Wilson Combat NULA 20S, Tested and Reviewed

The Wilson Combat NULA 20S is the latest in a long line of capable lightweight hunting rifles. And, in fact, this is one of the best ever. The common name NULA is an acronym for New Ultralight Arms, first named Ultralight Arms and founded by Melvin Forbes in 1985. Forbes built a legacy with his ultralight hunting rifles and inspired other popular models that have come and gone like the Barrett Fieldcraft. In 2022, Wilson Combat acquired the company with the desire to usher the Forbes rifles into the future. The NULA 20S was introduced in 2024 and this mini-action superbly blends a polished and proven design with contemporary features.

Wilson Combat NULA 20S Specs

• Action: Two-lug push-feed mini action
• Stock: AG Composites, carbon fiber
• Cartridge: .223 Wylde (tested), .300 Blackout, .300 HAM’R, .350 Legend
• Capacity: 5+1 (in .223)
• Weight: 4 pounds, 12 ounces (measured)
• Trigger: Timney Elite Hunter, curved shoe, 2 pounds, 5 ounces (measured)
• Barrel: 1:8 twist, 18-inch steel, fluted, black Armor-Tuff finish, threaded ½-28
• Length: 37 inches
• Price: $2,995

Key Features

• Carbon-fiber AG Composites stock
• 18-inch stainless button-rifled, honed and stress-relieved
• Aluminum bottom metal with BDL-style magazine
• Knurled bolt handle
• Sako-style claw extractor

Review Highlights

• Excellent Accuracy
• Packed with subtle but thoughtful features
• Smooth function and ejection, even in sub-zero temperatures
• Good grip and trigger geometry
• Ultralight weight
• Barrel to stock inlet fit  could be more even and would like to see QD sling cups

The Wilson Combat NULA Model 20S is Impressively Accurate

An Achilles heel of ultralight rifles like the NULA Model 20S has always been that they are a challenge to shoot with great precision and consistency. Generally, lightweight rifles are more difficult to shoot accurately. Making things worse, a lot of them aren’t inherently capable of great accuracy to begin with. That is, thankfully, not the case here. 

I topped my test rifle, chambered in .223 Wylde, with a one-inch-tubed Maven CRS.1 3-12×40 scope, which is a good configuration for a light rifle like this. Though I usually like the comfort of higher magnification for dedicated accuracy testing, the Nula Model 20S repeatedly printed groups smaller than my crosshair at 100 yards. I recorded accuracy data with seven types of ammunition, ranging from 50- to 77-grain bullets, and the average 20-shot group size of those was an impressive 1.05 inches.

Though we include accuracy data from 5-shot groups — because that’s a metric most shooters are accustomed to — we lean more heavily on 20-shot group size and mean radius. To gather both figures, we shoot rifles in increments of four 5-shot groups, then correlate points of aim and plot all shots as detailed in this story by shooting editor John B. Snow. Using 20 shots provides a more valid sample size, which gives us a more informative perspective on any rifle’s accuracy potential. That translates into more meaningful expectations and data to the shooter than the typical gun-writer brag. 

Here is a more detailed look at the accuracy data:

Notable Observations on the NULA 20S Accuracy

Not only was the NULA 20S one of the most accurate hunting rifles I have tested, across a wide variety of bullet weights, it’s certainly the most accurate ultralight rifle I’ve ever shot. That’s impressive. I only wish it were a 1-in-7 twist, rather than a 1-in-8. To me, this rifle is a perfect candidate for shooting heavier 80- and 88-grain bullets for deer- and black-bear-sized game. Some rifle barrels such as the Lilja on my old Colt AR15 service rifle spit 80-grain bullets downrange with great precision, but some don’t. I tried the 80-grain Hornady ELD-X load that handily put down a West Texas whitetail from a Savage M110 Trail Hunter Lite last fall, but groups were large and bullet holes showed some slight keyholing. Trials with the 80-grain Sierra MatchKing yielded similar results.

The NULA 20S was exceptionally accurate with bullets in the 50- to 77-grain range — including several deer-appropriate bullets like the 62-grain Controlled Chaos. To frame things, it’s a relatively rare occurrence for us to see a normal weight hunting rifle print 20-shot composites under an inch, and 100-yard mean radius numbers under 0.3 inches are excellent. This rifle did it with bullets in every weight class the eight-twist barrel would stabilize. I did notice that, although the .223 Wylde chamber is designed to accommodate higher 5.56mm NATO chamber pressures, accuracy with factory 5.56mm ammo and hand loads at 5.56mm pressures showed significantly worse accuracy than those within the standard .223 charge weight ranges.

