When examining the black rifle market, you basically have two receivers. You have a standard 5.56mm lower receiver, which has multiple calibers it can host, but you are limited based on length and width of that magazine well. The next is the .308 lower receiver, which is limited to basically 6 calibers. What about some more full power rifle calibers? One company has tackled this dilemma, Noreen Firearms, out of Belgrade, Montana. Opening their doors in 2007 by Peter Noreen, the company set out to build .50 BMG caliber single shot rifles. At the time, there was a rather large market for them. Prior to opening a gun manufacturing company, Peter was a machinist who owned his own tool and die company. When getting into the gun business, he already had the machines necessary to build all, but the trigger group of the ULR or Ultra Long Range 50 caliber rifle.
For the first two years the company consisted of just Peter building the rifles. In 2009, Peters son, Phil, joined the company. Since its start in 2009 as a one man operation it then grew to 14 by 2013. Noreen Firearms is a family owned business that has most of its ranks filed with veterans. Proudly, Noreen Firearms claims that more than 85% of their rifle is manufactured right in Montana. With the introduction of more specialized weapon designs, Noreen Firearms has added several machines to increase both quality and speed of production. The company is in a constant state of research and development. In 2010 Noreen Firearms introduced their second product to the market, "The Bad News," which is a semi automatic AR-platform 338 Lapua caliber rifle.
In November of 2012, Noreen introduced their most popular rifle to date, the BN36. This is a semi-automatic rifle based on the AR10, which fires the very popular 30-06 Springfield cartridge. Since the M1 Garand, there has only been a handful of semi-auto 30-06 rifles. These would include the Remington model 742 and the Browning BAR MKII. There has been no modern sporting rifles....until now. I was invited by Phil Noreen to visit his factory and test out some of his rifles. Setting foot into his assembly area, one can easily see they are always in high speed R&D mode.
For the first two years the company consisted of just Peter building the rifles. In 2009, Peters son, Phil, joined the company. Since its start in 2009 as a one man operation it then grew to 14 by 2013. Noreen Firearms is a family owned business that has most of its ranks filed with veterans. Proudly, Noreen Firearms claims that more than 85% of their rifle is manufactured right in Montana. With the introduction of more specialized weapon designs, Noreen Firearms has added several machines to increase both quality and speed of production. The company is in a constant state of research and development. In 2010 Noreen Firearms introduced their second product to the market, "The Bad News," which is a semi automatic AR-platform 338 Lapua caliber rifle.
In November of 2012, Noreen introduced their most popular rifle to date, the BN36. This is a semi-automatic rifle based on the AR10, which fires the very popular 30-06 Springfield cartridge. Since the M1 Garand, there has only been a handful of semi-auto 30-06 rifles. These would include the Remington model 742 and the Browning BAR MKII. There has been no modern sporting rifles....until now. I was invited by Phil Noreen to visit his factory and test out some of his rifles. Setting foot into his assembly area, one can easily see they are always in high speed R&D mode.
Stepping back into his manufacturing room there were several CNC machines producing upper and lower receivers, as well as, muzzle brakes and bolt carriers. Many of his components do not even require de-burring, that is part of the CNC program. Every rifle is inspected multiple times and test fired prior to it leaving the factory. From the employees I met, they were all weapons enthusiasts and professionals. Phil Noreen is a well seasoned long-range shooter and knows what it takes to get that 1000-yard shot.
At this time, Noreen Firearms has the capacity to make 500 rifles per month. Being a Montana company, where hunting is prevalent around those beautiful mountains, game species include: elk, bison, black bear, antelope, deer and moose. The typical hunter in Montana requires a little more power than the basic 308 Win caliber AR could deliver. The open land in Montana offers the skilled marksman the opportunity to shoot well over 1000 yards at his game. There is also a military and law enforcement application for more high-power calibers in the familiar AR platform. This rifle was introduced at the 2013 SHOT Show and it was called the BN36 or Bad News 30-06 rifle.
