Sierra 5 vs Nomad 30 for SBR

[Jmccracken1214]

I have 2 nomads, but have been thinking of a Sierra 5 for my SBR and 223 bolt gun.. I just finished a 12.5” upper for my sbr and threw my nomad on it.. any reason not to run this over the Sierra?
Weight is basically the same and the nomad is only .75” longer, and probably quieter with the right end cap.
I really like the diameter of the nomad, looks good. I won’t be full auto, so thinking the nomad should be plenty of can?

 

[Cascade Hemi]

So yeah, probably nothing new from Dead Air.

 

[AMGtuned]

I think the Nomad will do better than the S5. Nomad has a better baffle, and more internal volume. Everything I've seen on the S5, it appears to be a little flashy also.

Sandman(left), Nomad(right). I thought I had some insides of the Sierra, but I can't find them this morning.

 

[Charger442]

I think the Nomad will do better than the S5. Nomad has a better baffle, and more internal volume. Everything I've seen on the S5, it appears to be a little flashy also.

View attachment 8344979
Sandman(left), Nomad(right). I thought I had some insides of the Sierra, but I can't find them this morning.

Well, most of the insides of Sierra 5s break apart and come out after some light shooting in 100s of pieces . I don't blame you for not finding those fragments

 

[HTX_17]

Dead Air’s Sierra 5 debacle would be hilarious if I didn’t have one in ATF jail right now. Question is, once approved do I even shoot it? Or just send it off to ECCO machine as soon as my tax stamp is approved?

 

[AMGtuned]

Dead Air’s Sierra 5 debacle would be hilarious if I didn’t have one in ATF jail right now. Question is, once approved do I even shoot it? Or just send it off to ECCO machine as soon as my tax stamp is approved?

For something like this.....

Yep.....that's a what I would do yessuh.

 

[ZM_USMC]

I’ve had my Sierra 5 for almost 1 year now (April 2023) and it’s been solid overall. A little gassy but sounds good and has pretty good flash suppressor. It’s also a tiny can with a Rearden Atlas setup.

If you have a properly tuned rifle, the Sierra 5 would be a good option. Polonium K will probably perform just as good though for a $200 less.

 

[Ape_Factory]

Have the Sierra 5 and went through all of the crap after purchase, waited months for them to fix mine, etc...I would not buy a Dead Air can period. The Sierra 5 is definitely a high back pressure can and there are better choices for your SBR. Should work well on the bolt gun though. IMO I think the Sierra 5 sounds great on my 12.5" SBR piston (doesn't seem to do well in tests?) but honestly my Huxwrx 762 Flow sounds just as good and is lighter with far, far less gas to the face.

So I'd maybe look elsewhere as there are a lot of great options these days. The Radical Defense cans tested really well, are flow through and reasonably priced. They come in two lengths and two material choices and can be as light as 8oz and are 3D printed. www.rdusa.com. The LS5 kicked everyone's ass in Thunderbeasts's big suppressor test.

Myself, I'd be inclined to go with a 7.62 can for versatility reasons unless you never plan to own a caliber larger than 5.56.

 

[Hoody2shoes]

@op I'd consider looking at a griffin explorr if I were you. The 556 can had a hub version you could still run xeno with if you'd like. Its lighter, shorter, and has (imo) better overall performance than the seirra5.

 

[houndog]

I've probably got over 1000 rounds through my Sierra 5. So far no issues, so I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. Weight and length are pretty reasonable and sound suppression with several 10.5" uppers has been good. However, as others have said, they are pretty gassy (worse for me because I shoot left handed) and there have been many well documented problems with this can. Don't know if those have been fixed in more recent production, but if you were going to get a new can I think there are definitely better choices.

 

[HTX_17]

I've probably got over 1000 rounds through my Sierra 5. So far no issues, so I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. Weight and length are pretty reasonable and sound suppression with several 10.5" uppers has been good. However, as others have said, they are pretty gassy (worse for me because I shoot left handed) and there have been many well documented problems with this can. Don't know if those have been fixed in more recent production, but if you were going to get a new can I think there are definitely better choices.

Can you share your partial serial?

 

[FRESHPRINCE556]

I have a nomad and I like it. Especially for a bolt gun. But my next can will be either a hux ventum 7.62 or silencer co velos 7.62 for low back pressure.

 

[houndog]

HTX - serial no. 025xx. I assume this is an early one, since I bought it when they first came out and before all the negative reviews started showing up. I also tend to baby this can a little (unlike my Sandman) so I really avoid mag dumps and never let the can get red hot.

 

[Clayman]

In order of back pressure, least to most. Backpressure doesn't automatically mean more gas blow back but usually has that correlation. Some designs flow better than others with higher back pressure.

 

[Bluedog82]

I would definitely recommend the Polonium K over the S5. HUB threaded and actually pretty good on flash suppression!

 

[FuhQ]

The Otter Creek Polonium or Polonium-K would be a better option. Probably about as gassy on your setup, but without the risk of a CF on the first magazine... Until I've heard lots of positive new experiences with DA cans, I'm still not comfortable really recommending them, other than the Mask HD, and now that they're 3D printing the Nomad series, that seems like it might be a positive step in the right direction, even though my Nomad-LT hasn't given me a single issue with thousands of rounds since 2020...

My Polonium on a carbine length gas 14.5" M4 (DI) with an H2 buffer has been excellent. Ejection pattern is exactly 3 o'clock both with and without the can, so I wouldn't say it's overgassed. I also would't say it's anymore gassy than my Sandman-S cans...But it's noticeably quieter when standing beside it while someone is shooting with it. It's shocked several folks at the range, especially when you tell them it's MSRP is only $550 and it's duty rated for just as hard use as the Sierra5 and Sandman-S...