The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Rifles Big Bores 50 Beowulf revisitedGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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Well, I finally found a load that my 50 Beowulf seems to like. I tried Robgunbuilder's recipe, but my rifle hated Rel 7 with any bullets. I tried both rifle and magnum pistol primers and filled my gun with unburned powder kernels after only 15 shots! I tried IMR 4227 and found my powder. I have been able to achieve complete burn with rifle or magnum powder primers and the best part is it is a cool burn. Loads tried: All with rifle primers (CCI 200) Bullets Rainer 334 gr IMR4227 37 grs 3" group at 50 yards IMR4227 39grs Same as 37 grain load IMR4227 41 grs 2.5" group at 50 yards IMR4227 42.5 grs same as 41 grain load IMR 4227 44 grs 1.25" group at 50 yards! Rel 7 51 grs 8" group at 50 yards Rel 7 53 grs 7" group at 50 yards Rel 7 55 grs 7" group at 50 yards With CCI 350 Magnum Pistol Primer Rel 7 51 grs 9" group at 50 yards Rel 7 53 grs 7" group at 50 yards Rel 7 55 grs 7" group at 50 yards The 55 gr charge of Rel 7 completely filled the case by the way. All the Rel 7 loads left massive quantities of unburned powder in the bore, gas system, trigger group, etc. Bad choice. When I started shooting these loads I thought my sights were broken, that is how badly they group! Now to go hunting with it. Kent | ||
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Kent- I tried Lil Gun powder a week ago and got really good results with pretty good accuracy. About 37.5 grs with the 334 gr bullet worked quite well with little or no unburned powder.Velocities were about 1800 fps . By the way I only use Large pistol primers and taper crimp. It's definately better than Rl-7, but I don't have the massive amounts of unburnt powder in my gun you have. My worst groups offhand have been in the 3 inch range. Are you using a rubber action bushing between your upper and lower?I've never seen accuracy that bad. I'm actually even using a Bushnell Holosight on my gun and still get 3 inch groups. I'll try your load next weekend.-Rob [ 08-27-2003, 08:58: Message edited by: Robgunbuilder ] | |||
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I am somewhat surprised at the groups you guys are reporting, Bill Alexander in several discussions mentioned far greater accuracy. Our own .458 SOCOM with the 24" barrel will shoot 0.5" at 100 yards with a 4x and the 16" carbines will shoot sub-1" at 100 yards as well .... Preferred powders are Win296, H108, Lil Gun and Norma 200 for the 300 gr JHP loads. For some extensive load data, try here http://www.mylittlespark.com/ar15/458Socom.html These 50 Beo's should be capable of at least 1" at 100 yards .... | |||
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Frankly, I've not seen a repeatable 1 MOA group out of this cartridge yet! I've talked to Bill myself and know what the claims are, but no such luck reproducing them. I do find Kent's groups awfully large myself, but he's a reliable guy and I believe him.-Rob | |||
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I'll ask around to see what some other folks are getting with their 50 B's. The folks at LW have their 499 and claim capabilities at the 400 yd mark ("head shots" I believe was the statement) so these two very similar rounds both claim fairly good accuracy. Are you using the 16" carbine? To be honest, when we developed the .458 SOCOM, we purposely went the 458 caliber route due to the plethora of bullets already available, as well as now having a shoulder for headspacing. We felt one of the major detractors of the 50 and 499 was the fact that they were using the case mouth. While it is feasible, the folks we spoke to said it was "less than preferred, far from ideal" to use the case mouth. Several shooters have independently confirmed 0.5" to 1.0" groups at up to 100 yards with the SOCOM. However, we can't beat the prices AA charges .... | |||
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Martytw- I could not agree with you more on the headspacing issue. It works, but is pretty crude IMHO. I suspect the accuracy issue is more with respect to the bullets used. The 334 gr AA bullet looks like a flying ashtray. With a better bullet I'd expect better accuracy. I got my 16 inch upper in a trade probably because the owner couldn't get it to shoot either. The main redeeming feature is that the .50 B produces a beautiful single stack mag and feeds excellently. it does pack quite a punch though!-Rob [ 08-29-2003, 08:43: Message edited by: Robgunbuilder ] | |||
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I just need to know this...Why? Is a 50 caliber AR15 just a testosterone thing or what? Give me a break with the head shots at 400 yards. Doesn't this 50 Beowulf shoot pistol bullets? Oh, I forgot, pistol bullets are known for there exceptionally high ballistic coefficients and long range accuracy...stupid me. ~judy | |||
