50 Caliber facts
While investigating facts about 50 Caliber, I found out little known, but curios details like:
A Marine called customer service when his M107 .50 caliber sniper rifle failed during a gunfight with the Taliban. After several minutes the weapon was back in service.
Marvin Heemeyer, a man who after fighting a losing legal battle with a large business that was ruining his auto shop business, manufactured a homemade tank equipped with a 50. Caliber anti material rifle, 1 inch armor plating, security cameras and more to destroy the town hall/enemy buildings.
In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 29 of the best facts about 50 Caliber I managed to collect.
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Ronnie Barrett, creator of the Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle, developed the now famous rifle without any background in engineering or manufacturing. In the last 100 years, Barrett is one of only 7 individuals to have invented firearms adopted by the United States Military.
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John Moses Browning not only designed the M1911 handgun, but also the M2 50 caliber machine gun, the BAR automatic rifle, the 1887 lever action shotgun, the Auto 5 semi-auto shotgun, the Winchester 1894 lever action rifle, and many other designs and calibers.
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The shape of the first supersonic airplane, the Bell X-1, was based on the Browning .50 caliber machine gun bullet, which was known to be stable in supersonic flight.
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The M2 50 Caliber Heavy Machine Gun of the US Armed Forces and many allies has been in use since 1919.
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The Makah Native American Tribe is allowed to hunt whales on the basis that their ancestors did so. They're only allowed to use .50 caliber rifles to keep the whales' misery to a minimum
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Frigidaire, a well known kitchen and laundry appliance manufacturer, made M2 .50 caliber aircraft machine guns (and many other military items) for the Allied war effort.
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Charles M. Schulz, the creator of the comic strip Peanuts, led a .50 caliber machine gun team during WWII. He only actually had the opportunity to use the machine gun once, and realized he had forgotten to load it. The soldier he was planning to fire at surrendered anyway.
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Of the 1.5 million tons of bombs dropped on Germany by US aircraft in WWII, 640,000 tons were from B-17s. They mounted thirteen .50 caliber machine guns, and have been known to fly home after exceptionally harsh beatings - including losing engines or colliding with fighter plans.
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Attack of mantis shrimps happens extremely quickly - 50 times faster than the blink of an eye. With velocity of 10 meters per second, their punch has the power of a .22 caliber bullet.
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Mel Bernstein, the most armed man in America, has 3,000 operational firearms(including .50-caliber machine guns), over 80 military-grade vehicles, a functional 40 ton T54 Russian tank, six 1000-pound bombs, and many more military grade weapons and explosives.
Kim Jong-Un publicly executed 15 high ranking officials with anti-aircraft guns. Satellite imagery shows the men standing 100 ft away from 24x 50 caliber machine guns - source
When Richard 'Bud' Peterson P-51 ace caught a Germen pilot shooting bomber crews who bailed out in their parachute. He forced the German pilot to bail out then unloaded his six 50 caliber guns into the German pilot. - source
The Barrett 50 Caliber Sniper rifle is the official state gun of Tennessee
The fastest man-made object is the Juno Spacecraft which reached a speed of 25 miles per second, about 50 times faster than a .50-caliber bullet - source
Frigidaire (the fridge maker) was a manufacturer of both airplane props and about 360,000 M2 .50 caliber machine guns during WWII.
Tennessee is one of a couple states to have a state rifle, it being the Barrett .50 Caliber Anti-Material Rifle. This rifle is powerful enough to destroy helicopters, but can be purchased by civilians in Tennessee.
A mantis shrimp punch arrives with the acceleration of a .22-caliber bullet, 50 times faster than a human eye can blink. Underwater, the low pressure bubble left in the wake of the punch collapses upon itself in a burst of light and heat, reaching an estimated 8,500 degrees Fahrenheit.
DARPA is developing a guided .50 caliber sniper round called EXACTO that can steer itself to the target even in the dark or in bad weather.
What is it Like to Shoot the M107 Barrett .50 Caliber Rifle - Monster Sniper Rifle in Action!
Someone thought it would be safe to take a point blank shot from a .50 caliber Desert Eagle handgun blocked by a book
