Forbes Rifle Model 24B - Berger Bullets · Forbes Rifle Model 24B Left, the entire barrel channel is bedded for full contact of the barrel. Below, an aluminum pillar prevents overtight

Forbes RifleModel 24B

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Rifle 26536 www.riflemagazine.com

November-December 2012 37www.riflemagazine.com

The first time I shot the Model 24B with an assort-ment of factory and handloaded .270 loads from abenchrest, a couple of loads put two bullets touchingat 100 yards and a third bullet off to the side an inchor so. After three shots the barrel was cooking hot,and I was certain the heat had strained the thin barreland caused the bullet to wander, but that was far fromthe case. The problem was the rifle did not particularlylike that load and/or operator imprecision caused abullet to stray.

Another day I shot seven, five-shot groups at 100yards with Berger 150-grain VLD Hunting bullets and61.0 grains of Magnum powder, which averaged 1.06inches with absolutely no sign of bullets drifting offaim. That’s excellent accuracy from a feathery 6-pound rifle. Of course, the stability of a bench andwedging the rifle stock between a couple of sandbagshelped steady the rifle.

How well a rifle shoots from hunting positions,though, is a true sign of its worth. The 24B’s stock hasa rather thick grip for my hand. Still, the flute on thenose of the stock comb placed my hand so there wasno stretch of my index finger to reach the trigger, and

the grip angle positioned my wriststraightly. The stock’s forearm waswide and deep enough to fill my for-ward hand and provide a firm grip.

From the sitting position with the rifle supported onshooting sticks, three Nosler 130-grain Ballistic Tipsprinted in 1.45 inches at 200 yards. The stock comb isrelatively high with only .5 inch of drop at the nose andstraight with a fall of only a few eighths of an inch atthe heel. That kept my head erect while shootingprone with the rifle over a backpack, and I was ableto put three Ballistic Tips in .50 inch at 200 yards. Thatwas a great group, but surely my wobbles at leastsomewhat compensated for my wiggles.

This accuracy is the result of what Forbes callsstraight line geometry. For a rifle to shoot accurately,especially when it heats up after repeated firing, every-thing must be straight in a line from the bolt in the re-ceiver, the locking lugs in their seats and the barrelscrewed into the receiver. If they’re not, the variousparts can twist and bend against each other and createinconsistent vibrations when a cartridge is fired. “Nowadd a second set of vibrations from the bullet goingdown the bore, and they might get crosswise with thefirst vibrations and really produce conflicting vibra-tions,” Forbes said.

Forbes said when he designed the actions for hisNULA rifles he knew their narrow diameter and lightweight would result in the loss of some of their rigidityand ability to handle vibration stress. “But a stiff stockcan make up some of that loss,” he said, and thestocks Forbes makes for the NULA and Forbes rifles

Facing page, the Forbes Rifle Model 24B weighsabout 6 pounds with a Leupold VX-II 3-9x 33mmUltralight scope in Talley mounts. Titan Machine in Maine builds all but the stock.

John Haviland

When I first hefted a newForbes Rifle Model 24B,the full-size rifle nearlyfloated in my hands, and

I envisioned the rifle substantially eas-ing my burden climbing elk moun-tains. Then I wondered whether a riflethat weighed 6 pounds with a scopewould walk its bullets up a targetwhen the barrel heated up; however,after shooting the Model 24B .270Winchester with a variety of loads, thelight rifle alleviated any fears of inac-curacy.Every rifle shooter is familiar with the name MelvinForbes and his New Ultra Light Arms Company

(NULA) that has proven thousands of times during thelast 25 years that lightweight rifles can shoot very accurately. Forbes, though, is looking toward retire-ment. With no heirs to continue New Ultra Light Arms,Forbes recently partnered with Titan Machine Prod-ucts in Westbrook, Maine, to keep the Forbes name onrifles and provide service for owners of Ultra LightArms in the years to come. Forbes Rifle is the nameof that partnership, and the Model 24B rifle is the com-pany’s initial product. Forbes furnished the design pat-tern and manufacturing plan for the rifle during thestartup. He now supplies the stocks for the rifles,while Titan performs all the metal work. The rifles areassembled at Forbes’s shop in Granville, West Virginia.

The Model 24B is nearly a copy of the NULA Model24, and parts will interchange between them; however,the 24B has no options. It is chambered in .270 Win-chester and .30-06 with a 24-inch barrel and blackmatte finish on the metal. The Forbes Rifle 24B’s retailprice, though, is $1,400 compared to $3,500 for theNULA Model 24. You would think such a savingswould drop the demand for the NULA’s Model 24. “Butthere hasn’t been,” Forbes said.

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Rifle 26538 www.riflemagazine.com

Forbes RifleModel 24B

Left, the entirebarrel channel isbedded for fullcontact of the barrel. Below, analuminum pillarprevents overtight-ening of the frontaction screw.

are stiff. They are made of Kevlar/graphite composite cloth, but sur-prisingly a finished stock weighsonly 1.5 pounds with a one-inchthick, hard-rubber recoil pad andsling swivel studs.

The Model 24B’s stock has analuminum pillar that the front ac-tion screw passes through. Thepillar has a dished-out head ap-proximately .65 inch wide thatlocks the stock to the roundedbottom of the receiver. NULA bedseach stock to a particular 24B ac-tion, and the last three numbers ofa rifle’s serial number are stampedin the bedding behind the recoil

lug mortise. The interior of the24B’s stock is glass-bedded be-neath the tang, along the uppersides of the receiver, bottom of thefront of the receiver and complete

cent actions, with narrow receiveropenings that add stiffness to thereceiver. The Model 24B receiveropening makes it easy to load thethree-round magazine and for fin-

length of the barrel channel forfull contact between the action,barrel and recoil lug. That tight fit diminishes vibrations, allowingthe rifle to shoot more preciselyand enabling bullets from differ-ent loads to hit closely to the samepoint of impact.

