Since I was a little kid, I wanted a .50 Cal rifle, specifically a M2 or any of the Barrett's. I always thought it would be cool as hell to blast away at over a mile. Stories are abound about snipers using these things at 1500 yards or more. I know .50 cals have found a place a warmth in Afghanistan where there are used to "take out" enemy forces across peaks of hills. There are more then a few videos of 800 yard shots or more taking out people hiding behind rocks (and the rocks too).
In skimming through a CheaperThenDirt catalog today I about popped my eyeballs out of their sockets (a la old cartoons) then I saw the price. I never really paid attention to their price as I cannot really afford to spend 3 to 5 K on a gun. I mean, why worry about the cost of ammo on a gun I don't have, right? $5 bucks a round for "cheap" surplus and $7 bucks for new imported stuff. It gets worse when you add in the cost of links, if you need them.
For the price of 10 rounds of .50 cal Browning, I can get 2000 to 2500 22LR's, just over 300 9 mm's, 200 40S$W, or almost 200 45 ACP's. It's a tossup what would be more fun, 10 rounds of .50 or 440 for my Mosin rifle... 10 rounds of .50 Cal or 220+ rounds of .223.
Reloading components are not cheap either. By my estimate, it will still cost up to two and a half bucks a round if you roll your own; a box of 20 750 gr bullets will run about 45 bucks.
I am starting to rethink my dream of having one. I might need a second job just to shoot.
