The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Rifles Medium Bore Rifles Howa 1500 action/barrel with Boyd JRS LaminateGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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Anybody build this rifle? Seems an excellent buy for a $500.00 rifle. Having trouble deciding between a Savage and building my own Howa 1500 action/barrel on a JRS stock. http://www.boydsgunstocks.com/...ngaurd-Howa-s/32.htm These stocks are $119.00 !! and the action is $390.00  | ||
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AR Corey, I don't think you could go wrong with that combination. I put together a howa/vanguard long action with a 22 inch douglas barrel in 338-06...used a Bell + Carlton drop in stock. The results were quite good. I floated the barrel and got rid of the front pressure point, glassed the recoil lug area. I would not hesitate to make another one! Cheers and good luck. | |||
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Don't know if they still do, but Howa made the Weatherby rifles. Plus they are not ugly. | |||
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Correct. Howa = Weatherby. I have a Vanguard and it's a great rifle. You won't go wrong with either Howa or Savage. | |||
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Howas in the supreme line, come with boyd jrs stocks. I don't know if they still offer the standard stock, but I know they still have the lightining supreme thumbholes. Howas a good rifle, I had a .243 heavy barrel I sold, my bro has the same .243 and put it on the boyds thumbhole he bought used for like 30$, shoots well. He also has a 300 win LS that came with the boyds, but it ended up cracking (recoil?? Not sure why tho it has a muzzla brake) and he put it on the hogue rubber stock. Heavy but good. My 'smith said howas are easier to work on then the venerable R700. Just wish they had more choices on barrel lengths, some of the caliber/length combos are not optimum at all, like 22" 25-06. I also like the ultralight barrelled actions in 204, 223 and 22-250, but again 20" barrels doesn't work too well, except for the 223 - suppose If you think every possible niche has been filled already, thank a wildcatter! | |||
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Spent many hours reading about the Howa action and anybody who knows what they are talking about say the 1500 is a superior action vs. the Rem. 700. The action is much truer and machining it always requires less material removed than the 700. Also the bolt lugs are much better lapped and face equal and secure. I was really impressed by one Pete Lincoln who does custom work on the Howa, Remington and Tikka. Here is what he had to say about the Howa: Howa's one of my favorite subjects... The Howa 1500 is the best value for money factory rifle on the market bar none. That statement is based on well over 20 years of gunsmithing / riflesmithing on the worst and the best that the rifle industry has to offer. Many say its a Remington copy, but looking at the action you can see exactly which action was the inspiration, it was the older Sako model's, the AV Foresterer etc. Howa did away with the bells and whistles and finicky bits and built an action that is robust, reliable, and astheticaly pleasing. From factory the Howa is by and large on par or slightly in front of the Remy 700 in the accuracy stakes, the factory stocks are shit. But that can be said about near enough all factory rifles in this and 2 price brackets above for the most part. But lets go through the pros and cons of the Howa: The Stocks: The plastic factory stocks on the lightning are poor tupperware injection molded naff, (as are the ones from Tikka, Sako, Remington) The beachwood stocks on the sporter models are cheap and nasty. The Black Varminter laminated stock is the softest most weather bendable stock ive come across. The Pepperstyle / Nutmeg laminated range are slightly better and more stable, but we've had problems with split stocks due to the factory swiss cheeseing the damn forestock with cooling slots which makes it unstable. The Hogue stock is a great stock IMHO for an all weather hunting rifle and makes a half decent gen purpose tactical rifle stock, unfortunately Howa decided to use the cheapo pillar version instead of the full alloy block version. The forend is therefore a bit bendy. The Axiom i haven't had much experience with, not sure if i like the look