Howa 1500 Opinions

[levigsp]

I’d buy something else, plenty of negative posts on here about them, a good reliable rifle would be a Tikka. No need to bed it, change the stick, change the trigger etc etc. Bang on out the box accuracy.

Better value for money in my humble opinion.

Have you read the statements on here? exactly the oversite to what you say, plenty of positive! what about the tests done and posted at the start? They are GOOD VERY reliable rifles, have guaranteed results and moa etc etc. I have over the years seen all sorts of rifles good and bad, I haven't had anyone turn up with a bad howa or one that couldn't be zeroed from the box, I have Tikka, and others. If I was buying a gun to use in the field it would be howa or CZ, value for money work horses

 

[North Stalker]

Same could be said for remington rifles...

Exactly the reason I never bought one, I was at the till with it for my first rifle and the bloke asked if I wanted the trigger kit?
I asked why and his reply was, “The factory trigger is rubbish, you’ll need to change it”.

I then bought the T3 that needed nothing doing to it.

 

[North Stalker]

lots of posts from people who have never owned one, or have had one and moved on to a more fashionable brand I have never seen one that couldn't shoot (although I'm sure they exist as with all brands) as a tool they work out of the box and do hat it says on the box

Correct, never had one but I know 3 people who have had them and have had to change everything around the action and barrel to get it to shoot. Most have aftermarket stocks fitted due to flex issues especially with a bipod fitted.
By the time you’ve bought all the bits to make it shootable and reliable. You may as well have bought a slightly more expensive factory produced rifle.

 

[North Stalker]

Have you read the statements on here? exactly the oversite to what you say, plenty of positive! what about the tests done and posted at the start? They are GOOD VERY reliable rifles, have guaranteed results and moa etc etc. I have over the years seen all sorts of rifles good and bad, I haven't had anyone turn up with a bad howa or one that couldn't be zeroed from the box, I have Tikka, and others. If I was buying a gun to use in the field it would be howa or CZ, value for money work horses

More problems than positive comments/threads-

Search results for query: Howa problems

www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk

 

[levigsp]

More problems than positive comments/threads-

Search results for query: Howa problems

www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk

Really? Ok we will leave it there.

 

[kennyc]

Correct, never had one but I know 3 people who have had them and have had to change everything around the action and barrel to get it to shoot. Most have aftermarket stocks fitted due to flex issues especially with a bipod fitted.
By the time you’ve bought all the bits to make it shootable and reliable. You may as well have bought a slightly more expensive factory produced rifle.

well I'll see your 3 people and raise you the 3 Howas that I have, that shoot sub MOA (even in the Hoque over moulded stocks) as to your "search" if you look for problems you will find them, have you actually read all of those ?

 

[Pedro]

Horses for courses. Depends what you want them for. I've never had one but I know a couple of people that have. I believe it's as accurate out of the box as most other rifles are these days, so you lose nothing there. If you use it for the odd outing, perhaps keeping the fox numbers in check on a small pheasant shoot or whatever where it isn't run into the ground, then it'll do a job just fine. If you are intending to use it extensively, then it'll still do the job, but perhaps a Tikka or something like might then be a better bet. As for having to change some components, there again, horses for courses. Some people are as happy as a sandboy buying bits and improving their rifle, making it theirs.

So, to summarise (with my second hand information from a couple of pals, it has to be said) I would say it's the Ford Focus of rifles. It'll do anything you want just fine, but it won't turn heads like an Aston Martin. If that matters.

 

[Alantoo]

More problems than positive comments/threads-

Search results for query: Howa problems

www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk

Not that I have got a horse in this race but did you actually check the content any of the results that your "Howa+Problem" search came up with?

This is the line from the very last one...

"Buy a Howa and save some money. From what ive heard the Sako/Tikka brand (Of which I have 3 Sakos) have got problems. The Howa is a fantastic rifle for the money, even better value than Tikka IMO. Cal"

All is maybe not as it first seems...

Alan

 

[North Stalker]

Not that I have got a horse in this race but did you actually check the content any of the results that your "Howa+Problem" search came up with?

This is the line from the very last one...

"Buy a Howa and save some money. From what ive heard the Sako/Tikka brand (Of which I have 3 Sakos) have got problems. The Howa is a fantastic rifle for the money, even better value than Tikka IMO. Cal"

All is maybe not as it first seems...

Alan

No I didn’t, as it came up with 10 pages, I have other things to do with my time.

