What about Howa Actions?

31 March 2002, 15:54

Pathfinder

I have a Smith & Wesson made by Howa and it is the equal of the Remington in my opinion.Be sure that the bolt has been repaired however since Howa just had a big recall to repair the bolts. It seems that if they were disassembled, they could be reassembled incorrectly which could cause accidental discharges.It should be priced under the remingtons and winchesters of similar caliber and style.By the way, Howa also made the weatherby vangard and Mark V actions too. Hope this helps.

31 March 2002, 16:36

mark65x55

Less see I've owned Remingtons, Rugers, Weatherbys,Howa and now a Winchester. A few friends also have/had a Howa. I know one guy who has bought and sold the same .270 three times. Nice rifle for the money and of the one's I've shot you could get 1"-2" groups no problem. But for my money I'll take the Winchester. Kind of a Ford vs Chevy thing. Oh, and mark me on the Ford side of that one.

31 March 2002, 17:52

Dr. Duc

I have a Weatherby and a Smith that are just fine but a friend has a Howa label gun and it is not so well done. The trigger is creepy and the overall finish is not as good as the other labels. It shoots OK.

31 March 2002, 19:07

Heritage Arms

For a push feed gun the Howas are wonderful. They shoot well and for the price and accuracy cannot be touched by one of the better known push feed gun makers. I belive the Howa and the Savage to be two of the best kept secrets in accurate factory guns.

01 April 2002, 05:00

CraigP

FWIW, Bob Hart of R.W. Hart and Sons and Hart Rifle Barrels likes them. He told me he has no problem building a custom rifle on the Howa action.

01 April 2002, 06:46

<700Nitro>

my dad bought a HOWA action rifle that is actually a weatherby vangaurd in 300 WBY mag. shoots great, id tell everybody to get one if they didnt already have it.

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Hunt Smart, Hunt Safe

01 April 2002, 06:51

old4x4

I also have a S&W 1500 made by Howa that was a 243 Win. Now it's a 375/284 Win that shoot like a demon. I just got my bolt back from being serviced (the recall thing). It took less than 2 weeks.

01 April 2002, 13:10

Rusty Gunn

I just got a Howa stainless 30-06 a few weeks ago, and am very pleased with it.
The steel work is done nicely. ~~~Suluuq

03 April 2002, 07:20

R-WEST

For my money, the HOWA 1500 can't be beat. I have four of them, 223, 243, 7RMAG, and 30-06, and, except for the 243, which I'm having a rough time finding an accurate load for, I have no complaints with any of them.

R-WEST

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"the spotlight of truth will cause the cockroaches of deceit to run for cover every time"
Rush Limbaugh

03 April 2002, 10:31

R Flowers

Oh, bullshit! I have a number of friends who were dumb enough to buy Weatherby Vanguards when HOWA made them. They were all JUNK !!!!

I have at least six friends who bought Weatherby Vanguards when HOWA made them in Japan and they were ALL JUNK! They were pretty, they all had beautifull stocks, but they ALL had problems with them. Some of these guys would not own a Weatherby now, no matter WHO made the action!!!

HOWA does does not make good actions, no matter what you read here or any place else.

My opinion is do not waste your money, just my opinion, and worth just what you are paying for it!

03 April 2002, 10:41

old4x4

Wellllll.......can you tell us what kind of problems your "friends" had with their rifles?? They are NOT junk.

03 April 2002, 11:12

growler

I bought a Weatherby Vanguard 223 in 1988 and have had NO problems. 2000-3000 rounds. Shoots 1" groups cost new was $390 CnD. What more can I say.

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Growler

03 April 2002, 14:05

<Reloader66>

Own two Howa action rifles, one bought in 1972 the other in 2000. One 1972 in 243 the 30-06 in 2000. Am having the 243 rebarreled to 7MM-08 at this writing. Both rifles are Weahtherby Vanguards models. The 243 never gave me one problem and accounted for several nice bucks and countless numbers of ground hogs. The 30-06 vintage 2000 will place three shot groups under a nickle at 100 yards. As far as the Howa action being junk in some shooters views, I have seen more Remingtons of late that may border on that statement. The Howa action is a fine push feed copy of the Remington action. I would buy another Howa action rifle at a cost of only $388.00 from Wally World. The trigger on a Howa action sure beats what Savage puts on their rifles for another twenty dollar bill. The Savage cost at Wally World is $368.00 with a Simmons scope that is worth about $3.98. In any case you will not be sorry buying the Howa action rifle.
Not a problem to rebarrel the Howa action other than the actions are metric threads and cost a little more to rework says the gunsmith doing my rebarrel job.

