well my 2 cents, I have owned, shot and sold a LOT of different .50 bmg, from singe shot , to semi to belt fed one's
fired them in light weight sizes to some huge heavy one's, I have used to them from hunting to target shooting, to destroying assorted things for fun!(aka mostly the belt fed one's )
my experience with what I have used/sold, seen and ?? and I am NO expert or claiming to be!
is, like any rifle, its only as accurate as the parts used to built it, and that doesn;t just mean the gun itself, it also relates to the ammo and what is used to make it!
one of the things I dealt with when I first started shooting them in the early 90's(maybe late 80's I forget now) was finding good reloading supplies, be it good consistent brass, bullets and dies, I am sure some things are better now than when I gave up in say mid to late 2000';s
the efforts to get good ammo alone was challenging
rifles, ?? I bought several from lower priced ones to some that had scary price tags
from my experience, it all came down to just like any other rifle, you had to find what the rifle at hand liked shooting
the one;'s with better parts, could be tweaked better by working up loads and bullet combo's, just like other high end rifles
some of the lower end rifles seemed to shoot as well, or NOT no matter what you did
but again finding GOOD Brass,bullets was never easy!
as for recoil, that varied a LOT from rifle to rifle, design, and FIT mattered, as did weight and over all size!
some were FUN to shoot, some NOT so fun, most had recoil that was tolerable, as a fact most seemed to have more of a PUSH than a KICK, if that makes since
some would actually MOVE you /spin you a little , it was different to ME< to other higher recoiling calibers where they had a more sharp SLAP to things
I tend to blame this on most of the .50 BMG's I fired all were more on the heavy side, where as some of the more wild mag calibers(like big bore doubles and wild cat's) were in lighter weight rifles, where that recoil hit you faster sharper like over a .50, not to mention, I seldom ever shot a .50 BMG while standing , where i have many other rifles of big bore ?? I have shot big bore from benches too, but recoil from them always felt different to me!
.50 BMG's can be very effective at distance, if one is willing to spend the time and money to get the right components and learn how to use them and can afford all the testing, and have a place to shoot it
lots of ranges WON"T let you shoot them, muzzle blast is WAY different and more violent, have seem a few roofs over benches come off from them!, not to mention back stops getting destroyed!
I started looking at them as more of a novelty gun than one I wanted to really shoot in competition/matches!
and even some of them as investments
the prices on them have climbed a bunch since I got my first one's, so they held there place in the safes !
the question I would have for you is, to ask yourself, Why you really want one, and what you really want to do with one, and be honest with yourself
as there only a rifle and a caliber, you do the work, you can make them all shoot well, if your willing too
odd calibers like the .50 BMG and I mean odd by NOT a super popular caliber as to other main stream calibers!
ODD calibers mean a lot more dedication from the shooter and COSTS, in both the wallet and time, will be required to make them into what you want!, many have the $$< but the time and the work to find and get all the components might be too much for many! and why there not again a super popular caliber for most shooters!