The barrelled actions come in all your standard calibers such as 223, 308, 7mm08, 22-250, 243 and a selection of heavy or lightweight barrel contours, rifling twist rates and different barrel lengths to suit whatever style project you are putting together. You could put together a lightweight field rifle that can cross over from field shooting to hunting, or a heavy precision style setup that weighs in at 20 pounds.
The type of shooting I do tends to have me wanting the extra velocity afforded by a longer barrel, so I go with the heavy varmint contour 26” barrels that can handle the 10 round plus strings of fire while maintaining good accuracy.
There is also now a factory option for ceracote on selected models, so that’s a big plus for me as these rifles are often used in the miserable rainy weather we can have year round here in Taranaki, plus I think the ceracoted rifles look awesome.
I often get asked what I do to make my Howa rifles shoot well, and it’s about as straight forward as you can imagine. I put the chosen barrelled action into a chassis or precision stock, adjust the trigger to suit my preferences and then hit the range. With quality Hornady or Sako match grade ammunition, I find they shoot 3/4 MOA five shot groups or better, and sub half MOA with hand loaded ammunition tailor made to suit the specific rifle. Once I have it zeroed I build a ballistic profile on StrelokPro and use the LabRadar to confirm my velocity. It’s then just a matter of validating the load out to 800 meters and the setup is good to go.
My personal Howa 1500 rifle projects...
Over the last year I have put together several Howa 1500 short action projects for precision field style shooting. A 308, a 6.5 Creedmoor, and the new kid on the block, the 6mm Creedmoor. Each of these setups has a different style to suit its intended use.
308 Howa 1500 in a Boyds AT-One stock.
The 308...Why?
The idea behind this setup is first and foremost to use it as a training rifle. The external ballistics of the 308 are not nearly as good as its modern Creedmoor cousins, so it makes for a great practice rifle when shooting in windy conditions. You need to really be your game with wind calls to achieve consistent hits, plus the extra recoil makes going back to the 6mm a dream. I have this setup in a Boyd’s AT-ONE stock with a 10 round magazine conversion so I can use metal MDT magazines, and the optic on this setup is a Bushnell Forge 3-18x50.
The ammo I’m using is hand loaded with Hornady 168gr ELD-M projectiles, I’m getting very good results out to 1,200 meters and ok accuracy out to 1,630 meters.I have plans to do some testing with the 178gr ELD-M projectiles in the near future for shooting 1,000m as I work towards my goal of getting the 308 out to 2,000 meters.
My trusty spare 6.5CM in a Oryx chassis.
The 6.5 Creedmoor...Why not?
The idea behind this rifle is a spare setup for other shooters to use when they come out to visit TLRS HQ, or if a friends setup is having problems and they need to borrow a rifle for a competition. Being 6.5CM all it needs is some Hornady 140gr Match or American Gunner 140gr factory ammunition, and it will preform out to 1,000 meters without much issue if the shooter knows what they are doing. The rifle is setup in a Oryx chassis and has a Vortex Viper PST Gen2 5-25x50 scope sitting on top, this simple setup is great for new and experienced shooters alike.
My competition 6mmCM in a MDT ACC chassis.
The 6mm Creedmoor...Why didn’t I do this sooner!
My latest project is the 6mm Creedmoor, again it’s one of the same 26” varmint contour barrels, but this one is factory Cerakoted in Flat Dark Earth. This setup is purely intended as my main competition rifle, so it has been paired with the MDT Advanced Competition Chassis, and has a Delta Striker 4-30x56 filling in for optic duties. This rifle is quite new to the TLRS arsenal, but it already has nearly 400 rounds down the barrel as I practice for the upcoming North Island field shooting season. Just like the 308 I’m using my own hand loaded ammunition for the 6mm Creedmoor, it’s shooting the Hornady 108gr ELD-M projectiles with a muzzle velocity of 3,070 fps. Accuracy is sub MOA, plus there is a good supplier of projectiles whenever I need them but I can’t say the same for availability of AR2209 powder! So far the fast little cartridge is proving to work well in the field, and hopefully it will prove to be a wise decision to replace the 6.5 with the new 6mm?
1 mile with the 308 is no simple task.
So in closing, long range shooting is not a cheap hobby to get into no matter how you go about it, but there is definitely ways you can save a few dollars here or there.
Would I buy another Howa? Yes, in fact I may or may not be getting another one soon, although that will be a long action in the hot new 300 PRC caliber, but more on that down the road. The range that Howa offers is extensive and is certainly worth a look if you are pricing together a new precision rifle. Pretty much every single firearms retailer in New Zealand deals with the importer Outdoor Sports LTD, and will be able to source what you need.