of it or not, but its the most stable stock in the factory line up. Relieve the barrel channel, do a good pillar bedding job on all the above (bar the axiom) and you've cured the problems. ( say that for just about any factory rifle) Put the Howa Barreled Action into a decent stock ( Manners-Wild Dog-RCS-HogueFBB-Edispecial(sorry Edi, forgot the name of your stock making outfit)-B&C-McMillan etc) and you are instantly a step ahead. The Metalwork The action is a joy of simplicity, one piece bolt and bolt handle. firingpin assembly stripable from bolt without tools. Action has integral recoil lug and flat bedding surface. Bolt has a positive extractor ( i'd call it an M16 type rather than a sako) 3 position safety. Very tunable and reliable trigger , easy to get to 500g ( about 1lb) with a little work. Decently machined (for a factory rifle) action, a darn site truer than a Rem 700. The barrels are straight and shoot well, Headspace is by and large smack on minimum. Its a surprise to find a bolt where both lugs dont lay on ( as apposed to a surprise to find one that does with other rifles !!) Now the barrels on the blued models are an absolute bitch to remove, an absolute, ball grinding, bitching bitch. Ive given up screwing about with hydraulic presses and barrel clamps, action brenches and scafed knuckels. If i want a Howa barrel off a blued action, put it in the lathe and use a very fine parting tool (mine is 1mm wide) and go in exactly infront of the action, this relieves the pressure / torque and you can easily remove the barrel. the Stainless versions are by far easier. ( exactly the same story with Sako's,, a bitch if they are blued) If you are re fitting the factory barrel it means you need to sink the chamber in a little, ive done this several times and it works well, the barres are not as tought as the Lothar Walther steel, but are comparable with Border and Trueflite in knife through butterness.( which be about the same as Krieger) Tuning the Factory Howa: We are / I am, the offical " Howa Customshop Germany". I dont praise the Howa because of this fact, its the other way around, we / I worked hard to become the Howa custom shop because we / I rate these rifles so highly. As i stated above, give the Howa a bedding job, tune the trigger, check the headspace, check both lugs touch,(if the dont lap em) give it a re-crown for good measure and off you go. I tune between 10 and 15 Howa 1500's a month, in addition to building Semi Custom rifles on the Howa. not many maybe by US standards, but its plenty over here, and given the steps above ( The Howa importer Leader Trading puts Howa's tuned by us out through the trade under the "Affordable Custom" moniker, and we tune and sell through our " Precision Tuned" series. This is on the increase and as soon as our new workshop is finnished, we hope to boost that a fair bit. But from all the Howa's that I've tuned over the last 3 years or so, with 100% honesty i can say there wasn't a rifle that wouldn't shoot under 1/2 MOA once it had the above tuning done, irrelevant of caliber. and there where a fair few which displayed accuracy that should be reserved for custom only sticks !!! Customising the Howa: True the action, same steps as the Remington or there abouts, but you need to remove little, a lot less. Keep the factory trigger until Pete Jackson organises us a CG. The Timney isn't worth the bother or price. Fit a good barrel. Bed the barreled action into a good stock. and you have one hell of an accurate, reliable, handy, dependable, reasonably priced rifle. We are developing a bunch of after market kit for the Howa. Our RCS ( Not RDS Dave !!!!) gives the Howa 1500 the much desired AI look ( and provides it with a battle tough, ergonomic stock and magazine system. Our RMS provides the Howa 1500 owner the oppertunits to have an almost drop in aftermarket magazine system. We've a 3 postion firing pin assembly mounted safety in the pipe line too. The Howa actions will go from 17Rem up to .338 Lap Mag. Ive a shed load of factory, semi and full custom rifles in my shop. If i had to choose a rifle to use for the rest of my life, trust my life too and depend upon, i know exactly which one id grab. IMHO the only reason that the Howa 1500 in one guise or another isn't in service as a Military or LE Sniper Rifle is that Howa are bound by an out of date regulation that forbids them to export any kind of Military or LE firearm. A Bit PC in this day and age, but rules are rules eh,, I love em. dogs bollocks for the price, can't be beat.. Pete | |||
