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Magnum ARs-Noreen Vs Falkor vs NEMO

shooter_and_scholar

Gopher Exploder
Minuteman
Dec 17, 2021
7
5
Montana
Really been wanting a magnum-frame AR (300 Win Mag) for a while, and all three of these companies are Montana local so I'd like to shop at one of them. The Noreen has the lowest cost but I can't find where barrels are sourced, although I have had good luck with their parts on other platforms. Both the Falkor and Nemo use Bartlein blanks. My question is, who here has experience on them, or all three? As I'm trying to make an informed decision, quantifying answers would really help. I'd like to gather data on:

What model was used from which company?
Did you have any issues out of the box, and were they remedied by the company?
What ammo seemed to run best?
Most consistent loadings and tightest groupings?
How far did you shoot it consistently?
Did the rifle eat optics at all?
Customer service and buying experience?
Have any of you shot out a barrel, and how does the replacement process go?

The goal is to have a 1500 yard capable semi auto that is reliable.
 
I’ll take “things I would not bother with” for 400 Alex.

I while it’s been a few years, I have experience with both Nemo and Falkor. Based off the QC I’ve seen, I would not recommend either of them.
 
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I had and sold my Noreen BN36. The problems you will run into are the magazine length limits you to running sami spec coal length which limits bullet size to 178 grain or smaller for 300wm. The 7 rem mag works better because you get an extra .10" to work with. you also need to do some filing on the noreen magazines to get them to feed reliably. That took a lot of trial and error but I got it perfected. They use a rifle length gas system which works ok but it limits how much pressure you can hand load to and wrecks your brass. The 300win mag barrel is a 10 twist. The 7mm rem mag is currently a 10 twist also. I talked to them about making faster twist barrels with extended gas and they are not going to do that for anyone. They make cut rifle barrels from quality blanks. Interestingly, the noreen barrel extension appears to be a standard DPMD/SR25 308. A person could have a custom barrel made by a gunsmith in a short action caliber with faster twist and longer gas system to work better in the noreen magazines. Another problem I had was gouging/wear in the upper caused by the bcg pin shoulder. It cost me 500$ to get a new upper reciever from Noreen. The clearances in the upper for the bcg were loose fit compared to the Falkor. Also the barrel extension had a loose fit in the upper receiver which caused some bolt missalignment effecting accuracy and bolt wear. They use softer 6061 to machine their uppers out of instead of the industry standard of 7075 t6 which is harder and has more tensile strength. I really wanted to make the Noreen shoot well. I had to resort to using the 7 rem mag barrel and hand loading 168 bergers to slightly better than 308 AR velocity to shoot 3/4 moa. The Noreen gas block has 2 tiny screws that will come loose and change your gas block setting and will fly out and get lost. I switched to an slr gas block. I got a great deal on a Falkor in 300 win mag. I was able to get a proof 20 inch 10 twist carbon barrel with extended gas that proof manufactured to falkors specs. Falkor is no longer installing proof barrels because they want to push their straight jacket barrels. The Dracos barrel is actually great for 300 win mag since it dissapates heat better causing less verticle stringing with high rate of fire. The falkor is a better rifle. Falkor has a long mag to accommodate the best long high BC bullets on the market. Tolerances are tighter. You can load hotter rounds to maximize performance. If you want to run factory ammo and spend half as much with 2+ moa accuracy the noreen might work for you. If you want better long range performance with reloading then go with the falkor. I am shooting 215 bergers at 2900fps out of the Falkor with 1/2 moa accuracy with amazing reliability. The Falkor will shoot great and run reliably out of the box. The Falkor Petra is my favorite rifle to bring to the range. The Noreen will challenge your patience and knowledge of how to make an AR shoot reliably and accurately. I wish I had all the time, money, and resources back that I wasted on the Noreen. I dont have any experience with the NEMO to offer. No issue with optics since gas guns have much less recoil than bolt guns.
 
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A post from another Hide member

I have a petra with dracos barrel. I can hit 1800 yards with box ammo hornady and federal. My wife and my 12 year old daughter can easily hit 1000 yds steel, No problem
89380AED-FE2F-488A-B050-615CE2F3832A.jpeg
 
