Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Forbes Rifle?

While not a 20B, I have a 24B in 30-06 and a Montana in 243. I have also owned an older Montana in 308 and Classic in 260.

Both the 24B and 243 were purchased new. The Montana is about 2 years old, and I just received the Forbes a few weeks ago. Here's a quick synopsis and comparison of them.

Out of the Box -

The smooth metalwork finish on the Kimber is more refined than the rough phosphate finish of the Forbes IMO. While stout, it reminded me of a Rem 700 ADL. I think that the stock on the Forbes is a bit nicer than the Kimber, although my Forbes stock had some small cosmetic imperfections. I appreciated the Decelerator pad on the 24B, especially on a light 30-06! The Forbes came with rings and a hard case included, which helped to narrow the higher $225 cost of the 24B over the Montana.

Functioning -

The Forbes has been flawless. It loads, feeds, and fires perfectly. I mounted the scope, and in less than a box of ammo I was rocking and rolling. My Montana had multiple issues that needed correcting from the start. With the help of folks on this forum, I was able to fix the feeding issue, light primer strikes, and accuracy issues on the Kimber.

While the finish is nicer on the Kimber, the metalwork itself seemed a little bit better on the Forbes. The action was smoother and tighter, and just felt higher quality. Pretty subjective, I know.

Accuracy -

I was able to get sub MOA on the Forbes. Out of the box the Kimber gave me 2-3" groups. I later got that down to around 1 MOA after rebedding the stock. Even though my rifles are not apples to apples the same, the Forbes is easier for me to shoot, and shoot more accurately. Go figure. The two rifles were both ridiculously light; even though the Forbes was a long action with a 24" barrel, it was within a few ounces of the 243 Montana. Honestly, I am just not interested in getting a lighter rifle than either of these! Also, some of the earlier Forbes rifles had a "tire rubber" recoil pad, just like my Colt Light Rifle. The thick Decelerator pad, that is now standard, made a huge difference in reducing felt recoil.

Customer Service -

I have not spoken with Kimber recently, but about 5 years ago I called on some problems that I'd had with my 308 Montana. The woman I spoke with was rather surly and somewhat condescending. That was some time ago, however.

Forbes has been great. Calls and emails were always answered. When I told them about the paint imperfections and a small nick in the stock, Rick at Forbes immediately offered to have me ship it back to him to be repaired. Since the gun shot so well, and with me being too lazy to send it back, I decided to keep the rifle as-is. Rick then offered to send me a touch up kit with the OEM stock paint. Nice.

Overall -

These are both nice rifles. Although it is early to tell, and my sample size is small, in my opinion the Forbes is a better out of the box rifle.

Bring up Kimber Montanas here on the Fire, and many people get emotional about how awesome or crappy they are. I think that the Montana is a great design, and they look awesome. Out of the box, you might get a good one, and you might not. If not, from my experience and from that of others, you can usually fix them up to work well. All three of the Kimbers that I owned eventually shot just fine, but all had multiple issues out of the box. Both action designs are great, either a mini Win 70 CRF or a shrunken Rem 700.

Based on my experience with Titan in Maine (Forbes Rifle, LLC), and Melvin Forbes at NULA, I have little doubt that Forbes Rifle will have great products. While I like my Montana in 243, and think that it is a good value for the money, my next lightweight rifle purchase will probably be another Forbes.

Good Luck!

I'd much rather bed S/S,than suffer CM...even if it had 82 [bleep] Trick Moves and Gregorian Monks chanting over the piece of [bleep] schit.

Boobs reliably fawn Fluff,which never ain't not [bleep] funny.

Pardon my knocking the new off schit.

Wow.

My guess would be he'd cut his own throat by doing so (killing demand for NULAs)? He works on the CLR, so that is the most logical reason I can come up with. Did he offer anything different when you spoke?

Because it's been bedded to that specific rifle?

IIRC, he builds them. I may be wrong, but I think it's the same stock as the NULA.

It is the same stock. Curious as to why you wouldn't sell if you were going for one with a custom fit, though.

I'm thinking he'd use the same stock, just add, shorten, paint, bed, etc.

It's all academic, as he won't work on them. Didn't say why, but I'd imagine there are contractual obligations, plus like 8Snake said, he would be cutting his own throat. Why buy a NULA if you could simply buy a Forbes and send it to Melvin for custom whatever?

When I called the Forbes a "mass produced" rifle, I didn't mean in quantities like a factory pumping out donuts on a conveyor belt. When I spoke to Rick @ Forbes LLC, he called it a mass produced rifle in so far as it is as many as THEY can turn out.
Plus, "mass" means there are NO custom features allowed other than a few paint colors.
I contend that flutes on a rifle like Forbes is a gimick. Just another step that slows down production and adds to the cost.
I hope they sell a million units and have great success!

From what I understand, Forbes Rifle produces the stock for their guns themselves. They are each individually fitted to an action. NULA produces their own stocks as well. The design of both stocks is identical.

The stock on my new 24B had a few small paint "blobs" on it, and a small nick in it near the butt plate. I asked Rick to send a stock for me to swap with, however he said that their policy was to bed all stocks to the individual actions, and that I'd have to send the whole gun in. Not sure I buy that, as he was going to repair my existing stock, but oh well. He stepped up and was willing to address the problem.

I called Melvin at NULA a few years back, to inquire about a replacement stock for my Colt Light Rifle. He was willing to sell me one, and said that it was a complete drop in, and that no bedding was required. I decided to keep my original CLR stock, which is absolutely identical in shape (but obviously not construction) to my Forbes.

It makes complete sense that Melvin doesn't want to work on Forbes Rifle (Titan) guns. He wants to keep the operations, and brands, completely separate.

Really! I was considering a Forbes, with the assumption I could send it back for a stock with a 14.5 inch LOP.

Looks like, 70's, 77's and 700's in McM's for me or a NULA....

I'm late for the party...already discussed.

Recent article in Rifle Shooter about the Forbes 24B, by Layne Simpson. All the details about how it's made, etc. Will answer some of the questions posed here. Good read...

http://www.rifleshootermag.com/2013/08/16/forbes-model-24b-rifle-review/

So I have a Forbes left hand 24B at my house right now I'm reloading for (my brother's) the fit and finish is great IMO. Rackin' the bolt in the action is the best I've felt from any rifle even the single stack Tikka.

But the trigger is HORRID, are these adjustable at all? I am sure they are but before I go taking his rifle out of the stock I figured I'd ask.

My 24B came in with a 5.5lb trigger pull. I have not played with it yet, but they are adjustable Timney triggers. I called Forbes and was informed that are easily adjustable with the screw on the front side of the trigger guard.

Cool. That's the first LH I've heard of being delivered. What is it chambered in? That trigger should be an easy tweak.

Pics would be nice...........

How much $$$$ for a Forbes 24 270 WIN. stainless barrel total?
AMRA

I'd post a pic but it'd be wrong to show a forbes with such inferior glass on it right now. Currently he has a Redfield 2-7X33 on it....Its a purdy rifle and I think we'll adjust the trigger before shooting the reloads I made up the other day today. We'll see if it prefers Sciroccos or Bergers here in about 3 hours.

Thanks for bringing this one up guys. For a all ss in 280 rem I'm going to be waiting till early 2015. I already have brass, bullets, and primers. And a scope.

Ha! I don't blame you. He blew his wad on the gun? Glad I haven't done that this week...........yet.

Ain't like none of us ever scavenged a scope until funds permitted something else. Go ahead and post her up.