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The Nosler rifle on page 13 looks like a JRS stock: http://www.riflemagazine.com/m...247%20Partial%20.pdf Scroll down to page 13 on the pdf. Notice how the comb is perfectly in line with the bore. | |||
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Here is a Sisk rifle that looks like the JRS stock: http://www.riflemagazine.com/m...PDF/hl252partial.pdf Scroll down to page 9 on the pdf. Boyd's will not ship any stock to Canada above $100.00 so you have to buy the unfinished $74.00 version. When I look at the Nosler or this Sisk rifle, I see how easy it would be to replicate the synthetic look: - Sand the laminate wood smooth - Spray a coat of bumpy texture to resemble fibreglassing - Spray main color: Black, Dark Navy Blue, Teal or Olive Draube Green. These colors can be regular Tremclad or Krylon colors. No plastic primer needed on the laminate - Spray webbing to simulate fiberglassing: Black(grey webbing) Dark Navy Blue(charcoal silver webbing), Teal(black webbing), Olive Draube Green(black webbing) - Ultra Matte Clear Coat: apply many coats. I would use up the whole can. Matte clear coats are only good for about 3 coats then they begin to shine. Find an ultra matte clear coat at a specialty hobby/rocket/paint shop. I stay away from fancy camo, striped paint schemes, leafs, pine needle patterns etc. In 20 years when I am carrying this rifle through the moose swamp, I want a color that is practical and lasting. | |||
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Gunsmithing: I would follow Pete Lincoln's advice and get a gunsmith to recrown the muzzle for good measure. He mentions the bolt lugs are often square already. Another option is to chop 1" off the barrel and re-crown. A classic "custom" with a 23" barrel.  Also fit the Timney trigger for $110.00: http://www.midwayusa.com/viewP...productNumber=552716 Read the 36 reviews! Pete says the Timney is not worth it. Sure if I had his knowledge and skill to tune the trigger I would. Unfortunately the trigger is $100.00 I have to spend and proven SAFE! | |||
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Scope: 3 - 9 X 40 in matte finish. I like the Sightron S1 HHR or the Nikon Prostaff Nikoplex:  The Sightron HHR reticle is no nonsense and simple. It also is not cluttered. The Z-600 and DOA 600 reticle's are cluttered and have too much junk to sort through. When adrenaline time comes and Mr. Elk is standing there, I want to take 3 seconds to range him, then pick my plex and shoot.  http://www.midwayusa.com/viewP...productNumber=716947  In the Nikon Prostaff, I would get the Nikoplex and forget about the BDC reticle. The Nikon BDC reticle is too cluttered, especially near the main plex which is most important and accounts for 80-90% of shots(225 yard zero) It is a shame that Nikon designed such a cluttered BDC reticle. The concept might be a good idea on varmints where time isn't as critical. The BDC reticle however, is a recipe for a disaster on big game with low light conditions or close quarter bush encounters.  http://www.midwayusa.com/viewP...productNumber=579365 Both scopes are rugged and very crisp and clear with the brightness of the Leupold VX-II Both scopes have the same tubes and lenses as Leupold. A classic look and excellent optics. | |||
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Lastly... caliber?  http://www.legacysports.com/pr...howa_baractions.html http://www.legacysports.com/pr...pecs_baractions.html I have been pondering the last few nights before I order my barrelled/action. These 4 are the choices: A) 30-06: If I had a crystal ball and was guaranteed my rifle would shoot its best at max load I would get the 30-06. This would mean pushing a Barnes TTSX 168 gr. bullet 2800-2850. Low recoil, easy to load, powerful. Unfortunately every rifle is different and I might be forced to load down to get around 0.5 MOA. This puts the 30-06 out of the race for me because I like to hunt elk and 2600 fps is too slow. BTW, for me choosing the 30-06 means buying the Weatherby Vanguard as it has a 24" barrel. I would throw away the cheap Butler Creek stock and proceed with the JRS. Basically buying 2" of barrel for $100.00. The 30-06 with a 22" tube simply has too much muzzle blast. B) 300 Win. Mag. : Okay this makes good sense. Starting speed with the Barnes TTSX 168 