Howa 1500 rifles, and what are your thoughts on them?

[rjm158]

Earl, I put a Bushnell Elite 4500 4-16x on mine but haven;t weighed it yet. It's no lightweight but I don't know specifics off hand. I'm at work now but when I get home later I'll try to remember to weigh it.

Ron

 

[35 Whelen]

K,
Sounds good, I know they have two or three different versions of that gun. They sure are a nice outfit. Bet she l
Will shoot like crazy for ya.

 

[cloverleaf]

Check out Randy Newbergs "fresh Tracks" on youtube and "hunt talk" radio. He uses Howa's exclusively and seems to like them. CL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_byQ5MoUBU

 

[rjm158]

Ron,
We had one in the shop a few weeks ago and I weighed it and with a Vx3 scope it came in at 9lbs and 2oz ??? Is yours that heavy??? They are certainty built solidly. Nice actions.

I weighed mine this morning and it went 9lbs and change so that is apparently the going rate. Mine is the blued synthetic version.

In my first range trip mine showed a preference for my 142 MK/RL-17 load giving me an average velocity of 2764 with a SD of 10.04. It put four of these in a .379 group before I yanked the last shot making it 1.069 total. It didn't care for my 129 ABLR loads; I didn't measure them but I would estimate they were around 1.5. Maybe some tweaking will help. I had heard through the grapevine that other CM shooters in my area had found they had better results with 140ish bullets rather than 120-130.

Overall, though, I'm happy with the rifle. It's the first Vanguard/Howa I've owned or shot but I wouldn't be afraid to buy another one.

Ron

 

[35 Whelen]

That all sound right. I had a pretty weird experence with a RL26 load over the weekend using 123 SST bullets in our 6.5 Sweede. 52grs showed only 2750 which I think is way under what QL predicts out of a 22" barrel.....but ONE grain more avg
2900fps which seams like a heck of a jump ???? I fired 10 of each and the 2900fps load shot 5" higher thsn the 2700fps loading.
However both groups of ten shots, were slightly less than 3" across ,and both were less than 1.5" vertically at 300 YARDS.

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[Cleveland48]

Thanks for all the info guys. I'm just waiting on the phone call that it has arrived at the dealer.


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[Cleveland48]

Finally picked up my Howa last night. Seems to be a very well put together rifle.

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[DrMike]

Now, to stretch its legs! I should imagine you will be pleased with the performance, as well.

 

[RL338]

Seems to be a common theme here I picked up my Howa 6.5 Creed. today. This is my first Howa but I have 5 Weatherby Vanguards which are made by Howa. For the money these are fine rifles in my opinion and shouldn't disappoint anyone.

 

[Cleveland48]

Got the scope mounted tonight. Burris two piece extreme picatinny bases with warne maxima low rings. The height came out perfect with my 42 mm objective on my scope

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[DrMike]

For sure, the rifle appears ready to work. No doubt it will be interesting to see how it performs for you.

 

[Cleveland48]

The rifle has a very good trigger from the factory. I doubt I will even adjust it. I did six pulls with my trigger gauge and it was 3.5 lbs. out of six pulls it only varied by 2 oz. it may take a little getting use too the two stage trigger, but right now I'm pretty pleased.


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[Cleveland48]

I have quick question. I'm glass bedding a rifle for my brother. I have the acraglass release agent that came with the kit. It worked pretty good on the last rifle I did, but it seems neutral shoe polish is one of the preferred release agents. I can not find kiwi shoe polish for the life of me, but I do have some ariat neutral boot cream. Is this the same thing as neutral shoe polish? And should it work about the same?


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[truck driver]

I don't think so. You can also use Johnson paste wax just like Kiwi shoe polish and the Kiwi doesn't have to be neutral it can be any color just neutral doesn't stain wood like black or brown will and is easier to clean up.

 

[Cleveland48]

Thanks Truck Driver! You might have saved me from gluing an action together lol. I'll check one more spot for the kiwi. If I can't find it I'm sure the Johnson paste wax will be at any hardware store.


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[brikwhitt]

I hhave one I picked up for 300 dollars in a 22-250 which is my go to coyote smoker. Noce accurate rifle. It was a good price and an excellent purchase.

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[Cleveland48]

Finally got to shoot today. Overall I'm happy I did the Howa recommended break in then only had time to fire two groups. Believe it's gonna be a shooter. I was trying the precision hunter 143 ELD-X.

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[Cleveland48]

I think after I get another 50-75 rounds down the barrel it should settle in nicely.


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[DrMike]

Definitely encouraging.

 

[RL338]

I learned when I went and registered my warranty for my Howa online , all Howa rifles purchased in the US starting Jan. 1 2017 come with a lifetime waranty and a SUB-MOA guarantee. That is a nice little perk in my opinion . I wonder if Howa will treat you like Weatherby with their guarantee , send it in and we will make it right.