.50 Beowulf

To learn and introduce new loaders. Tips and tricks from old timers.

Moderators: Chuck, Mustang380gal, Coordinators, Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
Morne
OFCC Coordinator
OFCC Coordinator
Posts: 10631
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2005 9:01 pm
Location: Wayne County

.50 Beowulf

Post by Morne »

So I finally got a .50 Beowulf upper for the AR-15. The cost of ammo is sickening, so I am going to handload everything. Fortunately, I already stock CCI-350 LPP(m) primers and Lil'Gun powder for some other calibers.

40 F, 40% RH, 30.12" Hg

***CHRONY DATA***

.50 Beo 335-gr CPFP, CCI-350 LPP(m), Lil'Gun Powder, 2.133-2.144" COAL
AR-15 with 16" barrel five (5) shot strings each
36.0-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1566 fps - ES = 84
36.4-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1610 fps - ES = 97
36.9-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1685 fps - ES = 269
37.3-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1663 fps - ES = 69

The overly large extreme spread for the 36.9-gr load was just weird. The maximum listed on Alexander Arms' website data for this bullet/primer/powder is 37.7-gr so I might try creeping up to that next.

Recoil/blast was...impressive. I have a very nice muzzle brake on the gun and a good recoil pad, too.

Impacts on my steel gongs caused them to dance in ways I've never seen before.
Thus spoke Zarathustra.

Footsoldier in the Conservative Insurrection of the GOP.

Remember, only you can prevent big government!
User avatar
Mr. Glock
OFCC Patron Member
OFCC Patron Member
Posts: 8965
Joined: Wed Nov 01, 2006 3:20 pm
Location: NE Ohio

Re: .50 Beowulf

Post by Mr. Glock »

What made you choose the 50 BW over the 458 Socom or the 450 Bushmaster?
OFCC Patron, GOA, SAF, YouTube 2A Patreon, NRA Benefactor Life & Hot Stove League Member
User avatar
Morne
OFCC Coordinator
OFCC Coordinator
Posts: 10631
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2005 9:01 pm
Location: Wayne County

Re: .50 Beowulf

Post by Morne »

Mr. Glock wrote:What made you choose the 50 BW over the 458 Socom or the 450 Bushmaster?
Projectile cost. The popularity of the .500 S&W has really allowed for inexpensive 0.500/0.501" bullets to become available. I paid 18 cents each for the 335-gr Rainier LeadSafe copper-plated flat points!

As to the .450 Bushmaster or .458 SOCOM, I'm sure they are fine cartridges. But I already have an AR that slings .45 caliber slugs around (.45 ACP). Sure, either of those would sling them much faster. That's hardly the point.

Further, I didn't want to muddy the waters of my reloading supplies by having some .45 bullets that are handgun only and some that are rifle only. Having the big-bopper rifle round be a totally different size is kind of nice.

Lastly, who doesn't want to say, "I'll be outside shooting my fifty caliber," on any given afternoon?
Thus spoke Zarathustra.

Footsoldier in the Conservative Insurrection of the GOP.

Remember, only you can prevent big government!
glocksmith
Posts: 3918
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2011 10:04 am
Location: Cincinnati/SW Ohio

Re: .50 Beowulf

Post by glocksmith »

I always thought these looked interesting Morne: http://www.lehighdefense.com/collection ... 1073827316
Give em' Hell Pike!!!
User avatar
Morne
OFCC Coordinator
OFCC Coordinator
Posts: 10631
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2005 9:01 pm
Location: Wayne County

Re: .50 Beowulf

Post by Morne »

Thus spoke Zarathustra.

Footsoldier in the Conservative Insurrection of the GOP.

Remember, only you can prevent big government!
User avatar
Morne
OFCC Coordinator
OFCC Coordinator
Posts: 10631
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2005 9:01 pm
Location: Wayne County

Re: .50 Beowulf

Post by Morne »

I'm also contemplating using some sabots from my .50 cal muzzleloader set-up to make Beowulf ammo... :idea:
Thus spoke Zarathustra.

Footsoldier in the Conservative Insurrection of the GOP.

