Thread: Forbes m20b first impressions

So I got my hands on one of these today and thought I better do a bit of a un-bias non magazine review as there seems to be a bit of interest lately.






Firstly what you get with it:
The rifle
Carbon/Kevlar stock with decelerator recoil pad
Stainless barrel
Action has some sort of mil spec coating
Fluted bolt
Hard case
Talley rings of you're choice
Timney trigger

First impressions are a well put together rifle with some nice features and bonuses such as hard case, talley rings, nice recoil pad etc. it was advertised as 4 3/4 pound homer mine is a smidgen over 5lb according to the kitchen scales. Smooth as butter action and balance is perfect. Stock is a stand out for me. Overall finish is good but not excellent.

The stock:






I must say this stock feels awesome, it comes up perfect for me. It's approx 720grams with one aluminium pillar, nice recoil pad and full length bedding. The stock accommodates a blind mag such as a rem adl or kimber.
Bedding job is 100%, with the barrel being full length bedded, will be interesting to see how this goes.
A little room for improvement in terms of I letting the trigger guard but pretty good for a hand made stock.

Action/bolt/trigger:




Action has some sort of matte phosphate finish, it's quite nice but is not perfect, has a couple of wee flaws around the rear tang. This action is by no means a remington clone as many think, I thought this as well. It slimmed down a lot, the bolt body is .590" vs the rem at .700". There seems to be a hell of a lot of material taken out of other areas also, don't have a 700 here so can't make a direct comparison. The bolt has extremely light flutes in it and is pretty standard with the m16 extractor and plunger ejector. This action is extremely smooth with no slop, I may have got a good one?
Trigger is adjustable, out of the box it's just over 2lb with no creep at all. Would expect nothing else as it's made by timney apparently. Bolt release is on the left of bolt and safety on the right, safety is very positive.

Barrel:
21" stainless barrel, I believe these are made by a U.S. Barrel maker but can't remember name. Has a dull bead blasted finish which I like.
1.05" at action, .55" at muzzle. It's a lightweight barrel but not extreme I don't think. I reckon the full length bedding will keep it nice and accurate. Bore looks bright and shiny as to be expected.

Conclusion
When you weigh up what you are getting in this package it is extremely good value depending on how good you are negotiating. I rate the feel and overall package better than a sako fin lite but finish probably not as good. Largely due to not perfect I letting around trigger guard and slight in perfection with mil spec coating on action. Can't wait to shoot the thing.



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Cheers, I'll be interested in your shooting results for sure.

looks mint, What Cal?

Very nice

I will be interested to see/read how it shoots and more so if you can get any POI shift from differing loadings on the stock being fully bedded(over day pack,bipod,loaded bipod etc)

And if you still have it in a year what you think of it then/what annoys/what you would change.

They do seem good value.

Why is it that most reviews they weigh more than advertised weight?

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Very nice

I will be interested to see/read how it shoots and more so if you can get any POI shift from differing loadings on the stock being fully bedded(over day pack,bipod,loaded bipod etc)

And if you still have it in a year what you think of it then/what annoys/what you would change.

They do seem good value.

Why is it that most reviews they weigh more than advertised weight?

It weighs pretty much as advertised without the bolt,... Typical yanks exaggerating things maybe?

Originally Posted by 199p

looks mint, What Cal?

308 for this one. I did notice not much meat left on the bolt head with the smaller diameter, not to sure if you would get away with a magnum on this action?

Originally Posted by PerazziSC3

308 for this one. I did notice not much meat left on the bolt head with the smaller diameter, not to sure if you would get away with a magnum on this action?

They have a different action for mag calibers don't they?

In 4-5k rounds when you have worn the barrel a bit you could hot rod it to something on the 284 case.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

They have a different action for mag calibers don't they?

In 4-5k rounds when you have worn the barrel a bit you could hot rod it to something on the 284 case.

Don't think they even have mag calibres yet. They have the m24b which is basically just a long action of my one I believe.

Yep I highly doubt I will ever get close to that many rounds cam.... I get bored of one thing quite easily

Originally Posted by PerazziSC3

Don't think they even have mag calibres yet. They have the m24b which is basically just a long action of my one I believe.

Yep I highly doubt I will ever get close to that many rounds cam.... I get bored of one thing quite easily

I have noticed that
If you still have and are using it as your main hunting rifle in a year it must be ok

Whats the weight or did I miss that

5lb 1 ounce

Appreciated that - can I enquire on the price? It is interesting to ponder buying a semi-custom(?) like this Forbes or a much cheaper rifle for the action and then customising it 'up'. I have a HS-Precision SPL in 7mmRM after deciding not to build up from a 700 action, and a Model 7 that I have fluted the bolt etc and added a Stug stock because I wanted to build a lightweight bushpig.

Originally Posted by Tikka7mm08

Appreciated that - can I enquire on the price? It is interesting to ponder buying a semi-custom(?) like this Forbes or a much cheaper rifle for the action and then customising it 'up'. I have a HS-Precision SPL in 7mmRM after deciding not to build up from a 700 action, and a Model 7 that I have fluted the bolt etc and added a Stug stock because I wanted to build a lightweight bushpig.

Yeah well if you break it down.

Rem700 donor adl. $999
Carbon stock $800
Lightweight bolt bits $130
Talley rings $105
Flute bolt $130
Gunsmithing on barrel fluting/profiling $300
Hardcase $70

And then you still end up with just a remington 700...
.

Originally Posted by PerazziSC3

Yeah well if you break it down.

Rem700 donor adl. $999
Carbon stock $800
Lightweight bolt bits $130
Talley rings $105
Flute bolt $130
Gunsmithing on barrel fluting/profiling $300
Hardcase $70

And then you still end up with just a remington 700...
.

Or buy a Sako,mount the scope and go hunting.

Originally Posted by madjon_

Or buy a Sako,mount the scope and go hunting.Attachment 31310

Only if you have a "gunbearer" or are Herculean