Howa Owners

[kayaker]

I recently sold a 20" varmint .308 with a Hogue stock. It was unbelievably accurate, in fact the most accurate rifle I have ever owned (150gr Speer BT over 45gr Varget). It may just have lost to my Tikka T3 6.5x55 which might be outshooting it with a 130gr Accubond over 48gr RE22.

Howa's are really great rifles. No way o would buy another Savage, Rem 700 etc. over a Howa.

[Sean KZN]

2 things really stand out from this thread. One is the percentage of 308 win shooters out there. I have one and chose it because components are readily available.
The other is the number of Howas people own that are dressed up as another name brand and the owners are oblivious to the actual provenance of their rifles.

[Antlion]

As requested!Howa Alpine Mountain Rifle[B]Calibre: .308[B]Barrel Length: 16"[B]Barrel Profile: light[B]Finish: Cerakote[B]Stock Make: Bansner High Tech [B]Stock Material: Composite[B]Scope Brand: Nikon Monarch[B]Scope Model: 3-9x40[B]Suppressor: DPT modular overbarrel[B]Primary Application: NZ Bush Hunting[B]Best Accuracy Achieved: MOA @ 100: .75 MOA[B]Are you happy with your Howa: Very![B]Weight: 6.5lbs with scope and sling[B]Comments: Bought as a general purpose hunting rifle for heavy bush NZ conditions as my Brno was getting too scratched on its walnut stock! generally visibility is poor, bush is thick and country is steep, rifle needs to be compact, rugged to take bush bashing and the odd fall, light for carrying up steep hills and packing out your meat and handle the wet conditions. But also need to be able to take the odd 350-400m shot across valleys when needed, so accurate enough and well practiced operator! Commonly referred to as a "bush pig" here.Rabbit and Wallaby Exploder[B]Calibre: .223[B]Barrel Length: 22"[B]Barrel Profile: Standard[B]Finish: Bluef[B]Stock Make: Bedded in a Boyds Prairie Hunter[B]Stock Material: Laminate[B]Scope Brand: Bushnell [B]Scope Model: 4.5-18x40[B]Primary Application: Target and Varminting[B]Best Accuracy Achieved: MOA @ 100: .5 MOA[B]Are you happy with your Howa: Very![B]Weight: bloody heavy![B]Comments: Does what it needs to at a very reasonable price, hand loads are very accurate and consistently at half MOA.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looking through NZ forums, these shorter barrel suppressed setups seem popular that side. What is the preferred choice of bullet generally run and what sort of velocity do you get? Sweet setup!

[Nishon]

2 things really stand out from this thread. One is the percentage of 308 win shooters out there. I have one and chose it because components are readily available.
The other is the number of Howas people own that are dressed up as another name brand and the owners are oblivious to the actual provenance of their rifles.

Sean please explain what exactly you mean by that.im not understanding your statement properly.

[Sean KZN]

Nishon Howa makes barrelled actions for Mossberg, Smith & Wesson 1500 and Weatherby Vanguard that I know of, and supply parts to a lot more. So there are a lot of re-badged Howa's out there.

[Nishon]

Yes Sean it is true but the are all the same barrelled actions with different stamps and minor differences like direction of gas vents on the bolt and the addition of a bolt shroud on the weatherby models.The barrelled action on the weatherby is guaranteed under 1 moa but i have yet to see a Howa that doesnt shoot under 1 moa.They are all very precise rifles.

[CW1]

Quick question for those who know..

I understand that a host of elements will have an effect / influence on the answer, but in normal use, what is the average barrel life like of a Howa and how does it compare / differ from other Rifle manufacturers of the same calibre/load.?

[Captain Hook]

Quick question for those who know..

I understand that a host of elements will have an effect / influence on the answer, but in normal use, what is the average barrel life like of a Howa and how does it compare / differ from other Rifle manufacturers of the same calibre/load.?

A gent at my hunting club shoots a 243 AI. His Howa lasted a thousand rounds before it needed a new barrel.

I would assume under average guy use shooting 3 to 5 times a year a Howa would out last you

[fkritzinger]

@CW1, the issue is not SO MUCH brand specific, but rather depends on the cartridge and load. Certain cartridges are known to be very hot, and high pressure, and the result is typically that the lands are damaged much faster than lower pressure cartridges. On about any brand of rifle, and .308 will give you 3000 rounds, where a .243 or a 22-250 will give you maybe 1500 rounds...

That does not mean that there are barrels that will last longer (or shorter), it simply means that on average, there is LESS, in barrel life, between brands than there is in cartridge and specific load. So in theory, you COULD take a known barrel burner cartridge, and load it very light, and you should get better barrel life than the norm for that cartridge.

But typically, that defeats the object, since you could then possibly have purchased a different caliber or a rifle chambered for a different cartridge, that better suits the intended bullets and speeds you want to load.

At the end of the day, a typical rifle barrel has 'n full life of only a few seconds. Get the rifle that is best suited to your needs, and don't worry TOO much about barrel life, unless you intend to shoot competitively, or very VERY regularly...

JM2C

[marshy]

To add to the above, when talking about barrel life, a lot of people are referring to the acceptable accuracy, which again can very. The acceptable accuracy needed from the national veldskiet champion will be far far finer than the average biltong hunter that hunts once a year.

It would be quite interesting to know how many hunters (what percentage) out there actively seek MOA precision from their rifle?