Howa 1100 22LR
- Thread starter goodi
- Start date
Apparently howa japan are now shipping these rifles internationally.
Are they now being distributed in the USA?
If so, any feedback or comments ?
cheers
goodi
I've seen some owner feedback over on RFC - you might do a little looking over there...
In recent weeks the long awaited 1st shipment of the howa M1100 22lr rifles arrived in australia.
The following is an amateur review of the rifle.
The main criteria for ordering this rifle type was the expectation that apart from hunting applications, it would also provide value for money for anyone wishing to use it for general club competitions’. Ie field rifle, metallic silhouette and benchrest etc.
Naturally to satisfy these requirements, reliable and consistent accuracy standards needed to be met.
Hopefully it would be able to achieve groups of ½ inch or less at 50 metres or around 1 inch groups at 100 metres. If these standards were met it was also intended to use the Howa M1100 for practicing LRBR by shooting it at 300m.
I was also under the impression that according to howa Japan, that it had a semi match bentz chamber and according to previous media releases that it was supplied with polygonal barrel rifling and would accept the installation of the various match triggers available for howa centrefire rifles. (more on these expectations later !!)
Ok, enough of the preamble and onto the information that may interest others.
Upon opening the box, it is interesting that the packaging reveals a separate barrelled action and stock with 2 magazines and a set of 1 inch integral mounts which only takes a few minutes to assemble.
Next step was to remove the storage residue from the barrel and inspect the bore and chamber with a borescope.
Surprise surprise, no polygonal rifling, just land and groove???
Inserting an SK match round into the chamber, revealed on removal, no evidence of land marks which disappointingly, tends to question the claim by howa that it has a semi match chamber????
However it was not all bad news, the borescope did highlight the chamber and throat being cleanly cut and the barrel appearing to have above average land and groove definitions with no chatter or noticeable imperfections, but as most know the all this means nothing, unless the required consistent accuracy standards are achieved.
As can be seen the action beds on the rear tang and the 2 sections where the action screws pass through the stock. As assembled it was pleasing to see that the barrel is centred and has ample free floating clearance.
The bolt has one locking lug and fits very precisely in the action and cycles very smoothly without any chatter or roughness from machining marks, as would be expected with Japanese quality control.
Whilst the trigger unit initially appears identical to the centrefire version, rather than have the steel body of the centrefire version, the M1100 trigger is apparently an alloy casing or body with similar adjustments and release poundage to the centrefire model.
The replacement Howa centrefire triggers such as the rifle basix etc attach easily to the rimfire action but unfortunately they do not allow the bolt to close in the action notch. Additionally the safety levers on the replacement triggers also prevent the bolt from closing.
As it was intended to set this rifle up for LRBR practice applications, previous experiences with a 22lr at 300m indicated that the combined bases, scope mounts and scope internals needed to be able to provide around 50 to 60 minutes of elevation.
A Remington 581 20 moa base fitted perfectly after the centre section was removed. Burris signature ring with 20moa adjustment and a tasco 20x sniper scope with + or – 50 minutes of internal adjustments satisfied the required optical and elevation requirements.
Now the big question? How would it shoot?
So far only SK Long Range ammunition has been tested and so far the Howa 1100 has surprisingly and pleasingly met our required standards.
Groups at 50metres in good conditions range from 3/8 inch to just over ½ inch.
Best group at 100 metres is 5/8 of an inch with others in the 3/4 inch to 1.25 inch range.
Only one group has been shot at 300m and no doubt luck was a major factor, but 7 shots into approximately 6 inches in real world conditions was very pleasing but unexpected.
time will tell if other brands or batches of ammunition produce better, worse or similar results, but it will all be a fun time finding out.
It would be interesting to obtain feedback from others who purchase the M1100 and compare their findings and accuracy obtainments.
The following is an amateur review of the rifle.
The main criteria for ordering this rifle type was the expectation that apart from hunting applications, it would also provide value for money for anyone wishing to use it for general club competitions’. Ie field rifle, metallic silhouette and benchrest etc.
Naturally to satisfy these requirements, reliable and consistent accuracy standards needed to be met.
Hopefully it would be able to achieve groups of ½ inch or less at 50 metres or around 1 inch groups at 100 metres. If these standards were met it was also intended to use the Howa M1100 for practicing LRBR by shooting it at 300m.
