Noreen Arms goes big and they don’t go home. These guys win SHOT Show this year. They brought a damn CNC machine and cut 80% AR lowers and sold them to the attendees. I mean how cool is that? What is even cooler is that they are about 100 foot away from the ATF’s booth. Not that the ATF has any problem with 80% lowers. They’re perfectly legal. It was just an interesting juxtaposition. Too bad they aren’t machining pistol braces.
Aside from the coolness of the site-made lowers, Noreen had a new gun here at SHOT as well. If you are not familiar with Noreen, they make big bore AR styled rifles. Their Bad News line is available in 338 Lapua or 300 Winchester Magnum. They have a slightly smaller AR style rifle that is chambered for 30-06, 270 Win or 25-06 Remington.
But new this year they have a new rifle in 408 Chey Tac. This is a piston driven semi automatic with a 10 round magazine. It is 23 pounds of awesome. I’m sold. We have a review gun inbound from Noreen, so we’ll be able to put the bigger-is-better philosophy to the test.
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CNC Machine on the SHOT Show floor!
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Noreen goes big!
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A lower being cut.
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This was made on the SHOT Show floor.
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Shiny!
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80% done.
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A complete rifle. This one is in 300 Win Mag.
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They had rifles at the booth too.
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A couple of big boys.
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Side charging.
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The Assassin is a 16″ barreled, 7lb, 30-06 carbine.
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The “BN” stands for Bad News.
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Can’t wait for your review on the Noreen in .408 CheyTac. Interesting to see what the ballistic performance is, because it seems like if you’re going to alternative calibers for AR-15 actions (assuming you’re after big game, not little paper) you’d want to reach out as far and accurately as possible to touch your game.
That said, three of the top ten confirmed distance kills reported on the ‘Net (http://controversialtimes.com/military/10-longest-recorded-sniper-shots-in-history/) were done with ,338 Lapua, which Noreen already made an AR-15 for. One of those kills was the late Chris Kyle’s 2,100 yard shot. (I question the accuracy of that list, I’ve heard of a confirmed kill by a shooter with Canada’s PPLI at better than a mile, also with a rifle in .308 Lapua, that belongs on that list).
whoops. “.338 Lapua,” not “.308 Lapua”.
About six months ago I purchased a brand new Noreen “Bad News” .338 Lapua Magnum. The gun never ran.
The fail to feed problems were constant and frustrating. At best one could fire 2, 3 or 4 shots without a fail to feed.
Sometimes after the first shot there was a fail to feed. It was very frustrating to constantly be required to remove the
magazine and dig out the jammed brass. Noreen’s customer service is also “Bad News”.
The gun was returned to Noreen on multiple occasions. Each time the gun was returned to me with a
statement that the rifle was functioning properly. Each time on the range thereafter the same fail to feed problems
continued. Noreen aptly named the rifle. In blogs I had read about problems with the Noreen after it was first introduced.
My gunshop people told me that those problems had been resolved so I was excited to get another large caliber semi auto.
While one could suggest user error or bad ammunition, I own other large caliber semi autos which function seamlessly.
Those rifles include a Barrett .50 BMG as well as a Browning .300 Magnum.
I also have a multitude of Sig, Springfield, SCAR and FN semi auto .308’s that likewise function seamlessly.
I used .338 Lapua ammunition manufactured by Lapua, Nosler, Remington and Winchester. All of the ammunition without regard to
manufacturer had the same results–fail to feed. I was fortunate to have a great gun dealer who was as frustrated with the
gun as I. He took the gun back and said he was sorry for all of the frustration and the poor response of Noreen’s customer
service.
My Noreen BN 25-06 rocks, It is my one of my favorite rifles. My son ran 10 rounds thru mine and then he bought a BN 30-06. I am surprised Noreen is not making a 50BMG in semi auto, when they do that I will be ordering one reguardless of cost. I have called Noreen 2 times and both times I got a live person and my questions/concerns taken care of asap. We bought the 2 BN semi’s for about 1450 each. We have since dressed them up a bit. The only complaint I can come up with is the plastic mags. I wish they would produce one out of metal.
Should have made it a 409 Chevy TAC (after the orginal Chevy Truck engine back in the mid 60’s and the Beach Boys song)
The 409 chevy had inferior connecting rods and many of them died on the drag strip from bottom end detonation
I couldn’t afford to reload the dang .408
So somebody PLEASE send me a 30-06 version and i’ll gladly send you a bona fida IOU…
I’m guessing this thing is going to be at least 5 grand…In which it would probably make more sense to go ahead and get a .50 cal.. Still very cool.
