Thread: Howa good is your Howa? (picture heavy)

I have occasionally seen disparaging comments made about the humble Howa 1500. There seem to be threads singing the praises of most of the other major brands so I thought I'd start one up for what may be my favorite rifles.

I have jotted down my experiences and thoughts below. If you can't be bothered reading it all, here is my conclusion: They are great. In my opinion, one of, if not the best value for money options on the market, especially second hand. I'm not saying they are the best for everyone, or everything, but in my experience, they are good performers and bloody good fun.


The Howa 1500 first came on my radar about 5 years ago when I was looking to upgrade my Norinco 223. I had pretty much set my sights on spending around 2k on a new Tikka setup, when a friend of mine visited with a stainless Howa houge 1500 to have a play with. We were shooting some very cheap Geco FMJ and with limited talent and expertise hitting 3-inch clay birds at 200 yards with a 3-9 scope pretty reliably. That visit saved me $1400, as the next week I picked up a second-hand, scoped, suppressed stainless 1500 in 223. Since then I have spent some of that $1400 giving it a barrel chop and adding a bit more magnification, and this is the kind of shooting that same rifle is consistently capable of, even though it's still in the much-maligned factory houge stock.




So when last year a mate of mine, a farmer and occasional hunter asked me what I thought he should buy with a limited budget that would be accurate, durable and reliable, I sourced him a green houge 308 off of the buy-sell on here, and we dropped a 4-16 Vixen on top. The full spend, scoped, suppressed and with Leupold rings was $1400. The first group we shot through it was with Hornady American Whitetail 165 gr. Fair to say the search for a suitable ammo was done immediately. It also shot Winchester super X at 1 inch. Also fair to say he was happy.



Now I am a contrary individual, I generally don't like to own what everyone else says is the best thing to own. Don't ask me why, it's a problem, but it can be a fun problem because it leads me to trying out new and different stuff. It can also be an expensive problem, when that stuff sucks. That wasn't the case earlier this year when after 2 years of joylessly opening my gun cabinet to retrieve a very accurate, durable and reliable, but boring Tikka T3X 308, I dropped the required cash on a used Howa 1500 Alpine, in 308. No more magazine to keep track of, a more positive half cock, and a 3 position safety were also among the reasons for my change. But mainly the aforementioned contrariness.
The Alpine stock is very nice. Its light, very rigid and after a very minimal bedding job on the front recoil lug, It was time to head out ammo testing. I had had too much coffee the first day, and the results were a little erratic. Both the Hornady Superperformance SST 150's and Fusion 165's showed promise. Since the first 3 shot group was the last of my Superperformace, and I couldn't find it in shops at the time, I pinned my hopes on the Fusion. Last weekend a caffeine-free attempt didn't disappoint.










Any other Howa fans out there, share away!

i have one in 223, fitted with a 3-9 leupold. works well. though i have shot many rounds yet

After owning L and A series Sakos and a couple of Ruger M77 MkIis ( as well as a few other things along the way), my current main rifle is a semi custom Howa 1500 in .308. It's the best hunting rifle I've ever owned.

Just bought a howa mini .223, it didn't like the pmc 55gr stuff, 2inch groups at 100m. Tried some speer gold dot 64gr they grouped just under an inch. Have shot it out to 420m on steel without too much drama. I think they're pretty good and affordable.

I've got a 308 stainless/hogue stocked one and a 30 06 blued/laminate stocked one. The 308's the light weight model and is accurate for the first 3 or so shots. The 30 06 has the standard barrel and is great, the laminate stock is a tad on the heavy side but otherwise ok. Both do MOA no problem's. I have noticed they are a bit fussy on ammo though, once you find the right flavour it's all good.

Winchester super X through the 30 06, 6 shot group. Sighted in for 150 Corelokt and 180 SST superformance so POI out.



3 shot groups with the 308 at 100 yards. Open groups Federal Eagle tight group Rem Corelokt


5 shot group bit open but was at 500 yards

Try Aussie Outback or Belmont (if available) as both shoot very well in .223 Howa.

Love my Mini action HB 223. Shooting 77gr match ammo it has won a couple of club comps and did well in PRS out to 600m. It shoots 0.6MOA off bipod. In fact, although I own a Remington and Bergara, most of our family firearms are Howa. Yeah, they're not as night as some brands and the factory stocks are ho-hum, but theyre just simple, reliable, accurate firearms. Infact I'm looking at another two Howa to add to the quiver at the moment.

Originally Posted by Ingrid 51

Try Aussie Outback or Belmont (if available) as both shoot very well in .223 Howa.