If that’s the only bit from all that, then very good. I’ve had 6 Tikka and 3 Sako. None have given me any grief. Never changed anything except the trigger pull. I don’t think many if any Howa owners will say the same? Certainly the 3 I know of wouldn’t.

Seems I’ve touched a nerve with a few in here. I passed my opinion, take it or leave it. I wouldn’t have a Blaser either. But that’s on a different thread.

Spend your money on what you want.

 

[User00033]

@North Stalker.

Yesterday I was thinking, well this is going well, fair and reasonable feedback so far from blokes that actually own Howas, none of the snobbery and disingenuous 'never owned one but...' type comments that usually dominate these discussions.

Then you turned up.

You're talking complete bollox. Please feel free to go back through my history on here and find all the pictures of game animals with a Hogue stocked Howa sitting next to them. Dozens of photos. Between me and my mates (pastoralists and their employees), we have numerous Howas in .223, .243, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5 Creedmoor, .270, 7mm-08 and .308. Maybe 30 rifles?

Some of these rifles have been upgraded with Boyds laminate stocks, the two 6.5 Creedmoors and one of the .308s spring to mind. This for the purpose of longer range shooting in the 500-700m range. The rest are bog standard, appallingly mistreated, out-in-all weather, hardly ever cleaned workhorses. And between them, these rifles take hundreds of game and pest animals every year. Deer, goats, pigs, vermin. Actually, you would measure that in the one to two thousand range I'd expect, excluding vermin.

Internet forums have played a huge part in propagating this myth that Howas are no good. It is fair to say that Legacy made a mistake picking the Hogue stock as it played into the hands of the accuracy snobs who picked on the fore-end flex and rabbited on about how crap the triggers were and so on. However, give me a Hogue stock in wet and muddy NZ winter hunting conditions every time, I love mine for the very reason they are a rubber over-moulded design. The actual problem with Hogues is nothing to do with the rubber, its the plastic frame that flexes just forward of the front action screw, if it was fitted with an aluminium frame it would be excellent. It is interesting to note that Legacy has massively expanded the range of stocks available now.

I've spent hours and hours shooting Hogue stocked rifles off bipods and bags, because I do a lot of the rifle setup for the guys. I can think of two or three occasions when I got the scalpel out to trim some rubber off the tip. Problem solved. Most of the guys aren't fussy, but for those that like a lighter trigger, I simply drop in some aftermarket springs and adjust. Problem solved. Gut feel is that probably 3/4 of the shooting with these rifles is off-hand anyway. Either on foot or sitting on a quad bike.

Its important to remember that Howa is in effect a kitset rifle. The company that makes the barrelled actions in Japan has nothing to do with the stock manufacture. Stocks are made by a wide range of companies, from Hogue through to high end chassis, and Legacy Sports and other wholesalers sell them into the retail networks as discrete components, to be assembled in the back room of the retailer. I've seen some god awful assembly, usually done by the lowest paid numpty at the retailer, e.g. varmint barrels forced into sporter stocks. Needless to say, this gets onto a forum.... and out come the rifle snobs.

Howa has taken a massive bite out of the traditional Remington market with lots of clever Youtube promotion through Randy Newberg etc. The current stock diversification will see it pop up more and more in all sorts of applications, all over the world. The fundamental reason? The barrelled actions are excellent - reliable, accurate, tough and above all value for money. Now that there are better quality stocks available we are going to see a big shift in perception, but it will take time.

People in the business of making money directly off the land don't mess around with poor tools, it hurts them directly in the pocket. They want value for money reliability. That's Howa in a nutshell.

The rest is just internet noise and interference.

 

[North Stalker]

@North Stalker.


Then you turned up.

You're talking complete bollox.

Really, bit harsh for passing my opinion from what I’ve seen/known from 3 people who owned them. I don’t know anyone else who has one, so I’ve never heard positive about them, first hand. For me, that would put me off buying one.

No rifle snobbery with me. I really couldn’t care what rifle anyone shoots. It’s not my money they are spending.

The rifles I’ve bought, as I said, I’ve never modified them, well, a moderator.

I don’t get all wound up when people slag off a bit of kit I have. It’s my money I’m spending.

I never read past the bollocks on your reply. Lost all interest at that point. But I suspect you have a Howa.

 

[User00033]

Shame, as you would have learned something @North Stalker.

 

[Primate]

@North Stalker.

