howa 1500 heavy barrelled varmint rifle

[mikky]

anyone own or owned one..

mikky

 

[Muir]

My son has one in .223. It's a tack driver but I replaced the trigger with a Timney to improve the shooting qualities.~Muir

 

[hughsurrey]

I have one in .243 in the pepper wood thumbhole. Seriously cant fault it, had it a couple of years now.

 

[fox slayer]

I have a 1500 heavy barrell 243. i love it. It likes norma 58g the foxs don't

 

[Thar]

I have one of the first to come into the country, it is getting on for 10 years old now, and mine is a 223 stainless steel synthetic model. I had the barrel shortened to 20” she shoots ¼” groups with factory ammo.


I don’t use it too much as it is a bit heavy for stalking use, fine for shooting vermin and from a truck.



ATB

Tahr

 

[widu13]

My Weatherby in .243 (Same as a Howa) in the non heavy (Vanguard) barrel is a really good performer using Privi! Still very new, but I like it!

 

[silightfoot]

Got one in .308. Quite heavy but I like it.

 

[FlyBoy270]

I have two Varmint Stainless Howas, 223 and 308 both tack drivers out of the box, best upgrade is a stiffer stock and polish the trigger sear, standard trigger is fine if given a good stoning, its fully adjustable. I also have a 7mm WSM blued sporter, the quality of the bluing is not a patch on SAKO.

FlyBoy270

 

[204 Ruger]

Just bought a 204 (picture as my avatar). Heavy barrel thumbhole, yes its heavier than my other rifles but well balanced adn the DM80 mod stops it being top heavy when carrying it becaseu it only weighs about 500g..Love it. Heres a link to a post ive just put on here

http://www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk/showthread.php?32857-.204-Ruger-accuracy-)&p=293481#post293481

 

[mikky]

where did you get your howas from ??

and do they have detachable mags

mikky

 

[mikky]

tack driver ?...does it mean putting the bullets through the same hole ?

mikky

 

[widu13]

They have drop plates. Usually take 5 rounds depending on calibre. A conversion kit to 5/10 round mags is available for £100.

 

[widu13]

tack driver ?...does it mean putting the bullets through the same hole ?

mikky

Either that or cloverleafing. The new Weatherbys guarantee 1" groups at 100 yds but are known to give 1/2" groups at 200m.

 

[Brithunter]

Either that or cloverleafing. The new Weatherbys guarantee 1" groups at 100 yds but are known to give 1/2" groups at 200m.

I suggest you check carefully the Weatherby claims as I believe that is shot from a jig ....................... no stock the action is fixed to the jig which is hardly a way to check it.

A quick web search should bring up quite a few complaints that the rifles don't stack up once fitted to the stocks and Weatherby's lack of customer support.

 

[Brithunter]

tack driver ?...does it mean putting the bullets through the same hole ?

mikky

Tack driver came about from the idea of putting up thumb tacks then driving them with a bullet. So a "Tack Driver" is capable of hitting a thumb tack at the selected distance, usually 100 yards.

 

[widu13]

I suggest you check carefully the Weatherby claims as I believe that is shot from a jig ....................... no stock the action is fixed to the jig which is hardly a way to check it.

A quick web search should bring up quite a few complaints that the rifles don't stack up once fitted to the stocks and Weatherby's lack of customer support.

The factory test targets that used to be supplied with each rifle were indeed shot from a jig, but they no longer supply them due to cost. The standard is now set from a bench rest rifle. Look at the reviews and general videos on YouTube and they get (mostly) glowing reports. For a little known supplier (well here anyway) they seem well regarded. I have to say I'd never used one before and I'm very pleased with mine. Shooting unsupported prone and using prvi I'm getting 1-1 1/2" 3 shot groups depending on the day. I am not a great shot.

 

[Brithunter]

That Weatherby is cutting costs does not surprise me at all. However my bad as I forgot to ask which Weatherby rifles your talking about . If it's the Vanguard well they are just a re-badged Howa the MkV they have made by a military contractor in the US now.

 

[widu13]

Yes mate, it's the Vanguard. I'm aware of the clone with the Howa. These are made in Japan with hammered not rolled barrels. On the range I wished they did this rifle in a heavy barrel but for stalking this is fine.

 

[Hornet]

My Weatherby in .243 (Same as a Howa) in the non heavy (Vanguard) barrel is a really good performer using Privi! Still very new, but I like it!

Yes mine also in .243, will cloverleaf with my homeloads and will shoot half inch groups with winchester factory ammo,they are very good rifles mate.

 

[widu13]

Thanks Hornet. I'm very pleased to hear that. Not found any other users of the Weatherby name- yet.