...and am now waiting on my lower to return from Ident engraving....

I'm pretty sure I want to go 10.5 on the upper, but want to spec' it out as light as possible with a railed forend.  Also, I want it to run as cleanly as possible while suppressed (which it will be almost 100% of the time).

Question is....do I have to get a Noveske switchblocked upper to accomplish this or should I have someone cut back a barrel for me and do some gas port work to it?  I like the idea of the switchblock, but I'm not completely enamored with remainder the Noveske upper specs.  I'd like to have some options.

I have had complete reliability with factory LMT 10.5 barrels and an AAC 1000

Good to hear that as an option.....not too over-gassed eh?

I don't have a Rainier 10.5 but I do have their 7.5" SST Ultra Match 1/8. It has run 100% since day 1. It only has a .056 gas port.
My Wilson 11.5" has a .071 gas port which is still very reasonable.
Colt uses a .093 on a 10.5" which is way over gassed in my opinion.
I don't know how and why this works, but it does. Certainly not over gassed.

Are you running them suppressed?

LMT 10.5 from bravo co here,with BCM FA bolt/carrier....I use a YHM Phantom 556 suppressor.Use a Spikes ST-2T buffer.Gun has never had a malfunction...thousands of rounds.
Thats with or without suppressor...I never shoot russian(or steel cased) ammo however.

I have a 1x9 10.5" that was cut down from a 16" & port opened to .093".  Runs like a champ, suppressed or unsuppressed, even with Silver Bear ammo.  It's been good to me.  I'm starting to get the idea I want to slap that barrel from flat top to A2 upper & get an 11.5" in 1x7 for my flat top setup.  

You want fun?  Get a .22LR with a 5.5" barrel & a good .22LR suppressor (love the 22Sparrow).  Bulk pack stays subsonic, it's cheap, a lot of fun, and damn quiet.  I started incrementally with a 22 conversion, then later got a dedicated barrel, collar, and YHM mini rail off the EE for a new upper.  It's good enough to hit a quarter-size shoot 'n see offhand @ 25 yards with my fakepoint, which is all the more accurate I am anyway. AR-15/22 is addictive

I have a Noveske 10.5 light-shorty switchblock upper and it runs really well suppressed with a M4-2000.  I also run a PRI gas buster charging handle to cut down on the amount of gas in my face.

I've been thinking about picking up a LWRC 10.5" M6A3 upper to run since a gas piston setup would be much cleaner.  A friend of mine has a LMT 10.5" piston upper and his setup is much cleaner than mine running suppressed.

10.5 noveske n4 here with h2 buffer and m4-2000 run always, pri gas buster. Sure it gets dirtys but it will run thousands of rounds with out cleaning. No malfunctions to date with remmington umc, ultramax, winchest silver tip, federal 100 roud wally world bulk packs, and wwb from wally world.

Thanks for shared experiences everyone.....at this point I am leaning towards the Noveske 10.5 light shorty with switchblock.   Then again, I may just skip the switchblock and go loprofile with a rail covering it.   Still can't decide...

Does anyone make a 10.5 with gas port sized for dedicated suppression?....that way the switchblock becomes moot...

ADCO makes an 11.5" barrel designed for full-time use with an OPS M4-S suppressor.  Looks like a nice compact package if that's the can you want to go with.

Yes, that ADCO package is interesting.  I may try to go for max sound suppression though, using a different setup.

I run them suppressed and unsuppressed. But, I use a .308 can with the 7.5". Just a stronger can.

I've also considered the idea of running my 762 phantom on a 10.5" barrel.....but it would definitely be front heavy.  How does your .308 can balance with that 7.5" barrel?