<span style="font-weight: bold">Armalite AR50A1 topped with Premier 5-25X56 Gen 2 XR DT MTC</span>
<span style="font-weight: bold">Specs are as follows;</span>
Gun Armalite AR50A1
Scope Premier 5-25X56 Gen 2 XR, DT , MTC
Barrel Factory Armailte 31” that I encased in 1.85” dia carbon fiber
ADI Horus ASLI ADI/ACI
Rings Badger Max 50 Low
Base Armalite 30 MOA tapered base
Trigger Rifle Basix 1.5 LB
Grip Ergo target with palm shelf
Bipod Harris notched 9-13” with Armalite adapter
Cheek rest is thin foam from local crafts store.
Oversized Bolt knob I made from epoxy and steel.
Stock is Factory but I bedded the receiver for huge increase in contact area between stock and receiver.
Paint is Krylon Camouflage I did my self with stencils , tape and sponges.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Load</span>
Cases PSD 99 cases
Bullet 750 Hornady AMAX
Powder H50 BMG Hodgdon ( 230gr )
Primer CCI #35
COAL= 5.620”
Chronographed average velocity has been 2733 FPS
Recoil is very low, Less than my 300WSM .
After nearly 3 months of research and making sure I had the $$ Cash to get started on my new .50 project I called Scott at Liberty optics and ordered a Premier 5-25X56 Gen 2 XR, DT , MTC , $2970.00 nearly half of the money I had saved but I knew that if I settled for any thing else I would not be truly happy with my choice.
Scott Is great to deal with. When I called his cell # to place my order , I don’t know if he was hunting or what? But he said, I need to hike over to a different mountain so I can call you back, I have terrible reception here!. I told Scott I will just call you back in a couple of days. How many people would be willing to do that for a customer ?
Scott told me it would be 3 months or longer for the scope to be delivered and I knew it would take me longer than that to assemble the rifle the way I wanted it to be.
I checked into several .50 rifles , MC Millan , Barrett, Armalite ,Grizzly, Cobb and Bushmaster .
I was able to put my hands on some of these rifles and others I had to rely on reviews from others.
I wanted something that was easy to take a part, didn’t load in the butt, I could get some aftermarket goodies for it easily , Bolt action and I needed it to shoot a lot better than my old gun.
See my first .50 was a Grizzly LAR with a Super Sniper 16X scope and a Harris notched bipod.
Now that first .50 taught me a lot and I used it for over 10 years for target shooting. It did a good job but as my skill level improved the limitations of my set up started to show.
The Grizzly has crappy trigger to put it nicely, aftermarket goodies are very limiting and I never cared for taking the butt off to load it.
The SS16X served me well but when you start shooting past 1200yds the optical clarity of the scope started to become a limitation especially on small targets. I had the SS16X shimmed so it was bottomed out at 100 yds and almost topped out at 2K, I’m sure it was not good on the internals but it always worked.
The Grizzly shot around 14” at 1000yds and that became a big limitation especially when shooting 1 Mile or attempting 2000yds.
I hit plenty of targets using a lot of ammo at 1 Mile with the Grizzly but when I wanted to try for that 2K mark, I wasted a lot of ammo. I couldn’t see very well and the accuracy limitations backed with a poor trigger just wouldn’t let it happen.
After checking out several rifles I decided the new .50 would be a Armalite AR50A1. The MC Millan was 4K over my budget.
Armalite advertises 7-8” accuracy @1000yds with match ammo. That is twice as good as my last gun . Armalite offers 3 different bases for the AR50, comes with 15moa, 30 moa and 50 moa are around $90 extra.
The Black trigger came with the AR50A1 and the Silver trigger is out of my Rem 700 .338 Rum just for Pics. I put a Rifle Basix 1.5lb in the gun.
The trigger on this gun is the same as the one in my Remington 700 and they interchange with very little work. I ordered a Rifle Basix 1.5 lb to replace the Schilen 5 lb it comes with.
This AR50A1 is very easy for me to take apart and maybe its because it’s a typical bolt action but it actually reminded me a lot of an oversized Rem 700 with triple bolt lugs and a huge sako style extractor. I like the simplicity of this rifle guys.
