Wilson Combat's NULA Model 20 Bolt-Action Rifles: Review

In 1985 I drove to the SHOT Show in Atlanta, Georgia. The most interesting new centerfire rifle was in a display so small and out of the way it could have been easily overlooked. The sign read “Ultra Light Arms,” and as I learned, the mild-mannered gentleman in charge was a West Virginia gunsmith by the name of Melvin Forbes. As he placed a rifle in my hands I was amazed at its lightness. Melvin called it the Model 20, with the number indicating the weight of the action in ounces. It was basically a scaled-down version of the Remington Model 700 short action (which weighs 35.2 ounces) but with a Winchester Model 70-style bolt release and a Sako-style extractor. A left-hand action was also available. Melvin made the Kevlar stock in his shop, and it weighed just 16 ounces. More ounces were trimmed away from the rifle by eliminating all bottom metal except for the trigger guard. The safety lever of the Timney trigger had received a modification patented by Melvin and described by him as a three-stage design. The two-position lever was pushed forward to “Off” and pulled rearward to “On,” with the latter position blocking bolt rotation. Applying downward pressure on the lever while in its rearward position allowed the bolt to be rotated for loading or unloading the chamber with the safety still engaged. The modified trigger worked equally well on any Remington Model 700, and Melvin sold many to owners of those rifles. Available chamberings for the Model 20 ranged from .22-250 to .308 Winchester, with the .284 Winchester quickly becoming the best seller. I used to kid Melvin about building more rifles chambered for that cartridge than Winchester, and he may have done just that. The Model 20RF in .22 Long Rifle was added in 1992.

My report in the 1986 Gun Digest may have been the first published on the new Ultra Light Arms rifle. The one I received for testing had a 22-inch barrel in .284 Winchester, and it weighed a mere 5 pounds, 7.5 ounces with a Burris 6X Mini scope installed. Contrary to common practice, the barrel was fully bedded in the entire length of the fore-end. Prior to filing that write-up, the rifle was averaging just over an inch at 100 yards with several handloads. Months later I used it on a mule deer hunt in Wyoming, and by that time additional load development had shrunk groups inside an inch. Longer actions were eventually introduced. The Model 24 for the .30-06 family of cartridges weighed 5.25 pounds without a scope, while the Model 28 chambered for medium-length cartridges, such as the 7mm Remington Magnum and the .338 Winchester Magnum, weighed 5.75 pounds. While hunting moose in Sweden with friends at Norma, I took two good bulls with a Model 28 in .358 Norma Magnum, and it may have been the only one Melvin built in that caliber.

The Ultra Light Arms design fell short of perfection by only one small detail. Shrinking various dimensions shortened and therefore steepened the cocking cam surface of the bolt, and that increased the amount of effort required to rotate the bolt to full firing pin compression. Keeping the cam surface greased helped, and it became barely noticeable after I had shot the rifle a great deal. Melvin’s decision to sell Ultra Light Arms to Colt Mfg. Co. in 1999 may have looked good on paper, but it ended up being a commercial and financial disaster. So, in late 2000, he took the company back, changed its name to New Ultra Light Arms (NULA), and once again began building rifles in his Granville, West Virginia, shop. As in the old days, each rifle was built to a customer’s specifications, so they were never inexpensive. When I first discovered the Model 20 back in 1985, it was priced at $1,300 while the Remington Model 700 BDL was going for $475. In 2013 Melvin teamed up with Titan Machine Products of Westbrook, Maine, and formed Forbes Rifle LLC to build production versions of his hand-built rifles at more affordable prices. It appeared to be a simple and straightforward working arrangement. Melvin shared his design and manufacturing criteria and technology, and TMP would utilize the latest in CNC equipment to build the barreled actions and fit them to Kevlar-reinforced carbon-fiber stocks made by Forbes. The TMP rifle in .30-06 I shot was quite accurate, but that business arrangement was short-lived. Melvin was no spring chicken when I met him 38 years ago, so when the time came for him to turn over his company to someone capable of building his rifles to his high standards, he hit a business home run in 2023 by selling his company to Bill Wilson, who founded Wilson Combat back in 1977 and has long been renowned for producing top-shelf 1911 pistols.

