.223 is altered to fire .50 cal ammo?

[LaserTex]

I saw this story today on FoxNews. How do you alter a .223 to fire .50 bullets?

D


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583912,00.html

Man Arrested After Weapons, Map of U.S. Military Facility Seized From N.J. Motel Room
Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Authorities in central New Jersey seized a cache of weapons and ammunition including rifles, a grenade launcher and a night vision scope from the motel room of a Virginia man arrested early Monday by officers responding to a report of a suspicious person, MyFoxDC.com reported.

Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne Forrest said Lloyd R. Woodson, 43, of Reston, Va., also had maps of a U.S. military facility and a town in another state.

Forrest said Woodson was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a semiautomatic Bushmaster rifle concealed under his green, military-style jacket when officers encountered him at a Quick Chek store in Branchburg shortly before 4 a.m. Monday.

As officers started to question him, Woodson fled on foot toward a nearby trailer park, Forrest said. Officers found him hiding in some bushes and tackled him when he tried to run away again. The officers used pepper spray to subdue him.

Forrest said the .223-caliber assault rifle that Woodson was carrying had a defaced serial number and had been altered to fire .50-caliber ammunition. Please tell me how this is possible.

Detectives later searched the room where Woodson had been staying at the Red Mill Inn in Branchburg. Forrest said they seized another Bushmaster .308-caliber semiautomatic rifle with a defaced serial number, a 37 mm Cobray grenade launcher, a second bulletproof vest, a Russian-made night vision scope, a police scanner, a map of a U.S. military installation and a map of an out-of-state civilian community, a Middle Eastern red and white colored traditional headdress and hundreds of rounds of .50-caliber and .308-caliber ammunition.

Woodson is being held at the Somerset County Jail on numerous charges, including unlawful possession of weapons, possession of prohibited weapons, obstruction of justice and resisting arrest.

Bail has not yet been set. Woodson was tentatively scheduled for an initial court appearance at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Spokesman Jack Bennett said the prosecutor's office did not know whether Woodson had retained a lawyer.

Forrest said investigators from the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have joined the investigation.

The FBI issued a statement: "Presently, there does not appear to be a link to terrorism; Woodson does not appear to have a link to any known terrorist groups, nor a specific terrorist plot. However, the matter is still under investigation and these should only be considered preliminary findings. It is possible that Mr. Woodson could face federal gun charges, but that has yet to be determined. At this time, the matter is being worked as a state case out of the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office."

Authorities in New Jersey say Woodson's last known address is on Generation Drive in Reston. On Monday night, Fox 5 went to that neighborhood, but residents we spoke with did not recognize Woodson's photograph.

Woodson was being held at the Somerset County Jail on charges including unlawful possession of weapons.

The prosecutor's office did not know whether Woodson had a lawyer.

Police ask anyone with information to contact Somerset County Crime Stoppers’ Tip Line at 1-888-577-8477.

[Ashlar]

Alexander Arms makes a .50 beowulf upper.

http://alexanderarms.com/beowulf.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



iirc, Tromix used to make an upper in .50AE, as well.

[OldCannon]

They're likely referring to an AR lower that's macthed with a new upper that shoots .50 (Beowulf), or .458 SOCOM, or any other "thumper" caliber.

It's just the press being stupid. Tell me something new.

[LaserTex]

Wow. Never even knew it was possible. Thanks.

[Keith B]

By no means confuse .50BMG with .50 Beowulf or .50 Action ExpressE. There is a MAJOR difference in size of the rounds. .50 is just the diameter of the bullet only. .50 BMG is almost 5.5 inches long vs 1.6" - 2.1" for the other rounds. See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.50_Beowulf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.50AE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.50_BMG" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[chabouk]

There are .50 BMG bolt-action uppers that use the AR lower for the trigger/hammer group.

[The Annoyed Man]

There are .50 BMG bolt-action uppers that use the AR lower for the trigger/hammer group.

Exactly.

It could have been any of the above suggestions, but naturally the press left out the details. I remember back during the Branch Davidian standoff, and I was living in Los Angeles, and the LA Times reported that the Davidians had a .50 caliber machine gun (which turned out to be a Barrett .50) that fired a projectile '"5" long and 1/2" in diameter"'. In other words, someone showed the reporter a .50 BMG cartridge, and he assumed that the whole thing comes out the end of the barrel.

A lot of reporters are idiots.

[C-dub]

I bet an AR modified like this kicks like you wouldn't believe.

[LaserTex]

Actually, I don't think about changing this upper to that receiver. I was thinking how is a .50" piece of lead going to go through a .223" hole and someone live.

D

[marksiwel]

What annoyed me was Chris Cuomo of GMA saying it could destroy a house

http://abcnews.go.com/US/man-busted-mas ... id=9662593" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"...he had... a huge assault rifle that had been modified to shoot 50-caliber bullets that could completely destroy a house"

A ginger bread house

[Keith B]

What annoyed me was Chris Cuomo of GMA saying it could destroy a house

http://abcnews.go.com/US/man-busted-mas ... id=9662593" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"...he had... a huge assault rifle that had been modified to shoot 50-caliber bullets that could completely destroy a house"

What do you expect form the son of a liberal ex-governor form New York, who works in the ultra-liberal media.

[TLE2]

So... can you put a higher calilber upper on a "223" lower? I had "heard" that to go to even a .308, I'd have to get a new lower, which means buying a new AR/

[Big Tuna]

So... can you put a higher calilber upper on a "223" lower? I had "heard" that to go to even a .308, I'd have to get a new lower, which means buying a new AR/

Someone could probably build a single shot .308 upper for a .223 lower, but you need a larger lower if you want to feed the longer bullets through the magazine well.

Assuming you mean 7.62x51 when you say .308 and not some wildcat with the same or shorter length as 5.56x45