Howa Lightning

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Like many shooters who are less than wealthy, I have spent a considerably amount of time looking for a rifle that delivers accuracy, durability and all round functionality in a reasonably priced package; and, after much searching, I've found it.

Long before my .243 variation finally arrived, I started thinking carefully about my choice of rifle. I spent hours scouring guntrader.co.uk, the AirgunBBS and Googling rifle makes and models to try and get an inkling of what would provide what I was after; and what was I after? Simply, functionality; I wanted a rifle with approximately MOA accuracy, which was inexpensive, robust, and moderated. My intended use was, primarily, stalking, along with a certain amount of foxing and varminting.

One advert that caught my eye was for the Howa Lightning 1500. A bit of research revealed that this was a Howa 1500 action mated with a Hogue stock; after some phoning around I discovered that most stockists in the country had sold out. The only place to see one in the flesh was Wildcat Custom rifles in Bromsgrove, so, eager with anticipation, to the West Midlands I went. The Howa 1500 action has been available in the UK for some time now, and it enjoys a reputation, amongst those in the know, as an exceptionally accurate yet incredibly cheap bit of engineering. Made in Japan, Howa actions have been rebranded by a variety of companies, most notably as the Weatherby Vanguard. Sadly, the Howa branded action has not, to date, enjoyed wide following in the UK, perhaps due to poor advertising. Things, however, look set to change.

When I arrived at Wildat rifles, I was shown a .243 Howa in a Green Hogue stock, and was immediately impressed. So much so, that I immediately reserved one pending my variation! For a mere £610 I got a Howa 1500 action mounted in a green Hogue stock, a set of weaver scope bases, scope mounts, a Nikko Sterling Gold Crown 3-9 x 40 and a Wildcat moderator fitted to the screwcut rifle.

When I first got the rifle home, I tried to fit the scope. Sadly, I had been provided with scope bases to fit weaver mounts, but had been given dovetail mounts to fit an air-rifle. A quick call to Wildcat elicited not only an apology, but a promises that the correct mounts would be with me the next day, and, true to their word, they were. Having mounted the scope and screwed the Wildcat 8 moderator (reviewed in this section by another member) onto the rifle, I gave it a good look over. The moderator is an over the barrel type, which extends back to within an inch of the stock. The barrel is free floated, and the action is, apparently, pillar bedded using aluminium bosses. The stock is a hogue overmoulded type with a dotted rubbery finish that provides excellent grip even when wet or wearing gloves. The butt-pad is about an inch thick and made of soft rubber to help absorb recoil. The action appeared smooth, although the trigger was rather heavy at first. This was easily corrected however; on removing the action from the stock two screws secured by locking nuts can be seen on the trigger unit. The front screw controls the weight of pull, and the rear screw controls trigger creep. Adjustment is simple, however, over-tightening the the rear screw prevents the three position safety from functioning. I lightened the trigger to about 4lbs weight of pull; although there was plenty of adjustment to go lighten it further if you wished to.

The rifle also boasts a 3 position safety and a floorplate magazine which holds 5 rounds, giving a capacity of 5+1. For those who are unfamiliar, the 3 position safety has two safe positions, the rearmost one locks the bolt, firing pin, and trigger, whilst the middle one only locks the firing pin and trigger, allowing you to remove an unfired round from the breech without taking the safety fully 'off'.

A bit of fiddling revealed only two minor defects with the rifle; the fore-end is a little bit wiggly, and it is possible to squeeze it hard enough to make it just touch the barrel. However, I cannot imagine many situations in which you could do this inadvertantly, so I don't see it as a significant problem. If necessary, the hollow fore-end could probably be stiffened with a bit of fibreglass resin anyway. The only other minor fault was that rounds being fed from the magazine were a little stiff, and the tips of soft pointed ammunition got ever so slightly deformed. It seemed that the ramp leading up into the chamber was at slightly too steep an angle, however, the problem eased up after a few uses and, as we shall see, did not cause any major dramas with accuracy.

For ammunition, I knocked up a load using Winchester brass, 41grains of H4831SC and Sierra 100gr SPBT bullets.

My first opportunity at firing the rifle came in gale force winds and occasional rain, hardly ideal testing conditions! Only a few clicks were needed to bring the POI on at 100 yds, and despite the gusting winds I managed to group between 1†and 2†off a rest without any real effort. The moderator seemed very effective, and I was comfortable shooting without ear defenders even after 40-50 rounds. Between the gentleness of the .243's recoil, the moderator, and the very thick and spongy recoil pad (a good inch thick) it was more like firing a .22WMR or .17HMR than a centre fire.

The next day, I met up with two other forum members for a bit of stalking. Both of them have handled, used and owned a much wider range of moderated centre fires than me, and they were both impressed by the rifles balance and light weight. A bit of further shooting under slightly calmer conditions gave a few groups around the 1â€-1.5†mark. Bear in mind that this was still under 'field' conditions in a gusting crosswind, albeit off a rest, and I had made no attempt to work up a load for the rifle. I'm confident that with a bit of work on the load and bit more trigger lightening, it is easily capable of shooting well sub 1â€. The importers, Highland outdoors, guarantee 1.25†loads using premium factory ammo, which bodes well.

The day rounded off well when I took my first deer with this rifle, a CWD Buck with a decent set of tusks, potentially bronze medal winning. As you might expect, the rifle functioned flawlessly, putting the shot exactly where I aimed it at about 50m distance. The buck ran 60 yards and we found it dead in the grass at the end of the blood trail. I managed to get blood and rain on the stock over the course of the day, but it remained grippy and simply wiped off with a damp cloth.

In conclusion then, this rifle package is probably the best value on the market, simple as that. It does everything most owners would ever ask of a sporting rifle as well as rifles that cost twice the price, and remember, that £610 includes a scope, mounts, and a moderator. (Screw cut rifle and scope is £395) It certainly outdoes offerings like the Tikka T3 and CZ rifles in terms of value and functionality. I can't recommend it highly enough and suspect that I may be adding more to my cabinet in the future!

Available Calibres: .223, .204, 22-250, 243, 25-06, 270, 308 and 30-06

Magnum Calibres: 300win mag, 338win mag, 7mm rem mag, 300wsm, 270wsm and 7mm wsm

I've cut and pasted this review from a British shooting forum where I originally posted it, so just to clarify for those unfamiliar with UK terminology:

"Variation" refers to the procedure to have a permission to buy a new rifle added to one's licence in the UK.

"Moderators" or silencers are actively encouraged in this fairly densely populated Island, and the cost of having a barrel threaded, reproofed, and then adding a moderator often has to be added on to the cost of a new rifle.

Stalking is the British term for Hunting Deer with a rifle.

CWD-Chinese Water Deer. A small, primitive deer species with tusks rather than antlers. It is very rare Worldwide, and is restricted to a relatively small area of the UK, but within this area, the population is significant, and it is one of the only areas it can be hunted.