.50 Action Express
The.50 Action Express (AE) (12.7×33mmRB) is a large-caliber handgun cartridge, best known for its usage in the Desert Eagle. Developed in 1988 by American Evan Whildin of Action Arms, the.50 AE is one of the most powerful pistol cartridges in production.
Also recorded as 12.7×33mm · 12.7×33mmRB · 12.7×33 mm RB · 12.7x33mm
.50 Action Express
Spectrums · Public domain
- Field
- pistol cartridge
- Period
- 1988
- Region
- United States
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
The.50 Action Express (AE) (12.7×33mmRB) is a large-caliber handgun cartridge, best known for its usage in the Desert Eagle. Developed in 1988 by American Evan Whildin of Action Arms, the.50 AE is one of the most powerful pistol cartridges in production.
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wikipedia · .50 Action Express
In this article
Overview
Overview
The actual cartridge has a.543-inch diameter (13.8 mm) base, with a rebated rim. The rim diameter of the.50 AE is the same as the.44 Remington Magnum cartridge. A Mark XIX Desert Eagle in.50 AE can be converted to.44 with nothing more than a barrel and magazine change. The introduction of the.50 AE in the United States was met with a rocky start. Federal firearms statutes state that non-sporting firearms may not be over 0.500 inches in bore diameter (measured land to land) to meet Title I regulations. The original.50 AE bore diameter was.500 in, with conventional rifling, but the switch to polygonal rifling on production Desert Eagles allowed the gauge plug to drop through, rendering the gun a destructive device under Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) regulations. Actual bullet diameter was reduced to the current 0.500 inches (12.7 mm) rather than the original 0.510 inches (13.0 mm) – thus the noticeably tapered case. Recoil of the.50 AE in the Desert Eagle pistol is substantial, although only marginally more severe than the.44 Magnum, as the automatic mechanism and weight of the gun smooth the recoil somewhat. Other firearms chambered for the.50 AE include the AMT AutoMag V, the LAR Grizzly Win Mag, the Magnum Research BFR, the Freedoms Arms Model 555, and the Bond Arms Cyclops.
Performance
Performance
SAAMI specifies a maximum chamber pressure of 36,000 pounds per square inch (250 MPa) for the.50 AE. Available factory loads can produce nearly 1,800 ft⋅lbf (2,400 J) of muzzle energy.
Use
Use
Like other handgun cartridges of such magnitude, the principal uses of the.50 AE are metallic silhouette shooting and medium/big game hunting. Like the.44 Magnum,.454 Casull,.460 S&W Magnum, and.500 S&W Magnum, it is also well suited for defense against large predators, such as bears. With heavier bullets, such as the TII Armory 400-grain and 460-grain offerings, the.50 AE closely matches the performance of the.480 Ruger and approaches the ballistics of the.500 Linebaugh.
The .50 AE as a parent case
The .50 AE as a parent case
The.50 AE is the parent case for the.440 Cor-Bon (1998) by Cor-Bon and the.429 DE (2018) by Magnum Research (a division of Kahr Firearms Group). Though similar, they are not interchangeable. Desert Eagle magazines for.50 AE cartridges can feed the derivative cartridges, but should be paired with barrels appropriate for their cartridge and caliber.
Patronen: 9mm LUGER; 7,62 TOKAREV;.357 SIG; 10mm AUTO;.40 S W;.45 GAP;.50 AE;
Spectrums
Patronen: 9mm LUGER; 7,62;.357SIG; 10mmAUTO;.40S W;.45GAP;.50AE;
Spectrums
Chronology
Dated record
Chronology
The full dated record · 2 entries
1988
50 Action Express first recorded.
1988
50 Action Express is recorded from 1988.
Places
Named by the record
Places
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- United States
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1..50 AE - 400 Grain WFNGC.
- 2..50 AE loading data at Accurate Powder.
- 3.50 American Eagles with 300-grain Gold Dot HP.
- 4.Barnes, Frank C. Cartridges of the World 12th Edition: A Complete and Illustrated Reference for Over 1500 Cartridges. Krause Publications. 568. October 20, 2009. 978-0-89689-936-0.
- 5.Reeves, James. Top 5 Raddest Guns from the 1980's. The Firearm Blog. 2021-04-06.
- 6.Taffin, John (2005), The Desert Eagle of Magnum Research. Guns Magazine
- 7.Fjestad, S.P. Blue Book of Gun Values. Blue Book Publications. 99. 1997. 1-886768-08-0.
- 8.OVERVIEW: BFR.
- 9.Jahn, Shane. The Bond Arms Cyclops® 'Thumper' in .50 AE: A Short Review. 2024-04-04.
- 10.Magnum Research. 2010-12-17.
- 11.Ordorica, Ray. Handguns /97. DBI Books. 179. 1996. 978-0-87349-184-6.
- 12.Monica Arnold. Magnum Research Introduces New 429 DE Pistol Cartridge. October 31, 2018.
- 13.Tested: The New Magnum Research 429 DE Cartridge. American Rifleman. January 18, 2019.
References
Citations
References
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Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Militaria
6,095 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- .475 Wildey MagnumTerminology
- .476 EnfieldTerminology
- .476 Nitro ExpressTerminology
- .480 RugerTerminology
- .50 AlaskanTerminology
- .50 BeowulfTerminology
- .50 BMGTerminology
- .50 BritishTerminology
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