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??'s on Howa built 1500 series safetys #6435591 09/02/16 02:34 PM
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WileyCoyote Offline OP
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Looked at a used Howa labeled rifle yesterday at my local LGS, and noticed that it had an unmarked 3 position safety tab: A."Safe with locked trigger and bolt / B. locked trigger & open bolt / C. or fire position on the open bolt & trigger.

So...are ALL Howa built 1500's that way now? ...or is the 3 position safety available only Howa Labeled guns?

I don't think the gun I saw yesterday was a real recent build, as it had a high polish blue & the now common Hogue overmold stock.

Back in the very late '70's or very early early '80's the distributor I worked for sold several hundred S&W labeled Howa 1500's that only had the "normal " 2 position safety, like a Tikka T3's or Wby VG S1's, either locked trigger and bolt or in fire position. I bought one of them in 243 for my kids to use, but never noticed a 3 position safety on that gun.

Gonna look at a Mossberg labeled 1500 later today, that in the pics looks like the Howa labeled gun I saw yesterday except that it has a wood stock like the S&W labeled gun I bought for my kids 35 years ago...but as I've discovered online pics don't tell the "Whole Story".

FWIW I really like the 3 position safety, and why I've always favored the Winnie M70's, Ruger Mk II & Hwkeye's, and even have run across a ltd production Marlin MR7 that is a hybrid of several best features of several guns of the day in the mid '90s...all with the WW wing type 3 position safety...and only now would consider buying a Wby VG S2....having had an accidental discharge on my '84 Suburban's back seat with a borrowed R77 'tanger trying to unload the rifle in a multi inch driving rain storm with 60-70 mph winds blowing down small'ish trees all around us, that still scares the poohwah out of me everytime I think about the incident.

For several years later, I got some real strange looks from LEO's when I would pull up to a stop light beside them...and they saw the bullet's Exit hole metal peeled back just below the passenger side back window, as my 'Burban was as all black as I could make it legally and always dirty, black paint, F'glas wheel well fender gards & running boards, rear side windows & rear window, dull no shine polished aluminum wheels ....everything but the windshield & front side windows which were deep tinted to the legal limit....with a bright shiny bullet exit hole in the right rear back door. bolt
Ron

Last edited by WileyCoyote; 09/02/16 02:41 PM.

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Re: ??'s on Howa built 1500 series safetys [Re: WileyCoyote] #6435595 09/02/16 02:38 PM
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Correct. The older Howa 1500's had the standard 2 position safety. Now they all have the 3 position, that I have seen. My older Howa in 270 Win has the 2 position safety. Try to find an older Howa, or any rifle based on the Howa 1500 (Weatherby Vanguard, S&W 1500, etc).

Also, the Howa actions are a metric threading, which a lot of gun smith's won't work on. So, find a smith first before you plan your build out.


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Re: ??'s on Howa built 1500 series safetys [Re: WileyCoyote] #6435609 09/02/16 02:49 PM
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Scott at Live Oak Accuracy will do the work on Mrtric threaded rifles. One of the other things I have heard that gunsmiths don't like is removing a factory barrel from one can be a pain but is doable of course.


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Re: ??'s on Howa built 1500 series safetys [Re: WileyCoyote] #6435617 09/02/16 02:54 PM
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Thanks Chad...also been looking at the smokin' deal that Whitakers in Owensboro KY has on Howa Lightning's...Talk to Derrick ...just waiting on some mail box money from the consignments I've got out....

You also confirmed the Metric thread issue, I'd heard about and forgotten.

The Mossy I'll see later today is in a caliber I'll likely keep as a LR caliber as a shooter as I have some history with the caliber, but prolly change out the high gloss wood stock to ?? Saw a Swede SS on GB earlier this week I'd love to have...but priced IMO Too High for me anyway.
Ron


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Re: ??'s on Howa built 1500 series safetys [Re: kmon11] #6435622 09/02/16 02:57 PM
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Originally Posted By: kmon1
One of the other things I have heard that gunsmiths don't like is removing a factory barrel from one can be a pain but is doable of course.

Yes!!! They use a tapered threading shaped slightly like a cone, and you need to have gorilla strength to remove the barrels.


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Re: ??'s on Howa built 1500 series safetys [Re: WileyCoyote] #6435624 09/02/16 03:01 PM
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Wiley this is off the top of my head so I easily could be wrong. I think any rifle with a Howa action now has the 3 position safety. I think this occurred when Vanguards started coming with a 3 position safety..