Remember, only you can prevent big government!
glocksmith
Posts: 3918
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2011 10:04 am
Location: Cincinnati/SW Ohio

Re: .50 Beowulf

Post by glocksmith »

Morne wrote:I'm also contemplating using some sabots from my .50 cal muzzleloader set-up to make Beowulf ammo... :idea:
Can you do that in a semi-auto - won't it eventually clog up the gas system? I also heard John Ross warn to never fire sabots through a compensated barrel - but I dunno if the same applies to a muzzle break.
Give em' Hell Pike!!!
User avatar
Morne
OFCC Coordinator
OFCC Coordinator
Posts: 10631
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2005 9:01 pm
Location: Wayne County

Re: .50 Beowulf

Post by Morne »

glocksmith wrote:
Morne wrote:I'm also contemplating using some sabots from my .50 cal muzzleloader set-up to make Beowulf ammo... :idea:
Can you do that in a semi-auto - won't it eventually clog up the gas system? I also heard John Ross warn to never fire sabots through a compensated barrel - but I dunno if the same applies to a muzzle break.
Yerah, the muzzle break makes it a no-go. Dug more and found out.

Ain't no way I am firing this beast without the muzzle break.
Thus spoke Zarathustra.

Footsoldier in the Conservative Insurrection of the GOP.

Remember, only you can prevent big government!
User avatar
Morne
OFCC Coordinator
OFCC Coordinator
Posts: 10631
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2005 9:01 pm
Location: Wayne County

Re: .50 Beowulf

Post by Morne »

More data:
32 F, 80% RH, 30.20" Hg

***CHRONY DATA***

.50 Beo 335-gr CPFP, CCI-350 LPP(m), Lil'Gun Powder, 2.136-2.147" COAL
AR-15 with 16" barrel
36.9-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1727 fps - ES = 62
37.0-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1692 fps - ES = 285
37.3-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1739 fps - ES = 178
37.5-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1709 fps - ES = 99
37.7-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1746 fps - ES = 57

It seems like the 36.9-37.3-gr loads are just utterly unpredictable. Both below and above that things seem to calm down with respect to extreme spread.

Furthermore it just doesn't seem like there is a lot of speed difference from one end of the loading window to the other (1566 average at lowest, 1746 average at highest - just 180 fps difference). Might as well load around 36.4-gr if there's little gain at the top end, right?
Thus spoke Zarathustra.

Footsoldier in the Conservative Insurrection of the GOP.

Remember, only you can prevent big government!
User avatar
Morne
OFCC Coordinator
OFCC Coordinator
Posts: 10631
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2005 9:01 pm
Location: Wayne County

Re: .50 Beowulf

Post by Morne »

More data, this time on a bullet useful for medium-sized mammals the Hornady 300-gr FTX:
33 F, 85% RH, 29.94" Hg

***CHRONY DATA***

.50 Beo 300-gr Hornady FTX, CCI-350 LPP(m), Lil'Gun Powder, 2.238-2.244" COAL
AR-15 with 16" barrel
31.5-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1500 fps - ES = 237
32.9-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1543 fps - ES = 50
34.4-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1698 fps - ES = 62


I also have 36.0 and 37.5-gr loads built but my trigger pin broke thus ending my chrono session early.

The low end loading extreme spread tells me that there's just too much empty space in the casing. So far the more moderate loads look good. I'll be interested to see if the upper end loads have juice worth the squeeze.

I also have some loads built with the Hornady 500-gr XTP FP that I will gather chrono data on soon and report back.
Thus spoke Zarathustra.

Footsoldier in the Conservative Insurrection of the GOP.

Remember, only you can prevent big government!
User avatar
Morne
OFCC Coordinator
OFCC Coordinator
Posts: 10631
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2005 9:01 pm
Location: Wayne County

Re: .50 Beowulf

Post by Morne »

More data:
81 F, 50% RH, 29.95" Hg

***CHRONY DATA***

.50 Beo 300-gr Hornady FTX, CCI-350 LPP(m), Lil'Gun Powder, 2.238-2.244" COAL
AR-15 with 16" barrel
36.0-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1819 fps - ES = 97
37.5-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1898 fps - ES = 64

I really like the fact that the extreme spread (ES) seems to decrease as we get up to higher loads. That 37.5-gr loading is almost certainly a viable hunting recipe for medium quadrupeds. Since the air temperature was so radically different than the last time I shot this bullet/powder combination I would NOT try to construct a loading curve with these 5 data sets without some asterisks.

