McMillan Tac50

[brett1868]

Made an express trip up north yesterday to get the 50's zero'd in at 100yds then some testing at 600yds in preparation for Mildura in August. I was going to head up Friday after work but realised that the Mac didn't have a scope fitted. I found a NF 8-32x56 on the shelf, some Barrett 15/30 MOA rings and a couple hours to get it fitted up and lapped put a hole in my plans for getting away early Friday. I had an early night (8pm) and set the alarm for 1am as 5 hrs sleep is about normal for me. Was on the road and in Gunnedah just after 6am for some drive through sausage & egg McMuffins for breakfast. Headed out and did a lap of my place in the Pilliga now that I've got a 4WD and can get round it faster. Didn't see anything worth shooting at and it was too friggen cold that time of morning to leave the comfort of a heated car even if I saw anything.
Drove over to the cousins place, arriving just after 9:30 and after a little small talk I headed to the back paddock for some 50Cal therapy. Started at 100yds with the Barrett M95 and couldn't do better than a 3" group so I swapped to the McMillan and after a few shots to get the scoped dialed in managed to put 3 into an inch. Packed up the ute and headed to the 600yd marker (pink marking paint on the ground). Ballistics indicated I'd need 10.1 MOA elevation but since I was 2" high at 100yd (Scope was dialed to the bottom so I couldn't get a proper zero) I dialed in 8.25 MOA Elevation and R2.0 MOA which was very close to where I had to be. Video shows the last 3 shots of the session, not a great group but considering the temperature and wind I'm satisfied.
I know the benchrest guys (Apollo ) will look at the group and tell me about how they can put 3 in the same hole at that distance and that's fair. Just keep in mind this group was done with factory ammo, shot in 12c temperature, strong gusty x-winds with a dead stock factory rifle. When project 50 is complete then I hope to start seeing some <3" groups out past 1000m
After a bit more socialising with the cousin I drove home, arriving just after 10pm. Covered just on 1200km in 1 day, the New Ranger performed very well and returned an honest 9.0L per 100km or 11.1km to the litre which is actually what they advertise !!! I did have 1 weird little issue on the way up, there was a little orange light that kept coming on then going out. Would stay on longer each time then disappear, curiosity got the better of me so I pulled over in a rest stop and consulted the owners manual. Apparently the light comes on when the outside temp drops to 4c or lower, I can only assume it's purpose is to warn the driver that there may be ice on the road maybe.
Slept in till 12 today and now I can't sleep...might head down to car lovers at Norwest and wash all the mud and dust off the Ranger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP-EEfpijVs

[AusTac]

Sounds like you've got the life mate, good shooting

[on_one_wheel]

That's a big day.

Man those .50 cal rifles are a serious piece of equipment.
How the hell you can shoot em without developing a flinch has me buggered.

[bigpete]

Not really fussed about long range or bench rest shooting,I'm first and foremost a hunter so its just not really my thing. But after watching that video I have a real desire to own a 50bmg nice shooting !

[brett1868]

Bigpete, I do hunt with this rifle on occasion When fed reloads it's a much better shooter. I'm heading down to Mildura first weekend in August for the 600yd FCSA match which restricts ammo to factory only. The standard 50BMG chambering was never designed for accuracy as the key requirement was reliability due to it being a machine gun. I'm not overly happy with that group but considering I pulled a shot and the wind I'll take it. Hopefully Mildura will yield better results

[Squiddy]

That gun though

V NICE

[bigpete]

I'm sure you do I would ! Different strokes for different folks , my normal method of hunting requires me to be less than 30m from my target, I'll even try to get within 50m using a rifle too, so I guess I'd personally never see the use of a 50bmg for my form of hunting

[gunnerjacky]

This bolt-action rifle is very good for long-range shooting and therefore is highly utilized in military for tactical missions. However, the only drawback I found in this rifle is that it's way too heavy. The reloading process is hard too.

[brett1868]

It was a McMillan TAC-50 that held the longest kill shot record for several years which is one of the attractions to buying it. It is very heavy, I'm not a fan of carrying it more then a few metres but I can sit in the corner of a paddock and pick off pests at a comfortable distance. Not exactly ethical to hunt with the 750gr AMAX but based on what remained of the pests I've shot, it was a quick painless death. I've managed to source a good supply of 798gr hollow points which should be a bit more ethical and offer more range
Reloading is identical to virtually any centre fire rifle out there, in fact I find its easier because the components are bigger, charge variations of a couple grains makes little difference to velocity and its not overly sensitive to subtle changes like some smaller calibers. It's a massive amount of fun to shoot, I never tire of watching projectiles arc and spiral into targets. I have smaller firearms for more traditional hunting but it's nice to have a choice.

[petemacsydney]

The TacFiddy looks sweet mate!

[bigpete]

Would be brilliant for culling camels and donkeysn!

[brett1868]

The TacFiddy looks sweet mate!

Might be making another day trip this weekend if you're keen Pete, possibly we can talk Pat into coming along as well

[petemacsydney]

Very tempted mate. Got to check with SWMBO though as i have an ill mother in law situ. Operation not for a week tho, so if stress is ok it might just work.

[brett1868]

My missus is offshore so I don't have to ask permission cause I'm the boss when she's not home If I go it'll be 4am departure Saturday and back around 11pm which gives me 6-7 solid hours of shoulder pummelling joy

[Supaduke]

How much does it cost you to reload Brett? How many grains of powder in one round?. I have seen 50BMG on the shelf for $160 for 10 rounds, 16 bucks a shot made me utter some expletives. Also do they use a case specific primer or is it a magnum primer?

That 3 shot group sure looks like a fun way to drop nearly $50 though, nice rifle man!!

[brett1868]

Factory ammo currently retails at $1180 a case of 100 so $11.80 a shot. Reloading runs about $6.00 a shot loading the 750gr AMAX with 225gr of AR2218 up to $8 if using the more expensive Cutting Edge 798gr copper solids & RWS primers. That said, I was able to buy 5 cases of factory at wholesale and I don't pay retail for components so my actual costs are less then those quoted above. The 50BMG uses a specific primer, CCI 35 @ 88c or RWS @ $1.21 so I tend to use the CCI for general shooting and save the RWS for match ammo. I'm just about to load 50 Lapua cases with Cutting Edge 798gr with a round cost approaching $16 including the case for a little long range giant bunny busting. Tell the dealer with the $160 that "He's dreaming"

[Supaduke]

Anything over $1 a round with reloading and I get the sweats. Gratz on being clever enough to have the income to support that sort of shooting. I guess a 'big fiddy' will remain a pipe dream for me (and most I'm guessing).

Reminds me of the YouTube videos I've seen of them firing a minigun, nice way to burn through a few gorillas worth of ammo.

[AusTac]

$16 including the case for a little long range giant bunny busting.

even if you miss by a few cm the'd practically desitergrate right? Lol

[Wobble]

The 50BMG uses a specific primer, CCI 35 @ 88c or RWS @ $1.21 so I tend to use the CCI for general shooting and save the RWS for match ammo.

$1.21 per primer?!