is around 2800 and max loads are 3140. This gives a very good window to find a good accurate load. I wouldn't complain one bit if the gun shot its best at the minimum load on par with the 30-06 loaded to the max. Why? I like the idea of shooting low pressures. C) 300 WSM : I would pick this cartriges over the 300 Win. Mag. solely on pure novelty. Instead of looking at the conventional belted brass I can stare and ponder over the efficient WSM. Lee is now making collet neck and factory crimps dies for this caliber so reloading supplies are not going to be expensive. BTW, if you want the WSM you again would buy the Weatherby Vanguard, throw away the stock and eat the extra $100.00 loss. D) 338 Win. Mag. : Here you go. The big league. If Barnes made a 180-185 gr. TTSX in .338 I would buy this caliber. The 210 gr. TTSX is going to produce too much recoil for me to shoot accurately. The .352 B.C. on the regular TSX 185 is too low for long range. | |||
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My bros 300 win howa shoots its best with plain ol win power point 180s. I got started on reloading for it with 150s and it was promising so I think you'd make a good choice. Not sure if its a howa thing, or a fed brass thing, but just an fyi this combo made for sticky bolt lift and starting signs of pressure on the primers. My thoughts are either a nice snug chamber or soft fed brass? Btw great read you posted corey, lots of good info there If you think every possible niche has been filled already, thank a wildcatter! | |||
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Was it the Ross thumhole? Lincoln says they do crack, especially with larger calibers. Anything past and including a 30-06 and up I would choose the JRS. More sturdy and and heavier. Good to have a nice 8 pound rifle without scope when shooting 30-06 or 300 Mag w/180's. I never understood the purpose of punching the vent holes in a stock to cool barrel. It totally ruins the structural integrity of the wood, makes the rifle ugly and does nothing. Think about how much of a difference 3 flimsy holes are going to make to a flaming hot barrel! Tactical marketing. | |||
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I have a Howaby Vanguard in 300 Weatherby. I thought I'd muck up the stock decision for you. I bought a Bell & Carlson Medalist for my Howaby. I looked at the Boyd's stock. I decided to spend the extra money and get it right the first time. I wasn't motivated to do a complete bedding job. I wanted to bolt the stock on and go shooting. The Medalist is a composite stock with an aluminum bedding block and a Decelerator pad. Pics available on request. | |||
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Stock choice is a function of price and weight. I called Boyd's and was informed that the JRS is about 3 pounds. I was not able to find out the weight's of the B & C or the Hogue but I am guessing they are probably around 2 pounds as most. An extra pound is significant in a 300 Win. Mag and the difference between being surprised or shocked at the shot. I prefer a surprise. The other option is to go with the Hogue FBB(full bedding block) and put sand in the pistol grip to add weight: http://www.midwayusa.com/viewP...productNumber=242962 I would follow Lincoln's advice and go FBB with the Hogue. That's an extra $120.00 more than JRS and stuck with black because you can't paint the soft rubber. This could mean another $110.00 for the stainless barreled/action because a black stock and silver work. That's an extra $220.00 that could buy the scope and Lee Deluxe dies. The JRS is not my final decision but the M-1500 barreled/action in 300 Win. Mag has been decided and needs a good home. | |||
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I can weigh the gun fully loaded with ammo, sling and scope if you wish. I run a big Nikon 4.5x14x40. You could shave some weight there depending on scope selection. My Howaby weighs 9.5 pounds with scope. Just now weighed it. B&C has an in house service to apply various types of camo and stock coatings. I checked Midway and the B&C can be ordered with a number of stock coatings. I recommend a decent recoil pad. If I remember right Boyd's will install one as an option. | |||
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If im not mistaken, the NoslerM48 looks alot like a somewhat modified Howa 1500. | |||
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Perfect weight!
