Has anyone bought a Howa in the last year?

[bigfellascott]

I'm just wondering if anyone has bought a Howa in the last year? If so are you happy with it, does it shoot, do you have any issues at all with it?

The reason I ask is I'm getting one in 22.250 HB and have heard there may be quality issues re the barrels and bolts?

So I thought I would put it out there and see what you guys who have bought within the last year have to say about them.

Cheers

 

[ridge rider]

I'm just wondering if anyone has bought a Howa in the last year? If so are you happy with it, does it shoot, do you have any issues at all with it?

The reason I ask is I'm getting one in 22.250 HB and have heard there may be quality issues re the barrels and bolts?

So I thought I would put it out there and see what you guys who have bought within the last year have to say about them.

Cheers

No I haven't bought one and never will.
Sorry to speak the truth, but what do you expect for around $500, they are a cheap investment casting, they are heavy and they are a heap of **** from what some of my mates have experienced.
If you have a boat then use one as a boat anchor.
Change your order to a Tikka T3 and you won't be disappointed.
Sorry as I don't mean to offend you.
Have a good day.

 

[Scot E]

No I haven't bought one and never will.
What do you expect for around $500, they are a cheap investment casting, heavy and a heap of **** from what some of my mates have experienced.
If you have a boat then use it as a boat anchor.
Change your order to a Tikka T3 and you won't be disappointed.
Sorry as I don't mean to offend you.
Have a good day.

Well, you may need to find some new mates!

Howa's have long been known to be at the top of the list for best out of the box accuracy from any manufacturer. You do realize the Weatherby Vanguards are Howa actions and barrels right?

And since when does weight negatively affect accuracy?

While I can't vouch for what may be a recent drop in QC, my Howas are a few years old so I don't know of any recent issues, I can promise that in general the explictives you spouted do not belong attached to the Howa.

Unless you hear otherwise I would encourage you to look at Howa or Savage for a very good shooter out of the box.

 

[ridge rider]

Well, you may need to find some new mates!

Howa's have long been known to be at the top of the list for best out of the box accuracy from any manufacturer. You do realize the Weatherby Vanguards are Howa actions and barrels right?

And since when does weight negatively affect accuracy?

While I can't vouch for what may be a recent drop in QC, my Howas are a few years old so I don't know of any recent issues, I can promise that in general the explictives you spouted do not belong attached to the Howa.

Unless you hear otherwise I would encourage you to look at Howa or Savage for a very good shooter out of the box.

Dear Scot E,

It seems as if I have stepped on an ingrown toe nail here judging by your misaligned comments.

Please allow me to respond and clear your mind on a few issues here.

1. You obviously have not paid attention to opening lines where our forum friend asked this....and by the way I have underlined the pertinent bits just for you.

I'm just wondering if anyone has bought a Howa in the last year?
If so are you happy with it, does it shoot, do you have any issues at all with it?
We are supposed to discuss Howas purchased in the last year and any issues with them, not several years ago like you did.
I thought I honestly addressed his question and gave him an honest comment. You will see this and more should you wish to continue reading as all shall be revealed, even to someone who is as "one eyed" as you.

2. Your opening comment states....

"Well, you may need to find some new mates! "

Did my comments disassociate you from me. Well I never considered you as a mate and nor would I give you that privelege of being one for that matter. Nothing lost there in my opinion.

3. Howa have NEVER been top of the list for most accurate factory rifle out of the box. Was this in your dreams?

4. I DO KNOW the Weatherby Vanguards are Howa actions and barrels. However what you possibly fail to realise is that Weatherby Inc. has a high standard of quality acceptance and there is no way these crappy ones would get past the Weatherby gate post.....right? Unlike you I can afford the more expensive Weatherby MK5 Accumarks and know what high quality Weatherby rifles are about. I don't buy bargain basement rifles unlike you.

5. I never made mention of ..."weight negatively affect(ing) accuracy"
You made that assumption/assertion.
I implied that they are heavy to carry about.
So kindly get your hand off your piece of manhood and get your facts right first before you open up on me with all guns blazing.

6. For your information here are some facts you should learn about or need to know.....

The Howas of yesteryear were a very good rifle and were very well put together and Howa lived upon that reputation for quite a long time, however of late there have been too many issues with their drop in quality and workmanship which has resulted in some pretty poorly manufactured rifles. Some have had actions even blow up with magnum cartridges.
A hunting friend of mine just recently bought a 338 WinMag and could not get this thing to shoot no matter what factory ammo he tried. It produced groups of 4" and worse.
His brother "TopShot" a member on this forum even handloaded ammunition with various powders and projectile combinations and seating depths, yet despite all that he could not get that mean son of a bitch rifle to shoot at all.
Upon careful examination of the machining of the receiver and barrel with the naked eye and with a bore scope it was revealed how badly manufactured this rifle really was.
So much for quality and workmanship from modern day Howa.
If this is a truly typical example of how "well" the modern age Howa is made then heaven help you when you spend your hard earned cash on one of these pieces of **** and they are just that….they are **** I will repeat once again.

