This is a shout out for Forbes rifles I own 2 of their rifles and have been 100% satisfied with this rifle and their customer service. If anyone thinking about one call Rick Cambell at there headquarters and he will hook you up. No, im not connectedto them in any way. Anyone else own one?

Won't hook me up with one in 260 Remington, though. I suggested they add the chambering. They already chamber for the Swede, so they have 6.5 barrels in stock, and they have an action dedicated to the 243/7mm-08/308 family. No brainer to me to add the 260 with very little effort. I even offered to buy them a reamer. Was told that if I wanted one in 260, I was going to have to buy one of their actions and build it myself. Screw em. I'll keep using my Ruger, it's light enough....

Kaiser Norton

My guess is they are leaving the custom stuff to NULA and consentrating on keeping it the more to catalouged production to keep it at a certain price point. There 6.5 Swede is only offered in the 24b long action with 24 in barrel only. The 20b is short action with 20 inch barrel. They are trying to produce these at a certain price point and when you start doing custom jobs it blurres the line between forbes ( mass prodution) and NULA (custom). The way to keep production cost down is buy componets such as barrels in large quanity. You can not Call Reminton or Winchester with such a request anymore.

I believe they have added the 260 remington for this year in the 20b. They have also added the 280 AI in the 24b

yep go to their web site and look at the new offerings for 2015

great now I will have to buy a 280 AI

Glad to hear a good report.The only one I have handled was an early long action. Serial number in the 80's. It had a jeweled bolt but they had only jeweled one side, the wrong side. They jeweled the side facing into the action when the bolt is closed.The safety on that one was very floppy and loose, like it was attached by a loose rubber band.

I loved the feel of the stock and the action was the slickest I have ever felt. Trigger was nice. I hope they continue to improve on their QC. No way anyone even looked at that rifle or the bolt jeweled on the wrong side would have been very easily spotted.

Have they gone to a cheaper safety that doesn't lock the bolt down? I remember reading something about this but I'm not sure of the specifics.

Both of mine are tack drivers.

Forbes has some new offerings this year. The .260 Rem is one of them, the .280AI is another. I ordered an all-stainless 24B in .280AI, supposed to ship in April.

They also introduced a magnum action rifle, the Model 28B, in 7 Rem mag and .300 Win mag. The magnums are listed as weighing 6-pounds.

Like Dan stated they are offering 260 and 280 ai and some magnums as well as stainless actions in all as well. Intrigued for certain! Be interesting to see if it all comes to pass.

What's the street price on the all stainless?

Dude! Going a little crazy...grin...

Which one you bringing?

Hahahah. Ya the 270 wasn't planned but a great deal fell in my lap and I couldn't say no. Most likely the 270, although the 308 is just such a fantastic package.

I own and like them. Sweet guns, IMO.

What is the price of a Forbes?

Street price is around $1200 - $1400 depending on if it is stainless or not.

It also depends on the "generation"

The jeweled bolt guns were closer to $1200.

The most recent stainless models w/fluted bolt I've seen priced at just under $1600

Somebody hurry up and get pissed off at one in 7-08 and "dump it" on me.....

My 24B in 6.5x55 shoots OK.

The 260 Rem was not the best choice when they are making barrels with a 1/8 twist.

The faster twist is no good when you don't have the action length to seat 140 VLD's

The 6.5 Creed would have been the better choice.

The 20B has one of the most generous mag box lengths of any short action. Here's a pick of a 20B (on right) vs a Montana 84M (on left) box.

There you go, good point.

How much coal does the 20B have then?

Really glad to see this thread. I am parting with my beloved Tikka Superlite for a stainless 24b in 6.5x55. This is making me feel pretty good about that decision.

Nick

I was told the short action mag box is 3 inches.

Yeah, if you're smart you'll get a Superlite in 30/06 or 308

Evans1010 what caliber,how much u askin,is it still for sale PM me.ScottyO.

Have 24B's in 25-06 and 30-06, used the both for all my hunting this year. I have posted about the only issue I had with my 30-06 was with the paint. It was shipped before the stock had fully dried messing it up. After season I sent it in and they primed and painted it over, took a lot longer than they had promised (thats why I waited till after season) but in the end it came home perfect.

Can anyone tell me if there's any after production support for a different trigger or safety? I assume a barrel replacement would be easy enough.

bump

Not sure which trigger the Forbes has now but Jewell makes a good one that fits with safety. The NULA trigger is a sort of three position safety and is available. The NULA triggers were on the earlier Forbes rifle but they may have gone to a basic two position safety now.

That 8 twist 260 might not suck

Pretty sure Forbes is currently using Timneys.

John

silly man

I could see a 24b 30-06 stainless barrel becoming my favorite elk rifle..so long as it groups 168 ttsx or 165 NAB. I've fondled the 24b on many occasions at the LGS...

john843,

According to what I heard from someone who should know, Forbes isn't using Timneys anymore. Or at least they definitely weren't at the time, 3-4 months ago.

Mule Deer, Could certainly be the case, just going by the last thing I saw and can't even remember where that was.

John

I have a 20b, purchased two months ago on GB, and it has a Timney. It was delivered set to 6 pounds according to my Timney pull weight scale.

That ought to be safe enough.

Has Forbes's quality control improved since startup? Anyone recently purchase a new rifle?

I spoke with Rick at Forbes last week and he was a pleasure to speak with. However, I am still a little unsure after reading some reviews about qc issues.

I traded off my Fluted barrel T3 super light in 30-06 a few years back after I bought my first Forbes 24B in 30-06.

Pros
Great light carry rifle
less felt recoil than the Tikka did (Melvin's stock design)
24" barrel is about 120 fps faster with same load used in Tikka

Cons
Tikka shot 168 tsx .75" @ 200 yards 24B best is .8 @ 100 yards -I can live with that
Cost more than 2x T3's


I now have a 2nd 24B in 25-06 which will be my carry gun this year, wanted one in 35 Whelen but missed the boat

My buddy recently bought a Forbes 20B in 260 Remington and he is very happy with it. My buddy went to gunsmithing school and worked for a while as a gunsmith. He has built some really accurate rifles and also owns a NULA to compare the Forbes to. He has torn the gun down and been all over it and is very happy with it. It drives tacks right out of the box, I mean like .25" tack driving. It runs with his bench guns.