Good news. Would have to have them ship one seperately as they won't ship to Canada over $100.00 Another reason I like the Laminate JRS is exactly this topic. I really am searching for the best recoil pad available and the Decelerator or the Sims are not. By far the best and most effective pad I have used is the Inflex technology on the Browning X-Bolt(Inflex) I want to contact Browning and see if they will sell this pad. They are thick and soft like a pillow. Would have to chop off back part of the stock because they increase length. Using a composite stock would usually mean losing the bolt holes. A laminate can be drilled and piloted. | |||
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Thinking the same thing. These companies are making a fortune. | |||
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Gunsmithing II: Bolt Lapping  The Japanese Howa M-1500 is made with tighter tolerances than the Rem. 700. In the event you get an action with un-even bolt lug contact: dannewberry- 03-21-2006 Remington 700 bolt lug lapping... On the matter of uneven bolt lug engagement--very common on the Remington 700. Uneven bolt lug tension affects accuracy negatively, especially on higher pressure loads. The easiest way that I know of checking bolt lug engagement is to take a permanent marker (like a Sharpie) and color the rear faces of the two bolt lugs (the parts which bear the weight of the cartridge firing). Degrease those areas first, then color the entire rear faces of the two lugs. Now, chamber a fired case in the action and then remove the bolt from the receiver and check to see if the smear marks are even on each lug. In many cases (most, actually) you'll see that one lug is smeared, and the other is not even touched. That means that only one lug is bearing and this definitely harms accuracy. You can now take the rifle to a qualified gunsmith and have him true the lugs up... However, I and many others--amid raving torrents of protest from those too timid to try it  --have had success lapping the Rem 700's bolt lugs ourselves. I've done about a half dozen or more, never with a problem, and always with great results... Here are some instructions I posted elsewhere. Use these at your own risk--but know that this has worked for me as well as others: First, I use calipers to measure the length of the long bolt lug (the one which is bearing--it'll be the one which does smear the Sharpie marker). Write that number down. I then put a very small amount of lapping compound (you can use Flitz here, but it'll be real slow going--better to pick up some non-embedding lapping compound in about 400 grit for this. An automotive store should have lapping compound)--anyway, put a TINY spot (about the size of two pinheads) of the compound on the rear face of the lug that is bearing (again, the one WITH the smeared marker) and then insert the bolt and work the bolt up and down 50 times, keeping rearward pressure on the bolt handle as you work it up and down. (You don't need to slide the bolt back. Just work the handle up and down). Remove the bolt, use Kroil or equivalent to clean the paste off the bolt lug, then use a toothbrush with more Kroil to clean the bolt recess, and the race if any paste gets into it. A piece of bent coat-hanger wire can be fashioned (put a 90 degree bent loop in the end, about 3/8" long) to hold an oily patch which will allow you to clean the paste out of the bolt lug recesses in the receiver. Another method of getting better rearward pressure on the bolt is to insert a wooden dowel rod into the bore, and use it to keep tension on the bolt face while you're working the bolt up and down. Press the dowel against the wall, or have someone hold pressure on the dowel. This will speed the lapping process. With the dowel applying rearward pressure to the bolt, it will be pressed back squarely into the receiver. There is no need to remove the ejector pin, as the dowel will not likely touch it. Remember that you really can't remove too much of the lug in this scenario, as the short lug will finally touch and it'll prevent the long one from lapping down any farther. There will not be a problem with headspace, as you're only thinning the long lug about .002" at most. The better way to do this is with the action removed from the stock. You can then use "Gun Scrubber" or brake cleaner to blast the residue and oil out of the action. Try to insert a pinpoint nozzle through the little pressure escape holes on the sides of the chamber, then direct it into the lug recesses. If you clean the action this way, remember to coat it back down with oil afterward. Once you've done the 50 cycles of the bolt (I'm talking about 50 up and down cycles of the handle) measure the bolt lug again. You should see about .001" removed, depending on the grit value of the paste and the amount of rearward pressure applied. Insert the bolt again, marked as before, and check to see if both lugs bear this time. If not, you can repeat this operation one, or perhaps two more times. Once you've removed more than .003" from the long lug, you're may get into a headspace issue and the barrel may need to be set back. However, that likely won't be the case. I've not seen a 700 yet that wouldn't respond well to .002" or less of lug lapping. If this doesn't work for you, you can still take the rifle to a 'smith to have the job done. Dan | |||
