Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Opinions on CLR 7mm Mag Melvinizing

I've had a 7mm Mag Colt Light Rifle in the safe for a couple of years. Intending to send it off for Melvinizing, I haven't been convinced I want a 7mm Mag, so I've dragged my feet. The CLR is based on Melvin Forbes' NULA 24 magnum length action. Mine has a magnum bolt face. Any rechambering would need to be in a cartridge utilizing the magnum bolt face.

I have a Kimber Mountain Ascent in 308.

What to do?

1. Melvin seems to think the factory barrels shoot. Send it off for stock, trigger, etc., keeping it a 7mm Mag. then either keep it or sell it.

2. Rebarrel in another caliber compatible with the magnum bolt face?

3. Sell it as is.

Or...

How does it shoot ?

The previous owner did some backyard smithing on the trigger and it's downright dangerous. I bought it with the intention of Melvinizing, but then bought the Kimber. I always wanted a ULA/NULA, but not necessarily a Magnum. If I went out west, I'm not convinced that an ultralight 7mm Mag would offer any sizeable advantage over the 308.

"Convincing" is something you do through your own experience. I guess you have never hunted the West.

If you are convinced a 7 Rem Mag offers no advantage over a 308, then sell the 7 RM.

Of course the people who invented the 7 Rem Mag only had extensive experience on all western BG animals, including moose, and grizzly,and thoroughly tested the cartridge before it went commercial. But what did they know?

You should probably sell it.

While I've never hunted the west, I am sure there's nothing in NH that requires a 7mm Rem. Mag.

I am reminded of another post from "The Shrinking Big Game Rifle" thread...

I do hunt out west. I hunt NH only for day trips. I don't even live there.

Anyway I am giving you good advice. I don't know what "Melvinizing" is but sounds like a term where you give Forbes a POS rifle and he turns it into something decent.And if there was ever a POS, the Colt Light Rifle was "it". I recall when they came out. I could not believe how bad they were.

Since you're convinced the 7RM has no advantage over a 308 out west, why bother wasting the money remodeling a turd ?

Just sell it. You're convinced you don't need it anyway.

If you want a NULA rifle, just buy one in a caliber you are "convinced" offers you something.

BobnotinNH,

At no point in my original post did I report being "convinced" of anything.

I find it hard to believe that someone with 33,608 posts on 24HCF wouldn't have an idea of what Melvinizing a CLR would mean.

Thanks for your sincere and consistent input. I'm hoping you can imagine how little it's meant.

Posted this before, but mine in 30-06 is easily the most accurate hunting rifle I own and still wears the factory barrel. They were made by saco defense who made barrels for the military.

I had the stock, full length bedding, Timney trigger, Aluminum trigger guard, bolt jeweled and lapped etc, and then cerakoted all the metal ... for $630.00.

If you want a lightweight, accurate 7 mag....you can't do better for the money. Melvin is damn good people too.

Thanks JM. I'm totally into having Melvin re-work a CLR. I'm just not sure about the 7mm RM. I should probably just send it off and have the stock, trigger, mag follower, etc. replaced while retaining the Saco 7mm barrel.

I have had and still have several CLRs. The very best 264 Win mag I have owned was made from a 7mag CLR. I used a #2 contour Lilja barrel cut at 26". It was delight to carry and one of the best rifles for hunting out west I have ever had. The recoil was far less than I anticipated and the accuracy was outstanding. I also use the 308 extensively, both are excellent choices if you shoot them enough to know them.

Bill

The question was TIC.. I was making fun of a silly term.

I know exactly what it means. It's some "cool" term for having Mel take a POS and turn it into something.

I wouldn't touch one with a 10 foot pole, I wouldn't even pay for it with your money. They were junk pure and simple. Cant understand why people bother with them.

But you don't need it anyway. The 7 RM has no advantages over a 308 for western hunting. Sell it.

There any 600-1000 yard ranges near Kingston can use? You a match shooter by any chance?

My smith installed a Remington 700 trigger and an MPI stock on the one I had

Was an awesome shooter, wish I still had it!!

Had a 270 CLR reworked by Melvin, made it into a stellar rifle.

If Melvin says the CLR barrels shoot, I'd be inclined to believe him.

What all did it improve? I handled a CLR at Cabelas considering a re-work, but couldnt get past the gritty action and overall feel. Does Mel's tune up improve everything, or just the trigger?

Once I factored in $650 for his tune up, I would rather have a re-stocked Tikka based on my impressions of the CLR base.

There's a nice 280 NULA/CLR in the classifieds now that has been sitting a while. I don't remember if it's an AI or regular 280. Saves you some time/money if a 280 makes you happy.

Did not own it prior to conversion. It was light, accurate, fed smoothly and fit me well. Recoil was almost nonexistent.

Replaces the trigger,springs from what I remember.

Thanks. I've talked to him and got a list of what all he replaces, but I was just wondering if there's any intangibles he upgrades as well.

