Thread: Howa 1500 vs. Tikka T3

Howa's are a little porky but really solid old school type rifles.

Win mod 70 featherweight, sorry what were the options?

How does the magazine length compare.
I know about the "all tikkas have a long action" thing but unless you buy one with, do you still have to muck with the block in the ones designated for short action calibres to seat out.

Also the long action T3's seem to have quite a short long action mag especially for the magnums. Just wondering about the long action Howa's.

Originally Posted by jakewire

How does the magazine length compare.
I know about the "all tikkas have a long action" thing but unless you buy one with, do you still have to muck with the block in the ones designated for short action calibres to seat out.

Also the long action T3's seem to have quite a short long action mag especially for the magnums. Just wondering about the long action Howa's.

Heaps, if i seated my 162 amax loads in my 7mmRM Howa to mag length they would not be in the case.

Cheers Spudattack

Originally Posted by Beavis

Howa's are a little porky but really solid old school type rifles.

There is not really a great deal in it with the new Howa's after they were put on a diet about 200g at most.

Yea the light weights are nice

Shot both back to back last weekend. Tikka in .308 and howa in 6.5x55, both in boyds stocks.

Factory trigger is nicer on my howa. Crisp little 2 stage with a shade under 3lbs factory, the tikka was/is closer to 4lb. Still a good trigger though.

Howa is heavier (6.5x55 has a heavier barrel profile than the .308). Both group really well. Tikka drives tacs with handloads.

It was my first outing with the 6.5 and so was mucking around cleaning and learning the gun/trigger ect. Last 3 groups were all inside and inch with el cheapo $30/box S&B ammo and a warm bbl. I have spent bugger all time shooting paper also so have no doubt would group better in a more experinced shooters hands.

Cant go wrong with either, although you will probably get less of a ribbing at the local spot if you turn up with a 7mm-08 howa than a tikka ;p

Good to hear. I have read on the interwebs that Howa make the new 6.5's with a short throat - the older ones were meant to be really load picky cuz of a long arse throat. I reckon they are probably one of the best buys on the market, mine came stainless with a hard case, leupold bases a cheap shit scope and cheap shit rings (never hurts to have spares for a .22). 895 at Reloaders.

Originally Posted by Beavis

Good to hear. I have read on the interwebs that Howa make the new 6.5's with a short throat - the older ones were meant to be really load picky cuz of a long arse throat. I reckon they are probably one of the best buys on the market, mine came stainless with a hard case, leupold bases a cheap shit scope and cheap shit rings (never hurts to have spares for a .22). 895 at Reloaders.

Feckin bargain compared to the other rifles in the price range.

Originally Posted by Bill999

Howa are nice rifles just a little heavy
Tikka are nice rifles light and so on but they are all built on long actions

That sounds just great, the analytic assessmet I’ve been waiting to hear.
But is this true across the board, true about all of the calibers offered and
in all of the varieties of grips and frames and whatnot? Is a heavier barrel
and rifle better at bench shooting, such as at the range, easier to resist
felt recoil due to inertia? Are frames and accessories as common for one
brand as the others?

These are all ‘classic’ questions, but because I’m rifle impaired at the present,
all such discussion falls under the header of Shopping for me. I’m most interested
in medium distance accuracy, but around Atlanta (hey y’all) there are few wild areas
with that kind of range, and I think no ranges that have 250 to 600m rifle lanes.
May some good areas hunters use, leased land and such, in more rural areas of
Georia or South Carolina, Alabama or Florida. Heck, maybe I’ll meet some nice
New Zealanders! That’s a bit of a trip though. Meanwhile thanks for the
informative discussion,

t//s

The plastic Howa stock is unusable off a bipod IMHO

Nothing wrong with either. Howas shoot good as gold just heavy.
And don't have the gay tikka mag.
I've had both and still own a 16" howa it's a useful little thrash gun

Nothing like bringing back a thread from 2014.

Originally Posted by gadgetman

I looked at the T3 guarantee and it wasn't worth the paper it was written on. Basically it was that it was guaranteed with their own house load in their own range.

I've shot a few different makes and they all shot about the same other than my Zastava 223. Mind you I bought that cheap because no one could get any accuracy out of it (4" at 100m) but after suppressing it the Zastava is shooting very small groups indeed.

@gadgetman Old post but are you a member of the handloaders club in Chch? I think i met you shooting the Zastava