Bushmaster Reintroduces BA50 .50 Cal BMG Bolt-Action Riflehttps

Available in either tactical peanut butter or noir Cerakote finishes, the BA50 also includes a ERGO Tactical Super Ambi Grip and BFI tactical trigger. Under the muzzle brake, the barrel is threaded (1”-14 TPI) allowing for use with cans and other style muzzle devices. (Photos Bushmaster)

While Barrett has by far the most name recognition when it comes to portable .50-caliber rifles, there has been another option on (and off) the market for the past 20 years. 

Bushmaster on Thursday announced the BA50 is back, baby, and reportedly better than ever.   "Re-engineered to be even more reliable, more durable, and even longer lasting than the original," says Bushmaster. "New improvements to the bolt design bring effortless bolt operation, with improved extraction and cartridge feeding," are among the updates. 

Standard features include a 29-inch 1:15 twist rate barrel capped with a beefy three-port muzzle brake, a 10-shot detachable magazine, and a Magpul PRS Gen3 adjustable stock. Using a left-hand operated, right-side-eject bolt action that allows the user to keep their right hand on the grip while cycling, the platform has long been known as exceptionally accurate.

Further, the updated rifles will be offered in both black and FDE. 

The BA50 Background

We've talked a lot about the BA50 and its predecessors over the years as it is an interesting rifle. 

As far back as 2003, Kennesaw, Georgia-based Cobb Manufacturing teased the market with a rifle, called the Model 50A1, that used an AR-15 type gas operating system to shoot the 50 BMG round. Later that year, the gun had morphed into the $7,000 bolt-action Cobb FA50(T) that kept many AR-style features. 

Landing a couple of small contracts, Cobb was bought by then-Maine-based Bushmaster around 2007, and two years later, it was introduced in its catalog as the BA50 after some changes.

Bushmaster had the BA50 .50 Cal BMG Bolt-Action Rifleon tap for years, as seen in this 2014 ad from the company. 

Offered as a rifle with a 30-inch Lothar Walther barrel and as a carbine (!) with a 22-inch barrel, the BA50 remained a Bushmaster item until 2019, surviving the company's acquisition by Remington Outdoors. 

Speaking of "Big Green," even when bankruptcy-bound Remington tried to kill off the Bushmaster lineup (and the rest of its in-house black rifle lines) the company rebranded the BA50 as the green-hued R2Mi in 2020. 

This run ended just a few months later when Remington was dismembered as part of a federal bankruptcy sale, with the Bushmaster brand and IP picked up by the Franklin Armory folks in Nevada and rebooted. 

I think the big question now is, where is the ACR?

Come on, Bushmaster, give the people what they really want.