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You can put me down as another happy owner of a Howa. I have been hunting with a factory Howa 1500 S/S wearing a Burris 3x9 Fullfield II scope for the past 7 years. It has accounted for all my big game animals except one (with non-premium ammo, I might add). Maybe not world's prettiest rifle, but she has been more reliable and faithful than any girl I know. ____________________________ If you died tomorrow, what would you have done today ... 2018 Zimbabwe - Tuskless w/ Nengasha Safaris 2011 Mozambique - Buffalo w/ Mashambanzou Safaris | |||
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Have read the Howa headspacing is snug and consistent that way. A Redding body die might be a good investment and forget full sizing: Neck, Seater, Factory Crimp, Body  http://www.midwayusa.com/viewP...productNumber=656300  http://www.midwayusa.com/viewP...productNumber=586092  http://www.midwayusa.com/viewP...productNumber=420044 Santiago Ruiz of Mount airy, MD Date posted: 5/21/2008 I used to have problems getting more than a couple of shots from magnum cartridge reloads but with the body die that is not longer an issue. The Redding Body die allows the reloader to go all the way down the belted area of the brass and fix difficult to chamber rounds by resizing the brass to its original dimension. It will save you money by getting more shots from the magnum cartridge brass. I have found it to be so good that I purchased them for my 223 Remington, 308 Winchester, 7mm Remington, and 300 Winchester magnums reloads. It is simply awesome. Buy it and you will never look back! D L of Orlando, FL Date posted: 9/16/2007 Great product, especially if you have a tight chamber. Allows you to customize the case to your rifle's chamber very easily. All I did was neck size a few cases that I knew needed the shoulders bumped. I screwed down the die it contacted the case to get a starting point. Then just chamber the round to see if there is any resistance. Then just move the die a bit, chamber it, and repeat until the round chambers with the desired resistance (or lack thereof). Simple to use, easy to clean. Note that this die does not size the neck. Having to buy only 1 Redding product also makes it affordable. The main reason I started this thread was to pick through all the garbage and build an affordable but excellent hunting rig. The problem is getting something that both shoots custom and looks custom. The Savage route will shoot like a custom unfortunately will not look custom. | |||
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Zeke, Yes, post the weapon please. If not too much trouble, would like to see what's under the recoil pad. Is the Bell/Carlson Medallist hollow along to the pistol grip? A flash light and picture under the recoil pad what be great. | |||
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Most interested in the weight of the B & C stock alone and whether I can dump sand under the recoil pad if its too light. | |||
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The Nosler actions are not Howa. I think they are made for them by McMillan. "Experience" is the only class you take where the exam comes before the lesson. | |||
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Okay, found the weight of the Hogue FBB Overmolded at Cabela's. It is 2 pounds,15 oz. I am glad to find out they weigh this much. Midway is selling the long action FBB Houge for $200.00. That is definately affordable and a much better choice thean the Boyd JRS concerning functionality and accuracy. Found this post on the Howa Stainless vs. the blued. I do not know if Pete meant the Howa M-1500 long action or the Ranchland action with these comments: 11/12/09 09:45 AM Re: Howa 1500 Ranchland Pete Lincoln "Buy yourself the cheapest stainless Howa 1500 you can get, The stainless ones shoot just a little bit better. Tune the trigger, junk the standard stock and put it in a FBB Hogue, B&C or something similar. Re-cut the crown, ( you can use a piloted crown trimmer at a pinch) lap the lugs a bit if they dont show full contact and you should have a 1/2-3/4 MOA rifle. Even with just a trigger tune in a standard PB Hogue stock you should see MOA or better.,. i'd relieve the forend on the Hogue PB stock just to give a bit of clearance, Howa 1500.. cracking little rifle.. for the money,, a bargain. regards Pete | |||