The Aussie outback 165 gn was good but too hard to find.

Are Vanguards included in this thread seen as though their basically the same rifle less the name and a different cocking piece?

when my old model 70 died sudden explody death,I looked for new rifle,went into store and picked up both a .308 and .270 hogue green 1500 and the .308 nearly came home with me...but saw sense and said no will be another .270.... the big name store wouldnt budge on price..Amanda at Gunworks was great to deal with over phone,even got me green stock as one she had was in black dress...nah Im not a black dress kind of guy....
my wife was in Christchuch that week so showed her licence....and rifle was couriered to Laurie B in Timaru for me to pick up once fitted with mounts and suppressor.
some great/awesome/wonderful/generous chaps from lower north island popped in on thier way wallaby shooting and I was given 90rounds of factory .270 ammunition...and they would nt accept anything in return.
so anyway,got rifle home fitted scope,sighted it in/broke in barrel at same time...first 4 shots had me on paper,next 11 went into round group just over inch.....now that group consisted of 130grn highland,130grn rem corloct and winchester 150grn pp....... so yes ideal....the 12th shot fired took a red hind.... Ive missed once with rifle so far...got cocky and tried free standing shot at stag at hundred yards...made up with 2 yearlings later in day...
yes rifle is SLIGHTLY heavy...I carry bull barrel 22/250 in laminated stock hunting for a couple of hours and the Howa suddenly isnt too bad.
the trigger is nice....I cant fault it..the expensive one on 22-250 should ruin all others for me but doesnt...the Howa pulls nicely and goes bang when it should.
I did do the "flyblown modification" to rubber inside front edge of forend...barrel cannot touch it now.

yes I like it very much...now if I find some spare cash to give it wooded furniture I will be even more happy...the houge is good and functional..but wood is good.

Bought a Howa 1500 in 223 recently - popped a Mueller 4.5-14x on it and its very good shooter. Shoots factory Fiocchi 55gr SP ammos consistently into 3 shot groups from 0.4" to 0.75" at 100m.

Great little rifle - nice action and alot of performance for the coin. Would like it a little lighter but the Howa Mini offers that with its lighter weight barrel etc. As new buyer - a definite yes to the Howa..

15mm group shot with my 1500. (Hornady superformance 150grn 308 at 75m.) Happy with that. The shot to the left of the group was after one more adjustment. I left it at that.

I look at Howa like this…

You can buy a barrelled action for $700-1100 depending on sales / chambering / finish etc. Mine have cost me $875 on average. I tend to wait for sales. And I haggle a bit.

The Hogue stock with a couple of minor mods is a great workhorse for the rough and ready who hunt in all weather / mud / bulldust and use quad rifle holders or the footwell of the truck etc. There are excellent stocks & chassis available too, so if you settle on one action length you can pick a stock, and have several chamberings. On any given day you can decide which one you pick to best suit what you’re up to.

So, being a bit of a tight bastard, my calculations suggest that… For the price of one regular Sako 85 at say $3500, you can have a decent stock or chassis plus two barrelled actions and a mini-action. Or, for the price of a crazy “less is more” lightweight Sako at $4500+, you can have two short action workhorses such as a .22-250 and .308, and a .300 PRC in a really decent chassis and… wait for it… a mini-action too!

So for me, it’s a no brainer.

Originally Posted by Flyblown

I look at Howa like this…

You can buy a barrelled action for $700-1100 depending on sales / chambering / finish etc. Mine have cost me $875 on average. I tend to wait for sales. And I haggle a bit.

The Hogue stock with a couple of minor mods is a great workhorse for the rough and ready who hunt in all weather / mud / bulldust and use quad rifle holders or the footwell of the truck etc. There are excellent stocks & chassis available too, so if you settle on one action length you can pick a stock, and have several chamberings. On any given day you can decide which one you pick to best suit what you’re up to.

So, being a bit of a tight bastard, my calculations suggest that… For the price of one regular Sako 85 at say $3500, you can have a decent stock or chassis plus two barrelled actions and a mini-action. Or, for the price of a crazy “less is more” lightweight Sako at $4500+, you can have two short action workhorses such as a .22-250 and .308, and a .300 PRC in a really decent chassis and… wait for it… a mini-action too!

So for me, it’s a no brainer.

@Flyblown and seen as though the Humble Howa is based off a older Sako L4 series action you're basically buying improved Japanese Sako. Boy this will get the Sako boiis Rarked up

Originally Posted by Rock river arms hunter

@Flyblown and seen as though the Humble Howa is based off a older Sako L4 series action you're basically buying improved Japanese Sako. Boy this will get the Sako boiis Rarked up