The .50 BMG, also known as 12.7×99mm NATO, and designated as the 50 Browning by the C.I.P., is a .50 in (12.7 mm) caliber cartridge developed for the M2 Browning heavy machine gun in the late 1910s, entering official service in 1921. Under STANAG 4383, it is a standard service cartridge for NATO forces, as well as many non-NATO countries. The cartridge itself has been made in many variants: multiple generations of regular ball, tracer, armor-piercing (AP), incendiary, and saboted sub-caliber rounds. The rounds intended for machine guns are made into a continuous ammunition belt using metallic links.
From left: .50 BMG, .300 Win Mag, .308 Winchester, 7.62×39mm, 5.56×45mm NATO, .22 Long Rifle
Left to right, rear: green/gray tip Raufoss Mk 211 HEIAP (high-explosive incendiary armor-piercing) yellow/red tip (M48 spotter) silver tip (M8 armor-piercing incendiary) light blue tip (M20 incendiary) black tip (M2 armor piercing) silver tip/red sabot (M962 SLAP-T) silver tip/amber sabot (M903 SLAP) red tip (M17 tracer) unpainted copper (M33 ball) Front row are 5.56×45mm NATO and .500 S&W Magnum, for size comparison
.50 BMG rounds and projectiles. Left to right: M2 ball M1 tracer M2 armor piercing M17 tracer M8 armor piercing incendiary M20 armor piercing incendiary tracer M1 incendiary M903 SLAP M962 SLAP-T XM156 spotter tracer
M9 links in use
This is a list of firearm cartridges which have bullets in the 12 millimetres (0.47 in) to 12.99 millimetres (0.511 in) caliber range.Length refers to the cartridge case length.
OAL refers to the overall length of the cartridge.
Bullet refers to the diameter of the bullet.
Example of a 12 mm cartridge, a .50 Action Express (left) next to a .32 ACP for comparison
A .500 S&W Magnum cartridge.