Getting back to the original question, I encourage you to do your own bedding. After you get it right (It may take a couple of redos to get there.) you will feel a great satisfaction and know that you have graduated to a new level in your gun hobby. Having said that, let me give you a few tips. Make sure that any place that bedding compound could ooze out is covered with the sort of painters masking tape that comes off easily, and before you cover those areas, do a test in a less conspicuous area to make sure that the tape is not going to hurt your stock's finish. The next important thing is to make sure that you have release not only on the area that is touching the bedding, but on adjacent areas. You should use a Dremel tool, or something similar to rough up the areas where you want the bedding to adhere. I like non directional carbide burrs for this work, and have found that lower rpms make the tool easier to control. Also, put masking around the edges before you start, to prevent a slip turning into visible damage. One of the big issues is filling holes that could cause the bedding material to form a key so that the bedding has to be broken to get the action out of the stock, even though the release keeps it from bonding. In the past, I have used modeling clay, and more recently I have seen a video where one fellow trimmed the clay flush with the metal by using a piece of taunt monofilament, or something similar. Another issue is creating stress by how the barreled action is held in contact with the curing bedding, in the stock. I find that putting some sort of support well out into the barrel channel is a good idea, as well as using headless guide screws, and wrapping the whole action and stock beneath it with surgical tubing gives evenly distributed light clamping force. Using the action screws to force the action into the bedding material is to be avoided. You will need to wrap your guide screws to leave clearance for the action screws so that they do not touch the insides of their holes when the job is finished. I also find it a good idea to remove any areas of bedding, after the material has set up, that would act as a secondary recoil surface, for example behind the tang. You will have to inspect your bedding to find these areas. I would also recommend that you carefully tape off your trigger and make sure that in doing so that you don't leave or create any keys. Any taping should also get release. When bedding a flat bottom action, you may want to take the trigger off the action, but for a round action that can come to rest at different points of rotation, having the trigger in place will allow you to make sure that it is centered in its mortise. There is nothing like discovering that your new bedding job has your trigger rubbing the stock where it had not before, and that your trigger is at a slight angle to where it belongs. Finally, there is an issue with Howas that is not shared with many other actions. The front action screw hole is in the bottom of the integral recoil lug, that is at the very front of the action. This raises the question of whether to have clearance at the bottom of the lug, and whether having a small amount of bedding under the back of the barrel is desirable. Normally, I don't bed under barrel shanks, but for a Howa, for the reasons mentioned, I might put 2-3 layers of tape around the shank of the barrel about an inch from the action so that you have a precisely defined bedding area in front of the action screw. I would also tape the bottom sides and front of the lug, and use a thin layer of tape all around the sides of the action, with a added thickness at the back of the tang. A common mistake, that I have made more than once is to take the barreled action out of the stock before the bedding is fully hardened, so that material that needs trimming can be trimmed more easily than if it was fully hardened. Resist this temptation. Find something else to do for at least a couple of days, till the bedding has had a chance to fully cure, and then some. There are a lot of other little details that you will learn along the way, but that is part of the fun. You will make some mistakes. That is to be expected. Take your time, study the problem as much as you can manage, including looking at videos, and report back on your progress.