Oh I forgot the follower, basically every spring in the rifle is changed out.

What a surprise....

So a $550 rifle with $650 in upgrades has you at $1200.00 for a slick, very accurate very lightweight rifle hand fitted by a hell of a good guy. Yep, alot to hate about that..... then again, I paid $1000.00 for a Montana and another $650.00 to have it rebarreled into the second most accurate gun I own and feel like it was a hell of a deal at that price too.

Guess to each his own, some people like their cucumbers pickled.....

Wouldn't buy CLR in the first place and wouldn't spend $$$ on one if it was given to me.

Sell/trade it and get a good rifle is what I would do.

My advice is to just do what you want, build on it or sell it, either way it's your rifle, your $$, so your choice is the only one that counts.

I think that a CLR/NULA hybrid from Mr. Forbes is a pretty good build in the $1,200 to $1,300 range.

I've owned several CLRs, still have a couple, and think that they are equal to the comparably priced long action CF rifles from Rem/Rug/Win. My 1st tier elk rifle is a CLR in 270 that only shoots MOA or better, but I'm reasonably easy to please.

CLR's tend to be good shooters. I have had three, and still have one in 7RM. I hunted with it for years, but finally broke down last year and ordered a drop in stock from Melvin. The new stock (and much softer pad) helped dial the felt recoil back so that now it is much more comfortable to shoot.

My take is this: IMO the CLR's tend to shoot out of the box, are pretty lightweight, and can be had at bargain prices. I personally would not spend a ton of money on one, and only bought the new stock for mine as I am getting more recoil averse as time goes on.

If I were you, I would fix/replace the trigger in your rifle, and then test it as is to see how she shoots. You might be surprised. If you couldn't get it to shoot, I'd sell it to someone telling them what you experienced and move on.

My only advice, based on contemplating this same idea on a different platform, is to sell it and get what you want.

I had a project shift course in the middle. I followed through not being 100% sold on the chambering, etc. Now, I'm sorry I did. I can unload it, but I'll likely lose a good bit, so it sits in the safe.

I would wait and get exactly what you want. As you can see from the few that are selling their CLR/NULA/Hybrids, you will take a bath if you unload it. You will also likely sit on it a while.

I'm not knocking Melvin's work. I'm just commenting on your second guessing the current chambering as well as a magnum in general. You likely won't be happy with anything you send up with on the current donor.

This good advice. Thank you

If you're looking to sell your CLR in 7mm Rem Mag, I'll gladly offer $400, shipped and insured.

Thanks!

You're welcome!

I'm a deal seeker.

I was going to cut it up into little pieces, stuff them into a flat rate box and send them to BoobnotinNH, but that was before I knew it was worth $400.

That's about all I gave for mine in 30-06, so I'd be hard pressed to pay a lot more....but it hasn't been 'Melvinized' yet, either.

Aren't you cute and clever. You over 12 years old? You just didn't like my opinion. No surprise.

Take a look at the title of your thread. You asked for an opinion....I gave you one which don't seem to like. So, you didn't want "opinions"...you wanted your little ego stroked and wanted to let everyone know how "cool" you were cause you knew how to use the term "Melvinizing".

Even funnier is you don't even know what you have with a 7 mag. Doubt you've hunted anything further west than Albany.

You didn't like my advice either which was "don't waste your money". So save the postage...toss it in the trash.

Looks like 260 bailed you out for $400. He did you a favor.

I think that a CLR in excellent condition is worth $400, but $400 doesn't buy you much in 2016.

Actually, it wasn't until relatively recently that I hunted anything east if Albany.

I don't think that it would be legal for you to ship the serial numbered receiver to BobnotinNH unless he has an FFL. OTOH, I do have an FFL, so shipping to me is a piece of cake.

Yesterday I picked up a clean CLR in .270 with Leupold 3-9x40 for a good price, work pulled me out of town so I have not been to the range yet but the trigger pull was smooth so it may have been worked on.

No time to weight it but it seemed close to what my Tikka T3 lite weighs. I planned to use the action for a build but will first test the factory barrel to see how it shoots.

I picked up a 270 CLR when they first appeared on CDNN for just over $400. It shoots really well, the trigger could be better, but still keeps 150 grain NPTs under MOA with out any work. I certainly wouldn't categorize as a POS.

Jeezus Bob! The problem isn't your opinions, it's your overbearing arrogance and the way you frame your posts to sound like a condescending little twat.

308

David

Sorry David. You're pretty condescending yourself and inclined to stick your nose in correcting people. WTF are you?

When you get your own act cleaned up you can start correcting me.

Until then....please buzz off.

Who appointed you the site monitor?

Bob,

I'm relieved! I was afraid my derision was too subtle.

David

FWIW, there are a couple of CLR/NULA hybrids currently on GB with a starting price (IIRC) around $1,200.