I ordered Badger Max 50 rings, they are tough and look great on this rifle. I also ordered a Horus ASLI. The ASLI is a great little attachment but I have had to epoxy both of mine together so they are not sloppy.
I had to modify the bipod adapter so I have the swivel stud double as a set screw. If not the bipod slowly creeps off the end of the gun when shooting it a lot.
I wanted to encase the barrel in Carbon Fiber mainly for a unique look, I am pretty sure it seems to help my other rifles so I don’t notice a difference between cold bore shots and regular warm bore shots but I think it looks good anyhow.
I wanted an oversized bolt knob that is as big as the rifle looks for this project, I built one with a steel core with a huge epoxy knob around it. It feels damn good and I think it looks great.
The grip that comes with the AR50 is a bit small, I ordered a Ergo that is for larger hands and has a palm shelf. This grip feels a lot better and has been great for target shooting.
The cheek rest on the AR50 feels like rough rubber so I replaced it with some foam from a crafts store. Better feeling now!
The stock only contacted the receiver in a few places smaller than a dime and the bedding lug looked like it was doing all the work?
I changed that and bedded the whole receiver / bedding lug just like on my Remington 700 s.
I also had to grind ½” off of the cheek rest for the bolt to open without hitting it when it is clear down.
After several months of work on the rifle , the scope I ordered had been delayed again so I took the 3-15X50 premier off of my 300WSM to do some test and work up a load .
This AR50A1 shot noticeably better than my old .50 first time I took it out and the recoil guys, No B.S it is less than my 16 lb 300WSM, it reminds me of a 30.06 but with a longer shove.
A couple of the guys I shoot with and I were able to hit 12” and 15” balloons at 1200 yds easier than we ever have with this beast , I am only using 8.4 mil to reach 1200 yards with this load.
Balloons at 300 and 600 yds are easy . All of us were impressed with its capabilities and everyone, even a few spectators I let shoot it commented on how low the recoil is. Strangers were able to shoot 300 yard targets easily.
Armalite did an outstanding job with the Muzzle brake design and the stock adjust so I sit directly behind the recoil shove instead of having the muzzle flip up every time I shoot.
This Pic shows the Illumination knob pulled out, the double turn button popped out, Paralax lines and the Horus ASLI.
I finally received the Premier Heritage 5-25 scope I ordered for my new .50BMG project back in march ( 7 months) , I knew I was getting a great scope but this thing is even better than I expected.
See guys, I may get some flack for saying this but the Premier Scopes are #1 to me.
I love the clarity, The turret design and feel with Zero stop and the nifty cam locks, The small clicks with a large click every mil , a ton of elevation in 2 turns and I love that Gen 2 XR reticle. It is one tough tank of a scope! if I could afford it I would buy 3 more of the 3-15X50 Premier scopes.
I had 3 optics that made my Cow ELK hunt a success this year, Premier 3-15X50 on 300WSM, Premier
5-25X56 on .50 BMG and my trusty Swarovski 8X30 rangefinder.
I used the 5-25X56 as a spotter because the .50 weighs 40 lbs and I was able to pick out Elk way beyond the maximum shooting range of my rifles. Judging by the mil size best I could I will bet some of the Elk were at least 3000 yds away.
After spotting them with the 5-25, I would hike into them with my 300WSM and a rangefinder. I got an Elk on the second day of the hunt with my 300WSM at 235yds and I had counted over 113 Elk when other hunters ( mostly road hunters) complained that there were not any elk in this area. Ha Ha I love it!
I look forward to putting this rifle/scope to the real test, I want to get way past the 1200yd mark. I would like to get to that 2000yd mark and possibly a little farther because I think this new gun can do it if I can.
I am extremely happy with this .50 BMG, It shoots great, has very low recoil, a great trigger, good load and the scope on it is absolutely outstanding.
Radio towers EST over 2 miles away from my house after the sun went over the hill.
Radio towers through Premier on 25X after the sun went down.
