They seem to be the only game in town.

My nephews each want me to make them a rifle. They would be classic bolt action hunitng rifles. I'd use a pre 64 M70 or a mauser, a pac-nor or shilen barrel, a fajen classic stock, and make something that looks like a Dakota. But, all that stuff is gone today.

Are the Howa 1500's good enough to build on?

Boyd's stock? I see they are proud of super sloppy inletting in the barrel channel. How bad are they?

I need to keep this faily simple and goal oriented.

I bought two of them one a 22-250 and the other a 308 win. Both of them shoot really good. I just ordered one more 308 and a 223.

Very good value IMO.

.

-What stock did you use?

-Did they come with a magazine?

-Plastic parts?

weatherby likes them -- sells them as the vanguard

I have a couple of pre 64 model 70 I would sell for you to use as a donor. Mine are complete rifles.

I think they are the best bang for the buck action on the market today. I prefer old Mauser and Winchesters, but if I were forced to buy a mass production rifle today, it would probably be a howa. I've literally handled hundreds of them, and I'm moderately impressed, which is not the case with many other current mass produced rifles. I saw a beautiful custom 35 Whelen built on a Howa, and it was reportedly a tack driver.

Another good bargain are the interarms/Charles Daly/Remington 798 Zastava Mausers - amongst the other names for them. There's a lot of them out there, and at good prices. I'm polishing one up at the moment.

quote:

Originally posted by Scota4570:
-What stock did you use?

-Did they come with a magazine?

-Plastic parts?

I went cheap and used the "tactically" stock.

Yep, hinged floor plate.

No plastic.

What do you mean by the only game in town?

Heard somewhere that the Howa actions are metric. Maybe someone else can verify this, but if it's true be sure your lathe can cut metric threads before starting.

Howa action threads are M26-1.5, tang screws are M6-1 and the base screws are 6x46 TPI.

I have a 204& 25-05. Couldn't be happier. Have a vanguard action in the drawer that will get a 280 barrel on it soon.

I have barreled them and I can tell you that they used a 9 foot cheater bar and tightened the barrels on tighter than lug nuts on a Kenworth. They basically, don't come off. I part them off to prevent any possibility of receiver warpage. Yes they are metric; that means nothing.

You can buy a Montana barreled action, there are a couple of options built on Savage clones.

Shilen also sells barreled actions on a Shilen marked action made in Texas. I can't remember the name of it.

Any option for a barreled action that is not a Howa is $1500.

It might or might not shoot as well as a Howa.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
I have barreled them and I can tell you that they used a 9 foot cheater bar and tightened the barrels on tighter than lug nuts on a Kenworth. They basically, don't come off. I part them off to prevent any possibility of receiver warpage. Yes they are metric; that means nothing.

Odd that is, yes?

I have never had a problem removing barrels from the Howas. I routinely pull the Mossbergs, S&W and Vanguard and they always screw off easily. The odd time a P17 or P14 will be grumpy and those badly rusted on Mausers require a bit of bouncing on the wrench. One thing I have noted about the Howa barrels is that the threads are VERY sloppy from the factory and once broke free the barrels literally rattle off. The Mark V Weatherby threads are quite sloppy too. I suppose a lot of that is due to CNC manufacturing. Since that came about everything seems to need a plastic ring in the threads, lock tight or castle nuts to stay tight these days.

The ones I do have a problem with are the Lee Enfields because I never have made a proper wrench for them. But the only person who ever wants me to pull them is my little Jewish buddy and I always part them and they screw off by hand.

I never turn off Enfield barrels of any type; I part them off; too much danger of cracking the receiver. Why take the risk?

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
You can buy a Montana barreled action, there are a couple of options built on Savage clones.

Shilen also sells barreled actions on a Shilen marked action made in Texas. I can't remember the name of it.

Any option for a barreled action that is not a Howa is $1500.

It might or might not shoot as well as a Howa.

Shilen DGR (repeater) DGV (repeater)
DGA is out of production - i loved mine

this are "super" remingtons -
http://www.shilen.com/productsCompleteRifles.html

I recently barreled two how a 1500s, the barrels came off fine. The guy wanted me to change the threads to 1" x 16.........strange but he wanted to be able to use push feed 70 take offs........gotta wonder.....

I went ahead and did it. Only about a one thread difference over the length of the tenon. I ran a 1"x16 tap in then interference threaded the barrels pretty tight. Worked out well strangely enough.

What I don't understand is why they cut the bolt nose recess so large on factory barrels. I just used the .705 like remington......

My buddy the gunsmith had a son that was left handed. At the time the only left handed rifles were Savage. He had redone many, many Mausers, mainly 98's, and put the barrels and the stocks in the trash... (I cried to hear it)... He told me he was very impressed with the complete redesign of the "bolt action" away from the Mauser standard (which of course included the 1903). He built the kid a custom on a 110 Savage and never looked back. He and I, right handed, went where we pleased. He did a couple 98's for me and a couple '03s but he had no lack of respect for the Savage. With the interchangeable barrel feature today... something to think about. Luck. Happy Trails.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
I never turn off Enfield barrels of any type; I part them off; too much danger of cracking the receiver. Why take the risk?

Crack, Tom ? ! ? ! ? ! ?

You're probably thinking American Enfields, P17 and P14. I'm talking British Enfields, the tent peg model, the tomato stake model and the ever popular jack handle model. Those things are too soft to even hammer horse shoes out of. The only worry I have with those things is twisting them into pretzels if a run a file through the receiver to twist them off after parting them. LOL

Do not underestimate the Turk Mausers . Yes I know , they are a bit crude compared to other Mausers but how else would the LARGEST purchaser of Mausers get the cost down . Easy , increase feed rates , eliminate locking screws etc . Still a very strong lr 98 . Just don't go with the 1903 intermediate ' obendorf ' actions .

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
You can buy a Montana barreled action, there are a couple of options built on Savage clones.

Shilen also sells barreled actions on a Shilen marked action made in Texas. I can't remember the name of it.

Any option for a barreled action that is not a Howa is $1500.

It might or might not shoot as well as a Howa.

Shilen DGR (repeater) DGV (repeater)
DGA is out of production - i loved mine

this are "super" remingtons -
http://www.shilen.com/productsCompleteRifles.html

Unless something has changed, Jerry Stiller makes the actions for Shilen.

Mac's Gunworks Gillette Wyoming. Small custom shop but makes a beautiful 700 footprint action. Good price.