Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Forbes 24B looks very promising. More photo/comments.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and predict the Forbes will not be a big seller....Although big among many serious rifle people like you find on this board me included I own 2 NULA rifles, the majority of the rifle buying hunters Havent ever heard of Melvin Forbes or his Rifles and they are perfectly happy with the Rem. 700 or Tikka or Savage ect ect that they already have....I know all the advantages to owning a Melvin rifle but most aren't willing to put down $1300/1400 for a lightweight rifle that shoots under an inch, I bought a factory 700 SPS a little over a year ago put it in a used HS stock and it shoots amazing 1 hole groups with reloads..My Model 28 in 300wm does too...I think factory rifles have caught up in the accuracy dept. and lightweight is just not worth the extra $$$ to most of the Rifle buyers . Just my opinion !

The forbes is sooo close, yet so far away from being something I'd put in my safe.

5.5 lbs vs. 5lbs 10oz is only 2 oz .... not much, units are a silly thing.

Come on Calvin............don't leave us hangin..........

Agreed. Not available in enough cartridges and options for the loonies. Too expensive for the one rifle crowd. The hard core guys aren't buying until it's all stainless.

I hope it does well, but in this economy? I see a lot of really nice higher end rifles languishing in the racks or in the classifieds, despite the current buying frenzy on most everything else.

Time will tell.

Said it very well here.

I think some of the reasoning for higher end sticks remaining stagnent is the 'black' rifle craze. At the gun show on Saturday/Sunday no one had any 'walking-around' money to wheel and deal, and nobody was a' horse tradin'. My hypothesis is many folks shot-their-nut, so to speak, buying a black rifle thinking it would be the last they'd get. Now that things have calmed down, most don't have a secret stash anymore. Now that isn't entirely true for the hardcore loonies, but most I know have a few slick sticks already.

Just my 2 cents.

I don't disagree with either of you. My hope is that Forbes understands their market position and strives to fill that niche. If they can be profitable selling 10-20 rifles a month, stay there. That will fill the niche and keep supply/demand in check.

Being a hard core bolt rifle loony, I have my opinions of potential success and failure. Had I been calling the shots, stainless would have been the only option from the start. I would have rolled the 20B out first instead of the 24. Maybe initially offer six chamberings?

They're building a quality rifle. I hope they can continue to do so, while balancing demand, QC and profit. If they can do this successfully, they'll be around a long time. I have no idea about their financial situation, budgets or overhead, but my hope is that they don't have to compete with Remington, Ruger, etc to be successful.

A few comments:

Yes, the higher-end hunting rifle market is down, while the AR/tactical rifle market is up. I know one long-time custom maker of syn-stocked rifles with a fine reputation who is investing in a new tactical stock, just because of that. He was making 100+ rifles a year not long ago, and still makes some, but decided to go with the flow. I know other custom rifle makers who've had to lay off employees.

Despite that, so far the Forbes company has had a hard time keeping up with orders, which is why the introduction of the Model 20 action has been delayed. This despite not yet offering the stainless 24, though it's coming.

Somebody made a comment about 3" magazines for short-action rounds. The NULA Model 20 has always had a 3" magazine, with the chamber throated for the magazine length. The Forbes 20 will have the same magazine, just as the Forbes 24 is basically identical to the NULA Model 24.

Whether the Forbes will be a big seller or not has to be thought of in context of the size of the company. Robust sales for the Forbes probably would make a bean counter from a big name company start mopping his forehead. The Forbes 24B and any other
future release will be a competitive price point with the Kimber Montana and maybe a couple others if still being made.
Coming out with the 24B and the 30-06 family of calibers allows them to pick the "low hanging fruit" of the most commonly used.

Competition is a good thing as it gives the consumer choices and puts pressure on the manufactuturer to deliver the goods at a competitive price.

The Forbes rifle is simply another option to consider.

To me, it seems like the Montana has everything the Forbes has and then some, save the bedding job. You can get the Montana for $1100 and with that you get the stainless barrel and action, an outstanding trigger, and CRF. If the Forbes is 5.5 lbs and the 84L 5 pounds 10oz, then that is a difference of 2 ounces. Skim bedding a Montana is a breeze if a dummy like me can do it.

I'm not here to smash on the Forbes. I am sure they are a wonderful rifle, I just can't see it being any better than a Kimber. Just my 2 cents.

Is it just me, but I think Melvin did a pretty cool thing here. Time will tell, but after seeing one , I think I will have one at some point. I like to think of it this way, that NULA I always wanted just became very reachable. I say kudos to Mr. Forbes, Titain and ER Shaw.........job well done.

Jeffrey,

The construction of the stock of the Forbes is so far beyond the Kimber's it's over the horizon, and the same is true with the precision of the action. And I woild be willing to bet one of either rifle that the accuracy of the average Forbes will be far superior.

If you believe CRF is essential to a lightweight rifle, be my guest.

If it was not for the fire there is a good chance I wouldn't have picked up on the Forbes Rifle or at best only seen it mentioned infrequently. On the other hand, it is hard to pickup a shooting or hunting magazine that doesn't have a Kimber add.

First off people have to know you are selling and in this case the linage. For the most part when at the range, the majority never heard of a Nula when they ask what I'm shooting, and I live within an hour and 15minutes of where they are made. Which is always the next question: Who makes them? Nula's are definitely a word of mouth product with a few infrequent plugs from the shooting mags.

Seems to be most here assume Nula and the Forbes rifles are well known established names. For the average shooter they are not and the Forbes is riding on Nula's coattail.

Mule Deer,

I don't think CRF is essential, just nice. I feel that both rifles far surpass the realm of necessity, but then again I suppose necessity is relative to the buyer and their own needs.

If you say that the Forbes stock is that much better than the Montana, I have no doubt that it is. But, the Kimber stock seems to be pretty good. All three of mine shoot just fine, good enough that I couldn't justify putting a few hundred dollars more into them to improve accuracy.

I'm sure the Forbes is a wonderful rifle, and I will not question anyone who decides to put their money into one.

Take care,
Jeff

http://gunsmagazine.com/a-tale-of-two-rifles/

Here is a link to a recent magazine article comparing the Forbes and the Montana XWR. Mike

That article is the Montana Rifle Co, not the Kimber Montana that I was talking about. Sorry for the confusion.

I would never put money on a factory Kimber against a Forbes in the accuracy department. All three of my Kimbers improved greatly with bedding and a trigger tune. Luckily both jobs are simple to complete, at least in my experience.

CRF certainly isn't essential, but my only failures to extract have been twice on 700s and twice on a Nula. Each time brass shavings from shooting had collected under the extractor and caused the problem. I've shot many more rounds out of CRF rifles than I probably ever will out of 700 variants.


Keep them clean and it's no big deal. Don't and CRF seems to be the winner.

So if you shoot a lot and forget to clean your extractor, that CRF might be essential.

One reason I like CRF is because it allows you to unload (with a blind magazine) without putting a round all the way into battery, unlike a puch feed.

I forgot to mention the three position safety in my last posts. Again, not essential, just nice, and functional to boot.

And it truly is.

The Kimber 84L I had left me wanting and I let it go. I found it of pseudo quality.

The Forbes I examined was true and worth the extra $$$.

Man I`m liking the looks of these and they come in left hand too 270 Win or maybe a 280 Rem is what I would be considering.

Thanks to bigwhoop on an excellent review of the gun, I have no doubt from you initial groups that it will be a shooter those loads are really close right now already.