05 April 2002, 01:57

R Flowers

In response to old 4X4, I do not remember all the problems I have seen with the Vanguards, but I can mention a few.

If HOWA actions are so good, they must have been giving their rejects to Weatherby for use as Vanguards. Some had feeding problems, some were so inaccurate so as to be of little threat to varmints except at rimfire ranges, etc.

One close friend had one that would show high pressure signs with factory ammo and he had to use no more than the starting loads from any number of reloading manuals to keep it safe.

But the most annoying habit those guns had was that when they had been shot very much they would often develop a problem in that the match between the firing pin and the bolt was very poor. I know of three 22-250's that ALL started piercing primers and actually taking divits out of the primers. The primer material would be blown back into the bolt body (that is how awfull the fit between the firing pin and the bolts were). Then the bolt would lock up and the gun could not be fired until the bolt was disassembled and cleaned.

Yeah, they were quality stuff. They WERE pretty, Weatherby put some nice wood on them.
But the only fellows I know who still own them are guys who don't shoot ten shells a year.

R Flowers

06 April 2002, 23:53

Rusty Gunn

quote:
Originally posted by R Flowers:
In response to old 4X4, I do not remember all the problems I have seen with the Vanguards, but I can mention a few.
If HOWA actions are so good, they must have been giving their rejects to Weatherby for use as Vanguards. Some had feeding problems, some were so inaccurate so as to be of little threat to varmints except at rimfire ranges, etc.
One close friend had one that would show high pressure signs with factory ammo and he had to use no more than the starting loads from any number of reloading manuals to keep it safe.
But the most annoying habit those guns had was that when they had been shot very much they would often develop a problem in that the match between the firing pin and the bolt was very poor. I know of three 22-250's that ALL started piercing primers and actually taking divits out of the primers. The primer material would be blown back into the bolt body (that is how awfull the fit between the firing pin and the bolts were). Then the bolt would lock up and the gun could not be fired until the bolt was disassembled and cleaned.
Yeah, they were quality stuff. They WERE pretty, Weatherby put some nice wood on them.
But the only fellows I know who still own them are guys who don't shoot ten shells a year.
R Flowers

My Howa is new, unfired, so I can't comment on how it shoots. I still nedd a stock for it.
One thing that needs to be understood, is these few bad Howa's are not representative of the whole lot. Only these are bad.
Same for the few bad Remingtons that we hear about, same as the few bad Winchesters we hear about, etc... its not all that are bad, just a few. ~~~Suluuq

07 April 2002, 12:01

thmpr

Wasn't there a recall on vanguards not to long ago?

09 April 2002, 09:06

R-WEST

thmpr -
Yeah the recall was to correct a problem with the bolt. From what I understand, it was possible to disassemble the bolt, then re-assemble it in some way that allowed it to come apart when the rifle was fired. I don't know how it could be done, but, I learned a long time ago to never say never.

R Flowers - Your acquaintances must have been born under a bad star or something. I've had six different HOWA's - two Vanguards and 4 of the 1500's, and I've never seen the problems you describe.

One of them, a 223 sporter weight, is closing in on 1,000 rounds fired, and it still works just fine, averaging under 3/4" for 5 shots. Another, in 7RMAG is at least as accurate as a Rem 700 7RMAG I own, likewise for a 30-06. The only one I've ever had a problem with is the 243, and that is strictly accuracy related. Some guns just don't want to shoot, but, that's okay, I also have some guns costing 4 times as much as the HOWA that don't want to shoot either.

R-WEST

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"the spotlight of truth will cause the cockroaches of deceit to run for cover every time"
Rush Limbaugh