Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Noveske uppers...worth the price??

Thinking about using one for a build....are they worth a grand or so? Accurate? Dependable? What say ye.....

Yep, they are very nice. I love all my Noveske stuff.

Simply excellent.

kd

I had one of their uppers. I would not buy one of their double chrome lined barreled uppers, you can get a PSA with the same barrel in it.

I used to reply no to this type of thread all the time.

Here is my take on it from a less aggressive stance...

The top makers like Noveske and La Rue etc... all turn out good products. If you have the money to spend and want one ready to roll and they make one that suits you, go for it.

OTOH, A lot of the top makers don't use the very best barrels, but kind of sort through mid range tubes, and accuracy test each upper, if it doesn't work, they put another tube on it until they get a good one. I've heard rejection rates at times can be around 30%. But they make it work.

Me, I desire some specific things, and since its a tool, I don't want to pay more than I have to for it. Recent example. buddy wanted a flat top upper, for yotes out to about 200 at his home and some at night.

So instead of paying for a 200 buck or so float tube with all kinds of rails, that actually kind of dig into you and that you end up putting covers on the ones not used... we bought a hogue float tube. Bought 2 machine screw swivel studs. Put 2 on the front, for sling and bipod if he ever does. Float tube was somethign around 50 bucks IIRC... a bit more. And then decided to pay 15ish bucks for 2 short rails... for light and laser possibly later. 4 more holes and good to go. Put a used tube on it, as it doesn't take less than MOA for 200 yard anything generally. Put a Burris PEPR mount on it.

Came out reasonably priced. And my bet is it'll hold around 3/4 moa. 65 bucks for a flat top upper with forward assist, and port door. 50ish for the tube. 15 for the 2 rails. 30ish for a low profile gas block. 15? for the gas tube. Barrel was free, but could buy a new one for 200 or less easily. Ad charge handle and bolt carrier at around 150ish. Well under 1000. That includes the scope mount at about 70.

On my personal builds I go about the same route, just buy exactly what I need but no more but I typically put on a better tube, my 300 whisper has a rock tube sitting here waiting on other parts..... So I add 150 or more to the barrel price...

FWIW we've run from the highest to cheapest parts in lowers and uppers out there, and as long as the parts are right and "in spec" and the barrel is a top line and set up right, they run and run and run, and are very accurate.

Bottom line some folks just want to pick up top line and run and have no real idea of exactly what they want. Wilson, LaRue, Noveske are all good ones for that.

Some folks don't need the best out there and can get by just fine with DPMS or the like and the guns will outshoot them for their life spans likely.

And then there are folks that by trial and error know what they need, and have that built or build it themselves. Rarely at more cost than the likes of a Noveske, often about the same but generally at least as good or better than...

And then there is the ammo issue... if you don't reload, you'll never know what your gun is capable of... and that would factor into a lot of what i used to make up my mind which route to go.

Its very much like John Burns guns..... I'd never pay that price because I can part together as good or better gun and load as good or better ammo, but I take and make the time to do it and enjoy what goes into it. But for those that want to plunk down and go, John has worked up a good system with his bolt guns.

Good luck.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff for taking time to give me that thoughtful answer. I have recently built two rifles using psa uppers and lowers. These are my first "black" rifles. They are both minute of hog,(1.5 to 2 moa at 100yds) especially with reloads using barnes tac-x 55gr bullets (same as triple shocks). I have about $500 each in them not counting a Gisselle trigger I got on sale for about a hundred bucks for one of them. I really like the platform and they are fun to shoot. Just wondering if more money equals more accuracy, since mine almost never fail to feed or fire, so dependability is already there. Sounds like some upgrades help, but a guy who uses the rifles like me might not notice the small (relatively) differences.

I've used 3 of their barrels, an 18" SPR and two 16" light weights.

The SPR is a 1/2" barrel while the 16's are both closer to 3/4" shooters. They are chambered for MK 262 ammo and can be run hotter than my old Krieger but the Krieger was more accurate. They are all ported about right, leaning towards reliability rather than "smoothness" which is all the rage now.

I think they offer a decent product for the price.

Never seen many ARs that wouldn't do 1 inch. IMHO probably spend 300ish bucks on a good barrel, that would/should put it to under an inch, and often chasing half inch.

