howa guns... be honest

Ok, I'm very very tempted by this howa .308 fairly short bull barrel with a houge stock... I was thinking glass bed it, they have a drop in bottom metal that converts to box magazines, maybe a trigger job...great knock around gun...

What kind of acuracy would likely be seen assuming match grade ammo... idk anything about howas

Not my favorite brand, hate the triggers, but the little 7mm08 Howa I had was very accurate.

Same as Weatherby Vanguard. They're made in the same factory in Japan. Sub-MOA out of the box for the standard contour. Should be excellent out of the bull barrel also I would assume. No experience with them myself, but have done tons of research on them trying to figure out what my next rifle is going to be.

JThoele, how old is yours? My research shows that they re-did the trigger around 2010 or 2011 and the new ones are excellent.

Weatherby uses the Howa 1500 for their Vanguard series. I have 2 of the Weatherby Vanguard "Sub-MOA" rifles are both shoot great with factory ammo.
I've read Howa also rebrands for Smith & Wesson (S&W 1500) and Mossberg (Mossberg 1500).
They are good guns and great for the price. Factory trigger is decent and adjustable. It's the same trigger than goes in the Weatherby. Accuracy is good and of course is much better with hand loads.

They are great guns. The one I've shot had a 3 lb factory trigger and was very accurate. Change the stock if you want but I wouldn't worry about the trigger.

yep

Patriot 07, not sure how old the gun I had was. It was a Howa 1500 compact. Mushy, gritty trigger pull, but that being said it grouped well and was a handy little rifle while I had it. Call me biased or a broken record to several other threads that have been made on here, but I am critical on other factory rifle triggers with the bar being set quite high with those from Tikka. Not hating on the Howas because if the price was right, I would own another Howa (especially this new mini compact action they are releasing).

I don't have experience with one, but have researched the same model for consideration as a suppressor host. The general consensus with the heavy-barreled models from those who have them claim consistent sub-moa groups and good actions; overall seem to really like them. Do a Google search and you will find many reviews.

Howa also has a 6.5 Creedmoor slated for release this year in a 24" heavy-barrel model (according to Legacy Sports International it will be mid-summer before they will have any).

Their good enough actions, But a pain to work on the barrels or rebarrel I won't take them anymore.

My first rifle was a Howa 1500 in 270 Win, and I still have that rifle. They will shoot very good. Feel confident in buying one.

If you plan to upgrade it with a new barrel at some point, most gun smiths will not do it. The threading on the action/barrel is metric, and has a progressively tighter threading, which makes it very difficult to work on. If you keep the factory barrel on and upgrade the stock, trigger etc, it will do just fine. Easily sub moa. Feel confident in buying one.

What's the problem?

Progressively tighter in what way? - Is it the major diameter that gets tighter, as in when a tap is used - or does the threading pitch actually change a hair or two? If it's just the major diameter, chucking the barrel up in a lathe and applying the file to taper the last bit of threading before the breech should fix you right up.

The thread pitch stays the same. The threading is slightly cone shaped. I'm not a gun smith, but I know several who I have talked to about the Howa/Weatherby actions on this, and all agree it's a PITA to work on. They won't work on it for 2 reasons- the metric threading (changing the gearing on their lathe) and the progressive threading. Sure you can do it, but it's a PITA to do and most smith's won't mess with them.

And to think over 100 gunsmithing students a year barrel Howas with under 100hrs experience on a lathe.

I miss my M1500 axiom 22-250... sweet shooting gun took a while to get use to the trigger for sure

Not sure what you mean. For a gunsmith who works on Rem 700 with their lathe set up in American Standard gearing and switching the lathe over to the metric and messing with the Howa's, yes, it's a PITA. Can you rebarrel them, sure. But compared to a Rem 700, the Howa's are more difficult. If you are a smith, you should understand this.

I have a wby vanguard, which is pretty much the same gun. It has been great, no issues what so ever and it shoots very well also.

Not all smiths will work on them, but there surely are some who will and my guess is as time progresses likely more will than wont.

I've still never heard anyone doubt their accuracy.

