have been looking for a decent bolt gun for my nephew for his upcoming 18th b-day. I would like to fine one that has a 20" barrel or less so it is more compact and maneuverable. I was checking out the Howa like this onehttp://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/58082
He will mainly use it as a truck/atv gun that has enough stopping power to down black bears, coyotes, etc that are around here. He likes the tacticool look so I want to get him something that looks the part as well. I know I want to get him a 308 as I have a few thousand rounds of ammo for the 308 and am setup to reload. I was wanting to get experiences on this rifle as well as the lower end Rem 700. Also the Ruger American Rifle and Savage. I am newer to bolt guns so I do not have that much experience. I tried a search but everything was old.
Well in my opinion the HOWA action is superior to many factory actions on the market and here is why.
THE POSITIVES
factory installed m16 style extractor
integral recoil lug
one piece bolt, with 3 vent holes
great factory trigger you can tune
Uses standard rem 700 scope bases
(all these will cost extra on a rem 700)
THE NEGATIVES
Mag box is not as long as a rem 700, however you can modify the HOWA to a rem 700 mag box. But seeing as your going with the 308 win and all HOWA actions are long actions this is a non issue for you.
Some considerations for you as far as upgrades go. I have one semi custom built on a howa action, the smith you choose will have to be able to cut metric threads. Manners makes stocks for the HOWA action as well as many others.
they are great actions and normally produce good accuracy from their factory rifles. Mel over at snipercentral.com builds them up. I don’t have any association with them but they do have a lot of options to choose from if you have one built how you want it over there.
Hard to go wrong with a Howa, all those that I have seen that are set up with decent glass and a decent shooter seem to shoot well. That includes the Weatherby Vanguard which is also made by Howa.
I’ve got one of Mel’s builds and have been very happy with it. I shoot it well with loads that it likes. I would imagine that a 20in barrel and a lighter stock would make for an outstanding truck gun.
Sample of one, but I had a Weatherby Van in 30-06 and tried 3 different ammos, 2 scopes, and 2 shooters. Couldn’t get a smaller group than 6" at 100. Needless to day, that rifle was traded.
I have shot 3 different Howas. I didn’t care for the glass that came with them. The guns would shoot Moa or 1.5moa at 100 but were picky on loads. There felt nice and were smooth.
My brother (a Scout Sniper, admittedly) once took a $400 Howa 22-250 (with Nikon 3-9x scope, combo deal) bought new and some Wolf ammo to the range. Shot a couple of 3/4MOA 3 shot groups with said ammo and threw up his hands and said “good enough for me!”
That cheap combo has killed a lot of Wyoming coyotes.
