Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles New Ultra Light Arms Rifles

Hello Everyone

I am looking into ordering a NULA rifle in 300WM or 338WM and was hoping some of the members who own NULA rifles could comment on the accuracy, any quirks, etc. and just overall opinions of the guns.

Thank you
Dino

Great rifles with excellent accuracy. A .338 would probably be too much of a good thing for me in a NULA . My .300 NULA recoils on par with my 7.75 pound .375 H&H and the 8.5 pound .340 I had, which is enough for me in this sort of rifle.

Accuracy is great. They're worth it on a quality basis alone.

Darn nice rigs, I'd either go with a big 7 and or a 375 though.

Dober

I kinda would like to have another in .270 WCF

A 270 would be model perfecto add a 375 and you're golden.

Dober

Thanks for the quick reply's

I talked with Mr Forbes today and he seems like a good guy and with today's custom rifle prices he is definitely on the reasonable side. I am buying the rifle for a Vancouver black bear hunt or Grizzly hunt so I was leaning towards the .300 to 338.

I have a Remngton Titanium in 308(6.4lbs scoped)and I have a Blaser 375H&H (8.2lbs scoped)so I was looking for something in the middle.

Dino

Of course either of those will do you just fine for the blackies.

But what a wonderful reason to have Melvin build you a rifle. He's first class and so are his rifles!

I kind of have a thing for the 33's and don't care much for 30's. Odd I know but I tend to swim upstream a bit.

Of those two I'd do the 338 in a heart beat.

Best of luck to you.

Dober

(but, I still think you should do a 375 though....grin)

I will have to disagree with Dober. I say go with a .300 WM NULA and don't look back. That is what I did and don't regret it. I am not a recoil sensitive sort, but would have to think a .338 WM would kick like &#@! in a NULA and a .375 would be worse. I like my 7.75 pound .375, but would not want to go lighter.

Are the NULA rifles really that good? Looks like they run around $3000 or so price wise? Lot of money for a rifle, but I guess if a man wants a custom lite weight rifle then that could be the way to go. I wouldn't mind having a lite weight medium caliber (.260 or 7MM-08) for my long range mountain hunts.

If you like really quality, they are "that good." They are will designed, well fitted, accurate and light. With that said, I don't know that they will do anything that a 700, Tikka or SC M70 won't.

Yes they are really that good... I have a 257BOB and a 30-06 I haven't shot the 30-06 all that much but the 257 will put a 75VMax, 85BT, 100TSX, 100PT, 100BT, and a 115PT at the same point of aim. You can shoot 4 different bullets into a half inch group at a 100.

I've limited experience with NULA as I own the sum total of one and have had it for almost a year.

Mine is 7mm-08 and goes 5.5 lbs. all up with scope and 3 in the belly. It's fast become a favorite rifle. very well done

my .338 weighs a bit over 8 lbs. I'm thinking I'm glad it does

Well, I'm gonna disagree with you both. A six pound NULA in either the 300 or 338 WM gives me a headache just thinking about the recoil. I say, let Melvin build you a dandy in the .284 Win, his flagship round, and go bear hunting.

Mine is an ULA in .284. It is a <MOA shooter, like most of Melvin's guns, up to around 3-4 rounds. Then the light barrel can get a little erratic and the groups open up. But for hunting, 3 rounds are fine and these guns are VERY accurate given that limitation. A 140 Nosler Partition from a .284 @ 3000 fps will send any blackie home to see his ancestors.

I've now had a couple in my hands and they seem to be, and from others reports are, quality rifles. 7mm-08 should be here around mid December.

Have talked and visited with Mr. Forbes a few times now. One knowledgeable and quality person who seems willing to go out of his way for not only those who buy his product, but also for those who are just thinking of doing so.

Excuse my ignorance; but, are you saying this performance is based on the manufacturer as opposed to caliber/load, etc? Thanks in advance.

4 different bullets consistently into .5 is voodoo. Someone was shaking chicken heads over and pouring water moccasin blood down the barrel when that rifle was made.

That being said I have a .280AI with a Schneider barrel that it's not unusual to shoot an inch or slightly bigger with different bullets and weights and I didn't have to mess around with loads. I do think the smith has more than a little to do with it. That and maybe a black cat bone or two.

NULAs/ULAs seem to have a habit of putting different loads in the same spot. My .300 shoots all 150s-165s I have tried to the same point and all 180s to a slightly different point aboutg 1.5" away.

I hear that enough to believe it to be true. When 4 different ones consistently go into 0.5 you make sure the spirits down at Congo Square are kept happy.

The first ULA I ever fooled with was a .300 Winchester Magnum that weighed 6-3/4 pounds scoped. Melvin loaned it to me in 1989 for a year. It would put three different loads--165 Hornady Interlock, 180 Speer Grand Slam, 200 Nosler Partition--into a 9-shot 1" group at 100 yards. The bedding system Melvin uses on the barrel (full length bedded in a very stiff synthetic stock) makes this fairly common.

Whether or not they keep shooting small groups with the barrel hot depends both on the barrel weight and the individual barrel. However, I have shot NULA's with barrels from #1 contour up to heavy varmint barrels that would keep putting them into the same small group even after the barrel was too hot to touch.

By the way, the recoil of that .300 Winchester wasn't too bad, even with 200-grain Partitions (the load I used for hunting). The stock is very straight with a wide recoil pad, and if the matches your build then there is very little muzzle rise.

Personally I think a .300 will do just as well for most hunting a .338 these days, because most people are running bullets no heavier than 225 in a .338 anyway.

Is Mr. Forbes still using Douglas barrels? I recall an article on his rifles years ago, and his refusal to use other barrels on his rifles because he claimed Douglas were more than good enough when installed straight and true on a straight and true action.

A lot of rifle snobs look down on Douglas barrels compared to Kreiger, Hart, etc. but I have not heard any complaints about the Ultra Light Rifle's accuracy (varmint hunting accuracy, not benchrest accuracy, that is). The posts above seem to bear this out.

Perhaps he uses another barrel now, or perhaps I have my rifle makers mixed up?

John