My NULA Infatuation

Endorsements and Truth in Writing

I’ve never thought it proper for a firearms journalist to become a paid spokesperson while continuing to write about guns. Others do it and they’re well compensated. Hey, a man has got to make a living. It does however seem odd when a writer or gun-celebrity changes brands. We’re left to wonder if they had an epiphany or if another brand just wrote a bigger check?

This does not stop me from praising guns or products I’ve found to work and come to trust. In fact, I think readers expect that from me. They want to know what I use and why I use it. Some have accused me of being “on the take” when it comes to the writing I do about NULA rifles. I can see how some might think that’s the case, because I write about them so much. But I write about NULA rifles so much, because I use them so much, and I use them so much, because they fit the way I hunt and because they work so well.

I guess in a way, “bought and paid for” is a good way to describe my relationship with NULA rifles. But I’m the one who did the buying and the paying for, and I’m also the one who has proved their worth on the range and in the field. As a reader I imagine you want to read about what I’ve used and found I can trust. I assume that’s why some of you choose to pay for the words I write.

West Virginia whitetail 2024. (NULA Model 20S in 223 Remington.)

Granted, there are some other great rifles out there, and I write about them frequently. It’s just that NULA rifles fit me, and most of the hunting I do, best. I like lightweight rifles, and I like rifles that put their bullets in the same place all the time. Let me give you a few examples of how NULA rifles have won me over.

My NULA Model 20S in 30 Remington AR is about perfect for the whitetail hunting I do here in West Virginia. I have a good supply of factory ammo for that rifle, but I mostly handload for it so I can use bullets – like the Nosler AccuBond – that I also trust. Back in 2013 I decided to work up a load for the 125-grain Nosler AccuBond, specifically for deer hunting. When I broke 2800 fps – which was my goal – the rifle was consistently shooting groups smaller than a half inch. That load worked great on a blesbok and a mountain reedbuck, and it has taken a bunch of whitetail deer.

The last NULA I purchased from Melvin was also a Model 20S chambered for the 223 Remington. My goal was to have one rifle suitable for everything in West Virginia, from groundhogs, to coyotes, to turkey, and deer and black bear. I picked three Nosler bullets – a 50-grain Ballistic Tip, a 60 grain Partition, and a 70-grain AccuBond – and worked up loads for each. Because NULA rifles tend to shoot so well with everything, the process took less than a day.

Wilson Combat is now building the NULA Model 20 and the NULA Model 20S, and they’re chambering the 20S for the 300 HAMR cartridge. However, the magazine box in the Model 20S is 2.45 inches long as compared to the AR15 which has an overall length limit of 2.26 inches. This means you can do something while handloading for the 300 HAMR in the 20S, that you cannot do in an AR15. I just finished an article about handloading the 300 HAMR for the Model 20S, but I did not work up loads for this article. I selected several bullets, put them ahead of a maximum powder charge and put them on paper. These two targets – maybe better than any others – show how easy it is to handload for a NULA. By the way, this rifle weighs less than five pounds!

So, as you can see, my experiences with NULA rifles have shown that they can shoot as well as any other hunting rifle. That fact, combined with their extreme light weight and how well they’re configured for offhand shooting, is why I use them so much.

Wilson Combat NULA Model 20S in 300 HAMR.

Maybe I ought to be a paid spokesperson for NULA rifles. It would put a little extra cash in my pocket. But, if I were paid to write about NULA rifles, why in the hell would you believe me when I wrote about NULAs or anything else. I’d rather have your trust when you read my work here or anywhere else, and the money I get paid for my experienced opinions from the magazines I write for.

Honestly, though, the little bit of cash that comes in from this Substack is more fulfilling. It tells me there are some folks out there who trust my word and who are willing to show me by throwing a few dollars my way. Your contributions to this Substack have become very special and I appreciate every single one of them.

I’m gonna keep writing about NULAs, because I’m going to keep using them. But I’m also going to write about other guns and gun gear that work too.

A Condensed History of the NULA Rifle

NULA is a commonly used acronym for rifles made by New Ultra Light Arms. New Ultra Light Arms – originally Ultra Light Arms (ULA) – was a custom rifle company created 40 years ago by West Virginian Melvin Forbes. At the turn of the century Melvin sold his company to Colt, they screwed everything up, and he bought it back, and added “New” to the name.

Melvin’s dream has always been for his rifles to become mass produced, and to be offered at a more affordable price than he had to charge for them, building them one at a time. About a decade after the fiasco with Colt, Melvin partnered with, what proved to be the wrong folks, and formed Forbes Rifles. The company failed because they ignored Melvin’s guidance and lost sight of the goal.

Melvin Forbes with the first — prototype — NULA Model 20.

With is health failing, Melvin figured his rifles would die with him. But in 2022, Bill Wilson of Wilson Combat asked Melvin about selling his company. I told Melvin if a man/company existed, that could continue his legacy, Bill and Wilson Combat were it. Bill and Melvin struck a deal, and now Wilson Combat now manufacturers a slightly modernized version of the NULA Model 20 and Model 20S rifles in Berryville, Arkansas. Today you can buy a brand new NULA rifle for about 30% less than what Melvin charged for them in 2022.

My History with NULA Rifles – The Short Version

I got my first NULA rifle in 2001. It was a Model 20 chambered for the 35 Remington. I later had it rebarreled to 358 Winchester and used it to shoot my first black bear. The next year my cousin and I bought NULA 22s with consecutive serial numbers, and a pickup truck could not haul the squirrels these rifles have killed. Then I bought another Model 20 in 243 Winchester. With it I took one of my best West Virginia whitetails, and it has been to Africa. When Remington introduced the 30 Remington AR cartridge, I got a NULA Model 20S chambered for that cartridge. It’s killed more deer than any rifle I own, and I used it in Africa to make one of the best shots of my life on a big bull kudu.

My first black bear, taken on a hunt in Montana with John Barsness. (NULA Model 20 in 358 Winchester.)

During the Forbes Rifle era, I bought a Model 24 in 35 Whelen. After taking it to Africa and using it to take my first kudu, I sold it to my cousin when he moved to Kodiak Island. I thought he might need it to stop a big bad bear, and he did. Now I think that rifle is in the procession of Alaskan guide Phil Shoemaker. I also bought a Forbes Rifles Model 20 in 308 Winchester. Melvin reworked it – just like he did with the 35 Whelen – but then Jim Brockman converted it to a Scout Rifle. On a New Mexico elk hunt with Melvin, that rifle accounted for my best elk. I recently sold it to my friend Bill Mazelin in Wyoming. Hopefully, someday He’ll let me shoot it again.

One of my best West Virginia whitetails. (NULA Model 20 in 243 Winchester.)

Over the years I’ve evaluated a lot of other NULA rifles for various articles, including the unique NULA in-line muzzleloader fueled with smokeless powder. I eventually gave my 243 NULA to my son, and he had Melvin re-barrel it to 6.5 Creedmoor. I’ve lost count of how many deer he has taken with it. My newest NULA was one of the last rifles Melvin ever built, and it’s my favorite. It’s chambered in 223 Remington with a fast twist barrel. It’s one of my most special rifles and was with me on what might have been Melvin’s last deer hunt in West Virginia.

I’m not done with NULA rifles. I’m contemplating that great shooting Model 20S in 300 HAMR. The real question is not what my next NULA will be, but what my last one will be, and where all my NULAs will go once I’m gone.