Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa 50BMG

Never owned anything bigger than a 338mag but love to read and watch stories about Africa hunting.
Seen some pretty big caliber rifles like 375 H&H, 416 Rigby and Rem, and 460 Weatherby on hippo, elephant, and buffalo.
Is there a place for the 50BMG round in African hunting for the Big 7 ??
Anybody make a nice double rifle or hunting bolt action in this caliber??

Nope. It's needlessly too big and cumbersome and impossible to shoot off hand. It is also an illegal caliber in africa. And there is no "Big Seven". jorge

I know the military has some 50BMG bolt actions, I've even heard of it's use here in the US for game out west. Didn't know there was as caliber restriction for Africa.

jorgeI, and there is a BIG SEVEN in Africa now, some you don't shoot though.
http://www.beforeyoudie.co.uk/African-Safari-Big-7.htm

The 50 BMG is a caliber no gentleman would hunt with.

That, and it would be silly.

.404 Jeffery seemed to be enough for a whole slew of professional hunters and game rangers, and it's by no means the most powerful commercially available cartridge.

I can't imagine the reaction the police at Johannesburg Airport would have had if I'd pulled a .50 BMG out of the TuffPak...but it would not have been pretty.

Dennis

I don't consider the 50 cal Browning a "Sporting Cartridge"...

It is illegal in Africa anyway, and in Idaho I might add, as some folks were shooting elk from the Highway at 2500 yards and better...

I'll stick with my 404, 375 H&H and 450-400....Nostalgic calibers are part of the African experience with some of us.

The 50 BMG is a sporting cartridge and a fine one for shooting the kind of game you would shoot with it. Gentlemen from the Marines and Army make good use of it. Its an expensive cartridge to shoot, and they guns are both heavy and costly. Thou I some times wish I had a place to shoot one, a 50 Barrett or one of there 416's would be nice to shoot, say beer cans at one mile. For Elk and such, .30-06 is plenty for that, for Africa, a 338 Winchester will see you well, with except for a very few. Yea there the Big five, well Rhino is just about out, you can maybe shoot a White Rhino, Black well they are just about done. Elephant and Buffalo, Lion and leopard. All it takes is money. Now a double in 450-400 or one of John Rigby's 416's would be much more man portable and shootable not to mention taking yourself back to the bygone days.

jbmi , thanks for asking . I have been curious about that myself but have been afraid to ask . These guys on the Africa forum are a tad bit elitist snobs , but deservidly so and that is ok with me. Those that can afford to hunt Africa are the ones that have the best chance to save African game and African hunting tradition. I enjoy their postings and writings and wish them the best.

How well would a 800gr. 50 cal. Swift A-frame at 2600fps. work on Rino ?

"...elitist snobs..." That right there is funny, I think . I could afford it because I have an 11-yr-old pickup, among other decisions.

My 11-lb .404 Jeffery was heavy enough -- so I can't imagine carrying something heavy enough and awkward enough to shoot the .50 BMG cartridge. And for no good reason, because that much horsepower is simply unnecessary, as has been demonstrated amply over the past 125 years.

Just no reason to take a.50 BMG, traditions or no...

Dennis

How much would a 50BMG weigh? How would you carry it all day tracking elephant or buffalo?

I spent six days tracking buffalo before getting a shot. A follow-on shot penetrated the buff from the rear to the front shoulder, which it broke. How would a 50BMG imporove on that?

Does anyone make hunting bullets for it? Full metal jackets are no good. They don't expand and, being spire points, cannot reliably penetrate large game without veering off.

During the dry season on the Zambezi Escarpment, we came up with a small group of four bull elephant about 800 yards away. We waited an hour for the winds to blow consistently from one direction, while glassing the bulls, before stalking closer. Theoretically, a shot could have been taken at that range with a 50BMG. But I would have had to walk up and down hills for several hours even to get to that vantage point. And what if I'd have had to carry the 50BMG while tracking a wounded elephant. Hard to get follow on shots at 800 yards.

