I picked this up a few weeks ago and finally got a chance to light off a few rounds.

It is the brown cerakote varminter, and the factory stock has Kryptek camo on it.

I swapped out the supplied Nikko Stirling 5-20 30mm tactical style scope for a Nikon 2-12 Pro Staff 30mm model.

So far here is the good and bad:

1. I have tried the 4 varieties of Hornady 6.5 Creedmoor ammo from 120 grain A-Max to the 143 new Long Range Hunter, all performed within half to 3/4 of an inch.

2. I did not brake the rifle in, I am not one of those people that does that. I just shot it and cleaned it when I got back from the range.

3. Ballistically I sighed it in 3 inches high at 100 yards, and that worked well for a 300 yard shots on gongs. I was able to hit the 600 yard gong by using the dead man's horse method.

4. The action functions as slick as any Howa 1500 I have owned. Not as good as a Tikka or the new series of 700s.

5. Recoil is minimal, but not enough to see my shots from the bench. Prone shooting revealed that I could do it by putting pressure on the bipod.

6. It is damn loud, way louder than I was expecting. My toddlers upsconded my Peltor ear muffs and I was using soft foamie plugs. My ears are still ringing.

7. 2 stage trigger is pretty good for factory but needs quite a bit of work. I'll read up on the Howa adjustment and do that this weekend, hopefully I'll have a better report back on the trigger.

The new triggers on those are much better to adjust than the older varieties. I just picked up a barreled action with the lightweight barrel in the creedmoor but haven't dropped in in a stock yet. Barrel bore looks very good through the scope, crown can use a slight touch-up and the action is smooth. Should make a nice hunting rifle.