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Howa 1500 To keep or not to keep

B

bblevins

Private
Minuteman
Dec 1, 2022
2
0
Texas, USA
I won a Howa 1500 in a raffle. I paid $38 for the entry so I don't have a lot in it. The rifle has the green Hogue stock, a cheap Niko Stirling 4-12x40 Game Pro Scope and has the 22" Contour Barrel (not the heavy barrel) and it's chambered in .308. It's threaded so I can put my can on it so that's a plus. But... As much as I like the feel of the stock, I kind of want to turn it into a chassis gun. So here are the options:

  1. Just put a chassis on it as is
  2. Re-barrel with a heavy barrel and add the chassis
  3. Sell it and use the funds to build something the way I want
  4. Just leave it alone and shoot the dang thing

Obviously, option 1 is gonna be the cheapest. How much will accuracy suffer due to not having a heavy barrel though? Is this worth doing?? Just looking for some opinions.
 
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Accuracy isn’t necessarily dependent on barrel contour. Heavier contours can help with heating up though.

As an owner of multiple rifles that do not bring me joy, Option 3 is where I’m at. But there are lots of people who are able to be more content than I.
 
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Depends on what you have in the stable already. And what kind of niches you have left to fill.

You could do:
- Oryx chassis
- Barrel nut Prefit barrel
For a pretty decent/cheaper chassis gun. (Definitely sell the stock and scope)

Yeah or sell all of it and put it towards an AI or Tac Ops ;)
 
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There is nothing wrong with having something different...I personally like the Howa. I would get a Bravo stock over the Oryx though...
See if you like the trigger first...they can be worked down pretty light if you want. And I would grind down the bolt knob, thread it and put on something bigger.

But for now just take it out and shoot it...if you like it, work it over.
 
Uh, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say your math is off....

My math says option 4 is the cheapest.

Screenshot_20221201-181128_Chrome.jpg


Seriously though. Ask yourself if you have a need or want of a 308 hunting rifle. If the answer is no, then sell it and put the money into something you want.
 
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Option #3

Use the $$ to build something that at least accepts prefit barrels and you can shoot as many cartridges as are available for the bolt face you choose

Bonus points for using something that has multiple bolt heads/whole bolt assemblies available.
 
I was so close to getting one of their barreled actions from Brownells and picking up a stock from MDT on the black Friday sale. But I ended up not "pulling the trigger"

"Buy once, cry once" theory and "A polished turd is still a turd" ring pretty true for bolt actions IMO. I'm not saying that Howa's are turds or that you can't make cheaper factory rifles into a very accurate and fun shooting guns, but it also comes with a price. Every once in awhile you will get that unicorn factory rifle that just shoots lights out with factory ammo, but I'm not usually that lucky.

Fact is, there are better platforms to build off of if your budget allows it. And I think you will be happier with the results and availability of support from the industry for those platforms. So unless you think you will love it, sell it and get what you want.
 
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Keep it, find a factory load that it likes, even just “good enough”, buy a half dozen cases of the ammo and then lose the whole thing in a boating accident.

Never sell a gun.
 
Never been gifted a firearm except by members of my family *those of which will never be for sale.” So, its tough to give advice. But advice is wanted so advice I will give.

1. Do you need a hunting rifle in .308 that you don’t mind using (as in, it will get dings as years go by, probably might not shoot great groups though it might and will never be one to show off unless you get some exceptional kills with it) If so, Keep it as is, but for GOD’S sake put a good scope on it. My recommendation, a Leupold VX5 3-15.

2. Don’t need a or another hunting rifle in .308, but want another rifle. Number of proper Firearms ownership rule

N + 1,

N being the number you currently own

If you correctly meet this criteria, sell it and put the money towards a rifle you really like or really want.

D - 1

where D is a Divorce. Getting one more firearm than you currently own will get you a divorce.

If you correctly meet this criteria, Prayer be with you.
 
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#3. easily

if you rebarrel and put it in a chassis...you might as well start with something good from the start...not a howa

but if you want/needed a hunting gun that the 308 Howa works for then leave it as is. it's not a bad gun to use a few days a year and let it sit the rest
 
So I had/have a few guns built on Howa actions and have been very happy with them. The aftermarket support isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be and they have alot of good features in the action design (M16 extractor, Integral recoil lug etc). That said, it's never going to be the same as an AI or custom build on a high end 700 clone.

