My first bedding job was also a Howa. I would say to up grade the barrel before doing the bedding job since it is just a stock barrel. The only issue I had with the bedding was the rear lug that hangs down kept breaking a peice of the bedding off when pulling it out the first time. Once I figured out the problem and how to relieve the area it worked out fine. Also, upgrading to an adjustable timney trigger really finished off the project.
I sent my action to Pac-Nor barrels and they built the barrel, squared up the action/bolt and installed the barrel for me. Then I did the bedding work. I have not finished up the load developement as I have to many other gun projects, but that one is coming up on the list to start working on.
Also, if you go get the book "Accurizing the Factory Rifle" it really helped me out on getting the project completed.
SES50