I'm building my first platform off of a Noveske lower that I purchased through Ranier Arms. I was in the process of installing the bolt catch when I realized that there isn't a hole milled into the lower for the bolt catch roll pin. Both my Ruger SR556 & my Bushy M4 have the holes milled into the lower for the roll pin, so that the bolt catch can be mounted. Am I missing something? Is there some special way to mount the bolt catch on a Noveske lower that I don't know about? Is it possible this was overlooked during the manufacturing process? Just wanted some ideas before I call Noveske tomorrow, any help is appreciated!!! Thanks in advance!


"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
Thomas Jefferson
3rd president of US (1743 - 1826)

Just put my Noveske together this week. Like all other receivers, there needs to be a hole for the roll pin for the bolt catch.

MY Noveske lower from Rainier had a hole. There should be a hole in  each ear on either side of the catch, if not call them someone forgot to drill it.

Yeah that's what I figured, NO hole what so ever, how can this be possible? Talk about poor quality control! Maybe Noveske isn't all it's cracked up to be??? I'm holding off judging until after I talk to them tomorrow. I just hope I don't have to go through a FFL again to get this right, what a pain in the ass that will be! I'll post a follow up after I speak to them! Thanks fellas!


"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
Thomas Jefferson
3rd president of US (1743 - 1826)

Talk to the guys from Rainier, they will fix it and deal with Noveske for you. Rainier Arms has been great in all my dealings with them.

Spoke with John at Ranier today, he was amazed at the situation, first time he's ever heard of it happening. He suggested that I call Noveske for a couple of reasons: 1) If I shipped to him he would just forward it to Noveske essentially acting as a middle man, which would delay my receipt of a new lower needlessly. 2) If he shipped a new lower to me after he received it from Noveske, I would have to go through a FFL, and subsequent transfer charge again. 3) He thought Noveske would like to know of this personally from a customer. So I called Noveske and spoke to Joel, who laughed in amazement when I told him of the situation. This is apparently the first time he's ever heard of this happening also! He then told me to pack up the lower and ship it back, at no charge to me, and he would send a new lower to me as soon as he received the defective one. All in all, still a pain in the ass, but it was handled with class! I'll remain a Noveske customer! Thanks for all the input! Later!



"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
Thomas Jefferson
3rd president of US (1743 - 1826)

Sounds typical.  I am a machinist by training and some experience, and I can tell you you never miss the tiny stuff like getting the hole the right diameter or whatever, but it's really easy to completely forget the hole!

In this case I would bet money that a drill broke off and this lower slipped through the cracks before the machine operator noticed.  Hopefully yours is the only lower that got missed.

ETA:  In case you laymen don't understand, a CNC machine will move the lower into position and go through the motions of drilling the hole even if the drill itself is missing.  Some newer machines have touchpads that the machine will touch off on before cutting in order to verify the tool is present, but they add cycle time and are often not used.

BTW:  "drill bit" is a misnomer.  In machining parlance the "bit" is simply called a DRILL.

I have dealt with joe on a few occasions, great customer service they will definately make it right.