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Thread: Howa Owners
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30-08-2017, 09:12 #1
- Join Date
- Aug 2013
- Location
- Randburg, Gauteng
- Age
- 38
- Posts
- 1,281
Howa Owners
Every day someone comes along and asks what rifle brand/calibre/etc should they start off with, and it seems the advice always seems to be "Go with Howa in .308".
Having fondled them a bit in various shops, and having spent a lot of time reading up about the topic, this seems like sensible advice (however, I have never shot one).
From what I have read, most owners are generally happy with their rifles, with only minor issues (iirc the good Ds had some issues with a moulded stock touching the barrel and causing inconsistent groups).
With this in mind, I would like to find out which Howa rifle/configuration you have.
Polls are a bit difficult with all of the possible variations, so I set up the template below.
If there is anything else you would like to add, just add it to the Comments field.
The Howa catalogue can be found here: http://www.howarifles.eu/resources/HOWA.pdf
Calibre:
Barrel Length: (20/22/24/etc inch)
Barrel Profile: (Light/Standard/Heavy/Fluted/etc)
Stock Make: (Howa/Other)
Stock Material: (Synthetic/Laminate/Wood/Aluminium/Other)
Scope Brand:
Scope Model:
Primary Application: (Hunting/Long Range Target Shooting/etc)
Best Accuracy Achieved: (0.25/0.5/1 MOA @ x distance)
Are you happy with your Howa: (Yes/No)
Comments:
I'll try and combine all of the results in some sort of graph/set of graphs and show it here.
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30-08-2017, 09:25 #2
- Join Date
- Feb 2011
- Location
- Stormberg, EC
- Posts
- 3,062
Re: Howa Owners
Calibre: 30-06
Barrel Length: 22"
Barrel Profile: Standard
Stock Make: Hogue
Stock Material: Synthetic
Scope Brand: Meopta
Scope Model: Meopro 4-12x50
Primary Application: Huting
Best Accuracy Achieved: Cloverleaf at +-90m, consistently hitting a 150mm gong at 300m (150gr GS Customs)
Are you happy with your Howa: Yes. I will buy another when the time is right, I don't think I'll even bother looking around at other brands. I'm hoping to still acquire a heavy barrel 26" 6.5 Creedmoor and a heavy barrel .204 Ruger.
Comments: I had to grind the fore end of the stock in a few places to completely clear the barrel. Trigger is the newer version, HACT I believe it's called.
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30-08-2017, 09:45 #3
- Join Date
- Feb 2013
- Age
- 33
- Posts
- 1,820
Re: Howa Owners
Calibre: .308
Barrel Length: 22"
Barrel Profile: Standard
Stock Make: Standard Howa walnut stock
Stock Material: Wood
Scope Brand: Bushnell
Scope Model: Adler (4-12 * 40)
Primary Application: Hunting
Best Accuracy Achieved: MOA @ 100
Are you happy with your Howa: Very!
Comments: The rifle does everything I need it to do. It is reliable, durable and accurate and it didn't break the bank.
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30-08-2017, 09:56 #4
- Join Date
- Feb 2017
- Posts
- 779
Re: Howa Owners
My Howa 308 with thumbhole in laminated stock BB is my go to rifle when it comes to any hunting. I get sub MOA accuracy constantly and I've taken headshots with 180gr bullets up to 250m (obviously compensated for the shot at that distance) with out an issue. My father has a SS barrel in 308 with Hogue stock and we continue to get great results with that one too. Currently loaded up with 155gr A Max and again sub MOA groups even tho with the twist its better to go with a 168gr or heavier. For the amount you pay, you can afford a quality optic and you get accuracy, durability and fun, I wouldn't hesitate to get another one. I have just bought a Howa BB 300 WM now for R8500. Here's a hunting video on YouTube of mine:
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
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30-08-2017, 10:02 #5
- Join Date
- May 2015
- Age
- 29
- Posts
- 750
Re: Howa Owners
Calibre: 300WM
Barrel Length: 24"
Barrel Profile: Standard magnum
Stock Make: Laminated thumbhole from Howa
Stock Material: Laminated Wood Pepper
Scope Brand: Lynx
Scope Model: Lynx lx2 2.5-10x56
Primary Application: Huting
Best Accuracy Achieved: 0.8 MOA at 100m, MOA at 200m (180gr SGK in Norma brass) Im sure it could do better, my skill level is not that good yet.
Are you happy with your Howa: Yes
Comments: I will buy more HOWAs.. 300WM not the best first caliber for someone - I feel the standard recoil pad is a bit marginal / too hard for this caliber..
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30-08-2017, 10:56 #6
- Join Date
- Mar 2013
- Location
- Roodepoort
- Age
- 42
- Posts
- 839
Re: Howa Owners
Calibre: .243 Win
Barrel Length: 24"
Barrel Profile: Heavy
Stock Make: Boyds Featherweight Thumbhole
Stock Material: Applejack Laminate
Scope Brand:Lynx
Scope Model:LX2 4.5-14x42
Primary Application: Hunting
Best Accuracy Achieved: 0.25 MOA
Are you happy with your Howa: Yes
Comments: Improved with the addition of the Boyds stock and a Timney trigger. Quite heavy but an absolute joy to shoot.
