555 to drive mosfet/igbt

I was experimenting driving various mosfets and igbts with a NE555 at a low freq around one per sec turning a small bulb on and off just to check how well the 555 works before I try to build the actual circuit I have in mind, which will have an inductor operating at a few KHz in a topology similar to a boost converter. (The inductor is intended to reach a peak current of several amps.) I used no gate resistor, just connected pin 3 directly to the gate. Anyway, when I tried the IRF740 and a IGBT designed for car ignitions (HGTP14N...), which both come in the TO-220 case, the bulb turned on and off cleanly. But when I tried a couple of devices that come in the big TO-247 case, the bulb didn't turn off cleanly. With the IRG4PC30F IGBT, the bulb dimmed before it turned off. With the STW18NB40 mosfet, the bulb didn't even turn off, it just flickered a little. I used a sealed lead acid battery and connected the Vcc pin of the 555 through a 75 ohm resistor to B+. I had a 100uF electrolytic across the power pins. I was powering the 555 through a resistor because that is the way I intend to use it in the final circuit, as a way of protecting it from the inductive spiking. What is it about these big mosfets and IGBTs, that a 555 can't turn them off?