10.5 Noveske Switchblock or PWS mk110 Piston?

[bugeyes]

Thinking about getting a complete upper from either of these bad boys, which one should I consider? Like to use it w/M4-2000 suppressor.

[Toxicodendron]

Thinking about getting a complete upper from either of these bad boys, which one should I consider? Like to use it w/M4-2000 suppressor.

I had a PWS Diablo and sold it and bought a 10.5" Switchblock and never looked back. I like the flexablity of the Noveseke to shoot suppressed and close off the gas port to shoot my sub sonic hand loads.

[Watrdawg]

I got the 10.5" Noveske w/SB also and will be picking it up in a few days.

[Moltke]

Thinking about getting a complete upper from either of these bad boys, which one should I consider? Like to use it w/M4-2000 suppressor.

Noveske Switchblock.

[Ratfink]

Noveske

[Wake27]

My vote is Noveske as well. Before I bought mine, I was debating between DI and piston, when I read one really good point that made up my mind. The DI system has been around for about half a century and has been used in just about every possible situation and application. That's a lot of T&E... The piston AR is still pretty new, and relatively, very untested.

[doriwoogie]

I've got a 10.5" Switchblock and I use it with my M4-2k. Functions great for me (sample size of 1 and low speed civilian). I don't have any experience with the PWS piston, but I have friends with piston uppers (one has a HK416 10.5" upper and the other a LWRC 10.5" upper). In my experience with theirs (again, low speed civilian) I haven't found anything that theirs can do that mine couldn't, except that they were more expensive (especially the HK416 upper). I don't think you'll be disappointed with the Switchblock.

[Javelin]

I really like my Noveske CQB w/ Switchblock. My favorite AR by far.

[viperashes]

I suppose that I get to be the iconoclast on this one.

Both are fine uppers in their own right. I personally own a factory PWS MK110 and it runs like a dream. It's just as light as a DI upper, despite what many others will tell you about this being a possiblility. I just equate it to them spewing off about something they haven't handled. It may be slightly heavier, but not even remotely close to enough to actually notice.bEither the Noveske SB or the PWS MK110 will serve you perfectly fine. I think the big stigma with DI/Piston guns is that most of them suck, for some reason or another, even the good ones suck because they're heavy. The PWS is good at keeping weight to a minimum, especially for being a piston.

I've been corrected a couple times for having outdated information because they've gone through a few phases in how they source parts. For a while, a few years ago now they were using Lothar Walther barrels, at least in the MK107 Diablo, but as far as I know, they're using DD barrels currently in all their uppers. My experience with the MK110 has been nothing but positive. Extremely accurate consistently, even shooting shit ammo.

As for suppressing it, mine wears an AAC M4-2K on a muzzle brake mount and runs absolutely great. This isn't just n=1 information either, because I've actually run a friends pretty hard, while I've only had limited time with my own personal, having been deployed for the last year.

My experience with the Noveske is similar to my experience with the MK110. They're both extremely nice, accurate, consistent shooters. I believe the Noveske is a little more expensive. Honestly, sheerly from a financial standpoint, the PWS is a better deal. You're paying more for a fancy gas block on the Noveske, which is fine if that's what you want. I was dead stone set on a Noveske switchblock "MK18" before finding the PWS, and won't look back now.

As far as parts replacement and the proprietary piston/bolt/etc. you don't really need to worry. The piston is solid and you don't really need to worry about breaking it, because there is very little involved in cleaning it, plus, PWS is going to be putting out a piston parts kit soon so that if for whatever reason it were to fail, individuals don't have to replace the entire BCG with a new group. The cam pin and firing pin are standard profile. The bolt is slightly modified, being a piston gun, and has a lower shelf that allows for the use of a spring behind the bolt that keeps it forward and the cam pin aligned to 12 for reinserting the carrier group easily into the upper, however, a standard AR15 bolt will work perfectly fine, gas rings or not, in the PWS. It will just act like a standard carrier group, and you will have to manually align the cam pin.

Ultimately, you do get some really cool features with either gun. I'm in no way biased in my opinion, because I've handled and shot both. Both are fine weapons by all means. Like I said, both run great, neither better than the other for the way that I used them, suppressed or unsuppressed both run about the same, both are extremely accurate, but the PWS runs a few hundred dollars cheaper as a complete rifle, as well as the upper being cheaper as well.

The M4C community is pretty biased toward DI guns over pistons, and for good reason, they've been doing the job for over 60 years. Some argue that the piston is a solution searching for a problem, I say that it's natural progression for the sake of evolution. It's not that it solves a problem that DI guns have issues with, it's just natural evolution of things. Piston guns (other than the PWS) are heavy, and do essentially the same job, not a whole lot better than DI guns do, usually for a higher price tag, which doesn't translate into very much sense.

The PWS is definitely a pretty penny, as is the Noveske SB, both are definitely worth every cent spent on them. Personally, from a performance to cost ratio, my money has already spoken my opinion for me.