I understand that. I wish you were a lot closer to me. you could try my Kimber and my Forbes to see which you liked better. I think I actually prefer the Forbes.

You can still buy some of the original Forbes rifles on Gunsamerica but there is one caveat. i was told by a very well known gun writer that the first couple dozen Forbes were made by Melvin himself teaching them what they needed to know to be up to his standards. The original agreement with Forbes was that Melvin would test fire every gun. That writer told me that for a year or so things were good at Forbes then the quality started going down hill fast. Melvin got out and it wasn't long before the company folded.

My Forbes is one of the first 20 made, so it very well may have been assembled by Melvin. I'm not exactly sure at what point in the serial numbers quality started to suffer. I have heard reports of guys with very good rifles in under #200 guns but that's just what I've saw specifically reported.