.50 Beowulf.

by Jared, Friday, March 30, 2018, 23:01 (2431 days ago) @ rob

I have shot a Bushmaster a little and it is a nice round. There are very few bullets that can handle that kind of velocity. It reminds me of the original .444 Marlin loads using a standard 240gr SP at 2400. Just way too much of a good thing. Expansion is gauranteed but penetration is limited.

The Beowulf is where it is at in the big AR cartridges. There's is a good supply of .500 S&W bullets out there that work great. Plus they are designed for the velocity. A 16" Beowulf is very similar velocity waist to a 8 5/8" .500 S&W. the 4 loads I use are a 334gr HP from rainier at 1850 FPS for a cheap plinking load, a 350 gr Speer at 1850 for a deer and hog hunting load. 375gr Barnes XPB at 1800 and for real penetration a Cast 450gr at 1550.

With bullets over 300 gr the Beowulf will outrun the other two and once you get to 450-500 it is noticeably faster.