The .50 Action Express (AE, 12.7×33mmRB) is a large-

caliber In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge (firearms) , bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the f ...

handgun A handgun is a short- barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also braced ...

cartridge Cartridge may refer to: Objects * Cartridge (firearms), a type of modern ammunition * ROM cartridge, a removable component in an electronic device * Cartridge (respirator), a type of filter used in respirators Other uses * Cartridge (surname), a ...

, best known for its usage in the

Desert Eagle The Desert Eagle is a gas-operated, semi-automatic pistol known for chambering the .50 Action Express, the largest centerfire cartridge of any magazine-fed, self-loading pistol. Magnum Research Inc. (MRI) designed and developed the Desert Eagle. ...

. Developed in 1988 by American

Evan Whildin Evan Whildin was an American businessman in the firearms industry; a former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agent; and a firearms cartridge designer. He was vice president and general manager of Philadelphia's Action Arms firearms compan ...

of Action Arms, the .50 AE is one of the most powerful pistol cartridges in production.

Overview

The

Arcadia Machine and Tool Arcadia Machine & Tool, commonly abbreviated to AMT, was a firearms manufacturer from Irwindale, California. The company produced several weapons, primarily clones of existing firearms, but made from stainless steel rather than the standard steel ...

AMT Automag V The AMT Automag V is a large single action semi-automatic pistol made by Arcadia Machine and Tool (AMT). The weapon was created by Harry Sanford, inventor of the original .44 AutoMag pistol. Production quantity was to be 3000 units, numbered 00 ...

was the first handgun chambered for the .50 AE. The actual cartridge has a base, with a

rebated rim A rim is an external flange that is machined, cast, molded, stamped, or pressed around the bottom of a firearms cartridge. Thus, rimmed cartridges are sometimes called "flanged" cartridges. Almost all cartridges feature an extractor or headspacing ...

. The rim diameter of the .50 AE is the same as the .44 Remington Magnum cartridge. A Mark XIX

in .50 AE can be converted to .44 with nothing more than a barrel and magazine change. The introduction of the .50 AE in the US was met with a rocky start. US laws state that non-sporting firearms may not be over 0.500" in bore diameter (measured land to land) to meet Title I regulations. The original .50 Action Express bore diameter was .500" with conventional rifling, but the switch to

polygonal rifling Polygonal rifling ( ) is a type of gun barrel rifling where the traditional sharp-edged "lands and grooves" are replaced by less pronounced "hills and valleys", so the barrel bore has a polygonal (usually hexagonal or octagonal) cross-sectional p ...

on production Desert Eagles allowed the gauge plug to drop through, rendering the gun a

destructive device In the United States, a destructive device is a type of firearm or explosive device regulated by the National Firearms Act of 1934, revised by the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 and Gun Control Act of 1968. Examples of destruct ...

under

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevent ...

(BATFE) regulations. Actual bullet diameter was reduced to the current rather than the original .510"Taffin, John (2005),The Desert Eagle of Magnum Research.''

Guns Magazine ''Guns'' is a magazine dedicated to firearms, hunting, competition shooting, reloading, and other shooting-related activities in the United States. First published in 1955, it is one of the oldest periodicals about firearms in continuous publicat ...

'' – thus the noticeably tapered case. Recoil of the .50 AE in the Desert Eagle pistol is substantial, although only marginally more severe than the .44 Magnum, as the auto mechanism and weight of the gun smooth the recoil somewhat. Other firearms chambered for the .50 AE include the

AMT AutoMag V The AMT Automag V is a large single action semi-automatic pistol made by Arcadia Machine and Tool (AMT). The weapon was created by Harry Sanford, inventor of the original .44 AutoMag pistol. Production quantity was to be 3000 units, numbered 00 ...

, the

LAR Grizzly Win Mag The Grizzly Win Mag pistols were conceived, invented, designed, engineered and developed in the 1980s by the sole inventor, Perry Arnett, who licensed his patent for an interchangeable caliber semi-automatic pistol to L.A.R. Manufacturing Inc. Pe ...