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I have a Howa 1500 in 22-250 with a heavy barrel. Bought the barreled action, and bought a Boyd's unfinished stock, all of this about 6 years ago. This combination has been one of the best investments I have made. This rifle is an absolute tack driver with factory ammo, and handles really nice. Action is smooth, and this rifle has earned its spot in my truck. | |||
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The Complete Rifleman[current], has an sxs comparison of the M48 & Howa1500...looks very much Howa design based. and I believe Rifle Magazine[2008] did an sxs comparison of M48 and Vanguard Custom, and found the receiver/bolt much alike. Nosler M48..a Howa in Drag Wiseman[involved with Nosler?], also involved in Howa. The M48 is slabbed, very much like an Howa lightweight version receiver. | |||
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The Boyds stock would be an excellent choice in a 22-250. I am looking at 300 Win. Mag. and the Hogue FBB is best long term(20+ years) to buy and use hunting. http://www.getgrip.com/main/overview/overmolded.html http://www.midwayusa.com/viewP...productNumber=242962 As an option to match the black stock, Brownell's Alumihyde SS Gray: $13.95 !! http://www.brownells.com/.aspx...t/ALUMA_HYDE_reg__II http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raeeeCc9SWw Black rings and black scope. http://i154.photobucket.com/al...guns/LVSF1_email.jpg | |||
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My bros 300 has been in that FBB stock for 2 years now. I carried it a few weeks ago hunting, and while heavy, its a pleasure to handle. Good soft grip, doesn't get slippery when wet and looks sharp. The forend is a bit wobbly, but its very slight and about the same as you'd find on most synthetic stocks anyhow If you think every possible niche has been filled already, thank a wildcatter! | |||
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The very first thing I do with every synthetic stock I get is buy some epoxy steel and fill up the forend baffles completely all the way from the recoil lug to the end. You don't have to use expensive Acraglas or Devcon. Lepage Epoxy steel works good. Pour water in and get it perfectly level so the epoxy covers the baffles even. | |||
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Sorry I'm late. Howaby Vanguard with Nikon 4.5x14x40 scope. Bipod is for looks only.  No idea what's under the pad. | |||
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That is a good stock. Hogue is also making camo: http://www.getgrip.com/main/wh...w/whatsnew.html#Camo It would be good to see if Midway will special order the camo. | |||
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Mine is a 1500 stainless in .30-06 in a B&C Medalist Stock with MAXx Guard finish and a S&B 3-10x50 Zenith FD7 mounted with MAK swing mounts. My lugs weren't both evenly touching, so I performed the lapping method as described above with valve grinding paste; piece of cake. I skim bedded the action and the first inch of the barrel because the barrel channel was a tiny bit off to the left. These B&C stocks come with fore end pressure points; grind them down because they dramaticaaly affect accuracy in a negative way as I found out. I did some work on the factory trigger to get the creep out but every now and than I could feel it come back again. Problem with the factory trigger is that the housing is made of shit pot metal which affects tolerances. So I invested a 100$ in a Timney trigger. I tuned it to a 600 gramms pull and from all the rifles I had in my hands for long, the Timney is by far the best trigger; reliable, crisp without any creep. I did a lot of load developement for this rifle, using VVN 150 and 160 behind 180 gr. Accubond, Partiton,and Lapua Mega. Most of these loads shoot under or around 1 MOA. My most accurate load however is the old fashioned 150 gr. Hornady Roundnose, propelled by 57 gr. of VVN 160 with a .10" set back. If I do my part, 5 shots are under 0,5 MOA Over here the expensive German brands like Sauer 202, Mauser M03, Blaser R93 and others are most favourite by most hunters. For what they cost, you can buy at least 3 Howa's! For the money, you cant go wrong on a Howa | |||
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Tally my vote as yet another happy and proud owner of a Howa 1500 in .338 Win Mag Damn good rifles, and in my opinion every bit as good if not better, than the Remmy 700, as was previously mentioned in the thread. My gun tends to favor heavier bullets (250 grs and up) over the lightet weighs (225 grs on down) I suspect that might have to do with the 1-10" twist. The only complaint I have is the atrocious Hogue stock that come in the gun, I plan to swap it out eventually, but that is merely a cosmetic problem. As for the original question, I would likely build the Howa, as I suspect once you glass bed that bad boy, and float the barrel, that you will have a helluva shooter on your hands. But, I am a bit biased | |||