The NULA 20S is Feature Rich

We focus a lot on how a gun, especially a $3,000 gun, shoots, but there is much more to it than that. To the untrained eye, the NULA 20S doesn’t look much different from any given ultralight rifle with a 23-ounce (measured) carbon stock and custom sponged-on paint job. It’s simple, handy, and elegant — the kind of hunting rifle any hunter can appreciate. However, the harder I looked, the more I found to like. 

AG Composites Carbon-Fiber Stock

The NULA 20S uses a carbon-fiber stock from AG Composites, which appears to be the Privateer model, or an OEM version of it. The stock is light as a feather and strong. The recoil pad is nicely fit and the finish is dull but textured to provide a good grip in wet conditions. I really like the grip, which is similar to older Ultralight Arms rifles, but thickened to provide plenty of real estate to rest my thumb on top, just behind the tang. The grip angle works wonderfully with the geometry of the curved wide-shoed trigger. Both the NULA 20S and the Remington 700 Alpha 1 I recently reviewed use Timney Elite Hunter triggers, but the curved shoe used on the NULA 20S works better than the flat trigger shoe used on that M700.

My only suggested improvement on the stock of the NULA 20S would be to opt for QD sling swivel cups and M-Lok slots rather than traditional sling swivel studs. Fitting of the stock is excellent except that the barrel doesn’t sit perfectly even in the barrel channel. For a rifle that’s otherwise nearly perfect, this detail shouldn’t be overlooked. 

Micro Action

The NULA Model 20S is similar to a Remington 700, only smaller. The micro-sized action has a 2.2-inch long ejection port and is perfectly sized for the .223 and other short cartridges like the .300 BLK, .300 HAM’R, and .350 Legend. It uses a Remington M700 pattern trigger, a similar recoil lug style, except the lugs are flush with the front of the bolt. The two-lug bolt is machined from 4340 steel and uses stainless springs for added corrosion resistance. The bolt handle is capped with a nicely-knurled knob for a sure grip, and the junction of the bolt knob and handle is thinned down, which subtly keeps my index finger against the bolt knob as it rotates. I could smoothly and rapidly run the bolt with just my index finger and thumb, placing my thumb on the back of the bolt shroud.

The NULA 20S feeds cartridges from an internal BDL-style magazine with a nice-looking hinged aluminum floorplate that is released by a functional and good-looking latch button inside the lower portion of the trigger guard. The barrel is stainless steel and threaded ½-28. Both it and the receiver are finished in a matte black Armor-Tuff coating. The 18-inch .223 Wylde barrel is button-rifled, polished, and stress-relieved, and is ultra thin, belling out at the muzzle to provide a solid shoulder for a suppressor to seat against.

A Rifle for All Conditions

The coating on the receiver and barrel seem to be durable and, although bolt travel isn’t as glassy on something like a Zermatt TL3, it’s quite smooth. Most importantly, it functions and feeds well — even in subzero temperatures. The Sako-style extractor grips cases well and they are sprung free of the action by a single plunger ejector that’s located at the 2-o’clock position on the bolt face. Some plunger ejectors tend to dribble cases out of the receiver, but this one is noticeably more potent, ejecting cases sharply.

The more time I spend shooting this rifle offhand and from field positions, the more I like it. There are applications where a heavier shooting iron is appropriate and advantageous, but this is a superb ultralight rifle. Even with the optic and a steel Dead Air Sierra 5 Suppressor, it’s under seven pounds. Its good ergonomics make it easy to shoot, and I don’t know of a better all-around option for a deer hunter who rarely shoots beyond 300 yards. It’s handy and quick-pointing for stalking or still hunting, accurate enough to place precise shots from supported positions, and sized to be paired with a suppressor.

Pros

• Extremely light
• Handy and maneuverable
• Great ergonomics
• Excellent accuracy
• Good workmanship

Cons

Final Thoughts

Aside from a few nitpicks, I can hardly find anything wrong with the NULA Model 20S. It’s truly a damn nice rifle. The price tag will be a hangup for some but, having tested a number of premium-priced rifles, I can assure you that the value is there. We (the OL gun team) still appreciate a bargain, but have also observed that more hunters and shooters are recognizing the benefit of saving up for one or two premium rifles that will meet their needs, rather than rolling the dice with a higher volume of cheap guns. Ultimately that’s your choice, but getting a NULA 20S will never be a bad one.

 

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