Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Question for NULA Owners...

I'll also agree with others here that there is nothing at all wrong with the Douglas tubes, they are damned fine.....especially when they get screwed on at Melvin's shop.

Although I have a .243 (love it) as well as a 7mm-08 from Melvin, if I had to choose one for deer it'd be the 7mm-08.

More importantly than barrel contours and chamberings, how will it be painted?

How about glass??

If you want a 7 mm for deer, I'd go with the 7-08. I went with a .260 Rem. in a #2 at 23" and it balances very well. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again, or to go with the barrel manufacturer that he's settled on. I'm thinking he gets very few bad barrels from Douglas. And if he does, they go on the scrap heap.

Assuming you hand load, if brass makes a difference to you Lapua makes both now, and Norma 7-08 brass has been very good for a while.

I wouldn't hesitate on a .284 Win if that is what you want, as far as barrel's go I have two ULA's with Brux barrels and one with a douglas...use whatever you want ! If I was going to call Melvin today and order a rifle I would just use the Douglas and be done with it especially if he had one in stock..

if I were to do it again I would go 284 winchester I load up the 120 grain ballistic tip to around 3000-3100, recoil is minimal and brass last longer...it kills whitetails just fine for me

if I want to throttle it up a bit i can always go up from there

Hello Richard.

I currently own 5 Melvins:

1. 708 22" #2
2. 257 Bob 24" #2
3. 30-06 23" #2
4. 250 Savage 22" #1 (my pop gun)
5. 22 LR on a 22" #1

I really like the feel of the 708 best of of the bunch (I am 5'9" and thin. The 257 is the easiest to shoot due to recoil and a bit more weight ad the 250 hardly kicks at all.

If I am holding the gun right they will average .6-/.8 for a three shot groups (usually closer to .6 if I am on that day)TSXs, TTSXs, NBT, Partitions (for the 257, not the 708), and Bergers with scopes that top out from 4X to 8X depending on the gun. )Probably other bullets as well). The barrels, all stainless except for the pop gun (a story in itself due to some foul weather conditions and some rusting, but it still shoots well) clean with ease and are certainly accurate enough for my purposes.

In 2001 when I bought the 708 I had the same conversation with Melvin that you might, and that is where he steered me, and I'm glad he did.


PigGuy

I would try to get my mitts on a couple variations and see what suited me. A lot of money for a rifle, I would worry more about feel than barrel brand. If you trust Melvins reputation, let him pick the barrel maker.

richardca99,

I've probably owned or fooled with at least a dozen NULA's over the decades, and only one would not group three shots in half an inch or so with the standard Douglas barrel. I sent it back to Melvin for rebarreling with another Douglas, and it immediately started shooting tiny groups, long before most people would consider the barrel "properly" broken in.

Several of those barrels have been #1 contours, including the one on my wife's first NULA, a .270 Winchester, which would put three 130-grain Nosler Partitions under 2" at 300 yards. None of the barrels have been foulers, and in fact most haven't fouled much at all. But if you would feel better about another brand, then Melvin will be happy to put one on. (By the way, Hart barrels are button-rifled, not cut--though they're lapped, and Douglas barrels aren't.)

As somebody else already noted, Norma is making .284 brass. I hadn't heard it was an exclusive, but Melvin told me about it a couple months ago. Personally, I would lean toward the 7mm-08 for the purpose you describe.

Some people do prefer the forward balance provided by a slightly heavier barrel on NULA's. My own .257 Weatherby and .30-06, for example, have 24" #2 barrels and I prefer that on those rifles. But also had a Model 20 in 7x57 for a while with a 22" #1, and had no difficulty shooting it in the field, even offhand. It depends a lot on you.

Richard

I currently have 4 of them. I like the balance of the 24" barrels. I have had no issues at all with the Douglas barrels. Accurate, clean up well. I have one Lilija on a .264 but can't say it's better than the Douglas barreled ones.

Lefty

There seems to be lots of love for a Model 20 in 7-08 in this thread, and the #2 contour seems to be popular as well. As for glass, it'd be hard not to go with a VX-3i 2.5-8x32, Z3 3-9x36, or something similar. I don't like to overscope a svelt rifle such as this one. For reasons I can't really explain, the paint scheme I've always lusted after was this one:

Thank you. I am a huge fan of the .260, but I like the ability to shoot the 160s and 168s in the 7mm.

For what is to be primarily a deer rifle I don't see the attraction. A 260 with a 3" magazine should be the right stuff.

There seems to be lots of love for a Model 20 in 7-08 in this thread, and the #2 contour seems to be popular as well. As for glass, it'd be hard not to go with a VX-3i 2.5-8x32, Z3 3-9x36, or something similar. I don't like to overscope a svelt rifle such as this one. For reasons I can't really explain, the paint scheme I've always lusted after was this one:

I still can't grasp picking the 284 over the 7mm08, of the two, but people like to complicate sheit.