John Noveske would be proud...

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Dr.Phil
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John Noveske would be proud...

Post by Dr.Phil »

I had purchased a 10.2" 300 BLK Noveske barrel in October of 2010 as part of a MK12 MOD0 themed build.
The build was intended to be a 300 Fireball / 300 Whisper(r) build, but this new 300 BLK thing came on the scene and screwed that up.
The plan from the beginning was centered around utilizing a 10" 300 Fireball barrel from Noveske and when I finally got to the point of ordering the barrel in September of 2010, poof, they were gone.
I called around and was told to sit tight for about 2 weeks, because there is a new product being announced called 300 AAC BLACKOUT.
After learning of this new product release, I contacted Noveske to order a barrel.
They did not have any made up yet, but I preordered one and patiently waited.

Once I got my dies and components in, I started to do some load development with subsonic 220 SMKs and the supersonic 110 V-Max.
The subsonic 220 SMKs worked great and were MOA or better out to 300 yards.
The supersonic V-max on the other hand, gave me nothing but trouble.

My troubles with the V-max started with pressure signs on the brass well below listed max loads.
Not only that, but getting them to feed properly became maddening.
Since I had originally designed this rifle to be a suppressed subsonic platform, I wasn't too concerned about the issues with the V-max.
I just focused on playing with subs and enjoyed the giggles I could put on people's faces.

As time went by and the 300 BLK platform got some attention from manufactures, new and exciting projectiles started coming on the scene.
The first one that grabbed my attention was the 125 SMK.
I did some load development for it and found it to be exceptionally accurate, but it too was exhibiting pressure signs well below where one would expect.
I had read that the Gen I 300 BLK barrels from Noveske utilized their version of a MATCH chamber and this caused pressure signs in some user's barrels.
Since my barrel exhibited exceptional accuracy and my primary use for it was subsonics, it wasn't a huge priority.
So, for many years, I just dealt with the fact that I had to load my supersonic loads a bit light.

Fast forward to 2015 / 2016, even more projectiles have been released for 300 BLK and folks like dellet have been pushing the limits of supersonic 300 BLK performance.
This finally prompted me to get off my ass and contact Noveske regarding my issue.
I sent them a detailed E-mail explaining the issue and they offered to issue me an RMA # to have the chamber recut.
So, I stripped down my upper and shipped off my barrel to Noveske in Grant's Pass, OR.

Yesterday afternoon, I get a call on my cell phone from Grant's Pass, OR and I almost didn't pick up since I didn't recognize the number.
Then, I remembered that Noveske was in Grant's Pass!
I pick up my phone and Matt from Noveske introduced himself.
Matt explained that he received my barrel and said that the barrel appeared to have the current version of the chamber.
He told me that he then took my barrel and built up an upper with it.
Matt test fired the upper with a variety of factory loaded supersonic ammo and was astonished by what he saw.
With all of the factory ammo he fired, there was major pressure signs on each piece of brass and they were blowing primers.
This was especially pronounced with the Hornady V-Max ammo.
(My loads using the V-Max always exhibited the highest pressure signs as well.)

So, Matt from Noveske says that he would like to replace my barrel for me at no charge.
He said that he would hand select a barrel for me, build it up and test fire it for quality, then ship the barrel with a test target and spent brass.
I agreed to this and told him that would be fine.
About 20 Minutes later, I get another call from Grant's Pass, OR.
It's Matt again.
He wanted to make sure that it was ok that the new barrel was a 1:7 twist instead of the 1:8 like I had and also wanted to make sure I was ok with a 10.5" barrel, since they no longer produced the 10".
I assured Matt that this was fine and that I appreciated his attention to detail.

The reason I'm posting all this info is to pass along a customer service story, along with the context.
Noveske customer service is top notch in my opinion.
They appropriately gauged the knowledge level of the customer and used that to apply an appropriate service approach.
Since I am a competitive precision shooter, hand loader, and armorer, Noveske communicated with me on the appropriate level.
(I'm sure a novice or hobbyist would get great service as well, but one must extract important information from them by asking a battery of questions.)

Bottom line, Noveke took a 6+ year old barrel from a customer and after thorough testing, determined it to be unacceptable and replaced it under warranty.
Not only that, but they did it with professionalism, attention to detail, and personal contact.

Great job Noveke!
Johnny would be proud...

Image
Last edited by Dr.Phil on Tue Feb 09, 2016 2:15 pm, edited 2 times in total.
"Don't tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly,
don't tell them where they know the fish."
--Mark Twain
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dellet
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Re: John Noveske would be proud...

Post by dellet »

Great to hear they went beyond your expectations.

This is one of those 1% comments business owners appreciate.

It seems like 99% of the people that have problems talk about the experience, but only 1% of those who have exceptional service ever say anything.

Now maybe we can get you out of second gear :mrgreen:
300 Blackout, not just for sub-sonics.
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plant.one
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Re: John Noveske would be proud...

Post by plant.one »

as ive said over and over, the mark of a good company is not only producing good products, but more importantly service after the sale. The later part is where great company's truly shine in my estimation. its also the part that separates an OK company from the top tier.


i agree with dellet, its good that folks like you share these positive experiences. its good reinforcement for those company's to keep doing what they're doing.
Reloading info shared is based on experiences w/ my guns. Be safe and work up your loads from published data. Web data may not be accurate/safe.
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smustian
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Re: John Noveske would be proud...

Post by smustian »

Nice write up Dr Phil.
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Dr.Phil
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Re: John Noveske would be proud...

Post by Dr.Phil »

dellet wrote:Great to hear they went beyond your expectations.

This is one of those 1% comments business owners appreciate.

It seems like 99% of the people that have problems talk about the experience, but only 1% of those who have exceptional service ever say anything.

Now maybe we can get you out of second gear :mrgreen:
Thanks for saying so.
I went ahead and E-mailed the Noveske Team a link to this thread.

Once I get my barrel back, I can finally put to use some of the incredible data you have put together.
I'll stop short of the double charge of AA#9 though. :P

I suppose the only real down side is that I'll have to spend the time and money redoing a bunch of load development.
Hopefully all the subsonic loads I have made up are still subsonic in the new barrel.
It will be interesting to see how accuracy compares to the old barrel...
"Don't tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly,
don't tell them where they know the fish."
--Mark Twain
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smustian
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Re: John Noveske would be proud...

Post by smustian »

Dr.Phil wrote: I'll stop short of the double charge of AA#9 though. :P
Had to laugh at your statement. I can picture it now. You testing the limits.

Dr. Phil has officially been added to THE LIST along with Dellet, Rebel and Certifiable.
polizei1
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Re: John Noveske would be proud...

Post by polizei1 »

Love my Noveske!
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themonk
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Re: John Noveske would be proud...

Post by themonk »

Makes me smile!
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Dr.Phil
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Re: John Noveske would be proud...

Post by Dr.Phil »

The only thing that I'm bummed about is that I probably won't have any luck shooting the COD bullets now. :cry:
"Don't tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly,
don't tell them where they know the fish."
--Mark Twain
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dellet
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Re: John Noveske would be proud...

Post by dellet »

Dr.Phil wrote:The only thing that I'm bummed about is that I probably won't have any luck shooting the COD bullets now. :cry:
You never know on that one, I need to get back to that project. I had reasonable results with the bullets you sent me up to 1350 fps in the 1/6. If it was the tips bending due to spin, that would get you close to 1600 fps for the same rpm.

With the harder alloy you talked about and the new and improved barrel, there might just be some fun to be had. :P
300 Blackout, not just for sub-sonics.
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