Howas never were at the top of the list as being the most accurate out of the box factory rifle. I do not know where you got this information from.
You may possibly have been spun a load of ******** when you purchased your rifle some time ago by some slick salesman who told you this and it appears you still believe that bit of crap to this day.

Here is the real truth on this topic and I hope you might learn something from all this.

The 40 X's by Remington are the only tight tolerance factory sold rifles without going to a custom job that are and always were the most accurate out of the box factory rifles bar none.
Certainly there are others that have good tolerances and guarantee good accuracy, but do not have the reputation that the 40 X's are noted for.
As a matter of fact the 40 X's actually hold a many bench rest shoots for a factory gun and they are as close to a custom as you can get even if you built them yourself.

For a factory rifle the Tikka and Sako have an extremely good reputation for accuracy and performance. Both are made by the same people in the same factory.
The Sako's don't leave the factory unless they can fire less than 1/2" at 100 yards and Tikka firing less than 1" @ 100 yards.
All rifles produced are test fired before leaving the factory and there are NO rejects.
Each barrel is examined by eye for 5 minutes by expert craftsmen.
Sako bolts will fit in any Sako of same model with no headspace issues.
These are really well put together and are very nice rifles.

For a budget-priced rifle, the Savage is probably the most accurate factory-production rifle out there today and not your Howa thank you.
I've had witnessed uniformly excellent results with them at F Class shoots out to 1000 yards.
I would suggest Savage, triple pillar accu-stock with a 3 lbs trigger if long shots are what you are considering.

However, if you want to go up-market a bit (not too much), try the Tikka range.
They're made by Sako, and are considered to be the best value-for-money rifle on the market today - and their accuracy is equal to the Savage, whilst their workmanship and quality is just that bit better.

In the end it's your money you are spending…..would hate to see it go to waste on a piece of ****.

Hope this clears the air.

Have a nice day

 

[Scot E]

RR,

Calm down my friend. I guess I should have added a cute little to the "you need to find new mates" part of my post. Just messin' around and giving you a bit of a jab!

Ok, you completely convinced me! Remington rules the world! There are no signs of any drop in Remington quality or accuracy over the last decade+. The hundreds of threads over a dozen forums are all conspiracy theories being spread by Remington's competitors! Remington IS the most accurate out of the box rifle because well . . . . their ads say so! They have no issues with QC, accuracy, barrel quality, and especially not with their triggers! I bet the Yankees, Cowboys, and Lakers are your favorite teams too! (Just to be clear, I am just playin' with you here!) Please don't call me names!

I should have been clearer in my first post, I was in a hurry, and said that Howa is known as the best rifle for the money as far as accuracy is concerned. The truth is that they consistently run as ½-1 MOA guns with ZERO work done to them. This is based on my experience with a dozen or so guns and anything I have read on Howa's report the same. They are also a stronger action than the Big R 700. I don't think this fact is in dispute anywhere to my knowledge. If it is I will quickly retract and add an "IMO" to that statement.

I have shot all the guns you mentioned and owned most and don't mind paying for performance but I don't pay extra without gaining tangible performance increases and in my experience you don't get much if anything more from Big R, Sako, and Tikka. YMMV In addition upgrading and accurizing the Sako/Tikka is more difficult. (read as more expensive and fewer aftermarket parts) Most guys eventually upgrade in this sport and I personally don't like to lead guys in a direction that is going to cost them more money than necessary down the road. In stock form the 3 you mentioned are much more expensive guns and in general have similar or worse accuracy out of the box. The MKV is a very strong action, it has that going for it, but I haven't seen better accuracy when looking at the averages. One gun here or there doesn't mean much to me. Even if it was the same price I am not sure it would be my choice let alone it being 3x the price of the Howa's. For a guy buying factory the Howa's deserve a look IMO.

BTW, I have watched the results of quite a few of the factory gun competitions the last few years. (I get a kick out of seeing what stock guns can do in the accuracy department) Not a whole lot of Remington's on the line, let alone in the winners circle. It is pretty much dominated by Savage. I think I mentioned that Savages are good shooters in my post?