Hornady 500-gr XTP FP load data:

.50 Beo 500-gr Hornady XTP FP, CCI-350 LPP(m), Lil'Gun Powder, 2.122-2.144" COAL
AR-15 with 16" barrel
22.1-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1119 fps - ES = 40
23.9-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1213 fps - ES = 16
25.2-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1268 fps - ES = 54
26.4-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1347 fps - ES = 55
27.6-gr powder - AVERAGE = 1385 fps - ES = 24

This big-nosed, flat-point bullet had at least one failure-to-feed in each string of fire. Basically, the chamfer of the bullet nose rubbed against the feed ramp at too shallow of an angle and hung-up. All were fixable by pulling and releasing the charging handle a time or three.

Still, I find it fascinating that this heavy bullet had such tight ES all along the loading curve. Maybe the Beowulf is just more consistent with heavier bullets?

If I were into subsonic work I would start at that bottom 22.1-gr loading and gradually work down. Since the speed of sound is roughly 1125 fps I am already there but just need to get low enough that even with some variation I remain subsonic. Doesn't really matter, since I don't own any suppressors and don't plan to any time soon, but I might do the work anyway just to use up the balance of the bullets. Given their feeding profile I daresay that this just isn't the right bullet for an AR-15 platform .50 Beowulf.
Thus spoke Zarathustra.

Footsoldier in the Conservative Insurrection of the GOP.

Remember, only you can prevent big government!
SMMAssociates
Posts: 9557
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 1:36 am
Location: Youngstown OH

Re: .50 Beowulf

Post by SMMAssociates »

Morne:

Don't forget the trailer wheels for when you tow that thing behind your car while invading Poland....

(That thing sounds like fun. I gotta get a chrono one of these days.)

I also have to bribe the neighbors to not call the PD when I test loads in the back yard. Seems the back yard slopes down towards a road. In the Park.... Bribing the Park PD might help, too, I suppose :D....

Seriously, the biggest problem for me, besides keeping that fool Dillon from doing some things the way it wants to once in a while, is that I have to drive about 20 miles to test a load. The good news is that I have a key, and the club's indoor range is essentially open 24/7. (If the neighbors don't complain about the noise.)

The latest Dillon craziness: Couldn't get the small primer to behave, and at some point I just took the priming goodies apart. Seems that they use a spring-loaded ball bearing to index a wheel that holds the primers before a ram stuffs them into the primer pocket. AFAIK, there never was a spring in there, or I managed to lose it during a primer size changeover. Given that I don't recall ever removing that ball or that there was a spring in there, I'm starting to wonder why the thing ever worked....

I'm not saving any money right now, but I am having fun. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself :D....

Regards,
Stu.

(Why write a quick note when you can write a novel?)

(Why do those who claim to wish to protect me feel that the best way to do that is to disarm me?)

יזכר לא עד פעם
The German
Posts: 323
Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2009 7:39 pm

Re: .50 Beowulf

Post by The German »

I cast my own gas checked 440 grain bullets and they work fine in my 6" 500 S&W. If interested and you get down to Cincinnati, let me know and I can give you some to play with - does not get cheaper than casting your own (I think).
User avatar
Morne
OFCC Coordinator
OFCC Coordinator
Posts: 10631
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2005 9:01 pm
Location: Wayne County

Re: .50 Beowulf

Post by Morne »

The German wrote:I cast my own gas checked 440 grain bullets and they work fine in my 6" 500 S&W. If interested and you get down to Cincinnati, let me know and I can give you some to play with - does not get cheaper than casting your own (I think).
Thank you, kind Sir, for the generous offer! I do occasionally get down your way, I have relatives there, so I'll be sure to coordinate for my next visit.
Thus spoke Zarathustra.

Footsoldier in the Conservative Insurrection of the GOP.

Remember, only you can prevent big government!
Post Reply