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The .50 Beowulf is a rifle cartridge developed by Alexander Arms for use in a modified AR-15 rifle. The cartridge utilizes a rebated rim, sized to match the rim of the 7.62 39mm and 6.5 mm Grendel rounds. The case body is very similar in dimensions to the .500 S&W Magnum revolver cartridge, being slightly longer and fully tapered for automatic feeding in the weapon. The cartridge has its lineage in the .50 Action Express, a cartridge originally developed for the Magnum Research Desert Eagle pistol, with significant modification to improve functionality and safety in the AR-15 platform. [1] The round is intended to improve stopping power greatly at short- to medium-range as compared to the standard 5.56 45mm NATO round. One of its advertised uses is at vehicle checkpoints, since the heavy bullet's flight path is not easily deflected by auto glass or standard vehicle body panels.
Design limitations With normal bullet weights between , overall cartridge length shorter than that of an AR-15 magazine well, and holding to pressures of 33,000 psi limited by the AR bolt strength system, the .50 Beowulf is best described as a low-velocity, heavy caliber, making its ballistics roughly equivalent to those of early .45-70 Government rounds rather than the higher pressure rounds tolerated by modern lever action rifles such as the Marlin Model 1895.[2] Proprietary status  .50 Beowulf 334 gr. hollow-point shot from 16" Barrel Beowulf rifle at 36 yards penetrated 1/4" (approx. 6.35mm) thick steel plate. See also Notes External links - Alexander Arms website
- "Alexander Arms .50 Beowulf", Jeff Quinn, Gunblast.com (online magazine), July 8, 2002
- "Alexander Arms' New 'Overwatch' .50 Beowulf", Jeff Quinn, Gunblast.com (online magazine), June 15, 2003
- "More Punch for the AR-15", Anthony G. Williams, The Cartridge Researcher, the bulletin of the European Cartridge Research Association, May 2005
- "BFR .50 Beowulf Revolver", Jeff Quinn, Gunblast.com (online magazine), March 12, 2004
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