Grumpy, Author at You Will Shoot Your Eye Out

Deer Ammunition for Recoil-Sensitive Hunters by JACOB ZENT

Deer are the most popular game animal in the U.S., and there are many kinds of calibers and guns made for deer hunting. But any young hunters who think that they can just take their dad’s deer rifle out might be in for a painful surprise: recoil. Recoil is the effect that comes from the gun being fired, pushing the gun into the shooter’s shoulder, and it can be painful if you’re not prepared for it. It can cause problems like flinching, which can really cut into a shooter’s accuracy. In my experience, it’s best to start with a smaller caliber and build your way up to the bigger ones. You will need to start somewhere, but where?

Two deer-rifle calibers that are good for beginners are the .243 Winchester and .260 Remington. Developed respectively by two of the biggest and highest-quality gun and ammunition companies, these two calibers are perfect for newbie deer hunters. And they also fit into the legal limit for deer hunting calibers in many states. In most states, the required minimum caliber for hunting deer is a bullet with a diameter at least as wide as .24 inches—and the .243 and .260 fit that limit nicely.

In 1955, Winchester released the .243 to the public. It was made by the process of “necking down” the .308 caliber—which basically means the neck of the .308 Win. cartridge case was made smaller. Remington released the .260 in 1997. Interestingly enough, it was made through the same process of necking down the .308. Since the .243 Win. has been around for longer, it has had more time to gain popularity and is now one of the most popular calibers in America. The .260 Rem. hasn’t had as much time to gain popularity, but it’s showing a lot of promise.

Because of this difference in familiarity, there is also a difference in availability. Pretty much all ammo companies produce the .243, and .243 ammo and rifles chambered for it can be found at almost any gun store. The .260, however, is harder to find. Right now, only a few major ammunition manufacturers produce .260, and there are a limited number of rifles chambered for that caliber. Your best bet to find them would be to go to a larger store like Cabela’s, where they have room for a wide selection. You can also buy .260 ammo online from websites like MidwayUSA if you are over 18. Be forewarned: The .260 is rarer and larger than the .243, so that makes it a bit more expensive.

The .260 Rem. and the .243 Win. offer similar ballistic performances in most respects, except that the .260 retains energy longer than the .243. According to the NRA Firearms Sourcebook, it takes about 1,000 ft/lbs of terminal energy to reliably kill a deer. The .243 keeps its terminal energy above 1,000 ft/lbs out to about 300 yards, but after that its terminal energy drops below 1,000 ft/lbs. The .260, however, keeps its terminal energy above 1,000 ft/lbs out to 400 yards before falling below that standard. This means that a .260 can cleanly take a deer 100 yards further away than a .243 can. Depending on where you live, this may make a big difference…or almost none at all. In the Great Plains states, hunters will often have to make shots from long distances. For these hunters, a gun with a better downrange performance, like the .260, can mean the difference between a successful hunt and going home empty-handed. However, in the rest of the country, especially the East, people tend to hunt at closer distances in forested areas. For these hunters, that extra 100 yards won’t make much of a difference.

In my own experience, I’ve taken deer with both the .243 and the .260, and both have worked well for me. The recoil on these guns is very manageable, but they both still perform well and make good, clean kills. Any beginning deer hunter, and for that matter any beginning shooter, should be able to handle the .243 and the .260. My dad and I took my friend Ryan out to the range with me to shoot guns in both calibers. He had never shot anything bigger than a .22, and was not an experienced shooter. Still, Ryan was able to shoot these guns accurately and without a problem. He was nervous at first, but when we really got into shooting, he started to enjoy it. The kick on these guns didn’t make much of a difference to him. So for any beginning deer hunter, the .243 and .260 are the calibers for you. They can help you build up your resistance to the recoil of larger guns while helping you bag bucks and have a blast.

A SMITH & WESSON MODEL 696-1 in caliber 44 Special

Oh why the Hell not? NSFW

All right, we’ll address the most-obvious issue right off the bat here: “budget” and “.50 BMG” are two words that probably don’t belong in the same sentence. Any gun that burns a minimum of $3 with each pull of the trigger definitely isn’t what we’d call a “common man’s” rifle, but as with so many things in life, it’s all relative, isn’t it?

When most people think of .50 BMG behemoths, their mind automatically goes to Barrett, particularly the M107 in current use by the U.S. military. Of course, consumers can buy these semi-automatic monsters for the princely sum of $11,914, and those on a budget can get the poor man’s M107 – the M82 – for a measly $8,846. Sounds reasonable, right? Well, we can’t all drive Ferrari Californias or eat gold-flecked caviar, but at least in the case of the .50 BMG, getting a big-bore fix is more attainable than most American shooters think.

Unlike our previous budget-priced roundups, .50 BMG rifles aren’t exactly stacked side-by-side in the storehouse of every firearm retailer from here to Harare. Indeed, many of the guns are sold directly by the manufacturer, which means there isn’t much room for a middleman, so the prices here reflect the suggested retail price set in place by the maker. Here are five of the lowest-priced .50 BMG rifles on the market today, descending by price:

Armalite AR-50 ($3,359)

Starting off our list is a company that many probably associate more with the AR-15 than with the .50 BMG. Indeed, the “AR” in AR-15 does stand for “Armalite,” contrary to so many self-ascribed gun experts on the market. However, Armalite didn’t stop at the modern sporting rifle. The company also has a line of bolt-action precision rifles chambered in many of today’s popular long-range calibers, and the AR-50 anchors the top end of the line.

