So I have never had any first hand experience with Howa rifles. The local shop here has one in a 6.5x55 Swedish mauser. It's kind of a caliber than I have been wanting for a few years, but have yet to find one in a rifle that I liked. The only person I have ever known to have a Howa was my brother, and he could never get his to shoot all that well and sold it. Has anyone had good luck with a Howa?? are the triggers decent?? It would be just a hunting rifle, but I would sure like to get decent accuracy out of it, since lets face it, it will be shot mainly from a bench. Should I get it or keep looking and hopefully some day come across a TIkka???
Howa rifle question
- Thread starter FryeGuy
- Start date
Jay Christopherson
Not An Admin
I think Howa is a great action. I think it's not as popular in the States due to the relative lack of after-market parts compared to Remington. But, they have a nice new 2-stage trigger. The original trigger is no great shakes, but it can be adjusted so that it's not too bad. I believe there are a few aftermarket triggers available for it. Timney maybe?
I can't speak to the factory barrel cause I had mine removed right off (and removing a factory barrel from a Howa is not easy), but it shoots great after some minimal smith work.
CDI makes some nice bottom metal that will fit the Howa and I know Manners can do an inlet on their stocks that fit great.
I can't speak to the factory barrel cause I had mine removed right off (and removing a factory barrel from a Howa is not easy), but it shoots great after some minimal smith work.
CDI makes some nice bottom metal that will fit the Howa and I know Manners can do an inlet on their stocks that fit great.
I am a Howa enthusiast. The reasons are numerous, and they are below. Some may question the value of some features, but you can decide how important they are.
1) Forged flat bottom receiver. Most are round bottom, but some high end custom receivers are flat. I understand this increases resistance to rifling torque when fired.
2) Integral recoil lug machined into the receiver. The front action screw is threaded into the recoil lug, giving lots of thread engagement.
3) Fully forged bolt AND bolt handle as one piece. Not brazed on like a Remington.
4) M16 style extractor. To modify a Remington for this is about $125.
5) Can use Remington two piece scope mounts.
6) Pretty decent trigger. Adjustable. New HACT 2 stage trigger is even better.
7) Often found to be quite "true" from the factory, requiring little blueprinting.
8)) If you want to shoot a mag, available polymer lower "metal" and polymer mag are less than $90 total. They appear to work fine. Two minute upgrade. Or, DCI and Wyatt both make mag setups for it.
9) Action is well regarded. Do a Google search on "Howa underrated" and see what you find.
Downsides?
1) Metric barrel threads. My own opinion is if a gunsmith can thread a barrel in metric, I'd find another gunsmith for all my work.
2) Stock barrel is on so tight, it often has to be cut off.
3) Fewer after market parts than Remington or Savage. Not much info on modifying. Still, Manners, McMillan make stocks for it. XLR Industries and Roedale have chassis setups.
If my gun, I would surely keep it! If it won't shoot, I rather doubt it would be due to any inherent issues with the action.
Phil
1) Forged flat bottom receiver. Most are round bottom, but some high end custom receivers are flat. I understand this increases resistance to rifling torque when fired.
2) Integral recoil lug machined into the receiver. The front action screw is threaded into the recoil lug, giving lots of thread engagement.
3) Fully forged bolt AND bolt handle as one piece. Not brazed on like a Remington.
4) M16 style extractor. To modify a Remington for this is about $125.
5) Can use Remington two piece scope mounts.
6) Pretty decent trigger. Adjustable. New HACT 2 stage trigger is even better.
7) Often found to be quite "true" from the factory, requiring little blueprinting.
8)) If you want to shoot a mag, available polymer lower "metal" and polymer mag are less than $90 total. They appear to work fine. Two minute upgrade. Or, DCI and Wyatt both make mag setups for it.
9) Action is well regarded. Do a Google search on "Howa underrated" and see what you find.
Downsides?
1) Metric barrel threads. My own opinion is if a gunsmith can thread a barrel in metric, I'd find another gunsmith for all my work.
2) Stock barrel is on so tight, it often has to be cut off.
3) Fewer after market parts than Remington or Savage. Not much info on modifying. Still, Manners, McMillan make stocks for it. XLR Industries and Roedale have chassis setups.
If my gun, I would surely keep it! If it won't shoot, I rather doubt it would be due to any inherent issues with the action.
Phil
Bell and Carlson make stocks for them as well. If you have a long action heavy barrel they don't have one available because Howa never made one that way.
I purchased a Howa 223 barreled action with varmint barrel. This barrel, the heaviest available, is at its thinnest, is .825" in diameter at the muzzle. The barrel is 24" long. See below for more actions available. And as Smalltruck says, no LONG action with heavy barrel. I did use a Bell & Carlson Medalist Tactical II for my heavy barrel Howa, but it was a 223 short action.
http://www.legacysports.com/barreled-actions
Phil
http://www.legacysports.com/barreled-actions
Phil
I had a Howa .308 rebarrelled to 6br - shot that in F-class and won plenty - shooting it at 300 was a pain as it kept blowing up spotters.
I also have a Howa in .223 full factory (I have fitted a suppressor to it). It is plenty accurate. 100 yard pics attached (shot from bipod and sand bag). The one shot that popped out was me. The small POI changes are me adjusting the scope to dial it in.
I would have no hesitation in buying another one.
I also have a Howa in .223 full factory (I have fitted a suppressor to it). It is plenty accurate. 100 yard pics attached (shot from bipod and sand bag). The one shot that popped out was me. The small POI changes are me adjusting the scope to dial it in.
I would have no hesitation in buying another one.
Attachments
well alrighty then, I hope that puppy is still there! I didn't expect so many positive comments about Howa, but it appears it would be worth a shot. I have been looking at every shop I come across, even on the net some for a Tikka in one, but a 6.5x55 seems to be a caliber no one wants to part with too often! Thanks Guys!!
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