#.50Cal

The Serbu RN 50 is a budget break action .50bmg rifle originally designed by YouTuber Royal Nonesuch. He collaborated with Serbu and they made the RN50. Pictured above is a shorty version. It is not available on their website but one was made for Royal Nonesuch. It has a 16″ barrel and has a folding stock adapter. It looks very tiny. I kinda want one now.

East Asia and the Middle East are full of garage gunsmiths and homemade firearms. With the current conflict in Syria and Iraq it seems like lots of homemade guns are being found on the battlefield. Some of them seem decently well made, and some just seem odd. The one below seems outright dangerous, to the shooter. Gun Youtubber MrGunsnGear recently posted on his Facebook page this gem that was found by Peshmerga forces fighting ISIS near Mosul.

Traditions Performance Firearms is known for their muzzleloader line and authentic reproductions such as their Kentucky Pistol and flintlock Trapper Pistol. The Connecticut-based company offers a variety of firearms from black powder rifles to cannons. Now they’re adding to their existing firearms with the Mountain Rifle, a muzzleloader being offered in one of my favorite calibers – .50.

Tyler of Tigger Welding is a mechanic/welder/artist that takes scrap metal and turns it into art. Most of his work is with Engine pistons.

The US Army has begun a program to create a lightweight .50 caliber machine gun to replace the venerable M2 Browning. The program will, like the M240L machine gun, use titanium to reduce weight by 20-30 percent. Scout.com and NationalInterest.org both have stories on the subject. The following is from Scout.com:

A Barrett .50 caliber M82-series semiautomatic anti-materiel rifle, transferred to criminal elements through the BATFE’s Operation Fast & Furious, found its way into the hands of notorious Sinaloa drug cartel lead Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, report news outlets during the week of SHOT Show. The large-caliber rifle, erroneously described as being designed to “shoot down helicopters”, is nonetheless an extremely capable weapon which can defeat a large number of lightly armored vehicles and virtually all personal body armor. Fox News reports:

Remember our past post about the P-51 Mustang test firing it’s six 50 caliber M2 Browning machine guns? I stumbled upon a few pretty cool videos showing some Curtiss P-40 Warhawks test firing their .50 caliber machine guns as well, this time with blanks. The P-40 first flew in 1938 and was used until the end of WWII. While it didn’t perform as well as the more popular P-51 Mustangs it was the third most produced American fighter right after the P-51 and the P-47 Thunderbolt. I’ve always liked the look of the P-40, especially with the Flying Tigers shark face paint scheme.

Has anyone ever described to you before how a .50 BMG is so powerful, it will shoot right through a car, end-to-end, through the engine block? Well, the truth is that they may have been exaggerating, according to informal testing recently conducted by LooseRounds’ Shawn:

I want to shoot one, because reasons.  Thanks to Mason for sending this into us.

OldeWorldCC has made a one of a kind chess set using .50 caliber brass. He is asking $800 for these one off creations. He does make note that when you order one, it will be similar but not exactly like what is seen in the picture due to certain criteria such as parts availability and wood used.

Hope this brings a smile to your day. A guy unloading and dual wielding Barrett .50 Cal rifles. He should be wearing eye protection though. Still fun to watch and I am sure even more fun to shoot.