.50 BMG ballistics chart
The .50 BMG trajectory with a 750-grain match bullet: drop, wind drift and retained velocity from a 100-yard zero out to 2,000 yards.
What is the .50 BMG?
The .50 Browning Machine Gun cartridge has been in service for a century and remains the standard heavy anti-materiel and extreme-long-range round. A 650-800 grain bullet leaving the muzzle near 2,800 fps stays supersonic beyond 1,800 yards and carries enough energy to matter at ranges where smaller cartridges have long gone subsonic.
In a single-shot or bolt rifle it is a serious ELR target cartridge; recoil, weight, muzzle blast, component cost and range restrictions make it a specialist's tool rather than a general-purpose one.
Typical uses: Anti-materiel use, extreme long-range target competition, and 1,000-yard-plus 'light fifty' matches.
Sample load
The trajectory below is calculated for this representative factory load in a standard ICAO atmosphere. The bullet is an entry from the app’s bullet library, so the calculator opens with it already selected. Your rifle will differ — enter your own chronographed velocity and verified BC in the calculator for numbers you can dial.
- Bullet
- Hornady 750 gr A-MAX
- Muzzle velocity
- 2,820 fps
- Ballistic coefficient
- 0.508 (G7)
- Zero
- 100 yd
.50 BMG key figures
- Muzzle energy
- 13,247 ft⋅lb
- Supersonic to
- About 2,270 yd
- Point-blank range, 6 in zone
- 294 yd (250 yd zero)
- Point-blank range, 3 in zone
- 226 yd (193 yd zero)
- Drop at 300 yd, 100 yd zero
- 11.3 in
Point-blank range is how far you can hold dead on and still hit a target zone of that height, using the zero shown. Work it out for your own load with the maximum point-blank range calculator , or see how the .50 BMG stacks up in the cartridge comparison chart .
.50 BMG trajectory table
| Range (yd) | Velocity (fps) | Energy (ft⋅lb) | Drop (in) | Elevation (MIL) | Elevation (MOA) | Wind 10 mph (MIL) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 2,728 | 12,393 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| 200 | 2,637 | 11,581 | -3.2 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 0.2 |
| 300 | 2,547 | 10,810 | -11.3 | 1.1 | 3.6 | 0.3 |
| 400 | 2,460 | 10,080 | -24.9 | 1.8 | 5.9 | 0.4 |
| 500 | 2,374 | 9,388 | -44.2 | 2.5 | 8.4 | 0.5 |
| 600 | 2,290 | 8,735 | -69.6 | 3.3 | 11.1 | 0.7 |
| 700 | 2,208 | 8,119 | -101.7 | 4.1 | 13.9 | 0.8 |
| 800 | 2,127 | 7,538 | -140.9 | 5.0 | 16.8 | 0.9 |
| 900 | 2,048 | 6,990 | -187.8 | 5.9 | 19.9 | 1.1 |
| 1,000 | 1,971 | 6,474 | -243.0 | 6.9 | 23.2 | 1.2 |
| 1,100 | 1,896 | 5,987 | -307.1 | 7.9 | 26.7 | 1.3 |
| 1,200 | 1,822 | 5,527 | -380.9 | 9.0 | 30.3 | 1.5 |
| 1,300 | 1,749 | 5,093 | -465.2 | 10.1 | 34.2 | 1.6 |
| 1,400 | 1,677 | 4,685 | -560.9 | 11.3 | 38.3 | 1.8 |
| 1,500 | 1,607 | 4,300 | -668.9 | 12.6 | 42.6 | 2.0 |
| 1,600 | 1,538 | 3,938 | -790.5 | 14.0 | 47.2 | 2.2 |
| 1,700 | 1,470 | 3,599 | -926.7 | 15.4 | 52.1 | 2.4 |
| 1,800 | 1,403 | 3,281 | -1,079.1 | 17.0 | 57.2 | 2.5 |
| 1,900 | 1,339 | 2,985 | -1,249.2 | 18.6 | 62.8 | 2.8 |
| 2,000 | 1,276 | 2,710 | -1,438.7 | 20.4 | 68.7 | 3.0 |
Learn more
New to reading a table like this? These guides explain the numbers: