Okay all, I have been looking at new rifles and I have been looking at a company that I know nothing about. the company is HOWA.

They make some nice looking stuff. can anyone tell me about accuracy, durability, reliability, etc........

Howa makes good rifles, they made Weatherby rifles for years, and still make the Vanguard for them. They also made some excellent shotguns sold by S&W and Mossberg, for a while. They are excellent shooters, judging by my heavy barrelled .223, the shotguns are similar to Remington 870s.

I have had 3 of them - two Howas and a Vanguard. The first was a S&W Deluxe in .30-06 made by Howa. It was a true MOA rifle with factory 150 Corelokts.

Unfortunately, the other two did not shoot as well. One was a Howa .270 that shot 1-1/2 inch groups - good enough, really, but not extraordinary.

The last is a Vanguard in .270 WSM - the absolute best it will do is 2 inches with Federal Premium 130 gr Ballistic Tips. Any other factory ammo or handloads are more like 3-4 inches.

I think the barrels on my last two were/are too thin and heat up too fast. A varmint version would not have that problem. Also, the last two are synthetic stocks and the first one was a wood stock.

I have a Howa 30-06 that does great with factory Winchester 150 gr. I'm just getting into reloading and can hardly wait to see what it can do.

i recently bought anew weatherby vangaurd in 7mm RM and it will shoot 1" groups at 100yd but only with 160gr bullets and under it shoots 175gr into about 3" must be due to the barrel twist not being quick enough

My current most accurate rifle is a Howa Varminter Supreme with the thumbhole stock. I love it. It was .5 with handloads out of the box. It is a smooth action that begs you to shoot it again. The trigger (especially once adjusted) is the best I have seen on a factory rifle. I plan to get another in .243 as soon as the wife allows. Here's a pic or two.
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4388635

They are basically a copy of the Pre 75 Sako action, the one with then smaller tang.

My experience with Howa rifles has been positive. I've had several over the years, including a Smith & Wesson 1500 Varminter in 22-250 that I still kick myself for selling. Getting accuracy well under MOA in these rifles was never a problem.

I've got one in 6.5x55 that is very accurate. I've never loaded especially for it, but it would shoot Mks into .5 MOA or less. All in all, I think they are probably the most underrated rifle currently made considering price. Savage used to hold that distinction but the accu-trigger has gotten shooter's attention.