I now have built my second Beowulf and guys ask me about the recoil all the time – the short answer is that it’s very manageable. With just a bit of tuning, I’d put it somewhere between a 20 and a 12 gauge shotgun shooting 2-3/4″ magnum loads. Now that there are a ton of options both from Alexander Arms as well as generic 12.7×42 uppers (the metric designation for the Beowulf so they don’t have to pay royalties to Alexander Arms), a lot of guys are getting into the .50 Beowulf cartridge and ask me about what brake to run with.
My favorite is the Timber Creek Heartbreaker. It does a remarkable job of venting gasses backwards to compensate for the recoil it would otherwise have. I liked it so much on my first build that it was what I used in my second build. It’s very affordable and I’d be surprised if you can find a brake that does a better job!
Finding The Brake
You may need to go direct to Timber Creek. Primary Arms is out of stock and they are sometimes on eBay.
My Alpha Wulf
I did a series of blog posts when I built my second rifle. My pet name for it was the “Alpha Wulf” or the leader of the pack. It’s all premium parts and probably my best AR build when it comes to paying careful attention to details during assembly. Here are the posts:
- Part 1: The Alexander Arms .50 Beowulf 16″ DIY Upper Kit and Lower Receiver
- Part 2: Observations On Building the Lower and Upper Parts
- Part 3: Observations On Building the Upper, Lubrication and Vortex Strike Eagle
- The Fastest Way To Convert Aluminum 5.56 AR Magazines For Use With .50 Beowulf
I’m a big fan of the .50 Beowulf cartridge and hope you find this post helpful!
3/6/24 Update: I’m not sure if Timber Creek is still making these or just what. I haven’t built a Beowulf for a few years and don’t have any alternative suggestions.
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