Howa M1500

Could you provide more detail on the modifications needed?

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It wasn't possible to insert both action screws - there was a mismatch in spacing between the holes on the receiver and the holes in the stock. With advice from B&C, I filed one of the holes to open it up by about 1/16" which was enough to allow both screws to go in.

I think Weatherby guarantees accuracy, but Howa doesn't specifically do so? Otherwise I've heard good things about their accuracy.

I have a Howa dressed in Weatherby's Vanguard garb and, though a mite "beefy", it's got a great trigger-in spite of the negative feed-back many others have reported.

I have a Howa 1500 .308 with a 24", 1 in 10" twist heavy barrel. It is half MOA with decent ammo and a little better with my hand loads for it. It looks like they now offer it in 6.5 Creedmoor. That would be a lot of fun.

Howa 1500

I have a Howa 1500 in .223 Remington. It is one of the heavy barrel combination rifle/scope packages that Howa sold a few years ago that came in an overmolded Hogue stock. I planned on replacing the stock with either a walnut or laminated Boyds or maybe a B&C or something similar. However the rifle shoots so well as is, I now plan on leaving it just the way it is.



A good friend of mine has an older S&W 1500 (rebranded Howa) heavy barrel 22-250 in a wood stock. It is also a very accurate rifle that I have been trying to talk him out of for years.

I think that, for the money, Howas are very good rifles.

I have a 7mm-08 that I like.

I don't find it heavy. I got it from my DIL, in a trade. She took a whitetail buck with it at about 80 yds. Dead right there, one shot kill.

This has the shorter bbl. and stock for women or young shooters, and if it had been anyone but her and my son wanting to trade me that rifle and a mounted deer head for a Zeiss 10X56 binocular, I wouldn't have traded.

But with a winter coat on, the short stock fits me better and the rifle seems very well made.

The main selling point for Howa/Vanguard, to me, was the hinged floor plate and a solid stock.

For a hundred less, you can get a plastic rifle from other makers that have detachable plastic magazines.

If you like magazines that rattle and fall out like on my formerly owned savage axis.

There was a recall years ago on certain serial number ranges and a later recall involving some rifles of the stainless model. Read all about it:

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=howa%201500%20recall

So if you're shopping used, jot down the affected serial numbers.

These are excellent rifles, well made and accurate. The trigger is a little odd. There is a hint of creepy takeup, but once you have pressed past that, the trigger is crisp and it's easy to achieve a surprise break. It's nothing that needs fixing, just takes some getting used to.

jaysouth said:

The main selling point for Howa/Vanguard, to me, was the hinged floor plate and a solid stock.

For a hundred less, you can get a plastic rifle from other makers that have detachable plastic magazines.

If you like magazines that rattle and fall out like on my formerly owned savage axis.

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And if someone prefers detachable, they make kits for some of the more popular calibers.

I have both a hinged floor plate and detachable mags for my Howa pictured above. My rifle came with both. Like one of the previous posters, I was leery of the plastic magazines and didn't even try them for a couple of years. However, after swapping the hinged floor plate out for the detachable mags, I am pleased with how well they work and will probably keep the rifle set up this way. I can't say about anyone else's rifle but the magazines in mine feed reliably, do not rattle, and have never fallen out.

And if they ever do wear out, or rattle, or start falling out, I'll put the hinged floor plate back on.

Z-Michigan said:

Thanks. The claim of inch/metric difference was told me by a CS rep of Bell & Carlson when I asked why their Vanguard short-action stock didn't fit my short-action Howa 1500. They also said I was OK to very slightly modify the stock to fit, which I did without problem. I don't know if there are actually any dimensional differences or if this is some sort of legend.

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Z-Michigan said:

It wasn't possible to insert both action screws - there was a mismatch in spacing between the holes on the receiver and the holes in the stock. With advice from B&C, I filed one of the holes to open it up by about 1/16" which was enough to allow both screws to go in.

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I suppose it's possible that Howa uses different bolt spacing between Vanguard and Howa models, but that would increase costs for no good reason. I can't imagine why they'd bother.

My guess - the stock was 1/16" off spec.

natman - yeah, that also seems plausible. B&C did claim this was a known issue though. I don't know.

I have one in 243, and like it. As reported, the trigger was a little gritty and creepy. A few licks with the buffing tool and application of the magic sauce made it a very decent trigger. It's not quite as good as the Timney, but it's dang good.