THAT 408 CHEY-TAC “AR” STYLE RIFLE OUGHT TO BE INTERESTING. I NEVER SHOT ONE, BUT I KNOW WHERE THERE IS AN ORIGINAL CHEY-TAC 408 RIFLE I COULD TRY OUT. I THINK THE OWNER MIGHT EVEN SELL IT TO ME. HMMM…
Bang bang
What would have been cooler would be them selling 80% uppers, then letting folks ‘rent’ the machine, and have it pre-programmed to finish the upper. All the buyer/renter would have to do was push a button or two and have his own, ‘unregistered’ lower that he ‘machined’ himself. A year or so ago I read of a place in California that did just that but a brief search on the Net didn’t turn up anything.
I bought a “ghost gunner” CNC machine and I “rent” it to guys to finish their own 80% which I also order in bulk. So much better than cutting them on a milling machine.
Per ATF you are now considered a manufacturing of firearms, you better have a contract showing you sold the ghost gunner to the individual completing the 80% lower for a dollar. Then buy the ghost gunner back from him.
The ATF put the guy in California and others out of business. Per new letter issued by ATF renting time on a CNC is now considered manufacturing by the owner of the CNC. Thus must be registered and owner of the mill must have an FFL for manufacturing firearms.
I wish Springfield Armory would create and market a 30.06 version of the box fed M1A. We could then capitalize on the surplus ammo still out there and available….not talking extreem accuracy, but a cool alternative to the AR platform.
The Italians made a conversion kit for the M1 Garand which converted the loading to box fed. Their is a conversion ket in shotgun news classified called the BM59 conversion kit.
I’d love to have that assassin 30-06 carbine but I bet it’s more costly than even a .308 version AR-10 which i’d also like to have but can’t justify the added cost over my .556 bushmaster
sigh….
Why 30-06 when the ballistics of it compared to .308 or the NATO equal are so close? There are more bullets to be had with better BC’s for the .308 due it’s the tactical background. Again 7.62×51 or 7.62×63, they are almost the same ballisticlly. Comments?
The .30-06 is more adaptable to long heavy bullets. Getting over 180 grs. in the .308 requires giving up powder space, thus losing velocity. ’06s have a longer neck and that 1/2 inch more room for powder. It is easier to drive a 200 OTM Sierra bullet faster from the ’06. With many newer powders exist, the increase can be significant. Often the .308 drops velocity around 950 yds. and “goes wobbly”. An extra 100 FPS from the ’06 pays off.
When the army found the IMR powders allowed shortening the cartridge casing, they looked at the .300 Savage. Originally, the .300 Savage gave velocities like the .30-06. It was too much for the spongy M99 lever action, and the loads were reduced. The 7.62X51mm round has a longer neck and less taper, both desirable features. We should have adopted the .280 British round, but that’s another book.
You are correct in your ballistic comparison between the .308 and the 30-06 but their is a larger variety of bullet choices for the 30-06 compared to the choices for the .308.
Also the cartridge casing for the 30-06 is larger than the .308 so home reloaders can create higher ballistic loads approaching magnum ballistics with the modern powder choices available these days.
That’s why the 30-06 is commonly referred to as the poor mans magnum.
Great info guys! Thanks. My Dad carried a BAR slingin’ 30-06 from Normandy to Germany. He owed his life to that round, me too come to think of it. I now proudly own two of his rifles in ‘-06 and have dropped hogs, whitetail and elk using 180 gr ballistic silvertips. Thanks again for the info to justify adding to my black guns with this worthy clambering. Send it!!
I must have misunderstood initially. First thought they were taking 80% lowers and making them serial numbered “firearms” on site. Now it sounds as though they were taking something and milling it up to the 80% level. So what were they using? Bar stock? Castings? What?
Thanks. Charles
From the photos it looks like bar stock
They are milled out of an aluminum billet. Then you finish it at home and build your rifle. No serial number or registration required.
If they’re both reliable and accurate (1-MOA 5-shot groups at least), that’d be AWESOME! However, if they’re not reliable or aren’t accurate enough to serve as true precision rifles there’s not going to be much of a point in owning one. We’ll see I guess.
Hello; I assume you are referring to the 408’s. The cartridge design is based upon a very long range BC. Then they built the rifle around it; the way most things are manufactured (except firearms). I have many rifles, all of which shoot a MOA or better, even my 22 rim fire and HMR. The 408 round doesn’t get wound up until 1000yds, I have two 308’s that are fine 1000yd shooters ( 1/2 MOA rigs) but can I shoot 5 inch groups. NO. Not when the wind is 10mph FV = 100 inches of drift, 200 times my MOA. Remember, the manufacturer tests their rifles from an underground machine rest. 5 shot groups or 500, doesn’t matter. So, which is better; my 1/2 MOA rig or the 1 MOA 408 with only 30 inches of drift? Of course, 2000 yards is out of the question for my 308″s. ART
If you YouTube Rex reviews sniper 101 he does a review on the bn in338 lapua pretty impressive for a at style rifle.
Thanks for the tip on You Tube. Will check it out………