50 GI

[Kanewpadle]

Anyone have any experience with this caliber?

I was fortunate enough to shoot one today. Very interesting caliber. But no I won’t be getting one.

Friend of mine bought an upper to fit his Glock 21. Worked flawlessly and very accurate.

We shot 185gr at 1200 fps. Recoil wasn’t bad. About the same as 45 auto.

The 300gr at 700fps had noticeably more recoil.

Gives new meaning to “flying ashtray”.

 

[DWalt]

I am surprised that the .50 GI hasn’t died off years ago. I thought it had.

 

[Kanewpadle]

Evidently they’re having trouble keeping up with demand. Who knew?

 

[Rudi]

Never heard of it, I don't get out much.

 

[Lowa]

Has the power of a 45 in a custom gun. Just get a Glock .45

 

[stansdds]

If I recall correctly, this was an attempt at a larger diameter round that would function in a 1911 that was originally chambered in 45 ACP. It was not around for very long.

 

[DWalt]

Remember the story about the lady asking the Texas Ranger why he carried a .45 Automatic? His answer was because they didn’t make a .46 Automatic. I suppose he couldn’t say that today.

 

[Kanewpadle]

Has the power of a 45 in a custom gun. Just get a Glock .45

Wrong. Evidently you did no research before posting.

 

[Kanewpadle]

If I recall correctly, this was an attempt at a larger diameter round that would function in a 1911 that was originally chambered in 45 ACP. It was not around for very long.

As I stated in post #3, Guncrafter Industries is alive and well.

 

[IAM Rand]

Another gimmic.

50 CAL GLOCK vs DESERT EAGLE - YouTube

 

[Echo40]

.50 GI is an interesting cartridge, but alas, it's a custom cartridge which can only be fired from custom guns, and because the .50cal bullets it uses haven't been thoroughly tested and optimized to expand at the relatively low velocities the the projectiles are propelled, they don't expand reliably.

So ultimately, it's something of a novelty cartridge, but as someone who enjoys the recreational side of shooting far more than role-playing as a mall ninja online and doesn't require every one of his guns to be of strictly offensive/defensive use, I like it.
If .50 GI were more widely available and there existed a wider variety of Conversion Kits for .45 ACP handguns, then I could even see getting into it.

 

[6string]

.50 GI is an interesting cartridge, but alas, it's a custom cartridge which can only be fired from custom guns, and because the .50cal bullets it uses haven't been thoroughly tested and optimized to expand at the relatively low velocities the the projectiles are propelled, they don't expand reliably.

So ultimately, it's something of a novelty cartridge.....

So, if it doesn't expand, it's a "novelty"???

So much for NATO, the U.S. military, and the Geneva Convention.

 

[rockquarry]

.50 GI is an interesting cartridge, but alas, it's a custom cartridge which can only be fired from custom guns, and because the .50cal bullets it uses haven't been thoroughly tested and optimized to expand at the relatively low velocities the the projectiles are propelled, they don't expand reliably.

So ultimately, it's something of a novelty cartridge, but as someone who enjoys the recreational side of shooting far more than role-playing as a mall ninja online and doesn't require every one of his guns to be of strictly offensive/defensive use, I like it.
If .50 GI were more widely available and there existed a wider variety of Conversion Kits for .45 ACP handguns, then I could even see getting into it.

I know little about this cartridge, but with lighter bullets of 185-230 grains, +P .45 handloads come close or maybe even equal the larger cartridge's ballistics. Now a 300 grain bullet probably wouldn't work in the .45 ACP or, if it did, velocity would be so low as to make such a load worthless.

While I can't see I see a usefulness for the .50 GI, apparently others can and there's nothing wrong with that. The sport would become pretty dull if we didn't occasionally experiment with something new; there are lots of choices.

Agree on the narrow gunfighting mentality of many. They seem indoctrinated to the point they believe that's all there is in the world of handgun shooting.There's also an enjoyable side to sport shooting that has little to do with defense.

 

[375hh1973]

I never let USEFULLNESS get in the way of buying guns

 

[rockquarry]

I never let USEFULLNESS get in the way of buying guns

I'm in agreement with that statement and only said it lacked usefullness for me, not others. I worked with many wildcat rifle cartridges years ago and came to a true appreciation of what useful and useless really mean to me.

 

[Doug M.]

While I don't value anything about the .50 GI enough to buy one, I'd bet a lot that a 300 grain SWC at 700-ish fps is a good defensive load.

 

[mike campbell]

Anyone have any experience with this caliber?

I was fortunate enough to shoot one today. Very interesting caliber. But no I won’t be getting one.

Friend of mine bought an upper to fit his Glock 21. Worked flawlessly and very accurate.

We shot 185gr at 1200 fps. Recoil wasn’t bad. About the same as 45 auto.

The 300gr at 700fps had noticeably more recoil.

Gives new meaning to “flying ashtray”.

Interesting perception of "noticeably more recoil" since the 300ge load is a 5% smaller power factor.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I hate to tell you this but

a 50 GI is..................

5.45" in length and fired out of a MG !!

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Another cartridge for bone yard.......Maybe they'll bury it beside the 45 Gap.
And save a plot for the 30sc.

 

[Doug M.]

I hate to tell you this but

a 50 GI is..................

5.45" in length and fired out of a MG !!

*
Nope, that's the 50 BMG.