At this time, Noreen Firearms has the capacity to make 500 rifles per month. Being a Montana company, where hunting is prevalent around those beautiful mountains, game species include: elk, bison, black bear, antelope, deer and moose. The typical hunter in Montana requires a little more power than the basic 308 Win caliber AR could deliver. The open land in Montana offers the skilled marksman the opportunity to shoot well over 1000 yards at his game. There is also a military and law enforcement application for more high-power calibers in the familiar AR platform. This rifle was introduced at the 2013 SHOT Show and it was called the BN36 or Bad News 30-06 rifle.
When you first look at the rifle you think of an AR10, but with a longer magazine. But there are some major differences. The upper and lower receivers are proprietary and will not work on any other firearm. Obviously, this is due to the longer magazine well for the longer 30-06 cartridge. With the 22-inch barrel, the rifle has an overall length of 43.5 inches and weighs a light 8 pounds. The rifle comes with a polymer 20 round magazine.
The upper receiver is manufactured from billet 6061 T6 aluminum billet. The receiver has a Mil-Std-1913 rail on top of the receiver. There is no ejection port cover or fired cartridge case deflector. But you notice this small channel behind the ejection port. That is there because the rifle does not use the conventional top charging lever. The bolt has a handle attached to it and is actuated from the right side. According to Phil, the rifles are meant for use with long range optics. More than not, the longer optics interfere with the access to actuate the charging handle. By moving the handle to the bolt, the shooter always has easy access to the cocking handle, and can even actuate it, while the rifle is still on his shoulder. When you are handling the rifle, this is a clear enhancement for those with these types of optics.
The 22-inch barrel starts its life as a 4140 Chromoly steel barrel blank, which is button rifled with 6 lands and grooves and a right twist. The barrel has a 1 turn in 10-inch rifle twist. The barrels can be left with a round profile or can be fluted to increase strength but decrease weight. The barrels can also be black phosphate finished or left in their natural color. The weight and configuration of this barrel gives a maximum effective rate of fire of 45 rounds per minute. These are match grade barrels, to extend the life of the rifles, the rifle should not be rapid fired and should be maintained. According to Phil, the barrel has a normal life of 2,000 rounds, if maintained properly. This is for the precision accuracy.
At the end of the muzzle comes the Noreen manufactured muzzle brake. This muzzle break is specifically designed to redirect the muzzle blast 30° rearward. What this does is shift the recoil force rearward, which pushes the rifle muzzle forward instead of rearward decreasing the felt/perceived recoil. This does wonders for recoil but there is a flip side to the recoil reduction coin. When you use this type of muzzle brake you increase the muzzle blast noise. It is not noticed so much by the shooter, but it is very noticeable to those standing around.
Attached to the barrel is a proprietary barrel nut on the rear and a Noreen manufactured gas block. The gas block is bolted onto the barrel and uses a standard rifle length gas tube. The BN36 is a direct gas operated rifle. On the gas block is an adjustment screw for regulating gas flow. The shooter can balance the gas system with the particular ammunition it is firing. There is a long range of projectile weights available in 30-06 ammunition. Projectile weight can range from 100 grains to 225 grains. That is too wide of a range for a self-regulating rifle in my opinion. Rotate the regulator screw down until gas is cut off. Back off one full turn. Place one round in the magazine and fire. Keep rotating the screw slightly, counter clock wise, while shooting one round until the bolt will lock open on the magazine. No more gas pressure is needed than this. It is just enough to make the bolt fully travel to the rear and not short stroke.
At the end of the muzzle comes the Noreen manufactured muzzle brake. This muzzle break is specifically designed to redirect the muzzle blast 30° rearward. What this does is shift the recoil force rearward, which pushes the rifle muzzle forward instead of rearward decreasing the felt/perceived recoil. This does wonders for recoil but there is a flip side to the recoil reduction coin. When you use this type of muzzle brake you increase the muzzle blast noise. It is not noticed so much by the shooter, but it is very noticeable to those standing around.
Attached to the barrel is a proprietary barrel nut on the rear and a Noreen manufactured gas block. The gas block is bolted onto the barrel and uses a standard rifle length gas tube. The BN36 is a direct gas operated rifle. On the gas block is an adjustment screw for regulating gas flow. The shooter can balance the gas system with the particular ammunition it is firing. There is a long range of projectile weights available in 30-06 ammunition. Projectile weight can range from 100 grains to 225 grains. That is too wide of a range for a self-regulating rifle in my opinion. Rotate the regulator screw down until gas is cut off. Back off one full turn. Place one round in the magazine and fire. Keep rotating the screw slightly, counter clock wise, while shooting one round until the bolt will lock open on the magazine. No more gas pressure is needed than this. It is just enough to make the bolt fully travel to the rear and not short stroke.
