Hunting with 50 BMG: .50 Cal Bullet and Machine Gun

Introduction

The more successful you become when hunting depends mainly on the type of rifle you use and, by extension, the cartridge and bullet you use. Hunting with a .50 BMG cartridge in a Browning .50 caliber machine gun, will give you the success you need and even exceed your expectations. The .50 Browning machine gun, also known as M2 .50 caliber machine gun, is an automatic, recoil-operated, air-cooled machine gun.

It has adjustable headspace, which makes it easy to use. The gun is easily transportable, and you can only carry with you a limited number of ammunition over a short distance. Loading the gun’s bullets is easy, you can do it from both the left and right sides after you have repositioned some of the gun’s parts.

To make feeding ammunition in the gun more manageable, the gun is fitted with a disintegrated metallic link-belt, which helps you quickly feed ammunition into the gun. Hunting has never been more natural and more accurate with this gun. You will undoubtedly enjoy the success rate it has in store for you. So how comes hunting with a .50 BMG seems to be a great success? Let’s find out.

Why the .50 BMG Gun Outshines Modern Rifles

The outstanding features of the .50 BMG rifle and the .50 caliber cartridges are the reasons you will enjoy the whole hunting experience. These exceptional features include: 

Quick Change Barrel (QCB)

This barrel comes as an improvement to the M2 .50 Caliber Machine Gun, which offers you increased performance and new features and structural improvements to make it easier and safer to use. The quick-change barrel ensures that you shift between different bullets without so much struggle and consistency when hunting.

The quick-change barrel system was introduced in 2012 to allow a more straightforward barrel replacement process without resetting the weapon manually.

High Accuracy

Since the M2 .50 caliber machine gun was initially created to be used in wars, especially in World War 2, the gun’s accuracy is something to write home about. The bullets (50 BMG) are heavy enough to gain the needed resistance against the wind when flying towards the target. The heavy impact it creates leaves minimal to no chance of survival on the target.

The bullets fly with so much pressure that even when you miss the target by slight inches, the passing bullet’s impact can gorge the eyes out of the animal, killing it instantly. With a maximum effective range of about 2000 meters when mounted on a stand, you can quickly kill an animal inside this range without much struggle.

The mounting rails improve stability and put the gun at an ideal position to make it easier for you to access the scope for perfect aiming. Plus, the weapon is heavy and carrying it on your shoulder or your arm when a shooting may compromise the accuracy.

The Adjustable Headspace 

While the adjustable headspace can be used just like the solid ones, the adjustable ones are more precise in measurements than the solid headspace. They use the micrometer caliper for increased accuracy in taking measures. Most of these headspaces come with gauges of the solid button or plug type with a standard furnishing of sets of GO, NO GO, and sometimes a third FIELD gauges.

For more accurate measurement, you can use intermediary gauges between the GO and NO-GO gauges, which help achieve much more precise measurement. The adjustable headspace enables you to take care of the effects of insufficient headspace, causing the gun to malfunction. Having insufficient headspace will prevent closing the action entirely on a cartridge or force you to use undue force to narrow it, leading to excessive chamber pressure and malfunction. 

High-Power Cartridge

The .50 BMG cartridge is one powerful cartridge that works effectively to kill the target quickly. Upon measurement, the cartridge can deliver from between 10,000 and 15,000 foot-pound force depending on several factors, including the cartridge’s power, its bullet type, and the gun used to fire it. So when you use an M2 .50 caliber machine gun to fire the cartridge, you are practically doubling the power.

Hunting Different Game with .50 BMG

Using the .50 BMG cartridge in different hunting rifles can give you the best results when hunting different animals. We are going to see how effectively you can hunt various animals with a .50 BMG below. 

Hunting Deer

Hunting a deer with a .50 BMG bullet will give you the outstanding results you are looking for. With all your shooting skills in check, an accurate shot will quickly bring down a deer within 1,500 yards from where you are shooting. Deer are sleek and active animals, and getting a shot on target may not be easy.

However, when using the .50 BMG, everything about deer hunting seems to be working for your benefit, starting from the bullet’s heavy nature, which gives it resistance against opposing winds and ensures its velocity is maintained high in the air. So before the deer notices where the shot’s sound came from and fled, the bullet would have hit hard. And when it hits, the impact is damaging.

So powerful is the shot from a .50 BMG that when you nearly miss the deer, the pressure from the flying bullet can easily gouge out the deer’s eyes, killing it instantly. So next time you go deer hunting, you should not shy from carrying you .50 BMG along if you need effective results.

Hog Hunting

While a hog’s size promises much meat to the hunter, hunting it with a .50 Cal destroys a lot of flesh but promises you instant and accurate kills. Every time you raised a Barrett .50 Cal rifle against a 100-150 pound hog, the battle always ends in favor of the gun. Hogs have a slim chance of survival against such a massive gun and bullet.

Whether hunting a hog with a .50 BMG is legal or not, one sure thing is that you will have lots of fun while at it. The immediate impact that catches the wild pig unawares gives you the satisfaction of seeing how swiftly the killing process can be. A .50 BMG rifle and bullet could be the solution you may have been waiting for against these crops destroyers.

As you protect your crops from the hogs, you are also assured of some good pork. So go ahead and have the fun of bringing these wild pigs down with a .50 BMG.

Elephant Hunting

While elephant hunting is illegal in many countries globally, you may have to contend with some rogue ones at one point or the other. Elephants can be destructive to crops and human life, and taming them may be a big challenge thanks to their enormous size.

When an elephant attack occurs especially repeatedly, there is no better rifle to take the giant down than an M2 .50 Cal machine gun with the .50 BMG bullets. The bullet size, speed, and impact all come together to ensure that the shot you fire towards the elephant is effective. However, you should check with the wildlife authorities to hunt and kill the rogue elephant for a go-ahead.

Hunting a Bear

A 50 Browning machine gun will undoubtedly do significant damages to a bear, as you already know. Shooting a bear with the gun and bullet would rip apart the bear within a few seconds of impact. This means it will easily kill any bear out there, including a polar bear, brown bear, etc. However, hunting or shooting a bear with a .50 BMG may not be the best option, especially when the attack is a life and death situation.

The process of setting up a heavy rifle like a 50 BMG when caught in a bear ambush may be the reason you need a lighter and easy-to-fire gun for a quicker response on attacks like these. A 50 BMG is, therefore, only ideal when already set in advance.

Giraffe Hunting

Hunting down a giraffe is one of the most demanding hunting escapades you may have. With the height and skin thickness all working against you as a hunter, you may lose the war against this tallest animal in the wild every time you rise against it. With all these challenges working against you, a powerful gun like 50 BMG, coupled with the powerful .50 BMG bullets, will come in handy for a fast and effective kill.

When well positioned, the bullet can easily penetrate the skin on the heart to make a fast kill thanks to its massive impact upon hitting the skin. All you need with this gun is perfect positioning and timing, and you will be ready for a huge hunt and excellent meat. Check out this YouTube video for insights

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Summary

Hunting with a 50 Browning Machine Gun (BMG) is almost a sure deal to success on any animal you want to hit. However, it would help if you always took caution as using this gun and bullet may prove too risky even for humans. 

The weapon may be too powerful for smaller animals and would end up ripping off great chunks of meat, leaving you with meager returns. Check with your country’s legislation on using 50 BMG before ensuing a hunting escapade. And we highly recommend you don’t even try it even though it of course would be extremely effective.