Howa 1500 223

[cammy567]

Hi

Does anyone own a Howa 1500 223 with the 1 in 8 twist? I replaced my old 1in 12 last year as I thought it would give me the option for heavier bullets and copper. The old rifle shot almost anything, PPU was probably my go to ammunition.
Despite others saying the 1 in 8 will still handle lighter bullets this one doesn't. I have probably only put about 80 round through it as I feel I am wasting ammo, average 3rnd group size is probably inch and a half to two inches at 100m.
I have tried 50, 55, 60 with little success.
Can anyone recommend factory ammo, appreciate it may not work in mine, I might have to start reloading at this rate.

Thanks.

 

[villaman]

Hi

Does anyone own a Howa 1500 223 with the 1 in 8 twist? I replaced my old 1in 12 last year as I thought it would give me the option for heavier bullets and copper. The old rifle shot almost anything, PPU was probably my go to ammunition.
Despite others saying the 1 in 8 will still handle lighter bullets this one doesn't. I have probably only put about 80 round through it as I feel I am wasting ammo, average 3rnd group size is probably inch and a half to two inches at 100m.
I have tried 50, 55, 60 with little success.
Can anyone recommend factory ammo, appreciate it may not work in mine, I might have to start reloading at this rate.

Thanks.

Yes I have one . Haven’t found a problem . Will shoot anything I feed it from 35 - 60 gr
One of the best factory ammo I have found is Winchester ballistic tip 55 gr

 

[cammy567]

Thanks, I have heard a few people say it will handle lighter rounds.

 

[Hunter 6.5]

Used to have one and it was stupidly accurate with almost any ammo including £8 a box frontier. Despite it had 1:8 twist it was not so good with heavier bullets. Change the stock and she's making you happy. Howa lightning 2 stocks are good that one was on mine

 

[villaman]

Hi

Does anyone own a Howa 1500 223 with the 1 in 8 twist? I replaced my old 1in 12 last year as I thought it would give me the option for heavier bullets and copper. The old rifle shot almost anything, PPU was probably my go to ammunition.
Despite others saying the 1 in 8 will still handle lighter bullets this one doesn't. I have probably only put about 80 round through it as I feel I am wasting ammo, average 3rnd group size is probably inch and a half to two inches at 100m.
I have tried 50, 55, 60 with little success.
Can anyone recommend factory ammo, appreciate it may not work in mine, I might have to start reloading at this rate.

Thanks.

I changed the trigger on mine which has made it more accurate for definite
Just need to change the stock now

 

[cammy567]

I bought it with an oryx chassis but as I want to use it for stalking, I fitted it into a standard hogue. I think it may be the lightning 2, its a much harder plastic than the original soft touch rubber on my first Howa.

I might swap it back to the Oryx and try again this weekend.

 

[villaman]

I bought it with an oryx chassis but as I want to use it for stalking, I fitted it into a standard hogue. I think it may be the lightning 2, its a much harder plastic than the original soft touch rubber on my first Howa.

I might swap it back to the Oryx and try again this weekend.

Have mine in the hogue stock but like I said changing the trigger made it a different gun for accuracy

 

[Hunter 6.5]

I bought it with an oryx chassis but as I want to use it for stalking, I fitted it into a standard hogue. I think it may be the lightning 2, its a much harder plastic than the original soft touch rubber on my first Howa.

I might swap it back to the Oryx and try again this weekend.

It may be a stupid question,but are you fully confident in your scope and mounts? Believe or not I had bought 3 used scopes in a row that was crap . There is a guy in eBay think from Australia,he sells trigger springs for Howa and really transform the original trigger.

 

[cammy567]

Fairly confident, the scope is only a Nikko Sterling, but its a newer version of the model fitted to my old Howa that never gave any issues. Mounts and rings appear tight, nothing moving.

 

[Catweasel]

I have one mounted in a KRG Bravo stock for paper punching. Lovely rifle, that gets many an admiring glance on the range. May be a bit on the heavy side for stalking though.
Like you, I found that at 1 in 8, it wasn't overly happy with the lighter rounds but using 69gr ADI or PPU gave better results if I did my bit correctly.
Luckily, I do my own homeloads and have found that it really likes 77gr so if you can find any factory stuff at that weight, give them a try.
I can second Hunter 6.5's mention of the Australian guy (Gunbloke) and the trigger kit. Cheap as chips even with postage, takes a week or two to get over here but the transformation over the stock trigger is brilliant.
Iain

 

[MarinePMI]

Hi

Does anyone own a Howa 1500 223 with the 1 in 8 twist? I replaced my old 1in 12 last year as I thought it would give me the option for heavier bullets and copper. The old rifle shot almost anything, PPU was probably my go to ammunition.
Despite others saying the 1 in 8 will still handle lighter bullets this one doesn't. I have probably only put about 80 round through it as I feel I am wasting ammo, average 3rnd group size is probably inch and a half to two inches at 100m.
I have tried 50, 55, 60 with little success.
Can anyone recommend factory ammo, appreciate it may not work in mine, I might have to start reloading at this rate.

Thanks.

Have you tried crimping the rounds?

 

[jcalleja91]

I've got a Bergara Stoke .223 in a Vision Hybrid Chassis and had exactly this issue to the point it went back on warranty for testing... came back absolutely fine shooting sub MOA groups with both Sako 50gr Gamehead and Hornady 55gr Varmint Express from a vice.

Replaced my picatinny rail for a Tier One rail and what do you know.. it now shoots .4moa groups all day.

Shoot it in a vice.. if it significantly improves then something else is the issue.

 

[cammy567]

Have you tried crimping the rounds?

No, so far only tested factory ammo.

 

[urban]

I have one - .223 varmint barrel, 1 in 8, in an MDT stock. I've had it about a year now. I bought it mainly for CSR competitions and I shot the whole of the last winter series with it - so it's had 7 or 800 rounds through it so far. I can hit the target with it, and CSR isn't really about pin-point accuracy - but I haven't yet managed to find ammo that will group sub-MOA. I'm not very happy. I've tried bullet weights from 55 to 79 grns - nothing fancy, I admit, a lot of Magtech, some PPU/Sierra and I'm currently trying to work up a reasonable load with PPU 75 grn over Vit N140 (currently 24.6 grn). Latest attempt was to mess with the LOA - but it didn't make much of a difference.

I've checked the obvious screws for tightness - action screws, rail & mounts. I've tried two different scopes. It could be me, of course, but I manage OK with other rifles.

The trigger is nice and crisp but it is quite heavy despite winding out the adjustment to the max. I understand that you can replace or cut the trigger spring to lighten it - so I might try.

I'm close to asking a gunsmith to look at it. It should shoot better than this.

 

[cammy567]

I've not quite had mine a year yet, its also a varmint barrel, I have had some one else shoot it with little difference. I hope to change stocks, possibly a different scope, and different ammo this weekend.

 

[Eddie P]

A common fault reported with howa rifles are the scope bases being fitted loose from the factory.
Have you tried tightening the screws?