The barrel is a MAJOR IMPORTANT part of the formula. The rest of the parts just ain't gonna make as much difference, IMHO, as a top line barrel.

I'd take the best barrel with the cheapest set of parts rather than the other way around any day.

Their barrels come with a good low profile, pinned, gas block and gas tube. Most Krieger barrels run $450 without, while others run less. I've been quoted $50 to bead blast a barrel, which Noveske already includes, the VLTOR gas block runs $50 and having someone pin it runs $35 or so.

It all equals out as long as you get what you want. And please don't base Noveske's accuracy reputation on my shooting.

What about the Wylde chamber? Free float rail? Accuracy enhancers worth the $$ or not?

Wylde chamber is about all I run except for my 90 grain barrels. Best of all worlds IMHO.

Float rail doesn't make anything more accurate that most can tell. But if you are going to put a bipod, or sling tension on the gun, it'll sure help it maintain zero.

TWR, I'm guessing, but have not priced barrels, that you are quoting ready to go at 450, I was still seeing blanks around 300 last I looked a while ago.

But 150 is about standard to set em up then.

What is a noveske running? I could google but I'm lazy and have a feeling you know.

I'm thinking when I read, they are made well and have a really good shot at being a pretty dang good tube.

Noveske barrel $410
Stripped upper $80
BCG $175
FF Rail $175
Muzzle device $100(?)

That all comes out to $950. So if the upper is exactly what you want "about a grand" could be worth it.

That's assuming you're talking about a SS barrel with their NSR rail.

Jeff, a 5.56 SS barrel runs $410 with pinned lp gas block and has tube from DSG.

Blue where are you getting them for $410? Their site shows $455 with a pinned gas block. That might twist my arm.

Noveske uses PacNor blanks, they are polygonal rifled and I never seem to need to clean mine. I like em.

Afterum, the barrel is the accuracy enhancement. A free float rail makes em easier to shoot accurately along with a good trigger. Don't buy into the billet crap or any other "enhancements" as long as the bolt locks up square, the barrel lets the ammo do all it will do.

One has to keep in mind that a new Noveske upper "around a grand", is not going to have a free float handguard, nor a decent muzzle device, nor most likely a SS barrel, so you will have to include the additional cost of upgrading it if one is to compare apples to apples on the cost of building it yourself.

That's not a knock on Noveske, they make great stuff, but my last Wilson Combat build cost me around $800. The equivalent Noveske upper runs $1475.

You can save a ton of money if you have any mechanical skills using top end Noveske, Wilson Combat, Larue etc., components and build it yourself.

Sorry TWR, $455 is right. I was logged in when I looked and can get 10% off.

"You can save a ton of money if you have any mechanical skills using top end Noveske, Wilson Combat, Larue etc., components."

This is true to a degree, I can't remember exactly but when I built my first faux Rogue Hunter, I might have saved $100 by the time I added shipping from a half dozen companies.

I do like to use parts of my choosing and enjoy putting them together and don't see myself buying a built upper ever again.

Yeah, I haven't bought a complete upper in years.

When you figure out you can build a sub MOA AR with top quality components for $$hundreds less, it becomes addictive.

Wilson Combat

Barrel SS 16" tactical lightweight $274.95
Lo pro gas black $29.95
Upper Receiver $109.95
BCG $98.57 or $199.95 for NP3 coated
Accutac flash hider $49.95
Gas tube $16.95
Trim rail $246.46
BCM Charging handle $44.95

Around $875/$975(NP3 BCG) plus $20+- in shipping, one stop shopping...
for the equivalent of a $1250 upper from Wilson or the equivalent of a $1450 upper from Noveske.

To me its mostly that you get what you need, not what someone thinks you need.

If you want top accuracy, buy the best barrel you can. The rest of the parts, really don't matter all that much, the barrel and bolt and chambering etc... are really what matters most. You can pay for the name on a lot of htat stuff, but in the end thats mostly, what you get. But I will give you the named stuff can be better than others, but its generally not required. Depends on what you want.

What about the Colt 6724 upper? I bought one from Colt before the last scare for around $750 I think. I don�t remember exactly. They just ship it to you in a box. How does it compare accuracy wise?