The bolt carrier group is longer than that of the .308 rifle due to the fact the 30-06 cartridge case is .47 inches longer than the .308 win. The bolt and bolt carrier are manufactured from a much stronger material than most of the AR10-type rifles out there. Most use the Carpenter 158 mil-spec material, Noreen uses 9310 steel, which is a much stronger and more durable material. The bolt and carrier are made in-house by Noreen. They are cut to length from a rod of 9310 steel and placed in a CNC machine. When the bolt carrier is removed from the CNC machine it is complete. All burs are removed. All that needs to be done is the carrier key added, screws torqued down, and the carrier key screws staked in place.
The lower receiver is also manufactured from a 6061 T6 aluminum billet. The rear takedown pin and the front pivot pin are held in by detents and cannot be removed from the rifle unless the pins are disassembled. The bolt catch has been strengthened to halt the heavier bolt carrier group. The safety is a standard semi-auto only safety. The trigger group that comes standard in this rifle is the mil-spec type. Building rifles like this it is very difficult to install a match trigger that every customer is going to like. Some like a two stage trigger and others like a one stage, whereas some like adjustable and some like fixed. Due to the high cost of a match trigger from $100 up to $400 in some cases, it would add an additional cost to the rifle that the customer may not like anyway. It makes far more sense to put a stock trigger in the rifle and save the customer that money, so they can go out and purchase the trigger that they prefer.
The trigger guard is integral with the receiver and is oversized for use with heavy gloves. The magazine is located in the normal spot as well. The receiver is equipped with a standard A2-style pistol grip. This is another very personal preference accessory. Some like more rubbery grips and others may not like the finger groove. This permits the customer to put on what suits them. The receiver extension is a standard rifle length receiver extension with a proprietary buffer. The buffer is shorter than the standard rifle buffer to cope with the longer bolt carrier of the 30-06 rifle. The stock provided is the standard A2 stock. This is definitely one of the lightest rifle stocks in the industry. But once again, the number of stock options on the market are numerous. The customer may prefer a shorter A1 length or a Magpul PRS stock or anything in-between. Save the money and buy what stock fits the customer best. Just be sure that the same receiver extension is used. Due to the length of the buffer, you cannot use a telescopic receiver extension.
The trigger guard is integral with the receiver and is oversized for use with heavy gloves. The magazine is located in the normal spot as well. The receiver is equipped with a standard A2-style pistol grip. This is another very personal preference accessory. Some like more rubbery grips and others may not like the finger groove. This permits the customer to put on what suits them. The receiver extension is a standard rifle length receiver extension with a proprietary buffer. The buffer is shorter than the standard rifle buffer to cope with the longer bolt carrier of the 30-06 rifle. The stock provided is the standard A2 stock. This is definitely one of the lightest rifle stocks in the industry. But once again, the number of stock options on the market are numerous. The customer may prefer a shorter A1 length or a Magpul PRS stock or anything in-between. Save the money and buy what stock fits the customer best. Just be sure that the same receiver extension is used. Due to the length of the buffer, you cannot use a telescopic receiver extension.
The rifle is fed from a polymer magazine developed by Noreen Firearms. The one we shot was a 20-round magazine, but Noreen offers 5 and 10 round magazines, as well. The magazine is very sturdy, and the follower actuates the bolt catch so the bolt will lock back on the last round fired. The magazine will also drop free from the rifle when the magazine release button is pushed. In 2018, Noreen introduced a new billet BN36 20-round magazine.
