This is a hard hitting round with incredible range and power. Factory loads for civilian purchase are limited with most of the available rounds coming with bullet weights between 650 and 750gr. As the 50 BMG bullet has a high ballistic coefficient, it is used for powerful sniper rifles. There is a very small circle of people out there who have turned to the 50BMG for hunting purposes. A .50 in caliber cartridge developed for the M2 Browning heavy machine gun in the late 1910s, entering official service in 1921. Use this ballistic calculator in order to calculate the flight path of a bullet given the shooting parameters that meet your conditions. According to the American Rifleman: "Actually, the Browning .50 originated in the Great War. The round is a scaled-up version of the .30-06 Springfield but uses a case wall with a long taper to facilitate feeding and extraction in various weapons. Receive exclusive gun deals once a week and all our great reviews right in your inbox. There is no doubt that the cartridge has the power and the trajectory to take on this challenge, but there is always the ethical question of taking shots at animals from these ranges. Different snipers have different ranges depending on their design. Lake City 50 BMG Ammo Details. While these two cartridges might overlap in some shooting applications, we think there are niches where they stand apart as well. Before we wrap up the article, we wanted to pick a round from each cartridge that we really like for certain applications. When it comes to hunting, there are great options for the .338 LM. This is why their weapons are hard to find and limited in number. So , lets get down to business. The 338 LM was designed and produced in the late 1980s. Bullet mass/type Velocity Energy; 647 gr (42 g) Speer: 3,044 ft/s (928 m/s) 13,310 ftlbf (18,050 J) 655 gr (42 g) ADI: 3,029 ft/s (923 m/s) As we mentioned earlier, the velocity has a lot of influence on other aspects of the bullets behavior such as expansion. It boasts a BC of 0.874, and some indicators point to a 0.900 BC at 2,900 fps. What you might be looking for is how these rounds behave in flight, which is what we will look at next. Military use 50 caliber in machine guns and snipers, as well as regular shooters. ?Ballistic Coefficient: 1.070?Sectional Density: 0.412?Special attention should . 338 LM Federal MatchKing BTHP Gold Medal 250gr, 338 LM Nosler Trophy Grade AccuBond 300gr. The email address you entered is not valid. Typically, long range rifle bullets have a ballistic coefficient of 0.5 (G1) or above. [citation needed], The U.S. Coast Guard uses .50 BMG rifles onboard armed helicopters to disable the engines on boats during interdictions. ), but the ammunition did not exist. .50 BMG 100yd Drag Function: G1 Ballistic Coefficient: 1.050 Bullet Weight: 750 gr Initial Velocity: 2820 fps Sight Height : 1.5 in Shooting Angle: 0 Wind Speed: 0 mph Wind Angle: 90 Zero Range: 100 yd Chart Range: 200 yd Maximum Range: 10201 yd Step Size: 20 yd International Standard Atmosphere Altitude: Sea Level (0 ft) We also want to note that while we are taking each category and looking at them independently, all of these categories are interwoven with each other, including recoil and stopping power that we will look at shortly. As far as the BCs go for these two cartridges, both show phenomenal numbers. [9] The former record for a confirmed long-distance kill was set by U.S. Marine sniper Carlos Hathcock in 1967 during the Vietnam War, at a distance of 2,090 meters (2,290yd; 1.30mi);[10] Hathcock used the .50 BMG in an M2 Machine Gun equipped with a telescopic sight. It has velocities that compete with the 50 BMG rounds, one of the flattest trajectories when compared to other .338 LM factory loads, and a ballistic coefficient of nearly .8. Military Requirement: due to the rounds being from Lake City Ammunition . Think of it paired with the energy of the bullet. anti-tank rifle" and that then "Ordnance contracted with Winchester to design a .50-cal. Price Per Round: $2.90. Since the .50 BMG (23.00 23.33 g tungsten with muzzle velocity of 4,000 ft/s (1,219 m/s)) is very large it needs heavy weapons to support it. Apr 23, 2011 #1 Does anyone know the B.C. That all said, there are deals out there. PMC X-Tac Match .50 BMG Ammunition 10 Rounds 740 Grain Solid Brass Projectile 2830fps 50XM. The caliber depends on the barrel diameter bore of the bullets guns. ShootersCalculator.com is in the process of being massively overhauled. Unsubscribe at any time. However, bullets shot from pistols are slower as the gunpowder takes longer to burn. Doppler radar measurement results for a lathe turned monolithic solid .50 BMG very-low-drag bullet (Lost River J40 .510-773 grain monolithic solid bullet / twist rate 1:15 in) look . It is used mainly in machine guns for various shooting and personal uses. In context of the 338 Lapua vs 50 BMG where both are popular long distance rounds and to a smaller extent hunting rounds, velocity is a key component to our comparison. .30/06 165-gr./.490 ballistic coefficient 5.56x45 mm 55 gr./.246 Ballistic coefficient Usually the higher the ballistic coefficient the greater the effective range of the round. About the previous point, a clean kill means you are not going to have to track a wounded animal sometimes a couple hundred yards and possibly in the dark and cold. It is a great investment if you want to get into long range shooting and will be especially useful if you handload. As time goes, they are becoming more popular among shooters and hunters. This is useful to get a legalized firearm with licenses. While it travels in the air, it causes a shockwave which is equally dangerous to make a severe wound. G1 projectiles are flat based bullets such as spritzer bullets, where G7 projectiles are going to cover boattail spitzers. Done (0.63 seconds). We will take a brief look at the origins and histories of these two cartridges and then jump into categories such as stopping power, trajectory, and even price among others. To be able to push such large bullets to speeds that make them useful is going to take a good deal of powder and both have the casings to hold it. If the bullet passes through cleanly, remaining relatively intact, not all of the energy is transferred to the target. The .50 BMG cartridge is also produced commercially in a wide range of specifications, including armor piercing, tracing, and incendiary. For simply comparing two different cartridges, we are going to omit it for the sake of clarity. To begin, these selected rounds all have excellent BCs that most would be more than happy with. Hornady Manufacturing makes the best cartridges for 50 BMG Ammunition 10 Rounds. 