I was also under the impression that according to howa Japan, that it had a semi match bentz chamber and according to previous media releases that it was supplied with polygonal barrel rifling and would accept the installation of the various match triggers available for howa centrefire rifles. (more on these expectations later !!)
Ok, enough of the preamble and onto the information that may interest others.
Upon opening the box, it is interesting that the packaging reveals a separate barrelled action and stock with 2 magazines and a set of 1 inch integral mounts which only takes a few minutes to assemble.
Next step was to remove the storage residue from the barrel and inspect the bore and chamber with a borescope.
Surprise surprise, no polygonal rifling, just land and groove???
Inserting an SK match round into the chamber, revealed on removal, no evidence of land marks which disappointingly, tends to question the claim by howa that it has a semi match chamber????
However it was not all bad news, the borescope did highlight the chamber and throat being cleanly cut and the barrel appearing to have above average land and groove definitions with no chatter or noticeable imperfections, but as most know the all this means nothing, unless the required consistent accuracy standards are achieved.
As can be seen the action beds on the rear tang and the 2 sections where the action screws pass through the stock. As assembled it was pleasing to see that the barrel is centred and has ample free floating clearance.
The bolt has one locking lug and fits very precisely in the action and cycles very smoothly without any chatter or roughness from machining marks, as would be expected with Japanese quality control.
Whilst the trigger unit initially appears identical to the centrefire version, rather than have the steel body of the centrefire version, the M1100 trigger is apparently an alloy casing or body with similar adjustments and release poundage to the centrefire model.
The replacement Howa centrefire triggers such as the rifle basix etc attach easily to the rimfire action but unfortunately they do not allow the bolt to close in the action notch. Additionally the safety levers on the replacement triggers also prevent the bolt from closing.
As it was intended to set this rifle up for LRBR practice applications, previous experiences with a 22lr at 300m indicated that the combined bases, scope mounts and scope internals needed to be able to provide around 50 to 60 minutes of elevation.
A Remington 581 20 moa base fitted perfectly after the centre section was removed. Burris signature ring with 20moa adjustment and a tasco 20x sniper scope with + or – 50 minutes of internal adjustments satisfied the required optical and elevation requirements.
Now the big question? How would it shoot?
So far only SK Long Range ammunition has been tested and so far the Howa 1100 has surprisingly and pleasingly met our required standards.
Groups at 50metres in good conditions range from 3/8 inch to just over ½ inch.
Best group at 100 metres is 5/8 of an inch with others in the 3/4 inch to 1.25 inch range.
Only one group has been shot at 300m and no doubt luck was a major factor, but 7 shots into approximately 6 inches in real world conditions was very pleasing but unexpected.
time will tell if other brands or batches of ammunition produce better, worse or similar results, but it will all be a fun time finding out.
It would be interesting to obtain feedback from others who purchase the M1100 and compare their findings and accuracy obtainments.
Good shooting! It would appear that if your example is typical, Howa's managed to put a pretty decent 22RF rifle out on the market. If & when the shortage of more grades & lots of SK and similar ammo become generally available again, it might shoot even better - though there's not much wrong with how your M1100 is shooting.
redrockranger
Silver $$ Contributor
Looking at the barreled action. Is the barrel clamped into the action, pinned or threaded ? Is the action Remington foot print ? Thanks.
Hi Redrockranger
The action is pinned and is not a remington footprint.
I have actually been surprised how well it has shot straight out of the box.
Originally I was assuming it might need to be bedded but the action stock bedding fit seems to be working extremely well.
Prior to purchase, I was concerned about the stiffness and and fit of the stock but these thoughts were groundless.
The slotted flat 2 inch forend and vertical pistol grip suits my needs for shooting off rests.
The 2 bedding bolts securely position the action in the stock and it seems because of the precise fit, that they just need to be lightly tightened to give the accuracy levels required.
Bolt and action cycling and chambering from magazine are smooth and trouble free.
Extraction and ejection of fired cases is very positive.
Just for interest I am in the process of trying and testing other brands of ammunition just to see how it compares to the sk long range match.
All in all, for anyone who is after a value for money and quality lightweight accurate general purpose 22lr the Howa M1100 is certainly worth considering.
Hi Flatlander
thanks for positive comments, yes the Howa has been somewhat of a surprise.
