Howa 1500 GK project

Magazine is here and installed

well first thing i noticed is my floor plate is that special star screw head.....
i had to run out and get my gun tool kit with that head size. without that i would have no way to take it off.

easy instal and fits in with bolt closed. feels like plastic but has good mag grooves for pull and grip. its 10 rounds and easy to install

i just hope that i can get the PTG hand guard that uses the acis mags , then i have a nice amount of options in magazine size. currently they are out of stock. so im working with what i could get

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Shooting delayed

i will postpone shooting shinsetsu for a few weeks, as im currently trying to get a handgun (RIA 1911 tac 45acp) before the end of the year, because in January a few new laws kick in which jack up the price of pistols here in CA, and also outlaw some of the companies pistols.

so im sorry for those who were looking forward to pics or videos, next week was my intended shooting time. but it will happen , so i apologies to those who are following the project. my state is just being more difficult than usual
 
Howa says that "technically" their triggers are pre-set from the factory and not adjustable, but they just put some type of epoxy over the adjustment screws that you have to scrape off. Just make sure when you adjust it that you give it a good safety-test by slamming the bolt shut and droppping the butt of the stock against the floor, do both several times, with the safety off (rifle unloaded of course!). If neither of those actions causes the rifle to dry-fire, you should be good to go.

The newer Howa two-stage trigger is great as-is for hunting, but for long range target shooting the lighter the better IMO.
 
thanks , this will really help the project and i did not want to get another trigger as im quite fond of this factory trigger
 
Yea it's a good trigger. You could get a Timney for it but I really don't see the need. Some people don't like the 2-stage feel but once I got used to the amount of take up it has I like it better. The older Howa trigger wasn't terrible, but not nearly as good as the new one and only had a two-position safety.
 
ok project is back on.

im planning to shoot it soon

also i have a new ar 15 lower project im starting with my father , this will be my first ar build its on the semi forum

im looking at getting some magazines for the howa (1 is kind of to little) and midway has a clearance on them
 
I have a Howa 1500 and have shot it the way it is.


The 98 Mauser has:
1) flat bottomed receiver to take torque from rifling
2) controlled feed
3) claw typed extractor
4) safety on firing pin, often modified to be 2 or 3 position M70 type
5) multi stage gas filter on firing pin hole for safety
6) bolt handle is integrally forged as part of bolt body
7) safety lug below rear bridge
8) integral recoil lug
9) knife ejector in bolt lug slot
10 an inner C ring to put the tenon threads in compression

The rem 700
1) receiver made from round tubing
2) push feed
3) little wimpy extractor
4) safety on trigger
5) simple bolt
6) bolt handle tacked on with screw and solder
7) nothing for safety if bolt lugs fail.
8) recoil lug is a modified washer that is captured by the receiver and barrel
9) plunger ejector
10) No inner C ring, so the only thing holding the barrel to the receiver is the tenon threads in tension

Of the ~100 bolt action covered in the above book, they seem to all be on the spectrum somewhere between the simple Rem700 and the complex 1898 Mauser design.

The Howa 1500:
1) flat bottom receiver
2) push feed
3) short claw extractor is bigger than rem, but smaller than M98
4) three position bolt safety
5) simple bolt
6) Integral bolt handle
7) nothing
8) integral recoil lug
9) plunger ejector

I would give the Howa Mauser scale = ~50% Mauser
I would give the Howa Rem700 scale = ~50% Rem700

I rebarrel my Mausers, Win M70s, and Rem700s, and they are all fine rifles.

But the howa barrel tenon has metric threads, M26-1.5 I have read.
I have never cut metric threads on my lathe. I would have to change some gears.
 
That's a good comparison of the Mauser/700 and where the Howa fits in the picture. It has some of the best attributes of each design IMO depending on application.

As stated earlier in this thread the Howa 1500 action design is a very close copy of the old Sako L46 action.

So you have a Japanese action based on a Finnish action that blends attributes of German and American actions and is outsourced by an American company (Weatherby, also formerly S&W and Mossberg)

So with a Howa you have a bit of heritage from nearly every corner of the earth in some way.

