Tag: .50 Cal

The .50 Cal, also known as the .50 BMG, was designed for the .50 caliber Browning Machine Gun and has a long range, anti-materiel cartridge.  John Browning designed this caliber during World War I and was introduced to service the M2 Browning Machine Gun in 1921. This caliber was considered an upscale version of the .30-06 Springfield and was also frequently confused with the 13.2 mm TuF, which was developed by the Germans during World War II.

The .50 Cal is mainly used for long-distance target and sniper rifles. It is the most powerful accessible cartridge that is not considered as a “destructive device” by the National Firearms Act. The maximum diameter of a bullet is 0.510 inch. The very same round was used for the second confirmed longest-range sniper shooting in history, when Corporal Rob Furlong used a sniper rifle with a .50 BMG to shoot a Taliban fighter at a distance of 2,430 meters during the war against Afghanistan in 2002.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has been using the .50 Cal with microprocessors in order to develop a bullet that can make adjustments in mid-flight and still maintain its target in spite of unexpected and uncontrollable variables. The .50 Cal is used in long-range target shooting and was so effective that there were some other sniper rifles specially developed to use this round. The US Coast Guard, the NYPD, and the Pittsburgh Police currently use the .50 Cal. This has been also been deployed on the infantry.