[chadwimc]

It's recoil is stout. But, the muzzle blast is tremendous. You can't have innocent bystanders anywhere near the piece when its fired. Barret uses a really neat shock absorbing recoil pad filled with some liquid(mercury?) Barret's rifle is not the first of its kind. Most armies of Europe developed similar rifles during WWI. As for "...bringing down helicopters...". The Hajis had no trouble bringing down Soviet helicopters in Afghanistan. They used regular, old bolt action rifles designed a hundred years ago...

[Armedanddangerous]

The 50 is lethal on some soviet era military vehicles, such as the BMP.

But then, these aren't main battle tanks, but just armored trooper carriers on tires.

Some people have used the Barrett to hunt the really big elephants in Africa. It is also a one-shot stopper on Rhinos, or so they say.

On some of the ammunition selling sites on the web, you can get commercially reloaded 50 for as little as two bucks per round.

[George Smiley]

The Hajis had no trouble bringing down Soviet helicopters in Afghanistan. They used regular, old bolt action rifles designed a hundred years ago...

Not against armored Hinds.

Does the word "Stinger" ring a bell?