In this thread, Ranchoth provides a link to this page, which purports to provide photos of a .50 BMG handgun.
I’m skeptical for a number of reasons:
I belong to a number of firearms-related message boards, and have never once heard someone claim that they’ve shot a .50 BMG handgun. In fact, I’ve never heard someone say that they’ve even witnessed someone shooting a .50 BMG handgun. Hmm…
I’ve shot a .50 BMG rifle. Many times. The recoil is definitely pronounced, and the rifle weighs 27 lbs. I couldn’t imagine shooting a .50 BMG gun that: a) probably weighs less than 15 lbs, and b) is not tucked into my shoulder. Ouch. :eek:
See the three pics of the girl in the white shirt? Sorry, but IMO there’s no way she’s shooting a .50 BMG handgun with her elbows bent like that. And the third picture looks like a tease shot. Hmm…
I’ve fired a Barrett .50 BMG boltgun once, so for what’s that’s worth in terms of “expert” opinion:
[ul]
[li]There is no way you could fire one of these things from a handgun. While the Hollywood nonsense about small arms fire (and hence recoil) being able to pick up a person and throw them backwards is largely so much crap, this gun gets closest to it. You definitely have to be braced to shoot it from the shoulder, and that’s with a substantial muzzle brake and a nearly 30 lb rifle. I can’t imagine firing the rifle from a hip. A handgun? Not unless it has some kind of magical inertial damping.[/li][li]As Crafter_Man notes, her posture is insufficent for firing a stiff .357 Mag or .45 ACP. If that were a .50 BMG, she’d have the receiver embedded in her forehead. [/li][li]Notice the woman isn’t wearing any hearing. When I shot one, I was wearing plugs and muffs, and still my head was ringing from the muzzle blast. I’m sure many people have fired a .50 BMG rifle without hearing protection and have gone on to enjoy music (well, really loud music) but at a range of 2 feet, I’d expect this thing to send you to the EENT specialist in short order.[/li][li]While I wouldn’t exactly want to be on the business end of this thing, it isn’t exactly what you’d call a practical weapon for terrorists or criminals. It’s clearly a single-shot weapon. True, the muzzle blast could stun anyone in 10 yards, but by the time you reload, the Armored Cav has responded and is racing in with snakes tracking on the enormous heat signature of the muzzle brake and guns hot.[/li][/ul]