The rifle is a single-shot, bolt-action design equipped with a strong triple front-locking lug complete with a spring-loaded plunger that pops an empty case out of the receiver, readying the gun for the insertion of a fresh round. So, even though it doesn’t feed from a magazine, consumers can still send plenty of rounds at a pace limited only by their wallet. The gun is equipped with a 30-inch chrome-moly heavy barrel, and the whole package weighs in at 34.1 pounds. While the AR-50 is well-built and certainly priced low on the general .50-BMG rifle market, an MSRP of more than $3,000 doesn’t exactly scream “budget-friendly,” so let’s continue on.

Serbu BFG-50 ($2,395)

Built since 1999, the Serbu BFG-50 was the first firearm designed by company founder Mark Serbu. Though Serbu has since come out with a host of other unique designs, like its Super Shorty shotgun, the company still cranks out its tried-and-true, first-ever firearm, providing big-bore fans with a fifty they can afford.

Each single-shot Serbu BFG-50 can be had with a number of different barrel lengths, ranging from a 22-inch “Carbine” configuration to a long, heavy, 36-inch-barreled model. The standard rifle ships with a 29.5-inch barrel, though, and each barrel is machined from match-grade alloy steel with a 1:15-inch twist rate. The muzzle end is topped with the company’s Shark Brake, which helps to mitigate the brutal recoil of the .50 BMG, made even more aggressive by the gun’s, relatively speaking, “lightweight” construction, weighing in at 18.75 pounds.

Noreen ULR ($2,050)

Standing for “Ultra Long Range,” the Noreen Firearms ULR is a simple, basic .50 BMG that has all the features a shooter needs and none they don’t. A single-shot design, the rifle is constructed with a “shell-holder-style” bolt, which requires a shooter to remove the bolt completely from the rifle, slide in a live cartridge, and then return the cartridge-laden bolt to the receiver, locking it into place with a final turn. The rifle doesn’t have any traditional mechanical safeties, so it can’t be carried safely while loaded, certainly a major disappointment for the one person out there who really wants to tote around a loaded .50 BMG rifle. You keep doing you, man.

To enhance accuracy on this precision-oriented long-range rifle, the Noreen team added an adjustable trigger from Timney Triggers, which provides the opportunity for users to fine-tune the pull weight from 2 to 4 pounds, as well as sear engagement and trigger overtravel. To mitigate recoil, the rifle is equipped with a muzzle brake of the company’s own design, as well as a spring-loaded butt stock that absorbs some of the shock of a fired shot. The final recoil-mitigation factor found in the gun is the weight of the rifle itself, clocking in at a weighty 32 pounds.

Safety Harbor SHTF-50 Single Shot ($1,850)

Safety Harbor Firearms is probably best-known in the gun world for its AR-compatible .50 BMG upper receiver that pins onto any mil-spec AR-15 lower receiver, but the company also offers complete .50 BMG rifle packages for those in the market for a standalone big-bore rifle. With this package, consumers get the standard SHTF-50 Single Shot upper receiver along with a specially designed lower receiver machined from 4130 chrome-moly steel.

On the upper receiver, consumers will find a 4140 chrome-moly steel barrel available in barrel lengths of 18, 22 and 29 inches long, all with a 1:15-inch twist rate. Mated to the barrel is a two-lug bolt head machined from 4340 chrome-moly steel, along with a bolt body machined from 4130 chrome-moly tubing. The receiver is topped with a Picatinny optics rail, allowing users to pair the high-power rifle with a high-power optic to match. Also, for AR owners with an itch for a mag-fed .50 BMG, the company offers an AR-compatible upper receiver complete with a 5-round detachable magazine for the same price as the complete single-shot rifle.

Serbu RN-50 ($1,199)

Serbu makes a comeback appearance on our list of budget fifties with one of the company’s latest products released in 2018: the RN-50. Inspired by a social-media campaign, this unique, big-bore rifle offers an extraordinarily accurate .50 BMG precision rifle at prices that most consumers can easily afford.

Unlike many of the other guns on this list, the RN-50 doesn’t use a traditional bolt to lock a round into place on the receiver. Instead, the rifle uses a break-action design paired with a screw-on breech cap. Though this loading method certainly doesn’t provide fast follow-up shots, the simplified design is easy and inexpensive to manufacture and actually provides even greater accuracy than many other .50-caliber guns, because the cap offers symmetrical support to the cartridge.

The standard Serbu RN-50 ships with either a 22-inch or 29.5-inch barrel machined from alloy steel and weighing in at 15 pounds max with the latter barrel attached. For an added cost, consumers can choose either an 18-inch “Shorty” barrel or a 36-inch “Heavy” barrel. At such a low price, the rifle doesn’t ship with a bipod or stock included, but those can be bought for an additional $175 each. Consumers can also add their own, since the receiver plate is compatible with AR-style buffer tubes.

Whatever your choice, it’s clear that the long-range precision game involving .50 BMG is no longer for the fabulously wealthy. There are a number of options for those bit by the big-bore bug that aren’t wildly out of the price range of many of today’s traditional rifles. All that’s needed now is a source of affordable ammo…