If you just need a 50 to have a 50 get a desert tech or McMillan.
If you just want to shoot elr get a 338 Lapua and you can slightly enjoy it, while being able to find match ammo or reload cheaper.
He has a point! Everything costs a lot for the fifty and honestly there are better calibers for long range precision shooting.
I still have a nice collection of Lapua 750grn Hybrids that are spendy if you can find them. I think the last time I saw them for sale they cost about $11 a projectile. I put roughly 235 grns of Vhit 20N29 behind them, a pound of powder doesn't go far with that and even less so with my 647grn Barnes X that I load with around 245grns (these are just estimates and I haven't loaded for my .50 bmg in a while so do not use this as load data especially since I do not have the actual load data in front of me). Next, the primers are not as available and of course cost more because its for a fifty.
Also, a solid optic and rings is a must. The recoil impulse on these things wrecks cheaper optics.
The other issue is that people are retards and think the .50 BMG is magical and can rip the legs and arms off of people if they are within 1 mile of the projectile when it goes downrange. As a result of people being morons (to include shooter) a lot of ranges do NOT allow people to shoot .50 BMG on them and some of the ones that do allow it aren't really very capable ranges with good distances or that is at least the case where I am at.
There is some cool ammo out there, but most ranges won't let you use it there. SLAP, SLAP-T, AP, API, Raufus aka MK211 Det, Tracer, Dim Tracer, Incendiary, Spotter Tracer, ball (has a steel core) among a few of the mil stuff. For the none mil stuff there are a lot of manufacturers but the most common is Hornady AMAX. There is a Fifty Caliber Shooters Association and they have shoots. We used to have a very active fifty caliber shooters group but that seemed to die off when a bunch of shity personalities wrecked the party at Biggerhammer (sadly).
They are fun to shoot in small doses.
Anyways, if you want a fifty get a fifty, they are fun.