I had and sold my Noreen BN36. The problems you will run into are the magazine length limits you to running sami spec coal length which limits bullet size to 178 grain or smaller for 300wm. The 7 rem mag works better because you get an extra .10" to work with. you also need to do some filing on the noreen magazines to get them to feed reliably. That took a lot of trial and error but I got it perfected. They use a rifle length gas system which works ok but it limits how much pressure you can hand load to and wrecks your brass. The 300win mag barrel is a 10 twist. The 7mm rem mag is currently a 10 twist also. I talked to them about making faster twist barrels with extended gas and they are not going to do that for anyone. They make cut rifle barrels from quality blanks. Interestingly, the noreen barrel extension appears to be a standard DPMD/SR25 308. A person could have a custom barrel made by a gunsmith in a short action caliber with faster twist and longer gas system to work better in the noreen magazines. Another problem I had was gouging/wear in the upper caused by the bcg pin shoulder. It cost me 500$ to get a new upper reciever from Noreen. The clearances in the upper for the bcg were loose fit compared to the Falkor. Also the barrel extension had a loose fit in the upper receiver which caused some bolt missalignment effecting accuracy and bolt wear. They use softer 6061 to machine their uppers out of instead of the industry standard of 7075 t6 which is harder and has more tensile strength. I really wanted to make the Noreen shoot well. I had to resort to using the 7 rem mag barrel and hand loading 168 bergers to slightly better than 308 AR velocity to shoot 3/4 moa. The Noreen gas block has 2 tiny screws that will come loose and change your gas block setting and will fly out and get lost. I switched to an slr gas block. I got a great deal on a Falkor in 300 win mag. I was able to get a proof 20 inch 10 twist carbon barrel with extended gas that proof manufactured to falkors specs. Falkor is no longer installing proof barrels because they want to push their straight jacket barrels. The Dracos barrel is actually great for 300 win mag since it dissapates heat better causing less verticle stringing with high rate of fire. The falkor is a better rifle. Falkor has a long mag to accommodate the best long high BC bullets on the market. Tolerances are tighter. You can load hotter rounds to maximize performance. If you want to run factory ammo and spend half as much with 2+ moa accuracy the noreen might work for you. If you want better long range performance with reloading then go with the falkor. I am shooting 215 bergers at 2900fps out of the Falkor with 1/2 moa accuracy with amazing reliability. The Falkor will shoot great and run reliably out of the box. The Falkor Petra is my favorite rifle to bring to the range. The Noreen will challenge your patience and knowledge of how to make an AR shoot reliably and accurately. I wish I had all the time, money, and resources back that I wasted on the Noreen. I dont have any experience with the NEMO to offer. No issue with optics since gas guns have much less recoil than bolt guns.
Great write up, thanks! Have you suppressed it? We've had issues getting the gas settings correct and then it staying correct while suppressed.
 
A post from another Hide member

I have a petra with dracos barrel. I can hit 1800 yards with box ammo hornady and federal. My wife and my 12 year old daughter can easily hit 1000 yds steel, No problem
89380AED-FE2F-488A-B050-615CE2F3832A.jpeg
Gorgeous. I see you've suppressed it. We're using the DeadAir Sandman and have had a heck of a time dialing in the gas levels. Also having problems with it being consistent with brass ejection once set.
 
What ammo are you using? Are you using a 2nd Allen screw to lock the gas screw in place in the adjustable gas key? Also I found it helpful to get a looong Allen wrench with a screw driver style handle to adjust gas on the gas key and leave the bcg in the upper with rear takedown pin out

I’m running a nine inch srt arms suppressor. I take apart the bcg and clean/ lube after a range trip of 50-100 rounds. It doesn’t run reliably if it’s dry/dirty. My brass looks like it was fired from a bolt gun and lands a foot from the gun on the bench at 3 o’clock shooting suppressed. Better to start under gased and slowly work gas open until it locks back on empty magazine. Only put one round in at a time until you get it to lock open. The nice thing about the adjustment on the gas key is that you can make very small adjustments to fine tune the gas. The detents on an slr gas block are to large of an adjustment for fine tuning a magnum cartridge in my experience.
 
Can only speak for the Falkor since it's the only one I owned, overall I'd give it a 7/10.

It's probably the least finnicky out of the 3 based on what I've seen, although afaik all of these guns are extreme prima donnas. They only like certain kinds of bullets and lots of lube. The gas system on the Falkor isn't the best. I keep it overgassed to cycle reliably but I'm routinely ejecting at under 3 o'clock and will no doubt be going through bolt carriers quickly. I do run exclusively suppressed however. Without the suppressor I had no issues. Otherwise it's a great gun, well-machined, top notch.

Personally though, I'd have gone for the Nemo as I hear they've made significant progress after early hiccups and the current platform is probably up to par with Falkor, but still finnicky. Once you "know" the gun though, it's smooth sailing. My main gripe with Falkor is it's just a much smaller company and the support isn't there. Good luck ever finding a spare Petra magazine, seriously. Treat the one you get nicely because if it ever wears out you can throw that gun in the trash. I am not exaggerating.
 
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I've had a falkor petra for several years. It works great with federal gold medal match ammo but if you try to reload, you get issues. I don't run suppressed so don't have those issues either. I purchased it with multiple mags so I never have to worry about not being able to find a spare. Overall it's a good gun if you are particular on ammo selection.
 
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only "magnum AR" I've had any interaction with was the Sword International Mjolnir, while helping another club member with some reloading workup for it. Plenty of room in the mag on those for over standard length, but it's .338LM, so you'd better reload or it's gonna get pricey real fast.

Very fine rifle from my sample size of one, good fit and finish, and very accurate. Our range capped out at 500, but even there on a gusty day with unfinished ammunition optimization it was well under MoA, probably a little over half
 
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Bolt long action from Uintah Precision. I have asked them and they need to know there's a market for them
 

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