They are a great design and also one of the lesser expensive rifles on the market today. Anything cheaper than the Howa is a specifically designed "budget rifle". The Howa is a budget price without the budget design.
 
yes its very well made, the actions are tight and nicely fitted with barely and wiggle in the bolt.

the rifle is a perfect blend of designs and is very well engineered. and for the price it just cant be beat
 
First shooting

Finally shot my howa sunday, it was so cold out there was only a few people shooting. i did not bring any gloves, so my fingers and hands were numb from cold. i guess we had a freeze warning earlier and iw as not paying attention.

anyway.

at 50 yards initial shooting it shoots low left, the turrents on the GK scope were nice, but i shivered and could not shoot like i would , say in the summer . my first cold weather shoot and i feel the howa did good even with me being inept in the cold. and very low visibility as lower picture shows. i think i did rather well with the conditions

below are the shoots in order of firing , i left the scope high for shooting 100 which is the typical range. the lower left target hole on the cardboard is a cross over from a AR, note smaller bullet hole

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1
2
3
4
5

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That center target group looks pretty good. A warmer day and/or some gloves might yield some better groups.

My Howa didn't shoot much better than that even on a good day with factory ammo. 2 MOA with the occasional 1.5 MOA group was the norm. Federal fusion shot the best, averaging about 1.25 MOA with the occasional sub MOA group. It was when I started loading for the rifle that I realized its potential. I figured out that it was VERY picky about OAL. I went through a few powders and primers before finding the right combination, then shot several more groups figuring out the OAL. I finally hit the right combo and found "the load". It now shoots consistent .75 MOA groups.

My Howa is a .25-06 not a .308, and yours may not be as picky as mine, but if you don't get as tight of groups as you want you might want to consider getting into reloading.

Just be aware that reloading is very addictive and you will end up shooting more and spending alot of money on components and equipment. You have been warned ;)
 
already on that. starting to get the equipment for reloads. mainly my issues was trying to find my target as the field that they were mounted in was encased in thick fog. im surprised i hit as good as i did with minimal visibility
 
Yea a target with a bright colored bullseye with a set of crosshairs to line the crosshairs of your scope up with would definitely help.

If you want to make some decent targets on the cheap, just buy a roll of those little round orange stickers that can be found at most gunstores in the targets section. If not those, any bright round stickers will work. Then get some plain white printer paper, a wide-tip Sharpie marker, and a straight edge. Draw a set of crosshairs on the printer paper using the straight edge to make it perfect, then stick the little orange sticker right smack dab in the middle. Makes some good visible targets for not much money.
 
i used to have some of the neon green + black sticker targets that came with the orange and black stickers. but only ever used them for pistol practice
 
update

well i have 2 more legacy arms 308 magazines (10rds)


the rifle scope worked fine, i was questioning its dependency , but an odd thing i noticed is when shooting, if i lowered the parallax the groups would tighten. when i set the parallax out to the distance i was shooting via range finder , the groups would expand. thought that was odd.


the stock flex's in the front if someone grabs it it will interfere with the barrel. so i have started using the bipod as the front stabilizing point and keeping one hand under the rear of the stock, to tighten my stance and get better groups

i must say this is my favorite rifle to shoot now. as i purchased it with the intent of being my main rifle i take to shoots or shoot with intent of accuracy.

im still having trouble locating scope lens covers...
 
Howa`s are great rifles. Mine is a .66" shooter with FGM 168`s. Tad smaller with handloads. Mine is a Custom Varmint with a 24" barrel. 486 yards shot...

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Good luck with yours! BTW you are not able to reload with nails that long :eek::D
 
when i set the parallax out to the distance i was shooting
Click to expand...

Were you adjusting the parallax by the numbers on the ring or by eliminating parallax in the scope field of view? The scale on the AO ring is pretty much meaningless, I had one that was parallax free at 100 yards when set at 77 on the scale.
 
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