Pardon my ignorance on the subject as I don’t really dive into that category of firearms too often.
Before I go down that rabbit hole…was their a rational reasoning why? Or just more democratic politician stupidity?
I gotta get out of this state…
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Yeah because a $5000-10000 dollar rifle that is 48” long and weights over 30 lbs will be used in street crime.
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Depends on your definition of “rational”.
From the anti-gun perspective, .50 BMG is a great “target”.
It’s not widely owned, there are not a large number of voters/activists that would be directly affected by a ban so there’s less resistance to implementing a ban.
It’s at the far end of the bell curve on energy delivered compare to other calibers, so it’s easier to argue it’s destructive/dangerous/a “weapon of war”
Once banned, it’s supports the narrative of “weapons of war don’t belong on our streets” and can act as a wedge to continue down the spectrum of calibers. “We ban .50 cal because it’s dangerous, but look at the destructive power of .416 barrett, .408 cheytac, .338 lapua, 6.5 prc” etc. etc.
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How about someone develop a wildcat cartridge based on .50 bmg brass , such as a " .49995 platkin "
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The politicians latched onto the myth propagated from the Waco screwup that a .50BMG could be used to take down a helicopter. “Oh! The humanity!”, I hear you cry.
There is no documented case of this ever having been done in a non-military situation, and I’m not so sure the military has done it either.
However, the usual political machinations did their work:
- Create big scary boogie monster (BSBM) that the uninformed public will worry about
- Present yourself as the savior of the public from the BSBM
- Get a nonsense bill passed to remove the supposed threat from the BSBM
- Win more votes so you can stay on the political gravy train and have another opportunity to invent the next BSBM
This is the same approach that led to hollowpoint bullets, regular magazines, scary black rifles, etc. being banned in NJ.
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You’ll almost never be wrong if you assume it was just more democratic politician stupidity.
Paraphrasing Occam’s Razor–the simplest explanation is usually correct
Sounds like I need to go buy a rifle chambered in 416 Barrett or 408 cheytac
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12.7x42 - 50 Beowulf.
if the law is written that .50 caliber is banned then why not market the gun as 12.7 mm. isn’t there language in NJawb that prohibits M1 carbines because it is marked “M1 carbine” if they can ban it by name then just rename it.
This the definition of what they banned. Change any one of the listed measurements and it is no longer banned.
2C:39-1 Definitions.
2C:39-1. Definitions. The following definitions apply to this chapter and to chapter 58:
…
mm. “.50 BMG cartridge” means a cartridge that is designed and intended to be fired from a center-fire rifle and that meets all of the following criteria:(1) it has an overall length of 5.54 inches from the base to the tip of the bullet;
(2) the bullet diameter for the cartridge is from .510 inches to and including .511 inch;
(3) the case base diameter for the cartridge is from .800 inches to and including .804 inch; and
(4) the cartridge case length is 3.91 inches.
I already invented the .497 FPM
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EXACTLY how political theater works.
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While I definitely think you should, most of those super magnums launch the bullet so hard you can only shoot solid projectiles. So…expense on top of expense
I’ve shot 416 Barrett - it’s fun. However, a waste at under 600 yards.
I had a Noreen ULR single shot in 50 BMG a few years back. I have some remote off-grid property in the Virginia hills, and thought it might be useful to defend the access road if things ever totally went to shite (there is about a quarter mile clear sight path down that road). I gave it up when PRNJ instituted the registration requirement and fee, figuring confiscation wouldn’t be too far behind that. Wasn’t very far off. Only shot it twice. Less recoil than might be imagined, but still formidable. Weighed well over 30 lbs, naked. Ammo costs were redonkulous and have no doubt gone way up from there. If I ever again think I might actually need a similar caliber, I’d probably opt for 338 LaPua. Regarding bringing down a chopper with a 50 BMG rifle, depending on what part was hit it would no doubt be possible, but imo that would likely depend a lot on luck. Probably at least as likely to put a round all the way through the cockpit or sheet metal without hitting anything critical or any occupant. Full auto from a swivel mount of some kind might be a different story. My understanding is that the military rifles were originally intended mostly as an anti-material weapon for stopping un and lightly armored land vehicles.
That’s the 50 that I was looking at, prior to covid. Just never pulled the trigger…no pun intended. Lol.
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Mine cost me $1,500-ish new at the time. Not cheap, but it isn’t priced like a Barrett, either, and it got reasonably good reviews. I considered leaving it at my off-grid property, and playing dumb if I was ever asked about it by PRNJ, but I didn’t have any rock solid method to protect it from rust there (I wasn’t willing to go the slather it in Cosmoline and bury it route). So I sold it to a large on-line dealership. Took a hit, but not too awful.
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