The BR36 was lighter at 8-pounds than most of the AR10-type rifles I have tested. The rifle had the feeling of an AR10. The rifle was equipped with a Leupold VX-3 2.5-8x36mm scope. The ammunition fired was Federal American Eagle 30-06 loaded with a 150gr full metal jacket projectile. It should be noted that the BR36 is designed to fire new production SAMMI standard 30-06 ammunition. Noreen Firearms will not uphold the warranty on rifles damaged by use of 30-06 ammunition made during World War II. Much of this ammunition has degraded over time, has corrosive propellant, and many of the foreign made military ammunition is not made to the proper specifications. Also, some military ammunition is loaded with steel jacketed projectiles that may damage and prematurely wear the lands and grooves in the match barrels. Noreen Firearms has found ammunition loaded specifically for M1 Garands are lower on pressure than commercial ammunition causing short recoil. Higher pressure ammunition can damage the operating rod on the M1 Garand riles. Other ammunition that is made poorly have destroyed rifles. Stay with modern current production ammunition and your rifle will fire reliably and accurately.
When the rifle was shot, I could not believe how little recoil there was. This was comparable to any AR10 that I have fired. With the muzzle brake the muzzle hardly moved. The first target engaged was at 100 yards and the gong was knocked off the mount. Then went to the 300-yard gong. Phil adjusted to dope and one shot after the next hit the gong. They were the 430-yard gong. Phil made another dope adjustment but they hit the gong consistently. More than 60 rounds were fired out of this rifle with no malfunctions of any sort. This rifle is suitable for hunting most big game in North America without question. With the wide selection of ammunition, you can easily go from a woodchuck to a wolf on to a deer and then a moose. The rifle will function as a tactical rifle easily. You will gain at least a couple hundred more yards of effectiveness compared to the .308 Win and can use some heavier projectiles as well. To show the versatility of the BR36 platform it is not only offered in 30-06 but Noreen firearms also offers it in 270 Winchester and the flatter shooting 25-06 Remington. The BN36 additionally is offered in 300 Winchester Magnum and 7mm Remington Magnum. The rifles are very competitively priced with a MSRP of $1999.
Noreen Firearm is definitely a pioneer in the heavy caliber black rifles. The BN36 series is multi purpose firearm; with the caliber ranges the rifle is suitable for any North American game. Those who like the AR platform can have it along with the large bore calibers required to hunt big and dangerous game. For Law Enforcement and military shooters, the extended range of the 30-06 caliber, as well as, the vast loads available will be a big plus. With the introduction of the new 300 Winchester Magnum, the sniper will have well over 1000 yards of range in a lightweight and low recoil rifle. With the 5, 10 and 20 round magazines the rifle is offering, geared to the sniper with the speed of an assault rifle, if needed, where he would be outgunned if he had a bolt action rifle.
When the rifle was shot, I could not believe how little recoil there was. This was comparable to any AR10 that I have fired. With the muzzle brake the muzzle hardly moved. The first target engaged was at 100 yards and the gong was knocked off the mount. Then went to the 300-yard gong. Phil adjusted to dope and one shot after the next hit the gong. They were the 430-yard gong. Phil made another dope adjustment but they hit the gong consistently. More than 60 rounds were fired out of this rifle with no malfunctions of any sort. This rifle is suitable for hunting most big game in North America without question. With the wide selection of ammunition, you can easily go from a woodchuck to a wolf on to a deer and then a moose. The rifle will function as a tactical rifle easily. You will gain at least a couple hundred more yards of effectiveness compared to the .308 Win and can use some heavier projectiles as well. To show the versatility of the BR36 platform it is not only offered in 30-06 but Noreen firearms also offers it in 270 Winchester and the flatter shooting 25-06 Remington. The BN36 additionally is offered in 300 Winchester Magnum and 7mm Remington Magnum. The rifles are very competitively priced with a MSRP of $1999.
Noreen Firearm is definitely a pioneer in the heavy caliber black rifles. The BN36 series is multi purpose firearm; with the caliber ranges the rifle is suitable for any North American game. Those who like the AR platform can have it along with the large bore calibers required to hunt big and dangerous game. For Law Enforcement and military shooters, the extended range of the 30-06 caliber, as well as, the vast loads available will be a big plus. With the introduction of the new 300 Winchester Magnum, the sniper will have well over 1000 yards of range in a lightweight and low recoil rifle. With the 5, 10 and 20 round magazines the rifle is offering, geared to the sniper with the speed of an assault rifle, if needed, where he would be outgunned if he had a bolt action rifle.
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