There was a recall on Vanguards because of the safeties on models made between 1970 and 1993. Was the rifle you had the AD with built during that time frame?

http://www.weatherby.com/support/safety-center/vanguard-safety-notice.html


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Re: ??'s on Howa built 1500 series safetys [Re: WileyCoyote] #6435629 09/02/16 03:07 PM
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Chad's response posted while I was typing. Better explanation.


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Re: ??'s on Howa built 1500 series safetys [Re: WileyCoyote] #6435689 09/02/16 03:49 PM
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Boo... the AD I had was with a Ruger 77 Tang Safety ...and was my fault, during a high stress period where I was sliding down the 45*+ incline of a 5' deep side of the road's bar ditch, that had filled with several feet of water halfway and continuing to rise...and I was trying to unload the rifle in the back seat of my truck that was chest high above me...and closed the bolt on a loose round and "eased the trigger off"...creating a the AD. Seems I had miscounted the number of rounds that came out of the gun when I closed the bolt and pulled the trigger...just didn't want to leave the bolt open with all the dripping wet gear laying on top of it.

My hunting partner had been haulin' it across the pasture 100 yards behind me, yelling about an incoming tornado te last time I saw him, and gun went off as he had climbed up the bar ditch about 10 feet behind the truck on his hands and knees...super scary Chit I'll never forget.

The only stupid not so funny part about the whole thing is that I had owned that gun and sold it to my partner some 5 years earlier for his teenaged kids, and borrowed it as the hunt was a last minute trip that I was unprepared for...and knew the R77 tanger's loose round issues better than that, but had panicked that the truck was about to slide off into the 15-20' deep creek bed we were parked at the edge of in the massive storm. We made it into the truck and I backed out up the downhill narrow road, as the old wooden bridge we parked in front of was wobbling in the downpour's rushing water...came back 4-5 hours later, the bridge was gone, and where we had parked was under water, with the creek out of it's banks about 8' high over the road. A very close call in more ways than one.
Ron

Last edited by WileyCoyote; 09/02/16 03:57 PM.

It is TIME for Term Limits, cause Politicians are like childrens diapers and for the same reasons...Robin Williams

"These are the times that try men's soul's"...Thomas Paine

"Those who fail to learn from History are doomed to repeat it" ....Santayana
Re: ??'s on Howa built 1500 series safetys [Re: WileyCoyote] #6436088 09/02/16 09:07 PM
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My bad, I thought it was a Vanguard.


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Re: ??'s on Howa built 1500 series safetys [Re: WileyCoyote] #6436396 09/03/16 01:59 AM
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I just took delivery of a Howa 1500 barreled action today, and I am impressed with the new safety and trigger. Both were a big step up from the older model that I had owned before.

I ordered a heavy-barrel model in .223 with the threaded barrel, and once again it exceeded my expectations. The thread protector is a heavy piece the same diameter as the barrel, with fine checkering. - Very nice!

On my older Howa, the bolt body was in the white, on this new one it is blued. This is a moot point for me, as I intend to jewel the bolt in any case.

Most surprising was the trigger. I did not expect it to be significantly better than the old one, but it really is. - So much so that I am beginning to doubt if new Howa owners are going to be buying as many aftermarket triggers as they used to.

Last edited by charlesb; 09/03/16 02:02 AM.

Kind regards, charlesb


Re: ??'s on Howa built 1500 series safetys [Re: WileyCoyote] #6436433 09/03/16 02:22 AM
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Went and looked at the Mossberg 1500 this afternoon, nice clean very smooth functioning gun for being as old as it is, with very little wear showing other than the normal fingernail dents. Gloss wood stock and gloss blue barrel .... with a period correct 2 stage safety, everything is dead bone stock and untouched, with a cheap POS scope on top. FWIW approx how much to convert that 2 stage safety to a 3 stage these days?

The gun is going to be part of an auction tomorrow, along with a couple others I could have an interest in depending on how the bidding goes. The 2 other guns I'll be watching are a super clean Wby VG SS/syn stock in 257Wby & a clean Remmy 700 SPS Varmint in 308 that fits me really well...and yes I'd buy that remmy 700 after all the nasty things I've said about them, but ONLY IF the price is cheap enough that I just could not walk away from it. Lots of the RP SPS VT's on Gun Broker with folks complaining about how heavy they are...YES they really are That Dang Heavy I can now attest to....'cause I'd need a game cart just to carry this rifle to the blind with. violin
Ron


It is TIME for Term Limits, cause Politicians are like childrens diapers and for the same reasons...Robin Williams

"These are the times that try men's soul's"...Thomas Paine

"Those who fail to learn from History are doomed to repeat it" ....Santayana
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