Yesterday I was thinking, well this is going well, fair and reasonable feedback so far from blokes that actually own Howas, none of the snobbery and disingenuous 'never owned one but...' type comments that usually dominate these discussions.

Then you turned up.

You're talking complete bollox. Please feel free to go back through my history on here and find all the pictures of game animals with a Hogue stocked Howa sitting next to them. Dozens of photos. Between me and my mates (pastoralists and their employees), we have numerous Howas in .223, .243, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5 Creedmoor, .270, 7mm-08 and .308. Maybe 30 rifles?

Some of these rifles have been upgraded with Boyds laminate stocks, the two 6.5 Creedmoors and one of the .308s spring to mind. This for the purpose of longer range shooting in the 500-700m range. The rest are bog standard, appallingly mistreated, out-in-all weather, hardly ever cleaned workhorses. And between them, these rifles take hundreds of game and pest animals every year. Deer, goats, pigs, vermin. Actually, you would measure that in the one to two thousand range I'd expect, excluding vermin.

Internet forums have played a huge part in propagating this myth that Howas are no good. It is fair to say that Legacy made a mistake picking the Hogue stock as it played into the hands of the accuracy snobs who picked on the fore-end flex and rabbited on about how crap the triggers were and so on. However, give me a Hogue stock in wet and muddy NZ winter hunting conditions every time, I love mine for the very reason they are a rubber over-moulded design. The actual problem with Hogues is nothing to do with the rubber, its the plastic frame that flexes just forward of the front action screw, if it was fitted with an aluminium frame it would be excellent. It is interesting to note that Legacy has massively expanded the range of stocks available now.

I've spent hours and hours shooting Hogue stocked rifles off bipods and bags, because I do a lot of the rifle setup for the guys. I can think of two or three occasions when I got the scalpel out to trim some rubber off the tip. Problem solved. Most of the guys aren't fussy, but for those that like a lighter trigger, I simply drop in some aftermarket springs and adjust. Problem solved. Gut feel is that probably 3/4 of the shooting with these rifles is off-hand anyway. Either on foot or sitting on a quad bike.

Its important to remember that Howa is in effect a kitset rifle. The company that makes the barrelled actions in Japan has nothing to do with the stock manufacture. Stocks are made by a wide range of companies, from Hogue through to high end chassis, and Legacy Sports and other wholesalers sell them into the retail networks as discrete components, to be assembled in the back room of the retailer. I've seen some god awful assembly, usually done by the lowest paid numpty at the retailer, e.g. varmint barrels forced into sporter stocks. Needless to say, this gets onto a forum.... and out come the rifle snobs.

Howa has taken a massive bite out of the traditional Remington market with lots of clever Youtube promotion through Randy Newberg etc. The current stock diversification will see it pop up more and more in all sorts of applications, all over the world. The fundamental reason? The barrelled actions are excellent - reliable, accurate, tough and above all value for money. Now that there are better quality stocks available we are going to see a big shift in perception, but it will take time.

People in the business of making money directly off the land don't mess around with poor tools, it hurts them directly in the pocket. They want value for money reliability. That's Howa in a nutshell.

The rest is just internet noise and interference.

I think North Stalker has made valid points to the op's question. "Total bollox" a tad harsh.
I had a Howa sporter in .243
I liked the rifle (eventually)
It had a black houge stock on it originally which I had to swap.
I didn't do this because I fancied it. It wouldn't group for toffee (fact)
Load development was impossible for throwing flyers all over, I was highly frustrated with it and certainly couldn't use it for its intended purpose at the time (head and necking deer) It ended up having a Bell and Carlson stock and instantaneously converted it into shooting 1/4 inch with 85grain Sierras.
I appreciate many, many others have not had any problems, I can only speak of my own experience.
I have 2 T3 Super Varmints now and they shoot equally as accurate as the Howa but I haven't changed anything. There has been no need to change the stock even to shoot out to 500m - 700m the .260 does this with ease. I prefer the trigger on the T3 also, it has no creep.
After the £300 stock upgrade and the many many, rounds remedying the accuracy before diagnosing the stock as the issue the Howa stood me at the same price as a Tikka.
From this experience alone, I would always opt for a T3 over a Howa in any future purchases that I make.
It has to be said the Howa was very good after the initial teething problems I experienced. They are decent barrelled actions.

 

[Cyres]

I purchased mine S/H 10 years ago. .243 stainless steel heavy varmint. Had the stock stiffened and trigger tuned and is an extremely accurate weapon.