From one Australian gunsmith that works on Howa actions and spoke up on another forum

"For those who don't know much about Howa.

A reasonably old Japanese firearms manufacturer (well as old as they can be after the B29 remodelling of Japanese industry in 1944/45) that have made their Howa rifle since the early 1970s. Contrary to some American opinions, they are not modelled off a Remington 700, but a Sako L579. They have adopted Remington 700 base configurations so two piece bases are very common and fit nicely. They have been sold in the USA as the Smith and Wesson 1500, spent some time as a Mossberg IIRC and are now the barreled action that Weatherby sells as Vanguard.

They are a forged action. Finished on full CNC machinery and my work with them has indicated that the usual tricks for accurising Remington 700s do not apply. They leave the factory straight and true, so correct that swapping barrels usually headspace up within tolerance. The barrels are also fitted with CNC - getting one undone is almost impossible and a relief cut is needed just forward of the action to release the pressure generated by the joint.

Barrel thread is 26x1.5mm, which is almost, but not quite the same as the Remington 700. All other threads are metric (except the scope mount holes which are the standard 6-48).

Triggers are good, the new 2 stage is well regarded and easily tuneable. Such that there is a local gent commonly known as the 'eBay trigger guy' who makes a useful sideline in tuning triggers for guys down to 1lb safe release weight.

Extractors are really good (again modeled off the Sako 579) and I have never needed to replace/repair an extractor on a Howa (unless lost by the owner). Ejectors are the usual plunger ejector.

The only two criticisms of the Howa rifles are that they are a relatively heavy action. Comparable to a Ruger, and a few ounces heavier than a Remington 700. The other criticism is that some feel that the barrels are a little soft, wearing out faster than they probably should.

The rifle is immensely popular in Australia/New Zealand and have been sold here for at least the last 30 years. They work, and keep on working despite poor maintenance. Think of them as a flat bottomed Rem 700, or a push feed Model 70. Except that they are square from the factory.

One in 6.5 Grendel will not be the lightest possible rifle, but it would have all the genetics for being accurate.

The rumour of soft barrels may well have come from professional kangaroo cullers who will work their way through a 223 barrel in a few months. It's not hard when you can fire upwards of 100 rounds a night, for weeks on end. Many of the older blokes in this trade are coming from Sako 461 rifles and the accuracy need is quite high - since 1986 the code for kangaroo culling requires brain shots only. Most ranges are at 80 to 120m, but kangaroos are small brained animals (something quite evident when you spend time in the bush with them). Kangaroo cullers are the only blokes I know who have shot out the ACTION on a 461 - simply worn it out through use and fatigue. More than a few barrels had been fitted to that rifle over it's life."

Bingo we have done a few and have one now it is almost impossible to get those barrels off.

Bingo again. For the 2 a year switching over the lathe gearing and controls not worth the hr change over every time.

like has been said before....Weatherbys...

I have a howa 1500 ranch rifle with the hogue stock in 308, it is a very good gun, I have not had any problems with the trigger or anything else for that matter and it will 1" or less groups all day long, it shoots better than I can shoot.

The barrel is free floated and it looks a little off in the stock, the barrel is closer to one side of the stock than the other side but that doesn't seem to make a difference.

I am not sure about the other stuff from a gun smith side of things but as far as from a shooting and hunting side of things it is a good rifle that I would buy another one.

Cut a relief ring around the barrel at the receiver, relieves tension for removing the barrel.

Changing to metric threading on my lathe is not all that tough. And, as I outlined above, dealing with progressively tighter threading is trivial as well. Tell those smiths that I said that they are all lightweights, and they need to man up.

Most smiths start off as bench workers, pick up a few machining skills and are afraid to learn much more... - I started off as a custom job-shop machinist before I ever got involved in gunsmithing, so it's hard to scare me with metric threads, or putting in five minutes with a file to taper the last bit of thread on a barrel.

Geeze!

Yep except when the guy wants to keep the barrel

Not worth it when there are better options out there

They shoot reeeeleey reeeley goood....



Sometimes I don't though, but still...


Brings home the venison at extended ranges...