Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Noveske?

Are you just paying for the name? Can some of you guys explain to me which are the best ones to buy? I've heard the ones that were made before John died are more desirable. What is the consensus on the whole Noveske brand. Do they shoot better than other brands? The reason I'm asking is because I have a line on a heavy contour 20" upper for a damn good deal. Seams like too good to be true actually, and damn hard to pass up. However, it is a gen I upper and I've heard that some of these had fitment issues. Someone chime in with some knowledge like what the differences are on gen I, II, III, IV, chainsaw, etc. Oh yeah, if I did buy a gen I upper, would it be wise to use a gen 3 lower? I'm not really interested in the N4 that is a low profile lightweight lower I believe. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks...

I know their barrels are nice. I might be mistaken but it is my understanding they're Pacnor finished by Noveske. I have an "Afghan" on my build and it shoots tremendous. It is the only Noveske part on my rifle. They make nice stuff but there is definitely a fan boy aspect.

The chainsaw is their blemish items they offer.

Thanks nimrod. I just bought that upper, we'll see how well it does in the AR challenge... A little trigger time and the right load will tell how good the barrel is... From what the original owner tells me, it shoots better than most and was his most accurate upper. It's a 3 land 8 twist 20" heavy contour, so I suspect it will do alright.....

I have two of the low priced. Noveske Rouge Hunters in .556 and 300 Blackout. .556 is a 16" 1 in 7 twist barrel and the blackout is 10.5" 1 in 7 twist. Both shoot crazy accurate and the rest of the rifles function flawlessly. No complaints and would definitely buy another. The only thing I have done to mine is put in Timney Triggers and the Ambidextrous Safety. I want their 7.62 AR bad. It will be mine. I might be one of those Fanboys. .

their carbon steel chrome lined barrels used to be made by FN, not sure if this is still the case today, the carbon/chromed barrels are average accuracy no better than a Colt or DD out of the box. I had one for a while, good gun but not worth more than a DD. I also have one of their LW stainless barrels 18 inches long, a good barrel and when I am able to do so it will shoot 10 factory 55 vmax bullets into a little over an inch its built into an upper I made myself. If you were looking for a once and done gun that most probably will shoot pretty good, buy their rogue hunter.

Good buy - especially if the price was right.

Edit - TWR is correct - the barrel is built at Pac-Nor with Noveske specs, as Noveske had/has an arrangement to use their machines to make their barrels. The rest of the upper will be quality as well, they generally took their time in putting it together right the first time.

More later - it's later.

I used to know who did the forging for their uppers/lowers, but it's probably posted on AR-15.com somewhere, plenty of the "fan-boy" types living there.

The Noveske brand is the first rifle company that I heard called a "boutique" rifle company. IMHO, it's a correct label. Gen 1 are usually desired because of the personal attention (or rumored) given during the assembly. Small company, small batch builds, more hands-on in the process.

Noveske built rifles for specific groups of operational types through his connections to the community. The commercial business was a spin-off, that went further than expected. Add in a AR ban-scare, an untimely death, and a few conspiracy theorist tales, and the cool crowd had to have one.

Gen 1 - basic forged AR-15 lower, nothing to see here, looking like every other lower on the market, anodized finish. A number of folks argue that these were the "tightest" specs, lock-up with no rattle, etc. Jeff will be along to tell us how much that matters...

Gen 2 - forged lower, closed trigger guard, flared magwell, and "beefed" up a bit around the stress points, mostly noticed at the bottom of the buffer tube extension, and below the magazine catch on the left side, same anodized finish. Generally, the compliant was that these were looser fitting than the Gen 1.

Gen 3 - billet receivers, and cerakoted - fan boys freaked that the Gen 3 finish didn't match their existed Gen1/2 parts anodized parts. Visible difference, the fence for the magazine release extends vertically down the mag well at the corner on the Gen 2s - looks like a nub dropping down vertically. The fence on the Gen 3 does not have the "nub". The exterior surfaces on the sides of the receiver are now "flattened" as the billet is machined, instead of forged.

The fan boys building rifles complained that the uppers and lowers between the three Gens don't always fit "right". Noveske's answer is that if you want a perfect rifle, you have to buy a Noveske factory built rifle, the parts are just parts, they meet the mil-specs for dimensions, and interchanging individual parts doesn't come with a guarantee.

They make good quality rifles and parts. Much of it is "boutique" gear though, you are paying for the name and logo that John Noveske made famous. I wouldn't hesitate to own anything from them but I wouldn't pay a huge premium.

I've had 3 of their barrels, 2 before John died and the one I have left was bought right after he died, like as soon as they started anserwing their phones after he died. They all have shot pretty good. 1 18" SPR and 2 16" light weights, all SS. They are chambered for MK262 ammo which is high pressured 77 gr SMK's loaded by Black Hills. I can shoot 10 shots under 1" then I always manage to open the second group up for the challenge but that ain't the barrels fault.

I've had a Krieger that was more accurate but for the most part they will hold their own.

They are not exactly Pac Nor barrels. They use a different steel and different techniques but are built by Pac Nor employees on Pac Nor machinery. You cannot call Pac Nor and order the same thing. Their double chrome lined barrels are built by FN to their specs but are not where their reputation comes from.

I shoot a Noveske Thunder Ranch and love the heck out of it.

Might be overpriced, but at least you know it's built out of good stuff. Worth it to me.

kd

Awesome info guys. Thanks, I appreciate it....

Hey guys, I just got my Noveske upper today and it is sweet!!! I can't wait to try it out in the AR challenge. I think it will do very well, if it's as accurate as the original owner claims. I pulled my left hand stag upper off of my bushy lower just to mock up what I'm thinking I'd like this rifle to look like when it's done. However, I think I am going to go with an ACS stock instead of the PRS because of the price difference and the ACS fits me very well anyway. No complaints there. However, it does look pretty bad azzed with the PRS from my bushmaster:




What you fan boys think? Just scrape a little more money and go with the PRS instead of the ACS??????

The PRS is a very nice stock but I found it to be too heavy and bulky for anything other than range use.

I have two Noveske barrels for sale if anyone is planning a build soon. One is the 18" Lightweight and the other is an 18" SPR.....$400/shipped for either one.

Should work great for that AR challenge then...

You guys can have your Noveske, I purchased a Rock River Lar 15 a few years back, with certain handloads it will shoot groups under two inches at 400 yards.

That ant nothing........My Anderson will do that all day at 500yrds!!!!!!!!!

Very cool. Did you shoot it in the AR challenge here? Should be a sure fire winner, shooting like that..

Well, that proves you don't need a Noveske.

Never saw anything about an AR challenge, at least I can't remember.

I have nothing against a name. We all know you end up paying more for the name, but when you can get one for CHEAP, there's nothing wrong with that either.... AR prices are down enough now that I finally decided to take the plunge. Got lucky on the deal, but I'm not going to lie and say I've never wanted one, because honestly it's been on my bucket list... I enjoy the heck out of looking at all of your guys' builds and do know I like the one you posted a couple years ago. I remember it was damn nice, but can't for the life of me remember exactly what it was!!!!!! It could have been your RRA...