing! I aqree now that the recoil isn't too bad at all.

Your groups are about the same as those that I shoot at 50 yards. I was surprised that they did not tighten up more when I shot off of the bench. I must of been shooting better off-hand than I thought I could.

Is there a reason that you are using the pistol primers? I know that the load data that comes with the dies says to use them, but I cannot figure out why you would use a pistol primer with a rifle powder. Isn't a pistol primer a little weak for the slower burning, more difficult to ignite, rifle powder?

Kent

[ 07-22-2003, 01:48: Message edited by: Kent in IA ]