[img:center]http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m267/Sniper6_2006/DSCF1527.jpg[/img]
<span style="font-weight: bold">Specs are as follows;</span>
Gun Armalite AR50A1
Scope Premier 5-25X56 Gen 2 XR, DT , MTC
Barrel Factory Armailte 31” that I encased in 1.85” dia carbon fiber
ADI Horus ASLI ADI/ACI
Rings Badger Max 50 Low
Base Armalite 30 MOA tapered base
Trigger Rifle Basix 1.5 LB
Grip Ergo target with palm shelf
Bipod Harris notched 9-13” with Armalite adapter
Cheek rest is thin foam from local crafts store.
Oversized Bolt knob I made from epoxy and steel.
Stock is Factory but I bedded the receiver for huge increase in contact area between stock and receiver.
Paint is Krylon Camouflage I did my self with stencils , tape and sponges.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Load</span>
Cases PSD 99 cases
Bullet 750 Hornady AMAX
Powder H50 BMG Hodgdon ( 230gr )
Primer CCI #35
COAL= 5.620”
Chronographed average velocity has been 2733 FPS
Recoil is very low, Less than my 300WSM .
After nearly 3 months of research and making sure I had the $$ Cash to get started on my new .50 project I called Scott at Liberty optics and ordered a Premier 5-25X56 Gen 2 XR, DT , MTC , $2970.00 nearly half of the money I had saved but I knew that if I settled for any thing else I would not be truly happy with my choice.
Scott Is great to deal with. When I called his cell # to place my order , I don’t know if he was hunting or what? But he said, I need to hike over to a different mountain so I can call you back, I have terrible reception here!. I told Scott I will just call you back in a couple of days. How many people would be willing to do that for a customer ?
Scott told me it would be 3 months or longer for the scope to be delivered and I knew it would take me longer than that to assemble the rifle the way I wanted it to be.
I checked into several .50 rifles , MC Millan , Barrett, Armalite ,Grizzly, Cobb and Bushmaster .
I was able to put my hands on some of these rifles and others I had to rely on reviews from others.
I wanted something that was easy to take a part, didn’t load in the butt, I could get some aftermarket goodies for it easily , Bolt action and I needed it to shoot a lot better than my old gun.
See my first .50 was a Grizzly LAR with a Super Sniper 16X scope and a Harris notched bipod.
Now that first .50 taught me a lot and I used it for over 10 years for target shooting. It did a good job but as my skill level improved the limitations of my set up started to show.
The Grizzly has crappy trigger to put it nicely, aftermarket goodies are very limiting and I never cared for taking the butt off to load it.
The SS16X served me well but when you start shooting past 1200yds the optical clarity of the scope started to become a limitation especially on small targets. I had the SS16X shimmed so it was bottomed out at 100 yds and almost topped out at 2K, I’m sure it was not good on the internals but it always worked.
The Grizzly shot around 14” at 1000yds and that became a big limitation especially when shooting 1 Mile or attempting 2000yds.
I hit plenty of targets using a lot of ammo at 1 Mile with the Grizzly but when I wanted to try for that 2K mark, I wasted a lot of ammo. I couldn’t see very well and the accuracy limitations backed with a poor trigger just wouldn’t let it happen.
After checking out several rifles I decided the new .50 would be a Armalite AR50A1. The MC Millan was 4K over my budget.
Armalite advertises 7-8” accuracy @1000yds with match ammo. That is twice as good as my last gun . Armalite offers 3 different bases for the AR50, comes with 15moa, 30 moa and 50 moa are around $90 extra.
The Black trigger came with the AR50A1 and the Silver trigger is out of my Rem 700 .338 Rum just for Pics. I put a Rifle Basix 1.5lb in the gun.
The trigger on this gun is the same as the one in my Remington 700 and they interchange with very little work. I ordered a Rifle Basix 1.5 lb to replace the Schilen 5 lb it comes with.
This AR50A1 is very easy for me to take apart and maybe its because it’s a typical bolt action but it actually reminded me a lot of an oversized Rem 700 with triple bolt lugs and a huge sako style extractor. I like the simplicity of this rifle guys.
