.50 BMG

The .50 Browning Machine Gun (12.7×99 mm NATO) or .50 BMG is a cartridge developed for the M2 machine gun and is now also used in long-range target and sniper rifles. The actual specified maximum diameter of an unfired .50 BMG bullet is .51 inches; while this appears to be over the .50 inch (12.7 mm) maximum allowed under the National Firearms Act, the barrel of a .50 BMG rifle is only .50 inches across the rifling lands, and slightly larger in the grooves. The oversized bullet is swaged to size upon firing, forming a tight seal and engaging the rifling. While subject to current 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 is popular among long range shooters for its accuracy and external ballistics, and it is one of the few cartridges that delivers accuracy (if match grade ammunition is used) at ranges over 1000 yards (.9 km).

Related Topics:
Browning - Machine Gun - Cartridge - M2 machine gun - Sniper rifle - National Firearms Act - Rifling - Swage - Destructive device - External ballistics

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A wide variety of ammunition is available including ball, tracer, armor piercing, incendiary and saboted sub-caliber rounds. The availability of match grade ammunition has increased the usefulness of .50 caliber sniper rifles by allowing more accurate fire than lower quality rounds. Matching the availability and price of the higher-quality .50 ammunition is an impediment to producing large caliber sniper rifles using a different round such as 20 mm or another custom size.

Related Topics:
Ammunition - Tracer - Armor piercing - Incendiary - Sabot - Sub-caliber round - Match grade

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