The Model 24B’s action lookslike a Remington Model 700 withthe same recoil lug between thefront of the receiver and barrel.The Forbes Rifle action, however,has been shortened and signifi-cantly thinned and weighs only 24ounces, hence its model designa-tion. The Model 24B’s action has arather wide loading and ejectionport compared to several more re-

gers to reach in and clear the ac-tion in case a cartridge jams – be-cause there is no floorplate toremove cartridges out the bottomof the action. The omission of afloorplate reduces rifle weight andwithout a cut in the stock addsstrength to it.

The rifle’s two-position Timneytrigger actually has three posi-tions. Pulled to the rear or “safe”position, the sear is blocked andthe bolt is locked. With the safetyin the same position, pushing downon the safety knob still blocks thesear but allows opening the bolt.Pushing the lever forward to the“fire” position enables the triggerto trip the sear. The Timney trig-ger’s pull was 3.5 pounds. Its pullweight is easily adjustable downto 1.5 pounds by turning a screwon the front of the trigger housing,but I left it alone as that weightwas fine, and it had no creep orovertravel.

Right, the Model24B has no bottom

metal other thanthe trigger guard toreduce rifle weight

and make the stock stiffer.

November-December 2012 39www.riflemagazine.com

Above, the Timney trigger has atwo-position safety. Below,pressing down on the safety inthe rear position unlocks thebolt and allows it to open whilethe sear remains blocked.

The bolt body is a narrow .590inch in diameter and weighs only.5 pound with a slim handle brazedon. The extractor is a Sako or AR-type. “I call it the shotgun extrac-tor, as that design has been onWinchester shotguns for decades,”Forbes said. A plunger ejector pro-truding from the left side of thebolt face throws extracted cases

and cartridges well clear of therifle.

E.R. Shaw barrels are used onthe Model 24B. “I’ve heard theymight be a bit rough and that theyfoul pretty easily, but they shoot,”Forbes said. I shot 60-plus .270rounds through the rifle withoutcleaning the barrel. The last threebullets of those cartridges landedin .54 inch at 200 yards. A lot ofpowder fouling did come out ofthe bore when the barrel wascleaned, but there was no glint ofcopper fouling. The barrel is 24inches long and 1.05 inches in di-ameter in front of the receiver. Aninch or so forward, the barrelgradually tapers to .615 inch at the muzzle.

There is a plunger ejector on the bolt face and a shotgun-typeextractor on the rim.

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Rifle 26540 www.riflemagazine.com

Forbes Rifle Model 24B

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This is a gage to measure con-sistency of rim thickness on.22 rimfire ammunition (a .22rimfire rifle’s headspace is deter-mined by case rim thickness).The more consistent the rimthickness, the more consistentthe ignition of the primer and the powdercharge in the case. In other words, the fir-ing pin will fall the same distance everytime if the same rim thickness is used onevery case being fired for a particulargroup. By sorting the shells into variousgroups by rim thickness, a reduction ingroup size of up to 25% can be realizedin some IF NOT MOST rimfire rifles. Thisinformation about group reduction comesfrom the .22 rimfire benchrest partici-pants who compete in the extremely diffi-cult BR-50 matches. All of the topshooters sort their shells into groups bychecking rims and weighing the unfiredcartridges.

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coil in the light rifle. The straightcomb directed the kick prettymuch straight back, but the rifle’shard-rubber recoil pad did noth-ing to soften the sting. If I couldchange one thing on the 24B itwould be to swap out the tractortire pad and replace it with a Pach-mayr Decelerator.

No doubt the future will includean expansion of cartridges avail-able in the production Model 24Brifle made by Titan Machine Prod-ucts, and perhaps other mass-pro-duced rifles based on NULA rifles,such as the Model 20 UltimateMountain and Varmint, Model 28Alaskan and Model 40 African.“When Jonathan Brawn [COO ofTitan Machine] called, I decided totransfer the technical informationto make my Model 24. Now thatinformation will be in a produc-tion rifle and available when I’mgone,” Forbes said.

Forbes Rifle Model 24B .270 Winchester Loadsbullet powder charge velocity accuracy comments(grains) (grains) (fps) (inches)

130 Barnes Triple-Shock RL-17 53.5 3,074 .97130 Berger VLD Hunting Hunter 56.0 3,057 1.43130 Nosler Ballistic Tip H-4831 58.0 3,051 .65 .50 200 yards prone 1.45 200 yards sitting150 Berger VLD Hunting Magnum 61.0 2,853 .65 1.06 7, 5-shot groups120 Norma Kalahari factory load 3,242 .77130 RWS H-Mantle factory load 2,904 1.09150 Winchester Supreme Elite XP3 factory load 2,757 1.66Be Alert – Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in published load data.

The Model 24B .270 Winchestershot well at 200 yards from theprone position.

A nice touch is the Talley alu-minum one-piece bases and ringsthat come with the rifle. Forbesactually designed these mountsyears ago and sold the rights toTalley. “They only weigh one anda half ounces per set,” Forbessaid.

The Model 24B by itself weighs 5 pounds, 4 ounces. Adding a Leu -pold VX-II 3-9x 33mm Ultralightscope in the Talley mounts broughtthe weight of the complete rifle toa tad over 6 pounds, according tomy fish scale.

The normally mild .270 Winches-ter developed some noticeable re-

R