Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Forbes Rifle...

Just curious...are they tits up?
What gives? Anyone with any inside info?

Yes...production ceased late Oct iirc. No inside infor

Man, what a shame.
So much potential and Melvin's name as well.
Somehow I knew a stainless steel left handed acton would never leave the facility.

With quality control (ie: stock bedding that wasn't 't akin to a load of crap) and an aggressive LH ss/production marketing strategy the place would/should have flourished...

Melvin finally has a new website and says as much on the homepage. I feel lucky since I sent them a check in July and received a rifle about a month later.

I think Melvin is stingy with his name... Did the same with the Colt Light Rifle pretty much.. The Forbes Rifles were probably hurting Melvin's NULA bottom line.

g

How so?

It was my impression that Colt pulled the plug on the CLR 'cause their marketing team had no idea how to successfully bring a sporting rifle not built on an AR platform to market.

I understand Melvin worked with Colt concerning quality control issues, Colt screwed the pooch on the synthetic stock and Forbes bought the company back.

I have no concrete knowledge on his endeavors, it just seems like he's as interested in closing the companys, regardless of who actually owns them, as he is seeing them open.

Kinda like it's his baby and he can't let it go.

g

My impression was that Mr. Forbes pushed Colt to set, reach, and maintain the high quality that he established with ULA in a production environment. Mr. Forbes knew that a CLR would never be a ULA because it was designed to be a production rifle to sell in the $400 to $500 range.

I have a couple of CLRs and think that they were a good value when they were in production and, maybe, an even better value today, since the CLR prices have stayed in the $500+/- range while the price for comparable rifles has increased quite a bit.

GeoW,

You're wrong.

Every time Melvin Forbes has gotten involved with a bigger company it was because they told him they'd make a good, but lower-priced rifle, on his basic design. In both instances they lied, so he had to untangle himself from the agreement.

Everyone I know who has purchased one had to have work done to it to make it work.

Likely not Melvin's issue in either case.

I can't wait to pick up another on fire sale, my 308 has been great! Somehow I don't think they will be as cheap as the CLR's were! It has been the best shooting no fuss out of the box rifle I've owned. I applaud Melvin for tying to bring us a cheaper NULA, twice no less. Maybe next time!

Read his posting....
Good on Melvin for cutting it loose, and for addressing the mess openly.

The guy knows how to build a quality weapon and he probably has more money than he needs...his name was being diminished.

Good morning John. Melvin is top notch.. I can not understand why he would allow a cheap copy of his rifle design in the first place.

No way.

Geo

Melvin wasn't looking for a cheap copy of his design. My guess (and it's just that) is that Melvin had a couple of reasons for partnering with larger companies. The first was to provide a quality rifle in the ULA footprint that would be much more affordable to enthusiasts. The other was an eye toward the future, because I'm not sure there is a solid plan for NULA after Melvin.

Sadly, NULA will likely fade, once Melvin steps away...

So a pizz poor businessman that clearly should stick to what he knows.

Most people wish they were "pizz poor" enough at business to build a company like NULA. I give Melvin credit for trying to bring his design to a much wider market, though I certainly hoped for better outcomes.

Off their Facebook page.

All, sorry for the lack of communication. By now you have all figured out that we are going through some changes. We hope to have Forbes rifles up and running in our new location very shortly. Once this happens I will post our new location and number so you can reach us. Thank you very much for your patients

This was posted in the Facebook comments by Forbes Rifles LLC on Dec 15th:

"...Forbes isn't technically out of business but Titan (the supplier of the metal parts) has been sold. Forbes is being purchased by another company and will live on. I will let all of you know when we are back on. Again thank you for your patience..."

If they actually rise from the ashes, I hope they get smart and go straight to an all stainless version. No sense dicking around like they did the first go.

Cool! They have a great concept, now they just need to get QC rolling.