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quote:Judy - Don't ask us, we never claimed the round to be useful beyond 100 - 150 yards. As the article that came out in 2002 stated, we developed ours following a Beer 'n BBQ evening with friends from the military. The idea was to make a round that fit in the standard AR that could pack a whopping punch. Thought being that MOUT (Military Operations on Urban Terrain or so-called house-to-house fighting) was becoming more prevalent, that there was a need for a round that could hit hard on folks wearing armor. The request was that it fit in the AR, considering we even told them that the shotgun with slugs and the lever guns in rounds like the 444 and the 45-70 would do this quite nicely. After we came out with it, the shooting community got wind of it, and now the most prevalent use is feral hog in dense brush and deer-size game, again in brush. Some law enforcement agencies have expressed an interest in exactly the role we envisioned - an entry gun and a back up heavy hitter in case they encounter someone with armor (think North Hollywood bank robbery - a solid hit with 300 gr at 2100 fps will hurt, with armor or without). Long range accuracy and BC - this is why we chose the Barnes 300 gr X Spitzer as the bullet around which to build the round, to get the largest diameter with the best bullet selection and the highest BC - but you're right, we're still talking low compared to anything in the 264 through 338 range. And I will admit, that testosterone does play a factor, some folks like this round because of bragging rights or "having the biggest". Some things never change ![[Wink]](images/icons/wink.gif){kind=icon} Frankly, I like our 338 Spectre better, it is quiet, minimal recoil, a pleasure to shoot. But folks seem drawn to the 458 ... There is quite some discussion and "mine is better" talk in the AR community over the 50 B, the 499 LW and the 458 S, and it is sometimes quite amusing - if taken with a grain of salt. But aside from LE/Mil applications, there are other legitimate uses for these rounds, several guide up north have taken to these as back ups in bear country, just in case.... Either way, they are fun to shoot, and make for interesting discussion on the range or with the Game Warden... | |||
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quote:You got that right. By that logic, every gun you own would be a Ruger No. 1, but you don't really need more than one gun, do you? | |||
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MartytW, thanks for the reply. I understand what you are saying, but for the none military/LE crowd these rounds seem a little too boyish for me. Can you tell me more about your 338 cartridge? ~judy | |||
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quote:Regarding the 458, the original inspiration came from Frank Barnes' 458 x 1.5" which saw limited military use as a suppressed subsonic round deployed in VN. And considering the 458 SOCOM with 300 gr bullets actually rivals if not exceeds the ballistics of the 45-70, it makes for an excellent brush round. The 338 Spectre is a competitor to the 338 Whisper. Rim size is that of the 30 Rem or 10 mm, it uses the Starline 10 mm Magnum Auto case, necked to .338. It fits in the AR-15 or AK magazine, and can use from the 160 gr Barnes X through the Sierra 300 gr HPBTMK. The latter only has enough room for around 12 gr powder, making it subsonic, but that was the intent. We are working out the details in terms of cycling the AR with these heavy bullets, but with the 225 and 250 gr bullets, it works like a champ. With that little powder, and the low energy associated with subsonic bullets, the recoil is minimal, as is muzzle noise. One shooter next to me didn't realize I was firing rounds until the ejected brass hit him, the shots were drowned out by other rifles on the range. But it is just a light, fun round to shoot, similar to plinking with a 223 in a heavy barrel bolt gun. A little more info can be found here (although it is not complete and not up to date) http://www.teppojutsu.com/338.htm Hope that helps | |||
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You guys might want to know that "JUDY" is the wife of AXEL/TODDE/SDS . A well known troll and overall asshole!Looks like he and his kin are showing up again. Axel claimed he had a .50 B before his last "meltdown" and disappearance. [ 09-02-2003, 01:52: Message edited by: 470nitro ] | |||
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quote:Thanks for the heads-up... so he claimed he had a 50B and now his wife refers to it as boyish ... interesting that this type of individual is encountered on all the various forums .... wonder why that is ... | |||
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Robgunbuilder, have you had a chance to try my load yet? I am immensely curious to see how it works in your rifle. I do not have the rubber bushing either, at least not to my knowledge. I purchased the gun off the rack complete. I was told by the dealer it was an Alexander Arms rifle. It uses a RRA lower, anyone's guess who made the upper. I am also using a holo sight although not a bushnell, mine is some Japanese company Hakem or something like that. Took the rifle out again and shot a 2" group of 7 shots at 100 yards. I was playing around with different case lengths to see if head spacing was a big issue. Anyway, these were new cases at nominal length. I was happy with this group and tried to repeat it. The rest of my groups ranged between 3" and 5". Most of them in the 5" bracket. Case length did not seem to matter one bit, either. Marty thanks for the information on your projects. It was very interesting. Kent | |||
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Kent- No I have not tried your loads yet, but that rubber bushing makes a huge difference in the accuracy of any AR-15. They cost about 1$ from brownells or Sinclair. Try your gun with one, and I'll bet your groups tighten up.-Rob | |||
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Wow. I have 3 husbands? Judy busy girl. Sorry guys, this is why I don't usually come up to the guns and hunting area forums, to avoid this stuff. I'll just go harass the troll hunters in the political arena some more. <G> | |||
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Robgunbuilder, I will look into getting those bushings. Judy, why don't you go away if you have nothing positive to contribute. Oh yeah, I could care less how many husbands you have, had, etc. Kent | |||
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