Reeder Custom Guns - So now we have (2) .50 BMG rifles...

A Grizzly and a SERBU. I was personally more interested in the reloading than the shooting, which Roman manages a little too well. Honestly, factoring in the time it takes, it's more cost effective to buy shooter surplus ammo. But that cuts old dad out of his fun. I can get a N.O.E. 887 gr. FNGC (3) cavity mould for about $120. That would be a giddy delight for me. Paper patching too. BUT for the same amount I can buy (500) 700 gr. "Tracer" projectiles to load.

It sounds fun and I can find a safe place to shoot it without setting the world on fire. Obviously no round hay bales as backstops etc.

Military fellows, with actual first hand knowledge, what are the ramifications of shooting the tracer bullets as plinking fodder? I remember it takes a bit for them to light up, maybe 100 yds.? Most seem to have the cheaper steel core up front, making them APT ammo, so does the accuracy change with the burning media being consumed in flight? Is it less accurate than ball? Incredibly there is a wide range of Ball, Armor Piercing, AP Tracer, AP Incendiary Tracer etc. Beginning to learn the color of the bullet tips. This thing is lots cheaper to shoot than many big hunting rifles!

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on the .348 Win. levergun chassis use a 750 gr. Ball .50 BMG bullet. He lathe turned or otherwise cut off the front portion, leaving about 450 gr. or so, and loaded it backward! This made a flat tipped, truncated, nose bullet that would not chain react in the tubular magazines and still have sufficient power to fully penetrate a Moose from any angle!

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My father was a tail-gunner on a bomber in WWII.
He said that he replaced the tracers on the belts because
they "jarred" the gun and spoiled his aim. When they had
enough tracers, they would load a belt up and shoot them at
the range at night through a burned out barrel.

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Thanks, for the kind words. He shot down the Messerschmitt that shot them down. He spent 14 months in Stalag 17.
He said it wasn't like the movie.

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Have a dirt backstop.

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the tracer wasnt nearly as accurate

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I really like the idea of a big bullet mould and source for lots of fun and play. Loading some 700 gr. ball for Roman yesterday was pretty uneventful. It's basically an oversized .30-06 all scaled up. Even the powder and primers. My charge was 222 grs. Hodgdon 50BMG powder and the CCI primers. I did 3X 74 gr. drops each from my RCBS volumetric measure!

I had to ream the primer pockets and noted many of the cases were 0.040" or more longer than trim length. So I cheated and chucked the cases in my lathe to spec. right at 3.900". No crimps needed in a single shot.

Big shell holder, compared to a 7.62x39 case head.
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Priming ram and shell holder for top of press.
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Big primers are $0.35 each.
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I neck sized a few to test, hopefully they will stretch less than those FL sized. I'm monitoring them.
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Just a big old .30-06 type round. Lots better for the old eyes and shakey fingers. lol
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tends to be a little softer/thicker than commercial brass and will probably stretch a little. Neck sizing should help keep that down. Instead of Lee dippers to charge you should just use a coffee cup to measure the powder! LOL

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at max dump with the large drum. It barely does it for .500 Nitro. I decided and tested (3) dumps to get to where I needed. Also I worked with only one case at a time. I schooled Roman on the "case shake" on my (20) rnd. batch. They all had the same powder density based on the "shake", and interesting you can tell a lot if you try it. I was more worried about being 1/3 light on one.

I don't see any need to hot rod it much. 2600, 2800, 3000 fps can you really tell much difference at that level? Casting does sound like fun, paper patching too (full power loads) and even powder coating. Why not? I can make 8 bullets to the pound and how many are you going to bust off in one afternoon? A box of (20) .416 Rigby hunting loads is $150 now. Easy fun.

As to the guns; the SERBU is more sleek and I like the true bolt action with ejector and loading port, 29.5" barrel. It takes AR trigger systems too. Weight is half that of the Grizzly. But the Grizzly has a better stock trigger and such a heavy 36" barrel. The muzzle break alone must weigh 10 lbs. A heavy beast not far from 40 lbs! They are almost not in the same class. The Grizzly is a true position gun, almost requiring a team. The SERBU is like a overweight hunting rifle at 20 lbs.

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So now we have (2) .50 BMG rifles...

I once read that the guy who invented the .50 Alaskan

Tracers

Must be somethign to that. Great story!

Tracers

Your dad was a hero. Thanks to him.

They are a fire hazard in dry conditions.

Got lots of that, I'm a little iffy. They cheap!

In my experience shooting ball and tracer 30-06

Thank you, I'm thinking there is a reason for the cheap.

If I remember right that LC brass

LOL, the RCBS can run about 105 grs.