Gunmaker to the Stars

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TBO.com > News > AP
Nov 25, 11:21 AM EST

Gunmaker Arms the Military and the Stars

By ROSE FRENCH
Associated Press Writer




MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) -- When U.S. soldiers need to penetrate a tank's armor from a mile away, they count on a weapon that evolved from the garage tinkering of a former wedding photographer.

The .50-caliber rifle created by Ronnie Barrett and sold by his company, Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc., is the most powerful firearm civilians can buy. It weighs about 30 pounds and can hit targets up to 2,000 yards away with armor-piercing bullets.

That kind of power has drawn a customer base of gun enthusiasts, Hollywood actors and Barrett's most loyal buyer, the U.S. military, which has been buying Barrett's rifles since the 1980s and using them in combat from the 1991 Gulf War to the present.

But the powerful gun has drawn plenty of critics, who say the rifle could be used by terrorists to bring down commercial airliners or penetrate rail cars and storage plants holding hazardous materials.

For years some state and federal lawmakers have sought to limit or ban the gun's sale, as California did this year.

Tom Diaz, a senior policy analyst with the Washington-based Violence Policy Center, says the guns should be more regulated and harder to purchase. The gun can now be bought by anyone 18 or older who passes a background check.

"They're (.50 caliber) easier to buy than a handgun," Diaz said. "These are ideal weapons of terrorist attack. Very dangerous elements gravitate toward these weapons."

The majority of Barrett's sales come from military orders, for armed forces and police departments in some 50 allied countries. Every branch of the U.S. military uses the rifles, and the Department of Defense last year spent about $8 million on his firearms, Barrett said.


Barrett estimates about 1,000 of his rifles - which each cost between $3,500 and $10,000 - have been used in both the 1991 Gulf War and the current war in Iraq.

The guns are used by most civilians for hunting big game and in marksmanship competitions. Civilian sales are crucial to business because military and police orders can fluctuate year to year, Barrett said.

"It's like, what does a 55-year-old man do with a Corvette? You drive it around and enjoy it," said Barrett, 51, whose customers include doctors, lawyers, movie makers and actors. "I know all the current actors who are Barrett rifle shooters, some Academy Award-winning people. But they don't publicize it. They love to play with them and have fun. Shooting is very fun."

A 1999 investigation by the U.S. General Accounting Office found the rifles were available on civilian markets with fewer restrictions than those placed on handguns. Ammunition dealers were willing to sell armor-piercing bullets even when an agent pretending to be a buyer said he wanted the ammunition for use against armored limousines or "to take a helicopter down."

Other reports have observed the rifles have made their way to terrorists, drug cartels and survivalists.

Joseph King, a terrorism expert at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said terrorists could use the weapon to take out a plane.

"I don't understand what good a .50-caliber is going to do you," King said. "I don't understand any civilian use of it. The only thing it's good for is for military or police application. You can't really hunt with it because it would destroy most of the meat."

Barrett and gun advocates say the gun's power has been exaggerated and doesn't pose a threat to citizens because the weapons are too expensive and heavy to be used by criminals.

Barrett and other gun advocacy groups heavily lobbied the state of California, the first state to pass a law making it illegal to make and sell the gun. Several other states and some federal lawmakers have introduced similar legislation.

Despite these efforts, Barrett says sales are up nearly $6 million from last year thanks to recent military and police orders.

The New York City Police Department recently announced it's training officers in its aviation unit to use the rifles, which will be on board some of the department's helicopters to intercept potential attacks from boats or airplanes. In 2002, the Army placed an order for 4,200 of the guns, Barrett said.

Other manufacturers now make the gun, but Barrett dominates the market.

In the next few years, he said he plans to more than double the current number of employees, 80, and the size of his 20,000-square-foot gun-making facility located in Murfreesboro, about 30 miles southeast of Nashville.

A lifelong gun enthusiast, Barrett never went to college and worked as a commercial photographer and reserve deputy for years before he started tinkering with the .50-caliber Browning Machine Gun in the early 1980s.

The heavy recoil of the Browning made it nearly impossible to shoot without it being mounted on a turret, but Barrett's rifle reduces recoil to the point where it can be shoulder-fired, while the weapon rests on a bipod.

Barrett says he was nearly $1.5 million in debt at one point trying to get the business on its feet. He sold his first guns to the military in the late 1980s and the long-range weapons gained popularity after they were used to attack Iraqi tanks in the 1991 war.

Barrett's son, Chris, who works with his sister at their father's business, said he watched his dad build the gun in the family garage and is not surprised by the growth and success of his father's business.

"He's worked hard all his life. I think he would do as well at anything he pursued," Chris Barrett said. "He's not one of these big suits, a CEO at the top of one these big money machines. He's not one to back down. He can make anything work, no matter what he's doing."

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Barrett Firearms: http://www.barrettrifles.com/
 
Barret

The Barret 50 is a wonderful gun, from a company which is politically correct in the positive sense of the word (just try getting one if you are a CA govt' agency!)

But... There are better choices if you want accuracy and don't need the semi-auto feature. The MacMillian Tac-50 and Windrunner by EDM Machines are both MOA or less, whereas the Barret semi auto is typically at least 2 MOA. maybe 3.
 
Is the .50 BMG used in hunting?

I mean even for African Elephant a .460 Weatherby Magnum or a .600 nitro Express is pleanty adiquate for the job. Seems to me that the .50 BMG is SO much more powerful than those loads.

I liked the Corvette analogy!

-Weer'd Beard
 
Joseph King, a terrorism expert at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said terrorists could use the weapon to take out a plane.

Here we go again... This is absolute bull cookies. He may be a "terrorism expert", but he knows poop about guns. There have been tests done, with multiple rounds fired inside a plane, which is pressurized to 35,000 ft., and after...IIRC, 50 rounds, the plane STAYED in the air and the cabin did not decompress. it was also done with various rounds, at least one of which was a .45. I wish I still had the link to the results, but it was on the old computer which died before I could save a bunch of stuff.
 
"When U.S. soldiers need to penetrate a tank's armor from a mile away, they count on a weapon that evolved from the garage tinkering of a former wedding photographer."

No .50 BMG is taking out a tank. - at ANY range. Period.

The usual MSM garbage. :x
 
MythBusters did a show where they blew holes in a plane in low pressure to try and simulate the end of Gold Finger.

Even when they blew the SIDE of the plane off....one seat FELL (not sucked fell) out. but the rest were ok.

Barrett rifles ARE used to take out planes.....while they're on the runway....

-Weer'd Beard

PS: i'm still waiting to hear who hunts with a Barrett...
 
Yeah I wish you could order TV a-la-carte. We have NO feed into our home at all ATM (I do have a set of rabit ears, but they're not set up)

Discovery channell might be the only one the Weer'ds would bother to have!

Arrrr

-Weer'd Beard
 
It's called On-Demand on Comcast. They are getting more and more shows.

I'm sorry that you have Amish TV. But I love my cable. I have On-demand, and a DVR. I can save all the Shooting USA and Sighting In shows without having to be able to be here when they are on.
 
Don't be sorry, I'm not!

I spend enugh time in front of this Idiot Box to want to use another one! 8)

Nah for me and Mrs. Weer'd TV is for our addiction to DVDs


Arrrr

-Weer'd Beard
 
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