Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Forbes 20B 7mm-08 delivered...

Wages aren't the only cost in that unit of labor.

My point was, anyone not blind or asleep could have checked for function and culled that bedding job.

True dat..

I bet you'll be satisfied in the end but you shouldn't have had this experience to begin with. I'm on your side. Excellent customer service would entail a manager hand picking you a new rifle, personally function and accuracy testing it and sending it to you with a free set of mounts, gift certificate or such as a gesture of compensation. "Then" making sure this kind of thing is never released again.

I hesitated to chime in on this thread, but felt I had to after reading it. Recently I ordered a 24B in 270 Win. Got it in short order. Must say that my initial impressions were disappointing. There were areas along the action that the paint never got to. The safety cutout looked like it was done at the society for the blind with a broken dremel tool. As well, the bevel along the right side of the action was very uneven. Finally the trigger - a Timney - had a ton of creep. Then I took the gun apart. Wow. The roughest finish job I have ever imagined seeing. The bottom of the barrel was covered with what Forbes later said was "epoxy filler". Finally, the trigger guard screw was protruding into the mag well.

Does anyone check these things as they leave the factory?

Later that evening I adjust the trigger to lighten it, problem is that it has very little adjustment room as the set screw makes contact with the stock behind the mag well. Nice. Tighten the bolt and put gun back together. Fits now, so I take it apart again to see if I can lighten it a bit more and take the creep out. Gently break the rifle apart and hear a cracking sound. Look at the kitchen table and there are pieces of stock. That thing was as brittle as a potato chip. I am speechless at this point, so I just start to laugh at my bad fortune. I take pictures and email my gun shop and Forbes. Both were very gracious and accommodating, and sent me out a 20B as a replacement.

I chalk it up to bad luck and the fact we all make mistakes.

The replacement arrives the next day. It is every bit as bad as the first, same issues, but in addition this one has a big chunk of epoxy missing from the bedding at the recoil lug. Thankfully, it didn't break, and the trigger had no creep, as one would expect from a Timney. I took pictures of the shoddy workmanship and sent them to my gun dealer. He gave me a full refund no questions asked. Great service from him. You may have noted that I didn't bother sending the email or pictures to Forbes the second time. Why? I can overlook one bad gun. Two? No way in hell. Pure garbage that I will never touch with a ten foot pole. The thing that ticks me off the most is that I sold a mint Finnlight to give Forbes a try. Stupid me.

I have ordered a Kimber Montana 84L to replace this Forbes debacle.

After reading this thread, all I can say is be forewarned. Why buy a gun that costs more, weighs the same, and has a chromoly action? I did, so I could say I had a gun that not many did. Live and learn.

The moral of the story is that even when a good designer passes off production duties to someone else (i.e. Colt and now Titan Machine), don't expect the same as the designer made himself.

Buyer beware. You've been warned.

Interesting..

Forbes has promised to make it right, and I'm giving them the opportunity. They have been very prompt and courteous in all correspondences..

Rifle goes back on Friday.

sns2,
Simply stunning. It's really sad to read these stories. Hope they can get things sorted out and quick!

sns2

That was one helluva indictment of Forbes rifles, and scary as hell for me because I've ordered a left-hand 270 for delivery this Summer.

Will have a conversation with them before I send any money, or I may just cancel.

Thanks for the heads up.

Steve

The only way I would take one now us for free. I suggested to my gun dealer that he stop selling them as he has a spotless reputation. While Forbes LLC was super polite. I consider it covering their ass, as they never bothered to check either if those rifles before they went out the door.

Bad news travels fast.

Once again this thread needs to go to both Forbes and Melvin himself. A notation of post number should be made so they can quickly find the posts stating similar or worse experiences. I would like to see the company succeed and someone needs to be terminated. I would do it myself if I was computer savvy enough.

Count me out. Was saving up for my 50th birthday present to myself.



P

I sent this link over to Forbes...Hopefully they will take the time to read it.

Not hard. Pick up the phone and tell him there is a thread he should read on the hunting rifles forum. I'm sure he is familiar with the site.

I kept my pictures and would be happy to talk to him if he sent me a pm. I still have the pictures as this happened in the past two weeks.

Incredible....how big is this snowball going to get?

I was beginning to believe I was the "Lone-Ranger" on this debacle, but unfortunately for us consumers this seems to be a ill-conceived trend. Nevertheless in my occupation, we call this a CLUE! Somehow, I still have "Hope" for their second offering to me. I will say publicly....IF they Fail to deliver a product indicative of the $1500 hard earned dollars I spent, I will simply return it...wash my hands of the whole fiasco...and politely Warn any other potential customers of their shortcomings! In reality, we owe this to each other as fellow sportsmen and consumers. I would hope at some point Mr. Forbes would take it upon himself to intervene..after all....it has HIS NAME on it!

I received a order confirmation March 2013 for a stainless steel 7mm-08 and a .308. I understand the all stainless rifles probably will not be available until 2015. Not sure I want to proceed with this order, but at the same time I am starting to think they may not weather this storm.

With all the corners their cutting wait times should be getting shorter.....

This storm is in a small corner of the world, however if this storm is any indication of the weather overall, they will not.

I hesitated to post anything, and still haven't on my locals sites in respect of my gun dealer, but after I read other people having the same issues, I felt Ihad to.

I never did try and chamber any rounds, however, one action felt like it had sand in it, while the other was not bad.

I would only be interested in hearing from Melvin Forbes at this point. While the sales manager is undoubtedly a prince of a fellow, his company's words are empty at this point.

Scheels had one in 25-06 last year. I let it walk for the same reason I won't buy a "redesigned" vehicle.

Glad I did...



Travis