For your list:
  1. If you are going to keep it, do this. The Hogue stocks I had flexed something chronic and can rub against the barrel. Something like an XLR element would make a pretty tidy hunting rifle as well as a good can host and won't cost you much.....
  2. What do you actually want it to do? If you want to use it in matches, you probably need to do this. If it's just for hunting/plinking - shoot it and see how it goes. With a little load development most factory rifles are sub-moa these days......
  3. If you need funds for your AI/custom build/etc and don't need or want the Howa then this is probably the best option
  4. See 1.
 
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I would question it more like this….

What do you really want?

Do you have the funds to do that, or is this your jumping in point?

If you are jumping in, shoot it. Buy a nice optic and mount. Handload for it. Then bed a nice stock to it….maybe a B&C. Then try a tuner brake. Then trigger tuning.

Chassis….why? Many are like a 2x4 with appendages. Maybe there is one you know you want.
 
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You can do a barrel nut on the howa. They are usually squared up fairly well to begin with so a barrel nut/barrel can get you a long way. MDT has a few options in chassis's WOOX and others McMillan and bell & Carlson have traditional stocks as does boyds.
Never sell a gun get another safe
 
Ask yourself how much you want to shoot that particular gun.

Do you have other rifles to shoot?

Is this a value/$ thing?

Spend your $ on ammo for the rifles you LOVE and sell the rest. Life is too short to take "okay/meh" rifles to the range.

I'd sell it and put that $ toward ammo and a nice meal.
 
bblevins said:
I won a Howa 1500 in a raffle. I paid $38 for the entry so I don't have a lot in it. The rifle has the green Hogue stock, a cheap Niko Stirling 4-12x40 Game Pro Scope and has the 22" Contour Barrel (not the heavy barrel) and it's chambered in .308. It's threaded so I can put my can on it so that's a plus. But... As much as I like the feel of the stock, I kind of want to turn it into a chassis gun. So here are the options:

  1. Just put a chassis on it as is
  2. Re-barrel with a heavy barrel and add the chassis
  3. Sell it and use the funds to build something the way I want
  4. Just leave it alone and shoot the dang thing

Obviously, option 1 is gonna be the cheapest. How much will accuracy suffer due to not having a heavy barrel though? Is this worth doing?? Just looking for some opinions.
Click to expand...
Shoot it first and see how it shoots. If you like the accuracy the get a Trybe ROCS chassis. If it shoots like shit then I’d try and sell it to a hunter or something.
 
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I just got my first Howa 308 20 in heavy. Depending on your situation it is a fairly accurate rifle for the price. I still need to check other factory ammo and see what I get. My opinion depending on if you have other nicer weapons, or if not. Keep it. 1 I'm not sure your age but if you have children it might not be a bad first bigger caliber rifle. 2 It's fun to shoot action is pretty good, and not a bad trigger for the price. I wouldn't consider it a precision instrument like an AI or so forth. Have fun with it. If you have a nicer rifle you're worried about shooting out the barrel or so forth keep this one around for a plinker, take the family shooting rifle that you don't have to worry if it gets messed up. You got it for next to nothing. Making a profit if you have a dream gun in mind isn't a bad idea. Otherwise, I say just have fun with it. I'm going to throw mine in a decent stock, I have a vortex on it, I'm just going to go out shoot it and have fun.
 
bblevins said:
I won a Howa 1500 in a raffle. I paid $38 for the entry so I don't have a lot in it. The rifle has the green Hogue stock, a cheap Niko Stirling 4-12x40 Game Pro Scope and has the 22" Contour Barrel (not the heavy barrel) and it's chambered in .308. It's threaded so I can put my can on it so that's a plus. But... As much as I like the feel of the stock, I kind of want to turn it into a chassis gun. So here are the options:

  1. Just put a chassis on it as is
  2. Re-barrel with a heavy barrel and add the chassis
  3. Sell it and use the funds to build something the way I want
  4. Just leave it alone and shoot the dang thing

Obviously, option 1 is gonna be the cheapest. How much will accuracy suffer due to not having a heavy barrel though? Is this worth doing?? Just looking for some opinions.
Click to expand...
If you want to put less $ into it I’m trying to sell a Bell & Carlson tactical/varmint stock.
 