Can't realy fault it and would have no qualms in buying another.

D

 

[User00033]

Yup I write as I talk, a bit like normal people. Try and see past that. If its offensive then I apologize, I must learn to bite my tongue and remember that sometimes blokes can be a little more sensitive on this forum than what I am used to (that said I just showed the expression to my wife and she said "oh go grow a pair"). But I do get it and recognise that I probably shoot myself in the foot when I say things like that, so I appreciate you pointing it out.

Sounds like you were one of the unlucky ones @Primate. Happens for all brands, cheap Remingtons, Sako 85s (especially the super light versions), all sorts. Note solution in post above. Its been an effective workaround for me.

Give me a few minutes and I will get back to the shed where I have a Hogue stock that I trimmed, and I'll post a photo. That rifle threw the occasional flyer when shooting off a bipod with excessive pull down on the fore end with the left hand. The trimming work solved the problem completely. Five minutes and not £300.

I would be curious to know if you guys in the UK have the new range of stocks available in the shops yet. We have a number of them over here and they are very interesting and something of a game changer for the brand.

 

[Big Mat]

I've got one in .308, shoots accurately and consistently enough out to 200 ( as far as I've tested it ) for any deer I shoot.

Not the biggest fan of the stock, but it does a job and the deer don't care at the end of the day. Will probably change the stock for a Boyd's and maybe fit a detachable mag,but that's just me being a tart.

 

[User00033]

No amount of pressure at the fore-end will get this barrel to touch the Hogue stock. This is the sporter contour .243 and it shoots 0.5-0.7 MOA at 300m when I check the drops for each batch of 200 reloads. As soon as I skimp on the Lapua brass preparation, or fail to calibrate my scale every 10 reloads, or not use the torque wrench when tightening the action screws, that will be 1-1.5 MOA.

Tools required? A Stanley knife with new blade, and a circular file. Time approximately 5-10 minutes.

Yup, I totally get the desire for rock solid half MOA accuracy out of a £600 bolt gun. Fully achievable with the Howa, the effort needs to go into load development and reloading discipline, not tricking up the rifle at whatever cost. The Hogue stock is much maligned but I really do think guys are overly fussy and hung up on stuff that can be solved in a short amount of time with a steady hand.

The only factory rifle that I've owned that's more accurate than these Howas is a Tikka Super Varmint. And again, its in the reloading. We're talking a difference of half a cartridge width between the rifles at 100m when conditions are perfect. i.e. irrelevant in hunting terms.

 

[nun_hunter]

Same could be said for remington rifles, a tikka is over a grand where as the howa is say 600 quid or so, they still shoot as well, just not refined. Also, if your a bigger guy you may find the tikka feels like a toy

There is a new 308 stainless sporter in a GRS Berserk stock for £599 on Guntrader at the moment that I'm sorely tempted by.

 

[Bigboab29]

I have a howa in 204, it was pretty poor as a factory offering in my opinion, I’ve fitted a grs laminate hunter, a 26 inch pacnor barrel, with a rifle basic trigger, I do like it now but to be honest not much howa left!! If you could manage to stretch the budget a little bit then the tikka t3 is a far superior rifle

 

[Primate]

Yup I write as I talk, a bit like normal people. Try and see past that. If its offensive then I apologize, I must learn to bite my tongue and remember that sometimes blokes can be a little more sensitive on this forum than what I am used to (that said I just showed the expression to my wife and she said "oh go grow a pair"). But I do get it and recognise that I probably shoot myself in the foot when I say things like that, so I appreciate you pointing it out.

Sounds like you were one of the unlucky ones @Primate. Happens for all brands, cheap Remingtons, Sako 85s (especially the super light versions), all sorts. Note solution in post above. Its been an effective workaround for me.

Give me a few minutes and I will get back to the shed where I have a Hogue stock that I trimmed, and I'll post a photo. That rifle threw the occasional flyer when shooting off a bipod with excessive pull down on the fore end with the left hand. The trimming work solved the problem completely. Five minutes and not £300.

I would be curious to know if you guys in the UK have the new range of stocks available in the shops yet. We have a number of them over here and they are very interesting and something of a game changer for the brand.

I do think the stocks have moved on since my experience with them. I actually chucked my old one in the bin after a few years of keep tripping over it in the shed. I wouldn't have give it away.
Certainly heard of issues with all brands as you say. With you on the Super Varmint though, outstanding performer!