Belt Auction

How would you build an action for a .50BMG hunting rifle?

.50BMG's are the pinnacle of the civilian rifle power, in the popular view (yes there are larger safari firearms, i know) and as i've collected and worked on many firearms, the desire to own one has grown. Now that the gov't is looking democrat majority in every branch, i figure i better hurry up and grab a .50BMG while i can. In looking through them, the cheapest one i could find were $1800 Vulcan's on gunbroker's auction site. But then i found a 35" finished heavy target barrel chambered in .50BMG (including the chamber in the barrel, so only the rim sticks out) fully heat treated and stress relieved, for $200 to my doorstep. I sorta have to think the barrel makes up more than 1/9th the value of a firearm, so it looks like a deal to me. I have a degree in machining, my best friend is a mechanical engineer, as are both my parents, so i have some resources to have look over my blueprints. I think even if i buy very nice steel to use for every part, so long as i do the work myself, I should be able to make all the pieces, and have a finished rifle under $500. And with all that money i saved i can even afford to buy TWO boxes of ammo (haha... yeah i know that's the kicker here, especially since i don't reload (time to find a .50 buddy who does!) ) So the theory is that i just have to cap off the end of this barrel, and hit a firing pin, and it'll all work. The most simple, and strongest, design is to come off the barrel with a larger diameter steel sleeve, which has thin EDM slices to split it, and strong bolts to create a clamping collar out of it all, that then covers the end of the barrel completely. Drill a hole in the base big enough for a round to slide in through, then mill a slot in the top where a block (carrying the firing pin) is slid down and locked in place to trap it in, like how the action on an artillery or tank cannon works. Overbuilt for safety is the key here. Another option is to make a bolt action, with rediculously beefy lugs. On all designs, a thick-walled steel tube will create the body of the action, in case of any rupture inside, it should contain the shrapnel. Anywhere i say tube, i mean i would be using hardened steel hydraulic piston sleeves, ordered in the diameters needed, then milled on to add slots and holes for bolt lugs to lock in. Another idea is a hybrid of the two, where the bolt is a good 6" long slug of steel, with an extractor on the right side (like on an M16), the firing pin riding in the middle and a notch halfway through for a hammer to come up and hit it (again, like an M16 bolt) and an ejecting pin on the left side of the bolt, held back by a spring (not forward) so on a complete backstroke the pin hits the rear of the receiver and THEN pushes the cartridge out to the right. When fully forward (against the rear of the barrel) the whole bolt would have a block placed behind it, taking up the space between it and the rear of the receiver, so there is nothing but solid steel everywhere, no lugs to worry about shearing off. To make that function easier, a linkage would connect the two, so when the block was pulled down, it would pull the bolt backwards (like an MP7, except not recoil-powered). Then you add a standard-style magazine, a pump action hand to run that block up and down via a slotted plate, and PRESTO you have a pump-action .50BMG hunting rifle, about 30lbs, that is insanely strong behind the shell. Oh, and the whole bolt group as explained above, would ride in yet another larger sleeve, with a huge recoil buffer spring behind it. Perhaps the recoil of that whole assembly (barrel included) is what runs the action through interaction between the vertical-sliding block and slotted plates along the sides (so it follows the slots downwards as the barrel/action move rearwards, extracting the shell and chambering another round). Maybe this is kind of a rant... but i guess i don't have anybody in person to talk about my ideas with... so you get this. Luckily my computer modelling software lets me "build" the whole thing before i cut a single piece of steel. And if the design is good enough, and works decently, maybe i could even patent and/or sell the design. Because if the current price for a semi-auto .50 is barrett's $8600 model, I think some people would buy one that's a bit cheaper. But I'm not gonna do that... i'll leave that up to whatever company buys my design... even that is so far down the road it's almost absurd to talk about at this point. Any thoughts, opinions, comments, etc?

Public Comments

1. I'll be looking forward to seeing your "How I did it " in Shooting Times magazine. Take lots of pictures along the way. Good Luck.
2. Sounds like fun! What do plan on hunting with a .50 BMG? Jeeps? Best of luck to ya!
3. Sounds like BIG fun! What are you hunting tanks. Best a luck to ya.
4. I believe there are several articles on the net where people have done this. I THINK there's actually an oddball setup using an AR15 lower. Wild. For what it's worth, there's a gentleman on here who's actually hunted with a .50 BMG, and he said it's not that impressive. He said there's a hole, and that's about it, It's not like the deer or whatever exploded or split in half. If you think about it, that makes sense because most all .50 BMG that you can get your hands on is just a solid slug. It's not like the bullet is going to expand or perform like a hunting round. Oh sure, it's probably going to kill whatever you hit, but anything you'd hunt with the thing would probably just be considered an obstruction for what the gun was meant to hit. It's a cool project for a "wonder if I can do this" kind of thing, though. Just don't expect dramatic results hunting. Also remember that a .50 BMG has a pretty amazing range, too, so you'd better know what's behind what's behind you're shooting at.
5. Mail me at masteropie001ATgmailDOTcom. I will email you some blueprints and books for homemade .50 rifle construction.
6. Me and you should go rabbit or squirrel hunting when you're done