[Rich Z]

About a month or so ago, I was at the Orlando gun show and found a dealer selling a used Barrett Model 95 with a Swarovski 6x24x50 scope on it. Now I just happened to have a pocket full of cash from a big sale on some critters the previous day, so that thing wound up following me home that day.

Now I have a Swarovski 10x fixed scope on my model 99 and it is stamped with the Barrett name, so I assume it is one of the models Barrett actually sells with their guns.

Will a variable Swarovski hold up under the pounding of the .50BMG? I haven't fired the darn thing yet, but I did notice that when you crank that scope up to 24x, my eye has to get uncomfortably close to the eyepiece. This is a $1600 scope, so I'm not sure if I should yank it off and sell it and put the money towards a Lightforce scope or just go ahead and use it.

Any thoughts?

 

[Guest]

eye relief

Protect your eyes. You want 3+" of eye relief for your .50 (and maybe some other kickers. Even if it weighs 30+lbs. you want
to protect your eyes. You probably only have two of them.

We occasionally get to see the results when guys have too little eye relief. If the glasses don't get shoved into your eyeball, the eyepeice can make you feel like it darn near cracked your skull. One shot can take you right out of the mood for a day or more. It's a BIGGER-hammer whack for sure.

 

[Rich Z]

Funny you should mention that today. I have been feeling like a real weenie because I haven't shot my Barrett model 95 yet. But that gun is very light weight for a .50BMG and I feel pretty darn certain I would have that Swarovski moving my right eyebrow around when I fired it. Expensive scope, but I don't think it was designed to be on a .50.

So I found a Nightforce NXS with a rated 3.74 inches of eye relief on Ebay and placed the winning bid on it. Those scopes are VERY highly rated as well, so I don't think my 95 will shrug it off when I mount it on there.

As for the Swarovski, I'll have to rumage around in the vault to see what it will go well with. Maybe my Winchester Heavy Varmint in 220 Swift would like it....

 

[41mag]

are you expecting those squirrels to surrender?just the muzzle blast from that .50 might knock em all right out of the trees!

 

[Rich Z]

Although I would seriously like to hit one of those tree rats with one of those spotter tracer rounds, firing a .50BMG above burm level is not recommended. Those bullets will T-R-A-V-E-L a looonng way before running out of steam. So I certainly would not want to fire up at tree level. Not unless the tree rat happened to have the trunk of the tree in back of him.

That being said, I have found the the .50BMG Spotter Tracer rounds are excellent for taking the top out of a tree so you can chain saw down what is left of it. Shorter trees are just safer to work with.

 

[Guns4fun]

Rich,

They said my Leupold 8x25LR would not hold up to a 50. Well after 2500 rounds it's still ticking. I don't know much about Swarovki, but it's sure dam hard to spell.

 

[Rich Z]

Well, Swarovski says ALL of their scopes will hold up indefinitely on a .50BMG. Barrett was (maybe still is) selling Swarovski scopes with their name stamped into them. I have one myself, which is a 10x fixed power. Eye relief is rather short, but so far I haven't had a problem with it on my model 99.

But the model 95 is lighter in weight. Plus that Swarovski 6x24 is an EXPENSIVE scope. So all things considered (especially the eye relief) I just feel better putting another scope on that rifle.

You know, I contacted Leupold about putting their scopes on 50s and they said not a problem. They are fully rated for it and their guarantee covers the scope no matter what. I thought about putting a 6.5x20 on a .50, but again, eye relief, especially at 20x is not all that generous.

Of course, I will have to see how the Nightforce is.

I have noted that in most cases, eye relief is measured from the back glass to your eyeball. When you are shooting, the measurement that makes the difference is the edge of the metal on the back of the scope to your eyebrow. Those can be two dramatically different measurements!

 

[Guns4fun]

Eye relief is a major concern for me too. I shot my 50 last Friday for the first time in 2 years, and I just crank down the power to 10x. I eventually brought it to 25x after I felt comfortable.

 

[repete34]

Eye relief on the Night Force shouldn't be a problem, I was shooting mine today on my >50 BMG, with it at 30-32 power, and have no bumps, bruises, or bleeding.

 

[Rich Z]

Well, I am looking forward to that Nightforce showing up. Shipping info indicates it will be here on the 7th. I've had that model 95 for around 6 months, I think, and haven't fired it even once. Of course, I have had no TIME to do so, but still, no good excuse not to take out the .50 and shoot it. Especially since I can just take it out on my own property to shoot...... No long range stuff, but 170 yards isn't bad for plinking.

 

[Guns4fun]

I never shot the m95, but have shot the xm-107 version. Great gun and it had me drooling all over it.

 

[Rich Z]

I just like Barrett products. I've got an M82A1, M99 and now the M95. They make real nice hardware. I'm thinking about picking up a couple boxes of their custom .50BMG ammo made by them by IMI just because they will probably become collectibles sooner or later. Having the ammo with the Barrett headstamp on it will be kind of neat to have. $3 a pop isn't TOO bad, I guess.

Supposed to be very nice ammo as well.

 

[Guns4fun]

Saw the Barrett ammo at the gun show today. They came in nice black plastic containers! Didn't ask for price, but most items at the show seemed a liittle overpriced.

 

[Rich Z]

I talked to a guy at Barrett already. Figure on $3 per pop on the ammo. Which is really not too outrageous. I may get a couple of boxes of them. Darn! Should have told Santa I wanted them...

Rats... Wonder if I can make that retroactive.....