50BMG Armalite ELR Fever

50BMG ELR rifles – a different breed of 50 cal. To understand this better we caught up with those few people in the world that have gone through the process of making this cartridge an ELR match supergun. CJ Thrasher is one such guy and he has been amazing to work with divulging tricks and tips which we are happy to bring you here at rifletalks.com – content that matters.

In this article we also bring you live footage from the finals of Extreme Shot Italia V, the largest international ELR match in the world to see these big rifles in action where it matters, in competition with the likes of Jordan Congdon who ran his big fifty in Italy.

Beauty – 50BMG AR50 with a 40″ TACOMHQ structured Barrel and a MOAB brake!

Notice the HUGE KOWA Highlander Binoculars behind this massive setup. We have seen these binos also at Extreme Shot Italia V.

HEAVY GUNS IN ACTION AT ESI 2025

WATCH A HEAVY GUN IN ACTION AT EXTREME SHOT ITALIA V, Largest International ELR match in the world with Rusty Newton

Below is CJ’s Armalite AR-50 BMG rifle in its modified – tuned state of semi custom rifle. At $4750 listed price for the factory stock rifle, it is a great contender for your ELR rifle build in 50BMG so let’s learn more about it.

the AR 50 stock rifle as it comes from factory is seen below. This 50BMG had some makeup put on so let’s find out more about it.

This is our second article about the 50BMG for ELR matches and the first one specifically about ELR 50BMG match rifle that was written with Thunder Ammo. We have seen more dedicated 50BMG ELR builds coming up and with ESI 2025 launching heavy class with a whopping 82 teams in heavy, and more 50BMGs flying in to Sicily, we thought it would be a good idea to revisit the 50BMG for ELR and show what this old dog can do when setup properly for ELR in dedicated rigs that go beyond the traditional 27-29 inch setup with factory ammo or milsurp ammo.

This combination does not do this caliber justice and in the coming months we shall be bringing you more first hand info to keep you tied to your chairs! Thank you to CJ Thrasher for offering to help out with this article, he’s a wealth of info.

50BMG at Extreme Shot Italia with Jordan Congdon

WATCH 50BMG Jordan Congdon make those MORGAN TARGET Plates dance with those big 800gr pills!

GRAN FINALE at EXTREME SHOT ITALIA V as everything goes off with a bang here in Italy!

Ok So let’s dive into it.

That’s a Congdon 50BMG ELR round, not your stock 50cal Match ammo you can find off the shelf. 800Grain Lazers at 3000ft/s.

Hey CJ can you give us a break down of your 50Cal ELR AR50 semi custom competition rifle?

This is my rifle parts breakdown:

– [ ] Armalite AR50A1
– [ ] Armalite stock
– [ ] Armalite action and bolt
– [ ] Leopold Mark 5HD 5-25×56
– [ ] Seekins Precision 35mm 1.25″ X-High 4 Cap Screw Scope Rings
– [ ] Armalite 50 MOA rail
– [ ] TriggerTech’s Single-Stage AR-50 Primary Trigger
– [ ] Long Shot Precision adjustable bag rider
– [ ] Long Shot Precision Precision Adjustable Vertical Grip
– [ ] Accuracy Solutions BipodeXt .50 Cal Single Tube.
– [ ] Accu-Tac HD-50 bipod
– [ ] TacomHQ 40” Structured Bartlein Barrel progressive twist 1:11 to 1:10
– [ ] Warner Tool MOAB Brake
– [ ] Kinetic Research Group Tool-less Buttpad Height Mechanism
– [ ] Kinetic Research Group Slim Recoil Pad.

How heavy is your AR 50 BMG as it currently Stands CJ? 

My 50cal is heavy I am at 49.2 pounds.

Do you use a Bipod EXT?

No because I would be over the 50lbs weight limit for competition.

Why did you choose the AR-50 BMG rifle for ELR competition?

I chose the Armalite AR50-A1 50 BMG for the following reasons:
* rifle platform ergonomics
* stout action
* bolt massive 3 lug design
* price
….and to Make The 50 BMG Great Again!

I first started off with a basic Armalite AR-50A1, shooting two years ago at Black Bear Shooting Club and Moccasin Valley. It was as basic rifle and as basic as one can get. After seeing other rifle setups, this is when I decided for my 50 required modifications to be able to adjust to the surrounding environment.

