Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles CLR-NULA hybrid owners, would you do it again?

I've been thinking about sending my CLR in 270 and $900 to Mr. Forbes to have him do the stock, trigger, and follower upgrade. For all of you guys who have already done this, would you do it again, do you think that it is $900 well spent, and, if not, what would you do instead?

Considering a new NULA is upwards of $3,500, and the Fieldcrafts are pushing $2,000 used, sending it to Melvin is probably the cheapest way to get into one of these rifles (as long you didn’t spend too much on the original purchase of the CLR). You can even pick your stock color which will customize it a bit. The only alternative is finding an early Forbes that shoots well and is issue free, or someone who wants to sell a Melvinized CLR or Forbes at a reasonable price. If you want an all stainless rifle, holding out for someone to sell their Fieldcraft is the only game in town.

The only issue is that it’ll still be a .270 when you get it back (ok I kid, the venerable .270 is a great cartridge for these rifles).

Let us know what you decide, and post it’s when you get it back.

I have $525 in the CLR, so I'll be all in on the CLR-NULA Hybrid for under $1,500 when the shipping and insurance is paid.

I decided that if I don't get any significant negative responses to this query, I'll go ahead and have Mr. Forbes upgrade my 270 and one of my 30-06s. The work isn't going to get any less expensive, plus Mr. Forbes isn't getting any younger and when he is gone, the option to have NULA do the CLR upgrades will probably be buried with him. I seem to recall that at least one person posted on this site that they had a negative experience with Mr. Forbes, but I don't recall the particulars.

I have hunted the CLR 270 quite a bit and like it as is, but hope to like it even better with the new stock and trigger.

I'll probably sell 2 of the 30-06s and the 7mm RM. As I get older, my desire to build new stuff has seen a significant decline.

No regrets whatsoever!!!

Mine are 7 mags and have been my favorites for a long time. Recoil is nothing with Melvin's stock and the factory barrels shoots great as Melvin suggested they would. The "conversion" has gone up a couple of hundred dollars since I did mine ~12 years ago but it is still a good value IMHO. Look at the prices of everything else comparable... just going up, ie. Fieldcrafts! On another note, I have always thought the factory finish on the CM Colt rifles has been very durable as well.

I'd keep one of each of your Colts for now if I were you!!! Get the trigger/follower/springs done on the ones you keep and have Mel drop the one you think you will use the most ?270? into his stock and leave the other 2 in their Colt stocks. Melvin's tolerances are tight enough and those factory barrel contours such that you could probably swap the stock to whatever gun you wanted to hunt that year w/o any issues... or sell off some of your other stuff (seems like you were into Marlin bolt rifles, etc.) and "Melvinize" all three of them!!!

260Remguy-

No regrets whatsoever. I have several. They all shoot really well. Stock is better ( more stiff ), trigger is much better and there won't be that many more made. Do it and don't regret. Lundtroller is correct. With Mr. Forbes stock my 7 mag Melvinized CLR is not bad at all to shoot. Super Super man to deal with!!!

Exactly where I am at!!!

I picked up a 7 mag, had thought I’d send it to Melvin to turn into a 257 weatherby but kinda thinking the best option might be to keep it 7 mag

If you're asking me, I think that you should do whatever you think will work best for you, since you know you better than anyone else.

Still looks like a M700 clone to me, but what do I know. Happy Trails

260Remguy - you shoot a lot and know what your wants and needs are, if I were considering it I would ask myself if it works and shoots to my satisfaction now what would I be gaining by spending the extra dollars for the rework. The fact that you are asking here leads me to question if you really want to do it.
Personally if it shoots 3 shots into an inch consistently in its current configuration I would not spend the money to upgrade, after all even after the upgrade it will still be a CLR-NULA. Only a few rifle users like those of us who frequent sites like the this even know the difference (or care), it will be money spent that will not increase the value of the rifle that much IMO. Save the money and spend it on more ground squirrel shooting fun.

drover

I'm going to send my CLR in 270 and a check for $900 to Mr. Forbes this coming week because neither he, nor I, are getting any younger and once he is no longer doing the NULA upgrades, it is a service that probably won't be available. Everybody who has had Mr. Forbes upgrade their CLR seems to be happy with the work. The resale value of firearms is seldom a consideration if it is a firearm that I want to own, but I sold several Remington 760s recently and the profit from that sale will pay for the two NULA upgrades, the 270 and one of my four CLRs in 30-06.

Just wanting to do it is a good enough reason IMO. You have always seemed to me to be the sort of person who knows what they want, I was wrote my reply based on my surprise at seeing your asking the question .

drover

I appreciate reading what others have to say, but never feel obligated to follow their advice. The biggest reason that I'm doing it is because it occurred to me that once Mr. Forbes is gone, or no longer able to work the schedule that he works, the opportunity to have a CLR upgraded to faux-NULA specs may end abruptly. I have contemplated having him do this work, or even a more expensive upgrade with a new barrel and different cartridge, but never could convince myself to pull the trigger on those projects. Age is the primary driver. I'm going to be 66 in about a month, 2/3 of the way to the grave.