The Wilson NULA Rifle

The NULA rifles will be produced at Wilson’s plant in Arkansas with Melvin supplying technical assistance during the transition. The NULA Model 20, as it is now officially called, will be offered initially in .243 Winchester, 6.5 Creedmoor, 7mm-08 Remington, .308 Winchester, and .358 Winchester. I must admit to being surprised by the inclusion of the .358 Winchester and the absence of the .284 Winchester. On down the road apiece we may see the Model 24 in .270 Winchester and .30-06 and the Model 28 in 7mm Remington Magnum and .300 Winchester Magnum. Button-rifled by Wilson, the Type 416R stainless-steel barrels are double stress relieved, and their bores are lapped. Barrel length options of 16, 18, 20, and 22 inches will vary among the various calibers. The extremely light 22-inch barrel on the test rifle measured 1.075 inches at the receiver and 0.595 inch at the muzzle, where it has a target-style crown. The muzzle is threaded 5/8x24, and opposing flats on the thread protector make it easy to tighten or remove with a wrench. My Lyman Borecam revealed extremely smooth lands and grooves, which is no surprise since through the decades I have looked inside many 1911 barrels made by Wilson. The test rifle sent to me was chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, and as all factory rifles should have, rifling twist rate is marked on the barrel. The cylindrical receiver is EDM-profiled from Type 4140 chrome-moly bar stock, and it measures 7.75 inches long and 1.220 inches in diameter. It is drilled and tapped with 8x40 holes for Talley lightweight rings that add only 2.2 ounces to the weight of the rifle. A precision-ground, washer-style recoil lug is sandwiched between the face of the receiver and the barrel shoulder. The receiver is pillar-bedded in the stock, and the barrel floats freely, with clearance between the two about the same as the thickness of a sheet of copy machine paper. Finishes are ArmorLube Diamond-Like Carbon on the bolt and receiver and Armor-Tuff on the barrel.

The bolt is precision-machined from Type 4340 bar stock, and the handle is mechanically attached. The bolt weighs 7.5 ounces and is 6.25 inches long and 0.590 inch in diameter. When cycling the bolt with haste, the tactical-style knob with its rather aggressive surface treatment proved to be a bit uncomfortable in the palm of my hand. A round knob is preferred on a hunting rifle, and I was told it may be an option. The bolt has dual-opposed locking lugs, a Sako-style extractor, and a spring-loaded plunger-style ejector. The counterbore wall at the face of the bolt encloses about 0.130 inch of the rear of a chambered cartridge, although it is slotted for passage of the extractor. A cocked firing pin is indicated by the exposure of a red-colored band on the cocking piece at the rear of the bolt sleeve. A Model 70-style bolt release is located at the left side of the receiver tang. The Timney Elite Hunter trigger has an adjustment range of two to four pounds, and a 0.385-inch-wide finger lever makes it feel lighter than it actually is. The one on the test rifle pulled an average of 3.5 pounds with no detectable creep or overtravel, and it broke like an icicle on a cold December day. Bolt rotation is blocked when the two-position safety is in its engaged position.

As to be expected on a featherweight rifle, the bottom metal is aluminum, and it has a black anodized finish. Pressing a button located at the front inner surface of the roomy trigger guard releases the hinged magazine cover for cartridge removal. The steel magazine box holds four rounds, and it has an interior length of 3.0 inches. The carbon-fiber stock is made by AG Composites, and it weighs 27.7 ounces. Quite trim, its grip has a circumference of 4.75 inches, and the fore-end measures 4.0 inches around at its center point. The machined inletting is very precise, with no spaces or gaps between the stock and the receiver. The stock fit me quite nicely, and that along with a cushiony Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad and mild 6.5 Creedmoor recoil made the rifle great fun to shoot. Standard length of pull is 13.25 inches, but other lengths are available for a $50 charge. The dark camouflage finish on the test rifle is described by AG Composites as Kodiak Rogue.

Range Results

The Wilson NULA Model 20 comes with a sub-MOA accuracy guarantee, and the one I shot lived up to its billing with two of five factory test loads. As has long been my policy when testing a repeating rifle for accuracy, all cartridges were fed from the magazine. To see how the extremely thin barrel would handle the heat, I fired a 10-shot group with cartridges from Choice Ammunition, and it measured 0.72 inch. With group-shooting behind me, I rapid-fired the rifle offhand with five rounds each of the five test loads, and feeding was totally reliable. Single-loading to simulate an emptied magazine and the target still moving was no more difficult than tossing a cartridge through the port, slamming home the bolt, and tapping the trigger. The trim little rifle weighed 5 pounds, 4.7 ounces. Making it hunt-ready with a Swarovski Z3 3-10X 42mm scope in a Talley lightweight two-piece mount, four 6.5 Creedmoor cartridges in the magazine, and a nylon sling increased the weight to 6 pounds, 14.7 ounces. No sheep mountain will be too steep or too tall.

Wilson Combat NULA Model 20 Specs

• Type: Bolt-action, repeater
• Caliber: 6.5 Creedmoor
• Capacity: 4 rds. 
• Barrel: 22 in. 
• Overall Length: 41.25 in. 
• Weight: 5.29 lbs. 
• Stock: AG Composities carbon fiber 
• LOP: 13.25 in. 
• Finish: ArmorLube Diamond-Like Carbon bolt and receiver, Armor-Tuff barrel, black anod- ized aluminum bottom metal, Kodiak Rogue camo stock
• Sights: None
• Trigger: 3.5-lbs. (tested)
• Safety: Two Position
• MSRP: $4,200 
• Manufacturer: Wilson Combat

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