jpop8807 said:
I just got my first Howa 308 20 in heavy. Depending on your situation it is a fairly accurate rifle for the price. I still need to check other factory ammo and see what I get. My opinion depending on if you have other nicer weapons, or if not. Keep it. 1 I'm not sure your age but if you have children it might not be a bad first bigger caliber rifle. 2 It's fun to shoot action is pretty good, and not a bad trigger for the price. I wouldn't consider it a precision instrument like an AI or so forth. Have fun with it. If you have a nicer rifle you're worried about shooting out the barrel or so forth keep this one around for a plinker, take the family shooting rifle that you don't have to worry if it gets messed up. You got it for next to nothing. Making a profit if you have a dream gun in mind isn't a bad idea. Otherwise, I say just have fun with it. I'm going to throw mine in a decent stock, I have a vortex on it, I'm just going to go out shoot it and have fun.
Click to expand...
I’m trying to sell a bell&carlson tactical/varmit stock. Selling it very cheap let me know if you’re interested.
 
Wiillk said:
Never been gifted a firearm except by members of my family *those of which will never be for sale.” So, its tough to give advice. But advice is wanted so advice I will give.

1. Do you need a hunting rifle in .308 that you don’t mind using (as in, it will get dings as years go by, probably might not shoot great groups though it might and will never be one to show off unless you get some exceptional kills with it) If so, Keep it as is, but for GOD’S sake put a good scope on it. My recommendation, a Leupold VX5 3-15.

2. Don’t need a or another hunting rifle in .308, but want another rifle. Number of proper Firearms ownership rule

N + 1,

N being the number you currently own

If you correctly meet this criteria, sell it and put the money towards a rifle you really like or really want.

D - 1

where D is a Divorce. Getting one more firearm than you currently own will get you a divorce.

If you correctly meet this criteria, Prayer be with you.
Click to expand...

You forgot S + 1

where S is the number of long guns you can jam into your safe.
- Getting 1 more gun will result in something locked up with a trigger lock under your bed
- I am at S+4. As a result, I am seriously thinking of selling a perfectly good 6CM RPR because something absolutely must go before I can buy another one.
 
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Digetydog said:
You forgot S + 1

where S is the number of long guns you can jam into your safe.
- Getting 1 more gun will result in something locked up with a trigger lock under your bed
- I am at S+4. As a result, I am seriously thinking of selling a perfectly good 6CM RPR because something absolutely must go before I can buy another one.
Click to expand...
Am there. Literally, Both cases. However, our son is encouraging me to keep the RPR.
 
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Here is my two cents. The Howa barreled action is perfectly fine. I have a Mossberg Patriot .308 Win. It was probably shooting 2 MOA and the cheap synthetic stock has a rear action screw guide that has a gap that flexes. The mag well is used as a shim. I put it in an MDT chassis and it shoots 1 MOA, even after 60 rounds of stopping long enough to reload the mag. I drive a rifle like I drive car, i.e., like I stole it. I do to a rifle what Joe Rhea does to a scope. Pimp slap that bitch. And that is with a thin and fluted barrel. 1 MOA.

So, if you don't like .308, maybe you should sell it. I only have 4 rifles in .308. You need to find someone like me to sell it to.
 
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I couldn't imagine you losing too much by shooting it. I have a howa mini in a oryx chassis and really like the feel of it. Everyone needs at least one 308win. Sounds like you got that taken care of now.
 
It could also depend on what a guy wants from a rifle. I think a lot of guys just want a rifle that does good on paper at longer ranges, which is totally legitimate. And then want to justify that it can be used against meat targets like deer, etcetera.

Here is why I latched onto the .308 Win so much as my caliber of choice. Again, I have 4 rifles in .308 Win, one in 5.56 X 45 mm NATO (.223 Rem), 1 12 ga smooth bore shotgun, 1 9 mm handgun (my daily carry.)

The .308 Win was a short action solution to wanting some .30-06 performance in a shorter barrel with an easier to produce cartridge. In the 60s and 70s, the Marines were training scout snipers and other marksmen with 7.62 x 51 mm NATO (.308 Win). 175 grain slugs would knock a 200 pound target down at 600 yards, which was the longest most snipers had to shoot. And still is. Having read the memoirs of a few snipers from the Rangers, most engagements were quite a bit less than 600 yards.

Bucks in my area can get up to 140 pounds, live weight. So, a .308 W will do the job and also comply with state regs for hunting on public land. You should use no less than a .270 Win. Or one the 7s if going metric. The 7 mm Rem Mag and the new 7 mm PRC.
 
🤔 Hmm?
I wonder what he decided, after all the input??
 
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