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30-08-2017, 11:19 #7
- Join Date
- May 2012
- Location
- Somerset West
- Posts
- 153
Re: Howa Owners
Calibre: 6.5x55mm
Barrel Length: 22 inch
Barrel Profile: Standard
Stock Make: Howa-Houge
Stock Material: Synthetic
Scope Brand: Hawke
Scope Model: Endurance 4-16x50
Primary Application: Hunting / General shooting at the Range
Best Accuracy Achieved: Never bothered too measure but sub 1 MOA @ 100m x; hits the 250mm gong @ 300m without any serious effort.
Are you happy with your Howa: Yes
Comments: Very Happy. It Started out as a bet to put together a rifle for less than R15K. Managed to do so under R12K with loading dies, silencer, brass and a host of other paraphernalia.
100m
Proof Pudding.
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30-08-2017, 12:24 #8
- Join Date
- Jul 2013
- Age
- 45
- Posts
- 895
Re: Howa Owners
Calibre:.243
Barrel Length: 24"
Barrel Profile: Heavy (Varmint)
Stock Make: Howa
Stock Material: Laminated wood(Eurovarminter)
Scope Brand: Sightron
Scope Model: S3 6-24*50 FFP
Primary Application: Hunting/ "Veldskiet"
Best Accuracy Achieved: .4MOA at 100m
Are you happy with your Howa: Yes
Comments:
Decent out of the box, bedded action and polished trigger(pre-HACT) only improvements I have made. Added new BM to accept AI type magazine specifically to make loading easier for "veldskiet"
Calibre:.243 Ackley Improved
Barrel Length: 24"
Barrel Profile: Heavy (Varmint)
Stock Make: Boyds Pro-Varmint
Stock Material: Laminate
Scope Brand: Burris
Scope Model: XTR II 5-25*50
Primary Application: Hunting/ "Veldskiet"
Best Accuracy Achieved: .5 MOA at 200m
Are you happy with your Howa: Yes
Comments: Replaced Hogue stock with Boyds laminated stock, bedded action, polished trigger and added larger pin to eliminate long 1st stage on the HACT trigger, new BM to accept AI mags specifically for "veldskiet"
Calibre: .300 Win MagBarrel Length: 24
Barrel Profile: Heavy ( Varmint)
Stock Make: Custom/ Hogue
Stock Material: Lamiate / Synthetic
Scope Brand: Vortex
Scope Model: PST 6-24*50
Primary Application: Target shooting /Hunting
Best Accuracy Achieved: .4 MOA at 100m
Are you happy with your Howa: Yes
Comments: Replaced Hogue with custom laminated stock for prone shooting. Still use Hogue stock when hunting. Bedded action and polished trigger, larger pin to eliminate long 1st stage on HACT trigger.
All three my Howas will shoot 1MOA or better at 100m, almost regardless of the ammo as long as I do my bit.
Personally I don't like the flex in the Hogue stocks, but a steel rod and some epoxy sorts this out easily enough.
Triggers are decent as is, but small amount of polishing makes them even better. I prefer short/no 1st stage on a trigger, easy enough to sort that on the HACT trigger.
Lightly sanding the bolt makes the action almost as smooth as a Tikka.
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30-08-2017, 13:04 #9
- Join Date
- Dec 2010
- Location
- Philippolis
- Posts
- 4,760
Re: Howa Owners
Calibre: 6.5x55/.300 win mag
Barrel Length: 22/24
Barrel Profile: Light/Light
Stock Make: Hogue/Bell & Carlson
Stock Material: Synthetic
Scope Brand: Leupold/Leupold
Scope Model: Mk4 6.5-20x50 (ARM reticle in FFP)/VX2 3-9x40 (LR duplex reticle)
Primary Application: Hunting
Best Accuracy Achieved: 15mm @ 100m/ 20mm @ 100m
Are you happy with your Howa: Yes/Yes
Comments: 6.5x55 fitted with Timney trigger. .300 has standard single stage Howa trigger. The 6.5 is almost 3 years old, the .300 is 18 years old.
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30-08-2017, 13:06 #10
- Join Date
- Feb 2013
- Location
- Boksburg
- Age
- 59
- Posts
- 1,821
Re: Howa Owners
Calibre: .243
Barrel Length: 24"
Barrel Profile: Bull barrel
Stock Make: Howa laminated thumbhole stock
Stock Material: Laminated Wood
Scope Brand: Nikon
Scope Model: Monarch 4-16x42
Primary Application: Range / plains hunting
Best Accuracy Achieved: .5 MOA at 300m
Are you happy with your Howa: Very!
Comments: It is reliable, durable and very accurate and it didn't break the bank.
As a dedicated hunting rifle I wouldn't advise a bull barrel especially 24". It is very heavy and difficult to carry. I would get a standard taper barrel. Those that I have shot with are very accurate. [/QUOTE]
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