Serbu Firearms, Inc., Tampa, Florida

NYS · Posted: Sat May 12, 2012 11:11 am Post subject: My 50A

Hello All,
After much debate,"reservations"+ financial swindleing(I sold alot of unused and neglected toys),I had enough funds to buy the rifle.I paid a little bit more,but didn't have the estimated 4-6 month wait.Plus,I wanted to have it in time to work up an accurate load before an upcoming 1,000 yard match.
The rifle is a real piece of work,in a good way.Nice welds,metal fit and finish.All of the bolts are tight.After a bit of function testing and break in,It shows alot of promise.
Pros:
It's a Semi
It breaks down easy for cleaning,without any tools needed.
It's liteweight
It has hardly any recoil,for any 50bmg rifle in it's weight class.I've shot them all and built some too.
Cons:
The grip:
Too thin and it doesn't do the rifle any justice in the looks dept either.After a couple rounds fired,I replaced it with an Ergo grip from a 300 blackout AR I was testing.If you have small hands,you'll probobly be Okay with it.
The scope Base:
No MOA. A 10 or 15 Moa base would be a good addition.

All in All,I'm very happy with the rifle.I mounted my Leup/BORS combo and I'm looking foward to some real range time with it.

Steve

TonyRumore · Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 4:05 pm Post subject:

"I can't and won't spend $7k on a 50 bmg rifle whose accuracy capabilities are unproven"

I guess you changed your mind?

Tony

NYS · Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 10:25 pm Post subject:

On another forum,I got in contact with a decent LR shooter that has one and said it had decent accuracy past 500yds in his hands.Hearing that it shot "Decent" at and past 500 yards,is alot better then reading it functions perfectly firing from the shoulder into a hillside.
Like you,He didn't have alot of experience loading 50bmg and he hasn't had the time to load and test any quality match reloads in it yet.He is shooting good groups past 500yds with some modified factory match ammo.That peaked my interest enough to look into the 50A again.I have alot of experience with the M82 and have modified them to make it a decent shooter at best,with single round loading.Thats 1-1/2 MOA 80% of the time.As you know,the 50A can be accurized with alot less effort than the M82,if neccesary.
It took sometime for me to get the funds scraped up and I was lucky enough to find one available,otherwise I'd be putting a thermal scope on the 300 blackout.I'll look back at my posts,usually "can't" and "won't" aren't in my vocabulary.
Steve

NYS · Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 10:46 pm Post subject:

50 Shooter · Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 10:45 pm Post subject:

So how soon are we going to see an in-depth range report? I mean a serious one, something that goes from 100 to at least 1000 yards, group sizes, bullet types used, charges behind these rounds....

Oh yeah and LOTS of pics because you know it didn't happen if you didn't catch it on film.

NYS · Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 11:55 pm Post subject:

NYS · Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 12:14 am Post subject:

I'm only going to use Amax and 680-700 grn AP and ball projos for testing.I only shoot monolithic borerider projos in a borerider chambered barrel.Never had any luck with other types of monolithic projos in a std chambered barrel.If you want me to test monolithic projos,send me some projos,a barrel,the appropriate wrenches to change barrels(I already called and spoke to Carl.It looks like the wrenches aren't going to be seen outside of the serbu shop) and I'll do the rest.

TonyRumore · Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 2:16 pm Post subject:

The A-Max bullets didn't shoot nearly as well in my gun as the Barnes TAC-X BT and TAC-LR BT.

Tony

7777777 · Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 3:09 pm Post subject:

No Wrenches??? I want a 30+" Lija one day, will have to send it back for install, Mark?

Glad you like your testing NYS, I love mine. I noticed she likes reloads much better than factory. New to reloading and loving it! Its just hard to find good 50 brass that hasnt been through hell or has goop inisde.

Enjoy:-)
_________________
Kinky is using a feather
Perverted is using the whole chicken!

markserbu · Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 2:31 pm Post subject: Wow....

I almost don't know what to say other than "Thanks!" and let me know what you need in order to help you out. I'll be glad to send you one of these extended 25MOA rails once they get back from anodizing. Trade you for the one you've got. As far as the barrel nut, handguard nut, and barrel extension wrenches they're out for quote and we should have some for sale (or rent) within a month or so.

NYS · Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 11:26 pm Post subject:

I'll take you up on the offer for the rail and would like to purchase a set of tools when available.I have a lilja blank ready,but want to see what the stock rifle can do first.
I went to the range sunday around dusk and had enough light to get a reading on four of the five rounds tested with the RE50 powder.They averaged 2,475-2,500 fps.The brass ejected without issue and no real pressure signs.I'd like it closer to 2,700 fps,so I loaded five more rounds with a two grain increase and will try it again.
Tony,I tested projos for some 50 cal projo manufacturers and solids performed well,but they required alot more attention and regularity in cleaning of the barrels.More attention and time than a dedicated shooter would even think about doing.Barrel life decreased with projos that had longer driving bands.Those same projos your trying.I've seen Nitride coated barrels that've only shot Moly solids Sh!t the bed before 1,200 rounds fired.They were loaded pretty hot,but we were shooting a long long ways.I don't feel solids gave that much of an accuracy increase to justify the extra work.
On the other hand, Heavy Borerider solids are a different story.Not for the 50A,but they've performed great for alot of shooters.The Amax have performed well in almost every rifle I've shot and tested.It's my goto test and LR hunting projo.I prefer copper jacketed projos in my std chambered 50's.

7777777 · Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 11:39 am Post subject:

Cool, a 50 Reloader. like i said, new to reloading and saw the hype about the solids. lehigh vs. Barnes? I've been using Some SA 690 gn with good to random results. Want to try something else to see the diff. Lehigh makes a Hybrid borerider standard projo, you ever use these before? Also, is WC872 that much different than H50? Been using 225gn 872 without issues for 300 yards, how does H50 work better? 872 is all the same lot.

Thanks
_________________
Kinky is using a feather
Perverted is using the whole chicken!

NYS · Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 11:44 pm Post subject:

markserbu · Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 3:36 pm Post subject:

Steve,
The 25 MOA extended scope bases are back from anodizing. Please contact someone at the shop about getting one sent to you. You can call (813) 243-8899 or email DeAnn or Carl. Their email addresses are their first names at serbu.com

We intend to have a service where we'll do the machining on a customer's barrel blank and install a barrel extension. We'll also be putting out the specs and selling parts for the "roll your own" crowd.

TonyRumore · Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 11:06 pm Post subject:

Providing parts and services to allow the customer to customize the gun, is a great idea. The most successful gun designs became that way due to the supply of custom aftermarket parts. The AR-15, 10/22, 1911, etc.

It's still a bit early for the aftermarket to jump in on the BFG-50A, but it would give it a boost. OEMs usually try to avoid that....but it's a bad call.

Just ask J.D. Jones with his proprietory 300 Whisper that pretty much went nowhere, until the 300 BLK allowed everyone to jump in on the game.

Aftermarket parrts create more demand for the base gun everytime....how bout that SAIGA-12?

Tony Rumore
Tromix