The 50 Beowulf has always been a cartridge that has caught my eye mostly because it starts with the magic number "50". While they both have 50 in their name there aren't many similarities.
| .50 Beowulf Quick Reference | |
|---|---|
| Bullet Diameter | .500" (12.7mm) |
| Muzzle Velocity | 1,870 fps (350gr) |
| Muzzle Energy | 2,718 ft-lbs |
| Effective Range | 150-200 yards |
| Best For | Big game hunting, vehicle barriers |
| Ammo Price (2026) | ~$1.50-2/round |
| Platform | AR-15 (upper swap only) |
History of the .50 Beowulf
The 50 Beowulf was released in 2001 and was created by Bill Alexander of Alexandar Arms.
Bill is a British firearms inventor and is well known for developing the 50 Beowulf and 6.5mm Grendel cartridges.
A quality rifle case protects your barrel crown and optics from damage during transport to the range or the field.
Purpose of the 50 Beowulf
The 50 Beo has a rebated rim that is the same size as the rim of the 6.5 Grendel round.
The parent case of the Beowulf is the .50 Action Express but the round has a very similar size to the 500 S&W Magnum round.
The round was originally desired to have great power at short to medium range and was touted to be a great round for checkpoints and gate security. The bullet's heavyweight and substantial powder loud would better penetrate vehicle glass and body panels.
The .50 Beowulf round was mostly advertised as being a tactical round but in reality, has found most of its use in the hunting world for large North American games such as bear and elk.
Performance
The .50 Beowulf does not get its name for being a long-distance caliber. In fact, it's best known as being a short-range, low-velocity, heavy round.
The ballistics of the Beowulf is very close to that of the .45-70 Government round as they share nearly the same grain weight.
The grain weight of the Beowulf round is typically between 300gr and 400 gr. The Alexander Arms Speer Gold Dot rounds travel at 1,870 feet per second and have 2,330-foot-pounds of force on the target.
.50 Beowulf Ballistics vs .458 SOCOM vs .45-70
The .50 Beowulf competes directly with other big-bore AR cartridges. Here's how it stacks up against the .458 SOCOM and the classic .45-70 Government.
| Caliber | 0 yds | 50 yds | 100 yds | 150 yds | 200 yds | 250 yds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .50 Beowulf (350gr) | 0" | +0.4" | 0" | -3.6" | -10.9" | -22.8" |
| .458 SOCOM (350gr) | 0" | +0.3" | 0" | -3.3" | -10.2" | -21.2" |
| .45-70 Govt (325gr) | 0" | +0.2" | 0" | -2.8" | -8.5" | -17.7" |
| .50 Beowulf (350gr) | 2,718 | 2,218 | 1,809 | 1,482 | 1,229 | 1,039 |
| .458 SOCOM (350gr) | 2,805 | 2,329 | 1,929 | 1,601 | 1,339 | 1,135 |
| .45-70 Govt (325gr) | 3,032 | 2,501 | 2,055 | 1,692 | 1,399 | 1,175 |
| .50 Beowulf (350gr) | 1,870 | 1,689 | 1,525 | 1,381 | 1,257 | 1,156 |
| .458 SOCOM (350gr) | 1,900 | 1,731 | 1,575 | 1,435 | 1,312 | 1,208 |
| .45-70 Govt (325gr) | 2,050 | 1,862 | 1,688 | 1,531 | 1,393 | 1,276 |
Data sources: Alexander Arms, SBR Ammunition, Hornady LEVERevolution. 100 yard zero, sea level, 59°F.
Key Ballistics Takeaways
- Short-Range Power: All three cartridges are designed for devastating performance inside 200 yards. The .50 Beowulf delivers 2,718 ft-lbs at the muzzle.
- .50 Beo vs .458 SOCOM: Very similar performance, but the .458 SOCOM has a slight edge in energy retention due to better ballistic coefficient. Both use the AR-15 platform.
- .45-70 Advantage: The .45-70 LEVERevolution loads outperform both AR cartridges, delivering 300+ more ft-lbs of energy. However, it requires a lever-action or single-shot rifle.
- Practical Range: Plan for 150-yard maximum effective range for hunting. Beyond 200 yards, trajectory drops significantly.
Guns That Shoot 50 Beowulf
Are you looking to pick up a gun that is chambered in .50 Beowulf? Well, that’s a pretty simple thing to find. If you’re here to learn more about this round, that’s fine. But it doesn’t do much good if you don’t know what kind of guns it will work in.
The good thing is most AR-15s will work. Mostly because it would just require an upper swap and that's how the 50 Beo was designed.
Time to take a look at a few rifles that are chambered in 50 Beowulf.
Alexander Arms Rifles
First on the list is Alexander Arms and for good reason, since they created and developed the .50 Beowulf round.
The most common other option to get a 50 Beowulf rifle is to get an upper chambered in 50 Beowulf.
50 Beowulf Ammo
Ammo for the .50 Beo may be hard to find at times but as of the writing of this article, it can be found pretty easily.
Some of the easiest places to find this ammo are at some of the big-name retailers. But there is no doubt that the best place to buy .50 Beowulf Ammo is online.
Optics Planet is always a go-to for me when it comes to hard-to-find ammo. They usually have some in stock and with free shipping on anything over $49 a single box ships free, but who just buys one box?!
Brownells is also an extremely popular place to get ammo due to the fact it has some really hard-to-find and oddball ammo options typically in stock.
Price
The price of the 50 Beowulf ammo varies but the average price per round tends to hover around the $1.50-2 mark.
It also depends on what type of 50 Beowulf ammo you buy to shoot. Plinking ammo will be less than defensive ammo.
Availability
2020-2022 has been a wild time in ammo availability. However, as of this writing .50, Beowulf ammo is relatively easy to find in stock and ready to ship. Head to some of the best places to buy ammo online to get yours.
If you plan to get into shooting this ammo anytime soon, I would go ahead and start buying it when you can find it, just in case it gets scarce.
Related Caliber Guides
- .450 Bushmaster — The straight-wall .450 Bushmaster
- .350 Legend — The versatile .350 Legend
- .300 Blackout vs 5.56 — The differences between .300 Blackout and 5.56
50 Beowulf FAQ
With the .50 Beowulf round being so new to the market, people tend to have many questions. Here are a few of the most common questions about 50 Beowulf.