Locally, at the moment the supply and availability of quality match 22lr is very patchy.
Batches do not seem to last long on the shelves in the gunshops.
RWS and Lapua and to a lesser extent SK are quite difficult to find.
During the last week we have had the opportunity to test the Howa M1100 again at 300m and try alternative brands of ammo.
Initially the intention was to shoot approximately 10 rounds of SKS standard plus, but from the 1st shot it never looked like forming a predictable pattern.
Subsequently in frustration around 40 shots were fired and the impacts continued to “shotgun” on the plate with rounds hitting high and low for no apparent reason.
Overcast conditions on the day were quite good with no apparent mirage and slight variable right to left breezes.
So following the initial exceptional performance of the SKS Long range ammo it was quite a shock to see that the Howa was not too fond of the SKS yellow.
For the next outing in similar overcast conditions, SKS Rifle Match, SKS Subsonic and Norma -2 were tested at 300m.
Given the previous performance of the SKS yellow, we were somewhat apprehensive as to how the new ammunition would perform.
Therefore it was quite a shock and very satisfying when the SKS target held excellent vertical for the 10 shots. Note point of aim was the red circle.
For the SKS subsonic and the Norma -2 no adjustments were made to the scope settings, point of aim for each is shown in the photographs.
It was expected for the subsonic to shoot lower but it was not expected for the Norma to shoot as high as it did. By the way the Norma, whilst not “cracking as per supersonic high velocity”, it did have a noticeably louder report.
As can be seen the top 10 shots are the subsonic and the lower 13 shots are the Norma.
The top of the plate was the point of aim for the subsonic and lower red circle was the point of aim for the Norma.
Coincidentally the centre 7 shots for both the subsonic and Norma did exhibit quite good vertical.
Perhaps poor or inconsistent shooter hold and technique contributed to the vertical flyers for both groups???
As anyone who has shot a 22lr at 300m would appreciate and know, it is not uncommon for weird things to effect grouping at this range apart from inconsistent shooter techniques and ammunition and rifle accuracy potential.
Other influencing factors include mirage, poor wind allowance estimations, difficulty of seeing and obtaining precise aiming points etc etc.
In summary, following these results, it seems the little Howa M1100 will now be fed a diet of both SKS Long Range and SKS Rifle Match, assuming subsequent batches perform as per those used in these tests.
Initially the intention was to shoot approximately 10 rounds of SKS standard plus, but from the 1st shot it never looked like forming a predictable pattern.
Subsequently in frustration around 40 shots were fired and the impacts continued to “shotgun” on the plate with rounds hitting high and low for no apparent reason.
Overcast conditions on the day were quite good with no apparent mirage and slight variable right to left breezes.
So following the initial exceptional performance of the SKS Long range ammo it was quite a shock to see that the Howa was not too fond of the SKS yellow.
For the next outing in similar overcast conditions, SKS Rifle Match, SKS Subsonic and Norma -2 were tested at 300m.
Given the previous performance of the SKS yellow, we were somewhat apprehensive as to how the new ammunition would perform.
Therefore it was quite a shock and very satisfying when the SKS target held excellent vertical for the 10 shots. Note point of aim was the red circle.
For the SKS subsonic and the Norma -2 no adjustments were made to the scope settings, point of aim for each is shown in the photographs.
It was expected for the subsonic to shoot lower but it was not expected for the Norma to shoot as high as it did. By the way the Norma, whilst not “cracking as per supersonic high velocity”, it did have a noticeably louder report.
As can be seen the top 10 shots are the subsonic and the lower 13 shots are the Norma.
The top of the plate was the point of aim for the subsonic and lower red circle was the point of aim for the Norma.
Coincidentally the centre 7 shots for both the subsonic and Norma did exhibit quite good vertical.
Perhaps poor or inconsistent shooter hold and technique contributed to the vertical flyers for both groups???
As anyone who has shot a 22lr at 300m would appreciate and know, it is not uncommon for weird things to effect grouping at this range apart from inconsistent shooter techniques and ammunition and rifle accuracy potential.
Other influencing factors include mirage, poor wind allowance estimations, difficulty of seeing and obtaining precise aiming points etc etc.
In summary, following these results, it seems the little Howa M1100 will now be fed a diet of both SKS Long Range and SKS Rifle Match, assuming subsequent batches perform as per those used in these tests.
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