My new Noveske gets here Tuesday so I’ve been taking around my Rock River to local shops to see what I can get for it (I figure I’d rather sell it and spend that money on ammo and optics than keep it as a back-up).
I’m always asked why I’d want to sell “such a nice gun.” So I tell them, “the next one will be nicer.” And when they ask what could possibly be nicer than a RRA I tell them “Noveske.” That’s when I get a blank stare. Or they say something like, “is that some Russian knock-off?”
Obviously, Noveske is a pretty well-known name around these forums and, I would assume, among many serious AR buffs. And I do live in Cleveland, where anyone who spends more than $700 on an AR-15 or $250 on a handgun is considered a high roller. But I got curious…
In your experience, how many people out there have heard the name before?
Had a nice discussion with a former tactical team member yesterday about how excited he was because he just got in his Stag Arms piston upper…I simply smiled and said “good for you.” If they don’t care then I don’t care to explain things to them. I got a couple of BCM’s and Troy’s so I know what real quality is.
If they think the RRA is “such a nice gun” then they should “give you a lot of cash for it”.
The truth is that guns that are not mass produced commercial guns i.e. not RRA, Bushmaster, etc… are never going to be well known to common gun shops. Most gun shops dont know shit about the guns they sell anyway.
Believe it or not, I’ve been offered damn-close to what I paid for it. After watching Pawn Stars on the History Channel all the time, I thought $600-700 would be optimistic. Turns out I’ve got a good chance to actually make a profit buying new and selling used!
I’ve found only pretty serious students will recognize the name. There must be 5 or 10 gunmag articles reviewing a BM, Stag or RRA rifle for every mention of a Noveske. And a 50:1 ratio for BCM.
Print off several copies of the chart and take them to local shops with you. When they refer to a RRA as being nice, just hand them a copy of the chart.
Went to two (3) of the local GDs around my neck of the woods, and none of them heard of Noveske. On their walls/racks were the others’ ARs, not even a Colt!
That’s awesome. I managed to do the same thing (sell at a profit) with a DPMS and used the money toward a N4 light. Probably one of the best gun selling decisions I’ve made. I used to work at a pawn shop and I would never, ever sell anything there. Their business model relies on Lowballing with a capital L. They really want you to borrow money so the only way they’ll outright buy something is if it’s a great deal for them.
Most people I know that carry an M4 for a living don’t know about Noveske and think RRA is GTG.
Most guys behind the counter only know what the gun rags tell them has they read it on the crapper.
Every now and then I run across somebody at the gun store that knows a thing or two.
Come to think of it the “high end” shop I go to had a Wilson Combat AR and they treated that think like it was a holy relic. The employee I spoke with had heard of Noveske but didn’t think they could be as good as a Wilson.
I recently picked up my Noveske lower from a local shop (FFL transfer). When the shop owner was doing the background check (via computer database), Noveske was not a listed manufacturer, and he had never heard of them either.
The shop owner also made a comment about the lower was probably built in someones garage. I bit my tongue and patiently waited for the info to clear.
I had the same thing happen to me. I had a RRA upper and quickly decided that I didn’t want it anymore and actually made $75 bucks off of it and didn’t have to spend a penny more to buy a BCM middy. It is amazing what advertising can do to the un-informed.
Most of the time at the range someone will ask me what Im shooting. I say…Noveske, KAC, LaRue, BCM, etc. Maybe 20% don’t give me an odd look and actually know what at least one of them are. These are people shooting AR’s, too…
Had one guy try to tell me his DPMS SASS was so great, and was the new Army sniper rifle. He had all this CAA garbage on it. Every cheap tactical part you can poke a stick at… I was just like yeah thats cool… :rolleyes:
I must have been shooting next to the same guy. Was he also running his DPMS bone dry and having to hand cycle it with every round until the gun locked up?
No this was in TX. Range is always fun for seeing ridiculous people and guns.
I had to back off the line when a guy took the bench next to me, and pulled out a home made black powder muzzle loader, and said something along the lines of “I hope this doesn’t blow up!”
