Smith and Wesson 1500

H

haliwa04

New member
I have a S&W branded Howa 1500 in 30-06 that I bought back in August for deer season. The gun has been flawless and couldn't be any more perfect. I haven't had a chance to do a lot of target shooting with it yet since I didn't get it deer ready until two weeks before the season started.

Well, I should have swapped the stock out before deer season. It has been through a wringer now. I was fine with the dings and scratches that it got, that's expected out of a hunting rifle. But what I was not prepared for was the finish fading and being destroyed by rain and accidentally spraying my homemade scent killer on it. I've also started to notice a little rust in the end of the bore, which I can clean up. I plan on target shooting with this gun come spring and want to spruce it up a little.

I'd like to start with the stock, maybe something laminate to keep that wood look. I noticed when I separated the barreled action from the stock however, that this rifle seems to have been partially bedded and the barrel free floated. I haven't seen too many other 1500's in person besides mine and my friend that has 3 in different calibers. Has anyone else noticed this on their 1500, if anyone else owns a Smith and Wesson 1500. Mine is the standard version with Williams Sights and standard contour barrel.

Also, if anyone has any suggestions on an aftermarket barrel, I would greatly appreciate it. I know i could probably buy a different rifle, or do this or that. I like this rifle enough to want to throw some cash and time into it. Thanks in advance.
 
Re-finish the stock and bed the barreled action to the stock and leave the rifle as is. No point in changing a perfectly good hunting rifle into a target rifle, if you want to target shoot buy a different rifle. You can pick up a new Savage heavy barreled rifle in .308 for about $800-1200 and a Howa for $600+, it will cost you on average $600-700 for a rebarrel and $300-600 for a decent synthetic stock suitable for a target rifle. Not to mention the optics on your current hunting rifle probably aren't going to be what you want for a target rifle, so in the long run it'll be cheaper to buy new.
 
I say build off the Howa action and buy another hunting rifle. The $350-ish range "budget" rifles or a used rifle in the same range is all you need for a hunting rig that's gonna see plenty of use and abuse.

The Howa action is a great action to build on and one of the stronger actions out there. Their design is a close copy of the old Sako L-46 with a few subtle changes. They are a flat bottom receiver which IMO is an improvement over the Remington 700 style round receiver. They also have a stronger extractor than a 700.

It's a .30-06 so there are a lot of choices for a rebarrel. Anything with a .473 case head will work without much trouble. 6.5x284, 6.5-06 AI, or 6.5 creedmoor would be good options for a target rifle.

As for a stock, if you don't won't to spend a bunch of money a Boyd's laminate stock with a bedding job is as good as anything else and will give you the look you're going for.
 
I sure wish the OP would come back to this post and explain what he wants better. I read some of his other posts and it seems money is an issue as far as what he's able to spend.
 
He said he wanted to throw some cash and time into it, and anyone who has ever done much work with bolt action rifles should know you can spend as much as you want to on one.

Budget builds are cool and tend to be what I have to go for based on my financial status. $300 for a decent barrel, $100 for a Boyd's laminate stock, then about $250-$300 at the gunsmith to chamber, thread, and fit the barrel, then bed the action and stock. So around $700 not counting his initial investment in the rifle and whatever he wants to spend on a scope. That's building on a budget IMO
 
Sorry, work, hunting, kids, and a cold kind of made me forget about this.

I want to put a synthetic/laminate stock on while I refinish the original stock.
And, since the action is amazing, and the rifle has been spot on accurate when I do my job, I don't feel the need to change the barrel right now. I like the 30-06, so if I want another caliber, I'll go to another rifle. I just want to make this gun a versatile hunting and target shooter. I'm not too concerned about long distance, its kind of hard to find 6,7,800+ ranges around here without selling organs. I've got about 200 here and a friend has about 400 to play with.
This is the first bolt action rifle I've had that was in new condition when I got, I took my first decent deer with it, and I out shot my buddy that has the same rifle in 7mm mag with a better scope. Its actually something I want to make my own, and make it last. I'm shopping around for stocks now, and the glass could use an upgrade. I like the trigger, and had it adjusted down to about 1/2# safely before hunting season. With the current combination and some 165 grain çorelokts, i pulled off 1" at 120 yards my first time shooting the gun. Before that I had only been shooting my 10/22 and my pistol, so I couldve don't better.
 
I want to put a synthetic/laminate stock on while I refinish the original stock.
Click to expand...

It doesn't take a terribly long time to refinish a stock, no need to invest in another unless you really just want one. It takes less than a week if you have a good place to work on it. Just pick the coldest week after gun season take the rifle apart. Plenty of articles out there on how to refinish a gunstock. You're not going to loose a whole lot of shooting time if you can do it during the coldest times in winter.

It will be a long time until you wear out the current barrel and need a new one on that rifle. Nothing wrong with a .30-06 for target shooting during the off seasons. However instead of investing in new stocks and barrels for a rifle that really doesn't need it, you invest in some equipment to reload for that rifle?

The .30-06 is pretty easy and cheap to reload for and I can reload around 60+ rounds for the price of one $30 box of ammunition. I'll be honest you won't spend less money with reloading, but you'll shoot a lot more. More bang for your buck is never a terrible thing.
 
+1 on getting into reloading. If you plan on shooting the rifle quite a bit, it's a necessity IMO. Also if you reload, you can take advantage of the great selection of .30 cal match bullets.
 
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