I actually tried to find threads here, on the hide, and firearms forum about newer Howa's having issues. I couldn't find any. Can you point me to some? If they have indeed fallen in quality I am interested in learning more. To clarify, I am not particularly interested in 1 or 2 people's experience with a gun that doesn't shoot good groups or that blew an action. Lot's of possible reasons for that happening to any rifle from any manf and the cause seldom has anything to do with the manf. I hear it all the time, except for Big R of course! What I would like to see is the proof that they have turned to crap after being 1/2-1 MOA shooters for over 20 years at a price point better than any of their competition. That isn't just my opinion either. I think you will find this info to be backed up just by searching the forum here for info on Howa's.

I mentioned weight because you made this comment, "No I haven't bought one and never will. Sorry to speak the truth, but what do you expect for around $500, they are a cheap investment casting, they are heavy and they are a heap of ****." What would you have me glean from this? To paraphrase, you haven't bought one, you never will because they are cheap, casted, heavy pieces of crap. What did I miss?

FWIW, I still choose to consider you a friend as we share a common interest and passion in life and likely share a number of other things in common as well. Instead of name calling and "un-friending" people I would encourage you to embrace the positives of debate and freedom of speech. It is what makes this nation and LRH great!

 

[ridge rider]

Scot E,

All is well and let us please cast aside our past comments and start anew.
Let us be friends as we do share the same passion.

I don't know how to say this but I did intentionally leave the Big R Rem 700 out of our previous squabble.
Thirty years ago I owned many Remington 700 action rifles in ADL and BDL configuration as well as the Classic series in various calibres over the course of time and in their standard form they were always a reliable and very accurate rifle and Remington vigorously advertised that.
Sadly though over the past few years the Rem 700 has also fallen victim to poorer production and QC except for the Sendero range which somehow seems to have better QC.
Once again my friend TopShot had recently fallen victim to one in 7mm RemMag. He bought his rifle new and later after experiencing certain difficulties a closer inspection revealed it had a very poorly machined chamber which clearly showed up its chatter marks from the reamer in the chamber. This poor chambering limited his handloading potential to soft loads resulting in poorer and lower velocities.
He has now rebarrelled and rechambered it into a 338RUM and what a magnificent and super accurate rifle it is now.
There is no doubt that the BigR 700 is indeed very popular as there is a vast array and an impressive abundance of accessories and aftermarket gear. I found this out the hard way when I looked for aftermarket gear for my Weatherby Accumarks and found the market to be very limited for the Mark 5 Weatherby but the Remmy had everything going for it.
I cannot agree where you say the Howa is a stronger action than the BigR 700 action,. It is not as this can never happen when you pit a cast action against an action machined from a steel bar stock. This is why the Rem 700 action comes out in front as being the most popular action for custom work. It is a strong action and with some blue printing is one action that is capable of extreme accuracy potential.
You only have to look at how many 338 Edge rifles are being built on this action alone but only the better ones are selected for these. Just ask Shawn Carlock.
Anyhow I am not so sure where this leaves our friend with his original question. Hope all this hasn't confused him even more but then again I suppose it is to his advantage to know this.

 

[ken snyder]

IMHO I don't think purchase date has much to do with an opinion. Production date or serial # might be a better question. A friend of mine recently purchased a Howa in 22-250 and is over all satisfied with it. He had a few minor issues with it, but not anything that I feel couldn't be reasonably expected from any box rifle in it's price range. Sweet or bitter deponds on luck a lot more than it should!

 

[ridge rider]

Ken,

You're possibly right in what you say but I often wonder why is it that in Australia we seem to see or hear a lot about these crook rifles giving their manufacturer a bad name.
Do we somehow get sent the "dregs" from the barrel or what.
I have several mates who bought their Howas and Remmy 700's a few years ago and they all are good and reasonably accurate rifles, however rifles recently purchased seem to be ones we constantly hear or read about that are causing lots of problems and I am not referring to only just one or two either....

 

[ken snyder]

ridge rider, Here in the States the general hunting public are people that can not financially afford better equipment. the majority of American hunters only shoot a few rounds per year and are happy with a rifle that functions and is accurate enough to harvest a deer at 200 yds. Our blessings could very well be your dissapointment. I don't know what your laws or our import - export regulations are. We have to turn our dregs into diamonds as fast and as much as we need or can afford to do.

 

[Rockatansky]

Hi Mate,

I can't say that I have ever had a Howa but a very close personal friend whom I shoot with often has owned many. My friend is a professional roo and pig shooter and shoots every night. He certainly loves and does own more expensive rifles but for his job he only uses Howa's.

His previous Howa's have all been sporter models with synthetic stocks in 223 and fitted with Nikko scopes. He would shoot these rifles with hand loads and would easily make the required head shots each and every time. He would simply shoot the rifles until the barrels would wear out and then he would move on to another Howa.

