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Way Out There: Shooting (And Hunting With) The .50 Caliber Browning Machine Gun Cartridge
Way Out There: Shooting (And Hunting With) The .50 Caliber Browning Machine Gun Cartridge
Photos by Timothy Devine
The days when 300 yards was considered extremely long range are over. Now, thanks to better rifles, scopes, rangefinders, and bullets, 500 yards is more like it. But there is a small subculture of shooters to whom 500 yards is a piddling distance scarcely worth a round of ammunition. These are the people who have harnessed the power of the immense .50 Browning Machine Gun cartridge and transformed it into an instrument capable of shooting with eerie precision at distances that are usually associated with track meets rather than riflery.
John Yenason and Wendy Henry belong to the fraternity of .50 BMG shooters, where everything is oversize, hyper-powered, and far, far away. Yenason is a wiry, dark-haired heavy-equipment contractor who took up the .50 in 1992. He shoots one in benchrest matches at 1,000 yards and hunts with it, too. Wendy Henry, his fianc¿¿e, is a tall, willowy woman who walks with the toes-out waddle of the ballerina she has been all her life. With no prior shooting experience, she took up the .50 in 1998. She competes and hunts alongside John. I had a chance to visit and shoot with th6em at their home in rural Pennsylvania, and they took me on a tour of their arcane world, where glory lies way out yonder.
The days when 300 yards was considered extremely long range are over. Now, thanks to better rifles, scopes, rangefinders, and bullets, 500 yards is more like it. But there is a small subculture of shooters to whom 500 yards is a piddling distance scarcely worth a round of ammunition. These are the people who have harnessed the power of the immense .50 Browning Machine Gun cartridge and transformed it into an instrument capable of shooting with eerie precision at distances that are usually associated with track meets rather than riflery.
John Yenason and Wendy Henry belong to the fraternity of .50 BMG shooters, where everything is oversize, hyper-powered, and far, far away. Yenason is a wiry, dark-haired heavy-equipment contractor who took up the .50 in 1992. He shoots one in benchrest matches at 1,000 yards and hunts with it, too. Wendy Henry, his fianc¿¿e, is a tall, willowy woman who walks with the toes-out waddle of the ballerina she has been all her life. With no prior shooting experience, she took up the .50 in 1998. She competes and hunts alongside John. I had a chance to visit and shoot with th6em at their home in rural Pennsylvania, and they took me on a tour of their arcane world, where glory lies way out yonder.
Photo by Field & Stream Online Editors
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Photo Gallery Comments (22)
I have a hard time trying to believe that large amounts of meat is not wasted when an animal is shot by one of these.
I think the 50 cal is a lil over kill
unless youre hunting whales this seems like a bit of overkill, imagine how much meat is wasted
Commom man a .50 cal!? I don't think shooting any game a mile out should be considered hunting. Leave this big boy for the Army snipers.
i do not think that is very sporting. if you want to shoot that far go to a match.
Whatever you want, I guess. I think .50 cal is overkill and it makes me mad when I have to get within 100 yards with my shotgun and these guys can kill something from a mile away. It's not sporting, and I hope they know whre those bullets end up. Hate for it to kill somebody on a pass-through. Besides, the gun looks like it was made by "Nerf".
Those guns are are massive and a riot to shoot. I have never used it to hunt with and probably never will, but it is a fun gun to target practice with.
No, it's not hunting. It's long-range sniper practice on living targets. Is it a sport? Yes, because it sublimates a violent and dangerous skill into an act that does not kill humans. But hunting? No way. Where is fair chase? You might as well use a smartbomb.
come on do you really need that big of a gun a use a twenty gauge shotgun for anything that i gun hunt (i hunt turkey, deer, rabbit, geese, and ducks) and i have no problem killing any of these with my shotgun
My first thought is what animal it is you're hunting. If it is Dangerous game of a large variety (i.e. Grizzly/Brown/Polar Bears, Elephant, Hippo, Bison), then it is a lot less ridiculous than hunting an elk with it. Second, long range precision shooting is no easy task. The sheer power and range of the weapon may be a drawback, anything less than 600/700 yards would probably cause too much damage to the animal. If it is challenging to the hunter but still a humane kill, it should at least be considered. I do not own a .50 cal, and probably will never purchase one; why put limitations on those who do?
Grizzly with a .50 BMG might be really exciting. I've seen the results of one .50 BMG round on a kill, but it wasn't one where we were worried about meat. Other than that, I don't see an application in the hunting world. Suffice it to say, the .50 BMG is indeed serious overkill.
Hunting with a .50 may not require as much skill to sneak up on an animal, but the person still has to know how to use a rifle. Whether it is sporting or not is not for me to judge. Some people would say using any gun (versus bow-hunting) is not sporting... Just to clarify, I do not hunt with a .50.
The only thing I would hunt with a .50 Cal would be Osama. Or someone like him. I won't judge the guys who want one to compensate for their "shortness" ;) with one though.
Or the "Hatbackwards types wither. ;)
I could understand the use of it if you have a deer problem at the edge of a field on your land, but using it a a standard hunting gun is insane.
Why are they wearing camo? Do they use scent reduction stuff too?
I know they are compensating for one lack, and that's woodsmanship and the ability to get close to game and be stealthy. They could be having a raging party and still shoot deer. Is that hunting?
The gun John is using is not auto or semi auto it is a single shot. The .50cal BMG is overkill for the hunter who is used to 50yd out to a 300yd ethical kill shot, however these hunters do not see the ignorance in their criticism. John and Wendy are hunting, shooting and enjoying the outdoors together. Isn't this what we all are doing? We should be commending John and Wendy for forging into a new aspect of the hunting and shooting world.
