Life is shoet and then you die...may be getting back into the 50 BMG game...

[bellavite1]

With all that has been going on (and a little disposable income to go with it), I might get back into it.
Quick background:
Years ago I was into it, a lot.
Admittedly for the BOOM factor, wanting to be one of the cool kids-I-have-the-biggest-baddest-rifle kind of thing.
I tried a lot of them:
Shooting a Barrett 99 at a Cheyenne Well machine gun shoot popped my cherry (3 rounds, 3 hits at 500 yds got me hooked). The same day I ended with a scope gash (not a scope eye!) from another 50 (I think a Steyr).
As blood was running down my face my wife looked at me, smiled and went:" Oh God, now we're going to have to buy you one!".
And so it started:
BOHICA upper (do you remember those? )
Barrett 99 32"
Bushmaster BA50
Barrett 82a1
Barrett 99 29"

I liked mostly the 99s:
Clean, smooth action, smooth trigger, not a lot of $$$ invested, definitely an accurate rifle even for a green shooter as I was 15 years ago.
The 82a1 was A LOT OF MONEY, going through a lot of ammo quickly, a lot of stuff to cart around, could not justify all that money being tied up in it, plus I ended up trading it for a SMG...
The Bushy BA50 was a cool concept, with the left handed, bearings mounted bolt, but what an horrible trigger! And A LOT of gun to cart around...

My last one was the 29" Barrett 99, lightest of the bunch.
I sold that one when it caused (or coincided with) the onset of a bad case of vertigo that left me laying on the floor one night waiting for the world to stop spinning...
While the vertigo never left me completely I have learned to live with it, I can tell when it is coming back and can stop it in its tracks with the appropriate exercises.

Since then I have been working on my rifle skills, mostly with my 308, but also with a 338LM, currently able to hold under 1/2 MOA (on a good day 1/3 MOA) with both platforms up to 550 yds (the max range I have available).
I am now thinking that, with proper hearing protection and potentially ear plugs up my nostrils to protect my sinuses (yeah, that would be quite a sight! ) I may be able to stop the concussion and not run into any more issues, get me a membership at BLGC and get back on the 50 to see what I can do with it now that I am a somewhat better shooter...

So here I am thinking to invest my stimulus check and help the economy .

Of the bunch I am mostly thinking of either a 29" M99 or, if a second round of checks comes in, maybe my potential favorite, a Barrett 95.


Does anybody here have direct experience with the 95?
How does the trigger and action compare to the 99?
I read about some users running into the bolt binding and upper and lower developing some play...
Does any shop in town stock a 95 that I can fondle (I will be gentle, I promise) to get a feel for it?

So, please sound off!