Howa 1500 .308 as a budget sniper?

[Brandon1]

I am having a very hard time finding a Remington 700 SPS Tactical in .308 for a decent price. I have stumbled upon a Howa 1500 .308 Sporter barrel for about $350 with a B-Square scope mount and 50rnds of Federal Match.

My question is, is this rifle worth even its asking price? Would it even come close to a 700 SPS in "tacticality" or accuracy? Quality? I cant find much info on these 1500's so I am left a bit in the dark.

 

[kevinthree]

Re: Howa 1500 .308 as a budget sniper?

I love these actions. I've built two personal match guns on Howas and found the actions to be straight and the extractors strong. They also feed .223 better than most full sized actions. (The CZs are the only flawless .223 feeders I.ve found.) There are now very good aftermarket triggers if you can't get the factory set light enough. Stock choices are not as extensive as Remington's, but getting better as more shooters discover Howa.
Kevin Ridling

 

[avd]

Re: Howa 1500 .308 as a budget sniper?

I went through the same delima and decided to buy a howa. There is plenty of info on them out there. There are plenty of parts, and gunsmiths that will work on them. Right now my Howa is in the hands of Mark at Short Actions Customs, having a few things done to it. Pictured is my Howa and some groups i shot with it during my first or second trip to the range. Since then i have changed quite a bit on the gun, but bone stock it shot pretty well. I am not a great shot.

There is nice lookin' howa in the for sale section. I will try to find it and post a link.

avd

 

[avd]

Re: Howa 1500 .308 as a budget sniper?

This is what it looks like now and i am certain it will out shoot my capabilities.

 

[benchmstr]

Re: Howa 1500 .308 as a budget sniper?

as BOLTRIPPER say's "it's all about trigger's and barrels"...

bench

 

[Bigbrotheretter]

Re: Howa 1500 .308 as a budget sniper?

So far i love my howa! I will be ordering a B&C medalist and Timney trigger soon!

 

[Brandon1]

Re: Howa 1500 .308 as a budget sniper?

The biggest problem with this one though, is it is a hunting profile barrel and not a bull barrel like is on a tactical .308.

 

[ThomasA]

Re: Howa 1500 .308 as a budget sniper?

I bought a blued barreled action w/ 24" bull barrel with trigger job and threaded barrel from controlledchaosarms.com and a B&C varmint stock with an EGW 20moa base and CDI Precision DBM w/ 10rd AICS mag. Haven't gotten it completed yet, but from the reviews I've seen, including the one by the owner of CCA, I'm confident that I will like it more than any comparable 700 I could have bought out of the box. Timney makes a trigger, but any qualified gunsmith can do a factory job. I've heard of some getting them to 1-1/2lb. I can't wait to get some rounds through mine!

 

[Bigbrotheretter]

Re: Howa 1500 .308 as a budget sniper?

Yes its more of a hunting barrel. But it will work fine unless your going to make some HOT loads and shoot 10 of them off as fast as you can! Buy it.

 

[Jhart242]

Re: Howa 1500 .308 as a budget sniper?

I have had freinds build amazing rifles off the Howa action. I have seen the barreled actions going for around $399.00. I say go for it. You can just rebarrel it at a later date.

 

[vman]

Re: Howa 1500 .308 as a budget sniper?

Im a remington person myself, HOWEVER the HOWA is an excellent rifle and the action is fantastic and well priced.

Check out these Aussie made stocks for the Howa 1500

Come on, dont tell me that isnt a nice looking stock!!! Its very AICS, but im thinking of one for future builds possibly on a howa 1500 action

http://www.wilddog.com.au/content/tactical-rifle-stocks.asp

enjoy

 

[cobaltbomb]

Re: Howa 1500 .308 as a budget sniper?

i have a howa 1500 varminter with a 24 bull barrel, in 308 win, in a houghe stock.
i am still in the process of developing a good load for it, sofar i am close to 1/2 moa with 168grain sierra hpbt bulltes 42grain of VV140 and seating depth 0,5mm before the lands, wich is 72,5mm COAL for me.

i can only recommend this rifle

 

[Triman2008]

Re: Howa 1500 .308 as a budget sniper?

I too have been looking for another rifle and for the price it seems to be nice. I will be looking into this a little more. Good luck with your purchase.

 

[pklin1297]

Re: Howa 1500 .308 as a budget sniper?

avd, what kind of work are you having done by Short Action Customs? Are they capable of truing Howa actions now? I know they can install new bolt knobs and seems like they installed a muzzle brake for you also. Thanks.

 

[darrenk75b]

Re: Howa 1500 .308 as a budget sniper?

SAC does indeed do Howa barrel installs/action truing now.

 

[nashlaw]

Re: Howa 1500 .308 as a budget sniper?

The only thing "budget" about the Howa is the price. I have 2 custom sticks built on them and would not mind having more.

McMillan inlets the A2 in the A-series line and maybe another.

Great stuff at a reasonable price.

david

 

[03bulletstopper]

Re: Howa 1500 .308 as a budget sniper?

http://www.roedaleprecision.com/epages/index_n2.htm#a


Check out Roedale. Pete lincoln is here on the Hide and doesgreat work. His Roedale chasis is built for the Howa and wears AICS skins