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Outfitting the Noreen 50BMG
The Noreen 50BMG is the lowest cost, highest quality, best selling 50 BMG rifle on the market. In fact, given our tests to date, it might be the most accurate 50 on the market at any price, let alone BELOW $2,000! Our gunsmiths at Smith Tactical outfit long range rifles where budget is no object, from Cheytac to Barrett, Steyer, Bushmaster, and dozens of custom items built from the ground up. NONE of these compare in out of the box accuracy to our very own Montana Noreen!
Here are some tips on outfitting your new Noreen which will save you more big bucks without compromising quality:
1. Scope. If you're a frequent 50 BMG shooter, you realize by now that most scopes under $1,500 can't go from 100 to 1,000 yards due to elevation range MOA limitation. To cope with this, Long Range offers a 20 MOA down rail (for under $200) that can save you $1,600 on a scope. We recommend the Nikko Sterling Mil Dot 10-50 X 60 30mm IR at $400 instead of the Leupold Mark IV 16X, or the Nightforce, at nearly 2 grand, unless you can afford only the best! The Nikko has an MOA range of 75, the Nightforce 50, and the Leupold 140, so the Leupold is obviously the only one of the three designed specifically for 50 BMG ranges. Transitioning from 100 to 1,000 yards and beyond, you simply "run out of clicks" with most scopes. The 20 cant Noreen rail is a simple field changeout using 4 10-32 screws from the normal 0-cant picatinny rail. This means you spend a little over $100, can use the awesome Nikko, and save over a grand.
Whatever you do, don't scrimp on rings. You'll need milled rings costing at least $100, much like the ones described in our Steyer report here. You can get them at Midway USA or Brownell's. Be sure to get high rings for the large Objective on 50 scopes, even though medium or low are closer to the bore and by that definition, better. You will want at least a finger's width between scope objective bell and bipod rail (see picture) due to recoil, which is accomplished here with the highs. Most scopes and rifles will NOT need the ultra highs, but will also not work with mediums with this big a scope (60mm obj). See picture descriptions far below for info on the Farrell 50 rings you see in the pictures here. Ken also sells a 20 MOA canted rail for the 50 in addition to OLR.
2. You can get ranging binoculars that cost nearly 3 grand from Leica, a 1,500 yard Bushnell range finder for about $400, or use the mil dot on your Nikko with a $29 mil dot master card, and do the same thing. Just trying to save you bucks, unless you're one of our government clients, and don't care.
3. Cases. There are Pelican, Kalispell, Storm, Plano and other cases ranging from $500 to nearly $2,000. We recommend the $200 Blackhawk combination backpack, sniper mat, carry case, hydration system found HERE. Buy it at Midway USA to save $50 bucks, while saving over $800 on other cases. The Noreen is a little over 48" with stock collapsed, and with high rings and the AR grip, width is 13.5". We've done your homework for you, so you don't have to keep returning "scoped rifle" cases that are not wide enough. The Blackhawk is generous in space and high in quality and features, whether you're going plinking, competitive shooting, or jumping freefall into a hot LZ.
4. If you're getting into 50, you MUST get into reloading! You can get a Lee 50 BMG cast press complete setup for about $200, or buy separate components and dies from specialty manufacturers for over $3,000. It all depends on one critical question: will you be trying to recycle military brass? If yes, you need the expensive setups, due to primer pocket and brass issues. If you're reloading once fired brass you shot yourself after buying the ammo new, the Lee setup will work just fine. You can still get H (US) 869 and H 50BMG powders, and CCI 50 Primers are still somewhat available, compared to many others that are now endangered species, but this is not likely to last long! Click HERE to learn about new ban proposals that will make your $2,000 Noreen worth $10,000 plus.
If you stumbled upon this page and have no idea what a Noreen is, click HERE to visit the manufacturer's site, and click HERE to preserve your gun rights with your own manufacturing FFL or gunsmithing - reloading license.
Technical quiz: is the Noreen pull cut rifled, button rifled or hammer forged? Answer: button rifled. Pull cuts are usually done by gunsmiths on a one off basis, and although they can be the most accurate of all, they also are the least repeatable in quality and consistency, and very operator dependent. Hammer forged is the least accurate, using a negative of the rifling and pounding it in with huge industrial hammers-- most often used by high production but low accuracy manufacturers (most common today).
We've actually heard people brag "this barrel is hammer forged!" as if that were a good thing. It only means the company that did it was big enough to afford expensive industrial hydraulic and air hammers for large production runs, at the expense of precision. The best compromise for highest accuracy, without compromising consistency, is button rifling-- the exact technique used by Phil and the OLR team for the awesome Noreen 50's and 416's.
Photos: Forget about getting crosshairs straight with the Wheeler level system: a quick level of both pillar and scope, and you're guaranteed perfect crosshairs every time! The big Nikko should be positioned for the owner, but eyepiece close to bottom of AR grip will be close for this right handed cheek piece. Always use an inch torque wrench for precision rings! These are Ken Farrell's, which spec out at 18 IP for caps and 50 IP for bases. If your inch pound torque wrench doesn't fit the wrenches, you can get a finger feel for the exact force, then torque. In this case, the short side allen stopped resisting thumb/index finger pressure at 15 IP for caps, and the long side of the base stopped (more leverage) at close to 45 for the bases. A tad over that, and you're there. Maroon bullet? Yep, first few rounds fired should ALWAYS be snap caps, to familiarize yourself with the action, and make sure everything you're installing clears before you head for the range. The Noreen takes about 30 rounds with cleaning after each to break in the fine barrel. The tiny reloading station can be a dedicated 50 BMG "kitchen" shop to keep ammo costs down for that expensive break in period! Timney trigger on the Noreen is factory set at a crisp 4 pounds, one screw can bring it down to 2 if you need it. Final step before the range to begin the process of breaking in the barrel (thorough copper cleaning after each shot due to the newly sharp rifling) is bore sighting with the Leupold Zero Point. Zero is a nice system, because you can first calibrate on the paper at 25 yards, then extend to 100 with one shot (by superimposing the see through Zero Point grid on the bullseye and adjusting the scope to the point of impact vs. the grid). This is especially convenient since you have to clean after every shot to condition the barrel-- why not adjust your scope with the same, slow process, given the expense of 50 BMG rounds?
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