Just ordered a Ferret50 .50bmg upper

[shibumiseeker]

I've got the LAR and a Bohica already, but I've been contemplating something a little nicer than the Bohica. While there's nothing wrong with it, I just never warmed up to it. I had an AR-50 before, but I really need a rifle that's LH friendly and the RH AR-50 isn't at all, and the AR50 is not transportation friendly. So I was keeping my eyes open for a LH AR-50, but was seriously leaning towards another upper type system. Dave at Ferret50 posts a lot on Arfcom and one of his rigs was in the contender ring. I emailed today asking what his lead time would be for making me a 29", LH Chrome-Moly upper, and he emailed right back and said he had the materials in stock and would be middle of January sometime, so I pulled the trigger on one, so to speak. I'd been expecting several months at the least, so that was part of the decision.

Nice guy to talk to, the communication was excellent, and his products have a great reputation, so I am looking forward to seeing how well it carries forward. I'll post when it gets in, and give a range report. Meanwhile I'm going to be listing my Bohica upper for sale.​

 

[Shootin'IN]

I would love to have a 50 BMG, there is not any ranges in S.W. IN. that allow
that cal.
And I don't have enough land to make my own range, beleave me I have thought about it.

 

[theweakerbrother]

Man, we need to go shootin' sometime.

 

[50bmgshooter]

I have a Ferret 36" SS match upper. Great quality! You won't be disappointed

 

[JTinIN]

I have a Ferret 36" SS match upper. Great quality! You won't be disappointed

Was wondering what type groups and loadings you are having good luck with?
I am looking at a new 50BMG to replace the ex M82A1, with the Ferret 50 in the lead now for "reasonable priced 50's (EDM or the new DT for not so low cost ;-). And thanks for the loan of the original thread ;-).

Regards
John

 

[shibumiseeker]

Man, we need to go shootin' sometime.

You bring the ammo!

And thanks for the loan of the original thread ;-).

Regards
John

No worries there, it's a related discussion and welcome here!

 

[shibumiseeker]

It's in!

Initial impressions are I like it more than my Bohica already. Nothing wrong with the Bohica, but it's not the same level of fit and finish.

I've got to order a few more parts to complete my lower build, then I can get out and shoot it
Yeah, pics will follow when I get it built.​

 

[JTinIN]

Interested in how it shoots once it gets a little warmer and you have worked up a load.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Got my LPK in today and built the lower!

I have a Doublestar lower, a STAG lpk, Magpul PRS AR10 stock, and MIAD grip.

Dave sends a high-mass hammer with the upper, and the instructions he includes says to leave out the bolt catch (keeps the upper from sitting flush and isn't needed), and the disconnector. Other than the high-mass hammer won't cock fully, I'm not really sure why the disconnector is left out, but it isn't needed in a single shot bolt action upper. He also warns to make SURE to not use the lower with a regular AR15 upper unless the disconnector is reinstalled

I know that with the Bohica I could use the regular hammer, but I needed a stiffer spring for it. I'll probably load up an empty case with a new primer to see if the Ferret50 hammer will fire it.

The upper also comes with a couple of stainless steel ball-detent pins for the takedown pins. It might make sense to leave out the regular takedown pins in the off chance someone not knowing were to take the lower and put a regular ar15 upper on it if the pins were kept with the upper, without the pins it'd be one extra step that someone who didn't know about ARs would have to think about before they fired it without the disconnector.

I got the lower assembled and mated it to the upper. Man is the bolt action smooth! I still don't have eyes mounted on it. I'm going to take all three (LAR, Bohica, and Ferret50) out tomorrow for some side by side shooting. I've got a SuperSniper on the Bohica which will be coming off after I shoot it tomorrow and put on the Ferret50 to get a feel for it. Then the Bohica will be put on the for sale block. In about a month or so I'll be deciding what eyes and rings/mount I want for the Ferret50 when I get some more cash.

Pics will be forthcoming tomorrow when I get a chance to get out and shoot them.
​

 

[shibumiseeker]

Better pictures later! Fore: LAR Grizzly Big Boar 36", Middle: Bohica MkIII 29", Back: Ferret50 29".

I gotta get a little work done in the shop before I can get out and shoot them all side by side. Let it warm up a little too, the chickens are all huddled around their waterer with their heads pulled down into their shoulders, look like a bunch of homeless guys around an oil-can fire.
​

 

[sgreen3]

Those are to cool, would love to shoot a .50bmg before i die, lol

 

[shibumiseeker]

When I ordered Larue QD LT123 rings for my Bohica I was a friggen genius. It made switching the scope between the Bohica and the Ferret50 a snap. And it returned to zero when I put it back on the Bohica.

LAR- 31lbs.
Bohica- 21lbs
Ferret50- 26lbs

I haven't weighed the Bohica and the Ferret50 side by side with just the upper. I imagine a pound of additional weight for the Ferret50 comes from the Magpul PRS on it, versus the A2 stock on the Bohica.

I normally have a limbsaver pad on the Bohica but I took it off since I haven't gotten the thicker pad for the PRS stock on the Ferret50, in the interests of keeping the evaluation as similar as possible. I was firing 647gr Winchester ball with 218gr of H50bmg.

I shot 3 cycles of 1 round from each gun, the LAR, Bohica, and Ferret50 in that order. Dave sent along thorough barrel break-in instructions, so I paused after each round to clean the Ferret50 as per the instructions. This round of shooting all three was to function check the Ferret50 and to side by side compare recoil. I haven't gotten the scope zeroed on the Ferret50 so other than the round hitting the berm, I don't know what kind of group it did.

Overall impressions: The LAR Grizzly Big Boar had the softest recoil of the three by far. The Ferret50 came in second with the Bohica a close third. I suspect if the gun weights were identical they'd all three be pretty similar. If I put the Bohica at a 10 as far as felt recoil force, then the Ferret50 would be a 9 and the LAR would be a 7. This scale is only relative to these three, not all guns.

I REALLY like the lower I built for the Ferret50.

As to the Ferret50, the bipod being so far forward of the barrel makes a much more steady aim. I like the fact that it doesn't pivot like the Bohica bipod does. I like pivoting bipods for hunting, not for precision shooting. I REALLY liked the left handed operation. It always made me nervous having my face in the line of the bolt handle when I fired the Bohica. It was much smoother extraction than the Bohica, a firm pull to lift the bolt handle and little effort to slide the bolt back. With the Bohica I have to bump the bolt handle up with my palm, then bump it back smartly with my palm again. And this is with a rather mild load! Of course, the winner in extraction is the LAR, I've never had the slightest issue with extraction with it.

So my initial feeling is I like it! Once I get the barrel break-in procedure done I'll fire it for groups and see how it performs with my ball ammo and then with my match ammo. Two thumbs up for Dave at Spider Firearms for the Ferret50!
​

 

[shibumiseeker]

I got the scope dialed in just now. I love bore sighting a .50, I can see the entire target holder through the barrel! I also put a limbsaver on the stock, the one I had on the A2 stock of my Bohica fit pretty nice over the PRS end plate and covered the space between the stock and the butt plate, it looks pretty good.

I shot two groups of 3 (yeah, I know, bad statistical sample, I was just getting a feel for where it's shooting) and got it on paper. It was about 6 MOA high from bore sighting and pretty much on target L-R (this was at 100 yards). The limbsaver really brought the felt recoil down. I'm pretty happy with this rig. Now I need to figure out where the lands are with the 750gr AMax I'll be loading for it. This weekend the girls and I laid out a new 300-400 yard range across the lake. I just need the ground to thaw enough to start moving some dirt to build a mound to shoot from off the dam.