Anyone who reads my posts may have seen me casually mention "Project 50" and now I'm able to share a few more details.
Being a fan of the larger calibers and already owning 3 off the shelf fifty's I was happy with their accuracy but not their precision. I have a Barrett M95, McMillan Tac-50 and a DTA HTI 50 but all share the same chambering which is primarily designed for high reliability machine gun use rather then precision target shooting. Around this time last year I started researching precision 50Cal rifles of the type used in 1000yd competitions in the Fifty Cal Shooters Association Competitions (F.C.S.A) in the U.S of A and all of the competitors at the pointy end of the Unlimited Class field use custom built rifles. I decided I was going to have myself built a precision benchrest 50, Cool I thought but it's been anything but simple. It has taken almost a year now to reach todays milestone of receiving the barrel and action from the U.S of A.
Based on a lot of reading, several calls to the U.S and real world results I chose the following components to build an "Unlimited Class" 50Cal BR Rifle:-
BAT Machine EX Action - Right hand bolt, Left Side Load and Has to be seen to appreciate the shear size of it and how perfect the machining is. Yes there are bigger names in actions for the smaller calibers but when it comes to the big stuff this is the best on the market bar none.
http://www.batmachine.com/batactions/model-ex/Un-Named profile 50Cal barrel blank in 416 S/S 2"' diameter & 43" long. Yep, friggen massive
No Link - Cause I'm keeping the manufacturer a secret for now.
Pacific Tool & Gauge Reamers in HSS Resizer & Finisher with removable pilots + Go/No Go gauges (Confidential profile for now). Since I was only looking to cut a handful of chambers I opted for the cheaper HSS rather then the very expensive carbide versions.
http://pacifictoolandgauge.com/446-50-cal-500-cal-nopix-showcart-McMillan Super 50BR Stock with 5" fore-end - Factory supports the chosen action barrel combination so it comes already inlet from factory ready to go.
https://mcmillanusa.com/mcmillan-rifle-stocks/competition-stock-super-50-br-gunstock/Flavio Fare Trigger
No Link yet - Refer to Google
Muzzle Brake
Custom Made 2" Dia S/S
Scope
S&B PMII 12-50x56 0.25cm per click (40 clicks to the Mil) - May change to a March but the S&B is under my desk so I'll try it first.
http://www.schmidtundbender.de/en/products/police-and-military-forces/12-50x56-pm-iip.htmlBase / Rings
Era-Tac 0-70 MOA Adjustable giving a total of 90 moa from the base and 17.5 Mil at the reticle.
http://era-tac.de/index.php/en/products/one-piece-mounts/adjustable-inclination-mountsWith the shopping list completed the real "fun"
began. First up was to locate the action as they have a lead time up to 12 months or more, I spoke to Daryle Thom at BAT Machine who informed me they had 1 coming out of production in 2 months time for Bruno Shooter's Supply. I contacted them and was told it was for stock and hadn't been sold so I nailed it on the spot...woohoo 1st challenge completed, too easy
Next on the list was the barrel, I had decided on the 2" x 43"
X brand S/S blank and after 2 months of frustration swapping emails with the manufacturer I gave up and wrote them off. Their reason for not wanting to sell me a 50cal blank was based on ITAR restrictions that were several years out of date and had been lifted but I couldn't convince them of that despite sending them links to the U.S State Department proving that particular restriction had been lifted. In parallel to this I had a talk to Andrew at Magnum Sports who recommended SANS-NOM in Tacoma Washington to handle all the export paperwork and shipping.
I called and spoke to Pierre at SANS-NOM and told him of my frustration with the barrel maker. I was told that if I can get the B709 approved to import then they can get the export permit, I like their style
. I organised a 3rd party in the U.S to purchase the barrel and ship to the exporter, problem solved and screw you barrel maker.
Once the action was at the exporter and the barrel ordered I spoke to Lea Coleman at the NSW Firearms Registry. Lea was absolutely fantastic to deal with and after a discussion around what I was looking to achieve I submitted the B709 which was promptly processed, approved and sent to Magnum Sports. Months passed while waiting for the barrel to be made so I got busy talking to several well known and highly recommended gunsmiths in Australia. No point importing a blank if the smith can't machine it. I could find only 1 business in Australia that was both capable and willing to machine the monster barrel but they happened to be in the banana republic where 50cal is strictly verboten. The smith, liking a challenge and wanting to build the first and possibly only 50Cal BR Rifle in the country contacted the QLD firearms branch and got clearance to do the work (I'm as shocked as anyone this was approved).
The rest of the bits fell into place fairly easily, the barrel, action and reamers ship to QLD tomorrow or Thursday. I already have the scope and base, the trigger is in stock and the McMillan BR stock has been ordered and around 4-6 weeks away.
Hopefully the smith will have the barrel chambered, threaded, crowned and brake fitted by the time the stock arrives which should already be %90 in-letted. It'll get a proper in-letting, bedding and gluing to world class benchrest standards before being shipped back to Magnums ready for me to present my PTA and take formal ownership. November / December should see the first load development shots fired, 14 months after the decision to build.
Only things left to work out are the front rest, a custom case and H.T.F am I going to fit it in the safe....
Like any thread making claims, it's all BS without pictures
That's a 50BMG round I used to show scale
- Action 1
- IMG_2670.JPG (281.32 KiB) Viewed 6311 times
- Action 2
- IMG_2671.JPG (236.59 KiB) Viewed 6311 times
10.5" of bolt
- Action 3
- IMG_2672.JPG (283.11 KiB) Viewed 6311 times
- Action 4
- IMG_2673.JPG (274.91 KiB) Viewed 6311 times
This is a monster and just on 15kg on its own.
- Barrel next to Tikka T3 for scale
- IMG_2667.JPG (238.41 KiB) Viewed 6311 times
Me, next to barrel - No face so as not to offend any lady readers
- Human bipod with barrel
- IMG_2668.JPG (221.82 KiB) Viewed 6311 times
Difficult to locate much detail on the trigger other then it has 5 bearings and is considered the Ferrari of triggers.
- Best pic I could find of the trigger
- 1Flavio Fare Trigger adj.jpg (18.86 KiB) Viewed 6311 times
My colour choice was Urban Spectre, not the blue in the picture.I'm not sure if I'll Cerakote the barrel or action light grey to match yet.
- Photo from McMillan site
- super-50-br-3000.jpg (169 KiB) Viewed 6311 times
Why do this? Easy, cause it's cool, I can and I want to make a serious attempt in this class of competition.