For his current rifle he has moved up in the food chain and got himself a stainless heavy barrel 223 with a laminated stock and once again he is more than happy with it's performance. Fitted with his trusty old Nikko he shoots five shots under half inch at 100 meters without any problems.

His current rifle is now about four months old and shooting like a dream and he loves it. As for the other rifles he never had problems with any of them until the barrels began to wear out from too many rounds through them.

And for the record as I said before he does own several other more expensive rifles including Remington's, Weatherby's and some very interesting custom rifles but for work it's the Howa that gets pulled out of the gun cabinet because it's cheap and shoot great. If he drops it I'm sure he will cry less than if he drop's that MkV.

Go to the range and talk to people who own them and see them shot and even ask to have a shoot. Ask other shooters face to face what they think of them and then you can decide what works for you. Yes you can always buy a more expensive rifle and step up a model but when do you stop. Your the one who will spend the money and at the end of the day you need to be happy with your decision with not a decision which has been forced onto you. Yes the Tikka's are good so are the Remington's, Savage's and Weatherby's but they are all extra and they in turn don't rate against many custom rifles. Get the advice, shoot the gun's and then buy what you can afford and want to spend.

Either way good luck with it and I hope whatever you get shoots well for you.

 

[bigfellascott]

Hi mate,

I went ahead a purchased the Howa in 22.250HB (action only) as I don't like the synthetic stocks at all, I purchased a Boyds Stock which fitted like a glove, just beautiful.

I picked up the rifle last week as a matter of fact, and have been running it in over the last week using Remington Factory Core Lokt 55gn PSP'S very good ammo in this Howa.

The first group I shot was a absolute cracker! less than an 1" @ 100m 3 shots in one hole and it has been consistantly doing it ever since, so very happy with the results so far. My wife has never used a rifle at all until the other day and she consistently shot groups of 1.2" @ 100m all day so they really are fantastic value for the money

It has consistency in the pattern it shoots as well no flyers at all just a nice round group so very please with how it is going so far, can't wait to work on some hand loads and see what it will do then. If I could work out how to download the pics of the targets its been shooting I would (I tried but no luck)

So to sum up whether I'd buy another one YOU BLOODY BET MATE they are fantastic value for the money, simple as that, whilst I've never used a sporter barrelled version I certainly can vouch for the HB versions, my mate also has one in 223 HB and it too is very accurate 1/2 in groups at 100m! he's totally wrapped in the purchase he made as well (it too has a Boyds Thumbhole stock) which came new with the rifle - hes not keen on the plastic stocks either.

Thanks for the reply mate

 

[bigfellascott]

No I haven't bought one and never will.
Sorry to speak the truth, but what do you expect for around $500, they are a cheap investment casting, they are heavy and they are a heap of **** from what some of my mates have experienced.
If you have a boat then use one as a boat anchor.
Change your order to a Tikka T3 and you won't be disappointed.
Sorry as I don't mean to offend you.
Have a good day.

It's funny you say that about the Tikka's there was a guy at the range yesterday who would completely disagree with you, he had nothing but trouble extracting the fired cases out of his (he ended up using a lump of wood to open the bolt and get the bloody case out that way) not a good look I can tell you, and the same thing from another guy with his remington a few days before that, it wouldn't even extract the unfired cases! He was really ticked of to say the least brand new and had problems straight away, and heres me with the little Howa firing away without any probs at all having a ball whilst those two with their more fancied brands cursing and swearing at the bloody things, I paid $600 odd for mine and the tikka sells for around $1100 here in Australia, the remington about $100 less than that.

Price and brand is no guarantee of quality - just have a look at Ferarri to see that one! Their very good at instant bombfires apparently.

Each to their own (I've hear some pretty bad things about Tikkas, even from one of the guys who owns a Very well known gunshop in Australia won't touch them because of the trouble they were having with them! Makes me wonder if its all hype how good some products are compared to others, (advertising constantly to reinforce peoples percetions of a particular product etc. All I can say this is the second Howa I have owned and the last one was a tack hole driver (1/4in groups at 100m with handloads. and this one is shaping up to do the same!

 

[Rockatansky]

Well done I bet you will have heaps of fun with that rifle. Hope you enjoy and happy hunting.

 

[bigfellascott]

Thanks for that Rockatansky,

Certainly am having fun with it, I took it to the range the other day and decided to shoot it at 200m and it managed around 2" so not bad for factory ammo and the shooter could do with a bit more practice on the trigger which is a bit heavy really for trying to get good groups but it will do until I can sort that out, even my wife who has never used a rifle before managed groups of 1-1.2" @ 100m.

What I really like about it is it's consistence of POI which is just amazing!

Your mate knows a good thing when he sees it, they really are excellent value for the money.

Thanks again mate have a good one hey.