50 Beowulf VS 500 S&W

[x101airborne]

I am putting together an ar package 50 beowulf for my dad for his birthday. I like the looks of the cartrige and it should REALLY pack a punch. I have ordered the 450 grain and 500 grain molds from the group buy here and cant wait to get em in. Question is...... How does the 50 beowulf compare balistically to the 500 S&W? Part 2 of my question is if a NEF handi rifle can be had in 500 S&W, could one be had in 50 Beowulf? Would the extractor of the NEF work for the rebated rim of the beowulf? If not the nef, could one have a marlin built for the beowulf?

[Loudenboomer]

The Beowulf case rebaited rim is the same size as the 7.62 X 39 . The 500 smith has a semi rimed case of .556. Case capacity is similar but extractor interchangibility would be a problem. I've never seen a 50 marlin but always wanted to try build a 50 AE in a Marlin 1894 frame. The bolt face of the 50 AE is the same as the 44 mag.

[Lloyd Smale]

ben forkin has built 50 ae marlins so it an be done.

[Lloyd Smale]

by the way airborne if your dad is anything like me hes going to just love that beowulf. It is one of the most fun rifles in my safe. Hits pigs like the hammer of thor too!! My wife shot a water buffalo with mine and it did the job on that too. Hell of a birthday present from a son that needs a pat on the back!!

[x101airborne]

Thanks, Lloyd for the pat on the back. Anything that stones a water buffalo SHOULD be marginally adequate for hogs. LOL!! I am thinking about a 20-1 or even a 30-1 gas checked 450 grain hollow point at around 1800 fps. (If I can drive them that fast.) When that boolit hits, I should just hear a loud "pop" from all that energy being dumped.

[LEADLUBBER]

Dear X101,

I don't know if this applies across the board, but, I have a close friend who custom builds rifles quite a bit, and he has a .500 Beowulf AR. He said he had to upgrade every single part on his build to Titanium and/or the most expensive grade of parts he could buy to keep them from failing behind this cartridge. He was shooting 100-200 rounds twice a month and he said this cartridge was too much for the AR platform to shoot very many rounds before parts started failing.

He has found it to be very accurate, but compares a .500 Beowulf AR to a MG-B with a Big Block Chevy engine in it. It may be fun for a short while, but that much power in a chassis that was never designed for that much stress will break many parts very violently, sooner or later. He later even stated that he believes that no AR should have more than a 170 Gr. Bullet to pass down the barrel. Any more bullet weight and corresponding stress will begin to damage all bolt/carrier parts and pins to a point of assured destruction. Being that the AR is gas driven, there is more manageable stress (via gas system tuning) from a larger cartridge case with more powder with a light bullet than a heavy bullet and much less powder to bullet weight comparatively. This is why the compensator on .500 S&W's and other very heavy bullet to light powder charge weapons don't work very well; they are installed because people believe they must really help/or are required; compensators for rifles like the .308 win. do work because there is much more disposable or re-directed energy available from the larger powder to bullet weight comparison from a physics point of view.


You are a very thoughtful and kind Son. Whatever You get for your Dad, I hope it works out well for him and You.

God Bless




Sorry to be a negative opinion here, but it is from someone I definitely respect and know very well, and he has LOTS of AR builds.....

[Lloyd Smale]

Dont know about that. Ive probably put 5000 rounds through mine and not a thing has broke yet and mine is just the way alexander arms sent it. My buddys beo probably has at least twice that and his has been trouble free too. Keep in mind though that neither of us pushes the envelope on pressures. With a big bore like this a 100 fps doesnt mean squat when it comes to killing animals. A little something to think on though is cast bullet shooting. I havent shot a ton of them through mine but maybe 500. My buddy though has shot 1000s through his and his advice is this. Cast them hard. At least 16bhn and preferably harder and use a hard lube. He got this theroy from shooting cast in his desert eagles. The hard bullets tend to lead less and plug gas systems less and the hard lube tends to reduce fouling in the action and gas system. I dont know if its even possible to plug an ars gas system but i do know that fouling is reduced alot using hard lubes. Anymore i just shoot reineers in mine. there relitively cheap and alot cleaner, shoot great and actually perform great on game. Not as well as the punch bullets on really big game but they knock the cork out of pigs and deer.

[x101airborne]

I really appreciate ALL opinions and references negative and positive. My dad likes Chevy trucks, but I wont have one. One bad experience is bound to happen sooner or later.

And on that note, he is the one who wants the beowulf, so the old man is going to get what he wants and I am going to sit quietly and nod up and down and tell him he is right and maybe he will let me play with it once in a while. LOL! He hasn't asked yet, but i know it is coming: 1) Can we mate the upper to a class 3 lower? and 2) Can we add on a supressor.

I am good with the supressor idea, I am a little (read: LOT) scared of that thing full-auto. I am excited about using it on hogs. As well as my 44 mag rifles kill pigs, this may be a little much, but hey, if that is what the old man wants, I will play along. If nothing else this will be good experience in gas-guns, reloading and cartrige design theory.

[LEADLUBBER]

I think LLoyd may be on to something. I asked my buddy who had this gun and he was reloading it to very high velocities and pushing the pressure envelope..... this explains more about his parts breakage.

Go get your Dad what he wants, just tell him to stay away from the peak pressure loads and pushing the envelope..... 100 FPS can make a huge difference in pressure sometimes!


Good Luck