I ordered Badger Max 50 rings, they are tough and look great on this rifle. I also ordered a Horus ASLI. The ASLI is a great little attachment but I have had to epoxy both of mine together so they are not sloppy.
I had to modify the bipod adapter so I have the swivel stud double as a set screw. If not the bipod slowly creeps off the end of the gun when shooting it a lot.
I wanted to encase the barrel in Carbon Fiber mainly for a unique look, I am pretty sure it seems to help my other rifles so I don’t notice a difference between cold bore shots and regular warm bore shots but I think it looks good anyhow.
I wanted an oversized bolt knob that is as big as the rifle looks for this project, I built one with a steel core with a huge epoxy knob around it. It feels damn good and I think it looks great.
The grip that comes with the AR50 is a bit small, I ordered a Ergo that is for larger hands and has a palm shelf. This grip feels a lot better and has been great for target shooting.
The cheek rest on the AR50 feels like rough rubber so I replaced it with some foam from a crafts store. Better feeling now!
The stock only contacted the receiver in a few places smaller than a dime and the bedding lug looked like it was doing all the work?
I changed that and bedded the whole receiver / bedding lug just like on my Remington 700 s.
I also had to grind ½” off of the cheek rest for the bolt to open without hitting it when it is clear down.
After several months of work on the rifle , the scope I ordered had been delayed again so I took the 3-15X50 premier off of my 300WSM to do some test and work up a load .
This AR50A1 shot noticeably better than my old .50 first time I took it out and the recoil guys, No B.S it is less than my 16 lb 300WSM, it reminds me of a 30.06 but with a longer shove.
A couple of the guys I shoot with and I were able to hit 12” and 15” balloons at 1200 yds easier than we ever have with this beast , I am only using 8.4 mil to reach 1200 yards with this load.
Balloons at 300 and 600 yds are easy . All of us were impressed with its capabilities and everyone, even a few spectators I let shoot it commented on how low the recoil is. Strangers were able to shoot 300 yard targets easily.
Armalite did an outstanding job with the Muzzle brake design and the stock adjust so I sit directly behind the recoil shove instead of having the muzzle flip up every time I shoot.
This Pic shows the Illumination knob pulled out, the double turn button popped out, Paralax lines and the Horus ASLI.
I finally received the Premier Heritage 5-25 scope I ordered for my new .50BMG project back in march ( 7 months) , I knew I was getting a great scope but this thing is even better than I expected.
See guys, I may get some flack for saying this but the Premier Scopes are #1 to me.
I love the clarity, The turret design and feel with Zero stop and the nifty cam locks, The small clicks with a large click every mil , a ton of elevation in 2 turns and I love that Gen 2 XR reticle. It is one tough tank of a scope! if I could afford it I would buy 3 more of the 3-15X50 Premier scopes.
I had 3 optics that made my Cow ELK hunt a success this year, Premier 3-15X50 on 300WSM, Premier
5-25X56 on .50 BMG and my trusty Swarovski 8X30 rangefinder.
I used the 5-25X56 as a spotter because the .50 weighs 40 lbs and I was able to pick out Elk way beyond the maximum shooting range of my rifles. Judging by the mil size best I could I will bet some of the Elk were at least 3000 yds away.
After spotting them with the 5-25, I would hike into them with my 300WSM and a rangefinder. I got an Elk on the second day of the hunt with my 300WSM at 235yds and I had counted over 113 Elk when other hunters ( mostly road hunters) complained that there were not any elk in this area. Ha Ha I love it!
I look forward to putting this rifle/scope to the real test, I want to get way past the 1200yd mark. I would like to get to that 2000yd mark and possibly a little farther because I think this new gun can do it if I can.
I am extremely happy with this .50 BMG, It shoots great, has very low recoil, a great trigger, good load and the scope on it is absolutely outstanding.
Radio towers EST over 2 miles away from my house after the sun went over the hill.
Radio towers through Premier on 25X after the sun went down.
[img:center]http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m267/Sniper6_2006/DSCF1527.jpg[/img]