>50Cal BMG is strictly a WARTIME weapon in fully automatic weapons it is not intended for or suitable in a shoulder fired weapon for recreational use. (JMNSVHO) Shooting anything smaller than an Elephant of Polar bear with one is ridiculous in the extreme, I personally would not do it. Incidentally I have fired "MA Deuce" in Wartime and had no qualms about THAT use of it.
I think a 50 cal should not be used for hunting because its over kill and if it shoots 500 yards your not realy giving the animal a chance to even know your there wich isnt fair game. I also think there not safe for hunting because If you have a bullet that goed a mile you could hurt or even kill another hunter and not even knowing it.
As primarily a mule deer hunter I use a Browning BLR .234 caliber rifle. I have had success for 23 years in single shot kills out to 450 yards. And have targeted 3" groups out to 600 yrds. If overkill is the argument here any one of you using a larger caliber than me should hang your head in shame. But I think that the real discussion is something other than caliber. It is marksmanship. Can you hit reliably at whatever distance you hunt/target. Other than that I have no argument with the caliber selection nor the use. Besides you can't argue with knockdown power in a .50!
this gun is over-powered for anything short of an elephant or cape buffalo. sure would love to turn a woodchuck inside-out from 500 yards, though.
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Commom man a .50 cal!? I don't think shooting any game a mile out should be considered hunting. Leave this big boy for the Army snipers.
I have a hard time trying to believe that large amounts of meat is not wasted when an animal is shot by one of these.
I think the 50 cal is a lil over kill
unless youre hunting whales this seems like a bit of overkill, imagine how much meat is wasted
i do not think that is very sporting. if you want to shoot that far go to a match.
Whatever you want, I guess. I think .50 cal is overkill and it makes me mad when I have to get within 100 yards with my shotgun and these guys can kill something from a mile away. It's not sporting, and I hope they know whre those bullets end up. Hate for it to kill somebody on a pass-through. Besides, the gun looks like it was made by "Nerf".
Those guns are are massive and a riot to shoot. I have never used it to hunt with and probably never will, but it is a fun gun to target practice with.
No, it's not hunting. It's long-range sniper practice on living targets. Is it a sport? Yes, because it sublimates a violent and dangerous skill into an act that does not kill humans. But hunting? No way. Where is fair chase? You might as well use a smartbomb.
Grizzly with a .50 BMG might be really exciting. I've seen the results of one .50 BMG round on a kill, but it wasn't one where we were worried about meat. Other than that, I don't see an application in the hunting world. Suffice it to say, the .50 BMG is indeed serious overkill.
come on do you really need that big of a gun a use a twenty gauge shotgun for anything that i gun hunt (i hunt turkey, deer, rabbit, geese, and ducks) and i have no problem killing any of these with my shotgun
My first thought is what animal it is you're hunting. If it is Dangerous game of a large variety (i.e. Grizzly/Brown/Polar Bears, Elephant, Hippo, Bison), then it is a lot less ridiculous than hunting an elk with it. Second, long range precision shooting is no easy task. The sheer power and range of the weapon may be a drawback, anything less than 600/700 yards would probably cause too much damage to the animal. If it is challenging to the hunter but still a humane kill, it should at least be considered. I do not own a .50 cal, and probably will never purchase one; why put limitations on those who do?
Hunting with a .50 may not require as much skill to sneak up on an animal, but the person still has to know how to use a rifle. Whether it is sporting or not is not for me to judge. Some people would say using any gun (versus bow-hunting) is not sporting... Just to clarify, I do not hunt with a .50.
The only thing I would hunt with a .50 Cal would be Osama. Or someone like him. I won't judge the guys who want one to compensate for their "shortness" ;) with one though.
Or the "Hatbackwards types wither. ;)
Why are they wearing camo? Do they use scent reduction stuff too?
I know they are compensating for one lack, and that's woodsmanship and the ability to get close to game and be stealthy. They could be having a raging party and still shoot deer. Is that hunting?
The gun John is using is not auto or semi auto it is a single shot. The .50cal BMG is overkill for the hunter who is used to 50yd out to a 300yd ethical kill shot, however these hunters do not see the ignorance in their criticism. John and Wendy are hunting, shooting and enjoying the outdoors together. Isn't this what we all are doing? We should be commending John and Wendy for forging into a new aspect of the hunting and shooting world.
I could understand the use of it if you have a deer problem at the edge of a field on your land, but using it a a standard hunting gun is insane.
>50Cal BMG is strictly a WARTIME weapon in fully automatic weapons it is not intended for or suitable in a shoulder fired weapon for recreational use. (JMNSVHO) Shooting anything smaller than an Elephant of Polar bear with one is ridiculous in the extreme, I personally would not do it. Incidentally I have fired "MA Deuce" in Wartime and had no qualms about THAT use of it.
I think a 50 cal should not be used for hunting because its over kill and if it shoots 500 yards your not realy giving the animal a chance to even know your there wich isnt fair game. I also think there not safe for hunting because If you have a bullet that goed a mile you could hurt or even kill another hunter and not even knowing it.
As primarily a mule deer hunter I use a Browning BLR .234 caliber rifle. I have had success for 23 years in single shot kills out to 450 yards. And have targeted 3" groups out to 600 yrds. If overkill is the argument here any one of you using a larger caliber than me should hang your head in shame. But I think that the real discussion is something other than caliber. It is marksmanship. Can you hit reliably at whatever distance you hunt/target. Other than that I have no argument with the caliber selection nor the use. Besides you can't argue with knockdown power in a .50!
this gun is over-powered for anything short of an elephant or cape buffalo. sure would love to turn a woodchuck inside-out from 500 yards, though.
Post a Comment