12.799mm Technical data", "Technical Manual Small-Arms Ammunition, TM9-1990, U.S. War Department", "SHOT Show 2006 New Rifles, Shotguns, Pistols Offer Enhanced Performance", "Weaponry: .50 Caliber Rifle Crime," GAO Office of Special Investigations letter", "CHAPTER 943 OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC PEACE AND SAFETY", "Are .50 BMG rifles legal in California? The range and terminal ballistics of the .338 LM were such that its use could fill several niches in civilian use including long range precision shooting and big game hunting. 2023 Optics Bible - WordPress Theme by Kadence WP, 50 Cal Vs. 50 BMG : Which One To Choose [ Know Differences], 223 vs 3006: What to Choose After In-Depth Comparison. The longest recorded kill using a .50 BMG was over 2 miles away. Subject to political controversy due to the great power of the cartridge (it is the most powerful commonly available cartridge not considered a destructive device under the National Firearms Act), it remains popular among long-range shooters for its accuracy and external ballistics. Today, there are various types of bullet rounds manufactured that are measured in 50 calibers. The bigger the ballistic . Please let me know how it can be improved upon. Ballistic coefficients were originally defined by Ingals as a number indicating velocity erosion due to air drag for a given bullet compared to a standard projectile of the same shape- 1 inch in diameter and weighing 1 pound. There is no doubt that both are designed exclusively for successful performances in the field. Any armor with composite metal foam is strong to stop a 50 cal bullet. It comes in different types like tracer, armor-piercing, usual ball, incendiary, and sub-caliber rounds. Regardless, a round with a higher BC is going to maintain a higher BC than a second bullet since both would be effected in the same way. and long-range bullets generally range from 0.5 all the way up to 1.0 with the .50 BMG! You might be asking yourself if the velocities shown here are enough for proper expansion of such a large bullet such as the .50cal. What is ballistic coefficient (BC)? Copyright 2023 ShootersCalculator.comALL rights reserved. 200 yds. Ballistic Coefficient is essentially a measure of air drag. To handle these rounds in the field, youre going to have to haul around a 30+lb rifle. Heavier bullets with the same diameter are going to penetrate deeper than lighter rounds with the same diameter. While Glock is a master of simplicity and reliability, Walther has gone for a more elaborate design. Spitzer. On the other hand, 50 BMG is designed for machine gun operations, which belongs to 50 Cal. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but it does include some of the more popular rounds for each cartridge. The cartridge itself has been made in many variants from armor piercing to tracer rounds, though most factory loads that can be accessed by civilians are the typical bullets. The higher the velocity, the flatter the bullet will shoot, with less wind drift, more energy when it reaches the target, and an extended . However, sectional density, the relationship between . For hunting, a lot of hunters want expansion to cause a larger wound and more damage. Huston is a hunting enthusiast who believes your success in the field is directly correlated to the amount of preparation at home. Those values would be correct if you were shooting the ammo out of a "military weapon system" at the upper end of the velocity spectrum in the 3,000 fps range. Since a 50 cal bullet can slice through a body without protective armor, it can also kill someone. So the damages can be huge, depending on the surface it will hit. Parks theorizes that the misconception originated in historical doctrine discouraging the use of the M8C spotting riflean integral .50-caliber aiming aid for the M40 recoilless riflein the antipersonnel role. . 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.. All of them but one .338 LM round break the .55 mark. It has a thick casting of under 4 inches long with a primer end of 0.75-inch diameter. Get My Cartridge Comparison Handbook! Apart from machine guns, snipers and anti-materiel rifles use this cartridge. The velocity of a bullet is key for both hunting and range shooting purposes. Ballistic Coefficient: 0.572 Diameter: 0.51" Material: Copper Length: 1.892" Features. No one knows who and why is producing these strange slugs in Tarkov, but they just work. The Ballistic Coefficient of tangential ogive jacketed bullets traveling at velocities above the speed of sound can be calculated to a reasonable degree of accuracy if careful measurements are made to determine the actual radius curve of the nose portion and the boat tail (if any) dimensions. The TSX has gained worldwide recognition as one of the deadliest, most dependable bullets you can buy. The .50 BMG was developed during World War I when looking for an effective anti-aircraft round. Reply. Most importantly, they are designed to reduce the bullets recoil.