Yes the .50 caliber is still state of the art.
The German MG-42 was also a world beater. My Father used to tell stories of WWII to my brothers and me after he and Mother had gone to bed. We would sit by the bed and listen. He could imitate the sound of a MG-42. It was always fired in short bursts.
The last uncle of my childhood passed away back in October. My Uncle Fred served with the 84th. Infantry Division in Belgium during The Battle of The Bulge. He told me about the MG-42. He said it fired so fast that ‘’If you heard it, it usually was the last thing you ever heard.’’ Unc’ was wounded by 88mm shrapnel in early January ‘45 and that got him the hell out of there but there are no doubt plenty of Germans and Japanese who almost fell afoul of ‘’Ma Deuce’’ and certainly must feel re-born that she didn’t give too hard a ‘’look see’’.