, the

Magnum Research BFR The Magnum Research BFR is a single-action revolver manufactured by Magnum Research. Modelled after the Colt Single Action Army, it is made from stainless steel and chambered for a number of very powerful pistol calibers, such as .500 S&W Magnum ...

, and the Freedoms Arms Model 555.

Performance

SAAMI The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI, pronounced "Sammy") is an association of American manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, and components. SAAMI is an accredited standards developer that publishes several Americ ...

specifies a maximum chamber pressure of for the .50 AE. Available factory loads can produce nearly of muzzle energy.

Use

Like other handgun cartridges of such magnitude, the principal uses of the .50 AE are

metallic silhouette Metallic silhouette shooting is a group of target shooting disciplines that involves shooting at steel targets representing game animals at varying distances, seeking to knock the metal target over. Metallic silhouette is shot with large bore rifl ...

shooting and medium/

big game hunting Big-game hunting is the hunting of large game animals for meat, commercially valuable by-products (such as horns/ antlers, furs, tusks, bones, body fat/oil, or special organs and contents), trophy/taxidermy, or simply just for recreation ( ...

. Like the .44 Magnum,

.454 Casull The .454 Casull () is a firearm cartridge, developed as a wildcat cartridge in 1958 by Dick Casull, Duane Marsh and Jack Fullmer. It was announced in November 1959 by ''Guns & Ammo'' magazine. The design is a lengthened and structurally improve ...

, .460 S&W Magnum, and .500 S&W Magnum, it is also well suited for defense against large predators, such as bears. With heavier bullets, such as the TII Armory 410 grain loading or the Buffalo Bore 380 grain Outdoorsman offering, the .50 AE closely matches the performance of the

.480 Ruger The .480 Ruger (12.1×33mmR) is a large, high-power revolver cartridge, introduced in 2003 by Ruger and Hornady. It was the first new cartridge introduced by Ruger, and when introduced, was the largest-diameter production revolver cartridge, at ...

and approaches the ballistics of the

.500 Linebaugh The .500 Linebaugh is a .50 caliber handgun cartridge designed for use in revolvers. It is considered one of the most powerful handgun cartridges designed in terms of kinetic energy and power factor (momentum). History The .500 Linebaugh cartri ...

The .50 AE as a parent case

The .50 AE is the parent case for the

.440 Cor-Bon The .440 Cor-Bon is a large-caliber handgun cartridge, first produced by Cor-Bon in 1998. Although it looks similar to a .357 SIG, this cartridge was designed after being necked down from an existing cartridge, the .50 AE to accept a .44- cal ...

(1998) by

Cor-Bon Cor-Bon/Glaser LLC is a manufacturer of small arms ammunition. History Founded in Sturgis, South Dakota, Cor-Bon/Glaser Ammunition originated when Peter Pi Sr. started making handgun hunting ammo in 1982 because the commonly available ammunit ...

and

.429 DE The .429 DE is a cartridge introduced in 2018 by Magnum Research for the Desert Eagle line of handguns. Design The .429 DE is a .50 AE case that is necked down to accept .429-diameter (10.9mm) bullets used in the .44 Magnum. The cartridge fe ...

(2018) by Magnum Research (a division of Kahr Firearms Group). Though similar, they are not interchangeable. Desert Eagle magazines for .50 Action Express cartridges can feed the derivative cartridges but need to use a barrel bored for 0.429 caliber 0.89 mm(.44 Magnum).

Images

File:Hornady50AE.jpg, Box of Hornady .50 AE 300-grain jacketed hollow point ammunition File:Desert-Eagle-p1030134.jpg, Desert Eagle Mark XIX (Mark 19) in .50 AE File:BFR, .50, Revolver.jpg, Magnum Research BFR in .50 AE File:AutomagV.jpg, AMT AutoMag V in .50 AE

References

External links

The Reload Bench: .50 Action Express
{{DEFAULTSORT:50 Action Express Magnum pistol cartridges Pistol and rifle cartridges Action Express cartridges