Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Restocking a clr with a Nula stock

What caliber is yours? You had some issues with yours in the beginning, right? I love mine, but the stock sits way proud of the trigger guard, probably 1/4" or so. Causes your finger to rub the stock when squeezing the trigger. I'll take a pic and post what I'm talking about. Not a huge deal, and understandable for the cheap cost, but if I bought a full blown NULA and had that issue, I'd not be happy.
I know I'm in the minority, but I like his stock more than the Montana.

7RM.

I had issues with the way trigger guard and barreled action were bedded to the stock. I sent it back to Melvin and he fixed it. There was a period where he was super slammed and had lost some key employees. I picked the rifle up in person and got a tour of the shop. All's well that ends well.







You need to get your hands on a Manners UC.

Will Melvin sell a stock without bedding/fitting it to a CLR?

I read on an older thread he would, but it was from years back. Could call and ask, he answered right away this morning and talked with me for a good half hour.

He sold me a drop in about 5 years ago for my CLR in 7RM. It included a new trigger guard as well.

While IMO the original CLR stock was serviceable, the NULA is a very nice upgrade.

We went with his standard stock & it did not need bedding. The trigger can be upgraded with a spring change and at one point Melvin would sell his version of a three stage trigger as a separate item, just the cocking piece only. My sons 270 shot fine with the Saco barrel. Also get a new firing pin spring, Melvin has the Wolf brand speed spring, the stock one has a reputation for being uneven and going out after a 1,000 shots or so.

Agree about the Colt stock but I wanted to be sure to upgrade before Melvin retires, we also got his version of desert camouflage which I like. Hard to say but I like the NULA/Colt as much or more than the Forbes I have, maybe because Melvin had his hands on it.

My thoughts too. I want to get this worked over by Melvin before he quits working on them.

I have several CLRs and don't think that the stock is nearly as bad as some. My primary open country elk rifle is a CLR in 270 and it is probably among the 10 most accurate factory specs centerfire rifles that I've owned. I have thought about rebarreling a couple of the 30-06s, but haven't gotten around to it and, at my age, I probably won't.

I think that the CLRs are a good value at around $500, but I struggle with how much benefit I would get from a Mel Forbes upgrade. I have no doubt that Mr. Forbes makes a great stock and that a CLR/NULA upgrade is worth the cost to many, but I'm not convinced that the performance increase is commensurate with the cost for me.

For what I payed for mine I think I’ll replace the stock. Still won’t have too much coin into it. Stock from Mel and pickup a used Remington trigger in the classifieds.

Factory Colt stock. Any idea what a Nula stock and trigger guard weighs?

~ 20 oz

It can vary as Melvin will add weight if needed to achieve proper balance. Most should be +- 20 ounces.

I had Melvin redo a CLR 3006 last fall. The finished weight with the Talley rings was 6lb 3oz. In comparison my Forbes Model 20 in 308 is 5lb 5oz with the Talley rings.

The CLR is a Model 28 action even for the standard calibers. The Forbes a 20 or 24 action, so I guess the Forbes 24 should be right between those two.

Around six pounds feels good to me five might be too light. But I have not shot a Model 20 so don't know.

I might have the barrel cut to 22”, save a couple ounces and have a fresh crown. Depending on the scope I should be 7lbs or a touch less. I’m happy with that.

I’ve had at least three original NULA (270) or CLR replacement stocks and all three weighed 26oz.

An M20 308 I weighed a few years back was just a shade over 20 (20 and 2 oz?)
But certainly could be - Mel has been making stocks for what, 35 years? Bound to be plenty of variation during that time.

Just to follow up on this - I had a very wet NULA 24 I needed to breakdown to clean and dry last night - threw the stock on the scale and got 23.65 ounces. Might have been a bit waterlogged