Any one shoot with a HOWA?

T

t3tikka250

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It is time that i add to my colection of rifles. I have plenty of higher dollar rigs that shoot very well but dont serve the purpose of bang around hunting rigs. The rifle that i require is an inexpensive rifle that operates well and shoots pretty good and it will also need to last me considering the varying conditions and dreaded scratches that will univoidably be inflicted upon it.

This is how i ended up looking at HOWA rifles. They seem pretty good and are dirt cheap. I am interested in a .308 in a standard barrel (not varmint) with one of those hogue stocks.

So here is my question, how well will a standard .308 HOWA shoot? What accuracy should i expect?
 
I don't know how the skinny barrel hunting models shoot, but my 20" with tactical heavy barrel shoots sub-MOA groups with 168 gr Federal GMM.
 
IIRC the howa and weatherby vanguard are the same gun with different stamps. My vangaurd shoots very nice groups. I would not hesitate to buy a howa, good investment for a hunting gun. Should give near 1 moa with the right ammo. And if it does not it should be easy to modify for better accuracy.
 
Hi there!

I have just purchased one. I got the stainless model , the M1500.

My one it chambered in .243 Win. Love it. Rubber stock , not that hard plastic that you get on most synthetic stocked rifles! The stainless barrel looks awesome too.....aparently they last longer.

Also recoil is reduced as the rubber absorbs a lot of it. Mine is 4 shot , but you can fit 5 into the mag , but this apparently is not reccomended as it can weeken the mag spring.

In my opinion this is a serperb rifle. Well made , and up there in terms of accuracy!

Im a fairly new shooter with bigger cals ( did a bit of smallbore years ago ) and i took it out to a paddock the other day with cheep as factory ammo my groups would fit inside a tennis ball at 100yrds , but like i say im a new shooter and prob had a fair bit of tension in anticipation for the recoil.

In a word.......or 100.........GREAT RIFLE!


Craig.
 
I have the Weatherby Vanguard which is the same rifle basically, and I love mine, it's a shooter!! Btw 7mm rem mag.:)
 
Weatherby buys their actions from Howa. They then use their own barrels, bolts, triggers, safeties, and stocks. While quite similar, and all the parts will interchange the two are quite different.

I prefer the Howa 3 position safety over the Vanguard 2 position. I've owned both over the years and the Howa's I've owned have been more accurate than the Vanguards and had better triggers.

I'd highly recommend the Howa, but would lose the Hogue stock for a better aftermarket stock ASAP. The Howa/Vanguard actions are the heaviest of all production actions. If you combine that with the heaviest of all stocks you end up with a 9-10 lb pig once you get a scope and mounts on the rifle.
 
Love mine

I have the Hogue stock and love it. I shoot a 22/250 and with my handloads it has become so consistent that it is almost boring to shoot. See target, hit target. Haven't had any live targets yet, but would not hesitate to throw a shot out to 500 yards at a coyote or crow. Mine came with a Nikko Stirling scope as a package and while it is drop dead accurate, the cross hairs on the scope are a little thick for serious long range work and will be replaced eventually, but for now, I love mine.
 
tikka, 9/6/11

I bought a new Howa 1500 in 30-06 in December of 2009, something to accompany my 42 year old Rem. 700 in 270 Winchester. I got the Hogue overmolded rubber stock. I compared the rifle to the Vanguard and Remington artificial stocks and liked the heft and feel of the Hogue stock. I use it for day or overnight hunting and it gets beat on, rained on and sweated on. It wears a Leopold VX-3 2-8 power duplex scope and mainly goes on pig hunts.

I had trouble with out-of-the-box accuracy with mine. I handload for all my guns and mine had a short throat where a loaded round of the recommended length would not let the bolt close. So I compensated and just loaded shorter rounds varying from 10-30 thousandths off the lands. The best three shot groups I could get were from 1 and 3/4ths MOA to 3 and 1/2 MOA depending on the powder load and length off the lands. This seemed pretty poor to me.

The crown looked pristine but I was out of options so I recrowned the barrel with one of Brownells tools. The groups immediately dropped to between 1 and 1 and a half MOA, a significant improvement.

So while I did not have the out-of-box accuracy that many experience with the Howa I am still pleased with the rifle. It does rust a bit more than I expected for my stainless barrel and action but is acceptable. Good luck.

best wishes- oldandslow
 
I picked up a Howa 1500, the sporter model, wood stock, skinny barrel at a pawnshop two years ago. It's a .270 and a nephew was looking for a deer rifle. I went to Wally-World and bought a box of 130 grain Remington Core-Lokt green box ammo.

Later that week I took it to the range and zero'd the scope. After zeroing the scope, I put up a fresh target and fired two shots at 100 yards. Elder son was with me and wanted to try it. He fired two shots at the target. Second son also wanted his turn, so he fired two shots at the target. When we retrieved the target we found that all six shots (two each, from three different firers) fell into an inch and a half. You could see each two shot group and identify the firer, but all six of them fell into a tiny area. I think that's great accuracy from a bargain found in a pawnshop.

I gave that rifle to my nephew the following month.
 
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