The elitist comment is a little offensive to me, a working man in the public sector. I drive a 1990 Chevy pickup, heat my home with firewood I cut and split myself, and work 600 hours overtime a year to be able to make ends meet and take care of my extended family. I hunt generally within a quarter mile of my home, and make the most of wild meat to supply our needs. I am taking two rifles, both of which hunt here in Canada with me. I have researched and asked advice on this forum, all of which has proven to have merit.

Members here are opinionated, but where do you find serious hunters who are not??????

If you have ever shot a shoulder mounted 50BMG, you would know why they are impracticle. The rifles are cumbersome for all but bipod fire, and most shooting is not done from prone in grassland or bushveld. Now perhaps I am just a wussy Canuck, or even an elitist snob, but I think neither to be the case. Besides which smelling the animal you wish to harvest is very difficult at 800 meters.

Randy the medic

I don't see being an African hunter as being an elitist snob, or that being a sportsman with certain ideals is snobery..

I borrowed $20,000 to go on my first safari and had to become a booking agent along with a real job, some 40 plus years ago to pay for that big jump off into a firey pit...At the time I was dog poor and stupid, scared to death of how I would pay it back, but it worked out in the long haul, it took me about 5 years of starving to pay off that debt, but it became my lifes work, and for that I am forever grateful...Good things never have come easy for me, they were all earned. That was something like 75 Safaris and probably several hundred cape buffalo ago BTW. I have not been to Africa in the last 3 years, my hobby became a business and I burned out a little..I am content to just rope steers with my grandson and granddaughter these days, but the memories are all still there and I may not be through hunting Africa just yet, the good Lord willing...I have been blessed by God with good health at 74 and I am still strong enough to do whatever I want to do. To me Afirica has been my life.

only someone who has never seen or held a .50 BMG rifle could ask that question in the first place.

"The 50BMG is a caliber no gentleman would hunt with"

"That and it would be silly"

"I don't consider the 50 cal Browning a "Sporting Cartridge" "

I apologize for mis-interpreting those quotes for being a tad bit elitist snobbery.

And you've obviously never held, carried, or fired a "portable" .50BMG.

I wasn't offended...I just thought it was funny. Just like bears in Alaska, lots of people get way carried away with their perceptions of African game. They are certainly to be respected, and they can hurt you -- but they're flesh and blood, and bullets don't bounce off them. Particularly solids from .375's and up. Anti-materiel rounds like the .50 Browning Machine Gun round are somewhere past overkill. That's not elitist snobbery, it's just reality.

If I said that you shouldn't hunt Africa with anything but a British double or magazine rifle -- that would be elitist snobbery. But I even took a rifle with a (gasp) synthetic stock .

Dennis

This elitist snob, would have to agree with the three comments above...."silly" covers it quite well!

After making our first trip to Africa this past Sept., I continue to be amazed at the comments we get, about being "lucky", "rich", blah blah blah. That's us alright. I drive a 91 Suburban with around 160K miles on it, and we live in a house, that's about half the size(and expense) of our co-workers/contemporaries. As a result, it has already been paid for, with the help of working gobs of overtime. You don't need to be rich and elitist, to hunt in Africa(or other cool places). You just have to actually do what it takes, and make it happen.

Jeff

Mr. VAnimrod;
I�ve had occasion to handle 2 or 3 rifles built for .50BMG over the years and it was educational to say the least.

I�ve no doubt shooting one would have further educated me!

As for packing one all day in the equatorial heat, I believe I�ll pass thank you kindly.

All the best to you in �09.

Regards,
Dwayne

Truer words were never spoken on the subject. You just have to decide what you want to do, and make it happen. Hunting in Africa may not be possible for everyone, but it's possible for a lot more people than most folks might think. You certainly don't have to be rich, and being a snob will detract from the experience immensely.

Dennis

Dennis,

Have you dug out of the snow? Colder than a whores heart hear...

I have to chuckle at co-workers who think Africa is "too expensive". Then I look at their brand new F-350 diesels, and trailer load of new snow machines, and think, "man, no wonder Africa seems too expensive".

Jeff