# Do American border guards have .50 cal rifles for anti-vehicle use?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-border-guards-have-50-cal-rifles-for-anti-vehicle-use/993564>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 23, 2023, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-border-guards-have-50-cal-rifles-for-anti-vehicle-use/993564 "2023-11-23T01:15:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-border-guards-have-50-cal-rifles-for-anti-vehicle-use/993564/1 "2023-11-23T01:15:24Z")

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I forgot where I read this but apparently the US border patrol stationed at actual border checkpoints were apparently equipped with .50 bolt action rifles or even M16s chambered in a shortened .50 cal round (either .AE or Beowulf) because apparently a 50 round is the only round that can reliably penetrate an engine block to disable a vehicle from a frontal hit if a car tried to rush through the border barricades.

Any truth to this? Obviously inspired by recent events.

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**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-border-guards-have-50-cal-rifles-for-anti-vehicle-use/993564/2 "2023-11-23T01:37:43Z")

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Not obvious to me. What recent events?

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**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-border-guards-have-50-cal-rifles-for-anti-vehicle-use/993564/3 "2023-11-23T01:49:00Z")

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> [@Capn\_Carl](#):
>
> What recent events?

The almost-certainly-wasn’t-a-terrorist vehicle explosion in Niagara Falls.

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-american-border-guards-have-50-cal-rifles-for-anti-vehicle-use/993564/4 "2023-11-23T02:20:57Z")

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Thread on that event here:

> [@Crash in Niagara Falls (Wed November 22, 2023) \[Rainbow Bridge car explosion\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-in-niagara-falls-wed-november-22-2023-rainbow-bridge-car-explosion/993546):
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> [FBI investigating ‘vehicle explosion’ at Rainbow Bridge on US-Canadian border | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/22/us/niagara-falls-rainbow-bridge/index.html) the latest from cnn is that the car accelerated as it approached the bridge, went airborne and crashed into the secondary search area. and came apart in a spectacular way.

It starts out kinda schizo because the mods glued two threads together. After ~10 posts it settles down to sanity.