First off it needed a rear adjustable bag rider so I contacted Long Shot Precision and they set me up in having the Buttstock modified to accept their adjustable bag rider and added their vertical adjustable grip. This made handling the rifle in the prone position and or off a bench much more ergonomic feeling.

I also swapped out the stock 15 MOA rail with Armalites 50 MOA rail to provide me with more vertical scope travel. I was using a Vortex Razor Gen 2 and switched to their newer Gen 3. I also added Accuracy Solutions BipodeXt .50 Cal Single Tube with Accu-TAC HD-50 bipod for forward stability and balance.

What’s your barrel twist on this 50BMG baby?

Just look at that structured barrel in 50BMG. Almost reminds me of The Jackal from Bruce Willis!

With the stock barrel at 1:15 twist, performance still was not enough. Even using quality RWS brass and primers, going to the range and testing load data, this still was not good enough for me.

After a lot of research on barrels, speaking with many seasoned shooters, reading over and over on structured barrel designs and testing, I decided to go with a 40” Structured Bartlein Barrel with a progressive twist of 1:11 to 1:10. WarneR Tool provided all the barrel work and set up of my barrel to the Armalite action to include the new MOAB brake.

Overall I was very pleased with the 40” structured barrel and the new brake.

Now to the down fall, the Armalite is a heavy rifle adding a rear bag rider, bipod extension, heavy brake and a much larger diameter and longer barrel put me over the 50 pound limit. I knew this in the beginning and while the barrel was at the gunsmith I was searching for a machine shop to do milling on my stock and butt. After being turned down I finally found a machine shop and after speaking to the owner he was willing to let me use his Bridgeport milling machine!

I spent total of 12 hours of work from calculating metal removal locations to machine setup (which was time consuming). Once this was done, everything went smoothly. After milling and weighting, I test fitted everything. Next was swapping out the Vortex Razor Gen 3 out to a much lighter 30oz Leupold Mark 5HD, swapped out the EraTac scope mount to a lighter Seekins Precision Rifle scope mounts. The BipodeXt .50 Cal Single Tube was removed due to added weight and with the length of the stock I was still able to utilize the Accu-Tac HD-50 bipod keeping the rifle stable and balanced. This put me under 50 pounds max limit.

My first 50BMG ELR with all the modifications and new barrel, I headed to my favorite ELR match at Black Bear Shooting Club. It’s a technical challenge from shooting off a mountain with negative inclination, wind gust and not to mention fog at times. I have shot this event before and this would be my first test of the new barrel and all the changes. I was pleased overall but more needed to be done.

Every ELR on the East Coast is different especially in the Northeastern area dealing with mountainous terrain, rolling hills, weather making setup a challenge at times and so you want your transition from one target to the next to be as smooth as possible. My 2nd ELR match was at Moccasin Valley which now I’m shooting with a positive inclination. After all the changes and work my 50 weighted in at 46 pounds.

50 BMG MATCH AMMO – WHAT’S YOUR SECRET SAUCE?

A serious reloading room has a sartorius scale in it and the results speak for themselves.

Now on my hand loads, I run nothing but 50BMG RWS brass; it is very consistent compared to Lapua which is no longer available and Hornady brass. I use nothing but RWS primers with RL50 powder. I was shooting Cutting Edge Bullets 800 grain Lazers and after load data and seating dept testing on 802 MTACs I will be shooting the MTACs at the end of September. The MTACs are more consistent with my setup and I am very pleased with the very low ES, SD’s and especially the groupings.

CJ At what distance do you conduct your 50BMG ELR match loads?

I conduct all data testing at 300 yards and then zero at 1000 yards with final retesting of loads at 1000.

If anyone had any doubt about the performance of well prepared 50BMG, this wipes any doubts off the board. That would make any Fclass dude happy. That’s 50BMG friend and those Cutting Edge 800grain Lazers really do their bit, damn!

My private range after the corn harvest, I will be able to spend more time testing at transonic ranges. I spend hours in load development keeping everything consistent and precise.

 

What does the future hold for my Armalite AR50-A1?

My last match will be this November at Black Bear Shooting Club. I will continue to make modifications to incorporate scope prisms continue load testing. ELR plans for 2026 season will include my first match at Black Bear Shooting Club and then head out west to shoot at White Oak, The Castle, Spearpoint, Raton, and then Extreme Shot Italia finishing the season at Black Bear SC.

If you are interested in all the work I have done to my Armalite AR50 you can check everything out on my Facebook or IG pages or send me a PM on specific questions.

“Make The 50 BMG Great Again!”

CJ Thrasher