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Unfortunately I live in Canada and the dealer's are putting up a fuss to ship across the border. They need special permits to ship without a stock. Apparently a barreled/action is more dangerous than a complete rifle!! So I figured I would just buy the Weatherby Vanguard and they offer it in 300 WSM. The more I read on the 300 WSM, the more I like it. The recoil is supposed to be less and it is supposed to be very accurate. I can buy the WSM blued at $550.00. Before I even shoot the gun : - Re-crown at gunsmith ($40.00) - Timney trigger ($120.00) - Epoxy fill forestock ($12.00) - Lap bolt lugs (free) - Sand out barrel channel clearance (free) - Acraglass Gel recoil lug/action bedding($25.00) - Tubbs Final Finish Firelapping(also buys brass to reload) http://www.midwayusa.com/viewP...productNumber=234736 The grand total is $787.00 and I have the barrel lapped, lugs lapped, barrel crowned, action bedded properly, an exceptional trigger and 20 once-fired brass ready to be neck sized. If the gun doesn't shoot 0.5 MOA after all that I would be very surprised based on all I have read the last month on the Howa/Vanguard rifle. If I like how the stock(Butler Creek) responds to epoxy work(take a Dremel, cut out everything then refill) then I will Bondo the forend tip and sand it round. Then paint it. I do not like the looks of the hooked forend tip on the Weatherby rifle's. Black with silver webbing would look nice: http://www.rifleshootermag.com...d_rifles/moa_101405/ | |||
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I have a Weatherby Vanguard in .300 Weatherby Magnum that's a very nice, accurate rifle. I always hated the injection molded black plastic stock, though. Howa used to sell their 1500 as a "Custom" model with the Boyd's JRS stock on it. I ran across a fellow on another forum who'd taken his JRS stock off of his long action 1500 and offered it for sale quite reasonably. I put my Vanguard in it and am quite happy. It's a bit heavier, but looks nicer and shoots as well as it did with the black plastic. The rubber buttplate says "HOWA" on it. :-) BTW, I didn't see any "Swiss cheese" cooling channels in that stock, just an ordinary free floating barrel channel with a short bedded section right ahead of the receiver ring. It was a perfect drop-in fit. I just screwed it in. "A cheerful heart is good medicine." | |||
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a buddy of mine in Montana, just sent me a picture of him and his son's deer season success for this year.. his son is now 25 and is going to be a Montana State Trooper.. He is also a veteran of two tours of Iraq with the Montana Guard..and a Graduate of the New Mexico Military Academy.. He was shown in the pic, along with a very large big racked mule deer he got this season, in NE Montana.... what surprised me was that he took it with a Howa 1500 in 30/06 that I bought for him locally here in Oregon, when he was 12 years old... and it still has the 3 x 9 World Class Tasco scope I put on it for him, with the Stoney Point Target Turrent on the top of it.. I put it in a Boyd Stock I finished myself.. well 13 years later, he is now a young man, a veteran of two combat tours, and a Montana State Trooper... and according to dad, he dropped that buck at about 400 yds... and it is far from the first deer he has taken like that with it over the last 13 years... he took his first elk with that rifle also.... so yeah, I'd say that a Howa 1500 and a Boyd's Stock would make a good investment... The $350.00 I paid for that rifle 13 years ago, and $65.00 for the Boyd's JRS stock. along with the $59.00 Tasco Scope.. seems to have been a great investment for me.. brought a young hunter into Manhood.. that he is still using today... on the same hunt, his dad is still using the Ruger 77 he bought for himself, but he always wanted a thumbhole stock... so I got a Boyd's for him for christmas one year and finished that for him.. and sent it as a Christmas gift.. we did the forest camo laminate.. he said that stock sure gets a lot of admirers that want to buy it from him... but as he says... its not for sale... getting those pictures sort of made my day..  pic has his synthetic stock on it " because he didn't want to scratch up" his Boyd's Laminate Stock... | |||
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| One of Us |
Boyd's offers 2 laminate stock. The JRS and the Ross. The Ross is the thumbhole with the swiss cheese job. | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Rifles Medium Bore Rifles Howa 1500 action/barrel with Boyd JRS Laminate
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