Anyone Else Into Howa's?

I picked up a few new Weatherby Vanguard's at Wal-Mart a few years ago. They were marked down to $175.00 each so I bought a 30-06 and a .270. I sold the '06 but still have the .270. Both had test targets showing less than one inch groups at 100 yards.

I have since installed a Timney trigger, Bell & Carlson Medalist stock (full aluminum bedding), Leupold rings and bases and a Sightron S2 3-9x42 scope. This is one sweet rifle and I think I will end up keeping this one around for a while.

I noticed Howa is now making a much more expanded line of rifles based on the 1500 including some real nice looking varmint guns with beautiful plywood.

Weatherby seems to have introduced some new Vanguard lines as well.

Anyone else here into these guns? I think they are much better made than the new Remington 700's and easily as accurate as Savage. Plus they are cheap!

 

I will admit to some wishfull thinking on several ocassions when I have seen or handled the Howa's. These appear to be very nice pieces of machinery.

 

my brother and i were breaking in our rifles. he was shooting about 1/4" tighter than i (but we're talking less than an inch). his rifle was a howa thumbhole varmint supreme. it's a nice rifle. mine is a savage 10FP.

if anything happens though, call howa, don't waste time with their contract people at walker arms. my brother's first howa had a jacked up receiver. when he mounted the sight bases, they were crooked and you couldn't get any scope over far enough to zero it. tried a couple of bases and scopes with the same results. he sent it to their contract place. after 8 weeks, they finally looked at it and called him. said nothing was wrong and sent it back. when he got it back, the stock was broken. he called howa and they checked it out. told him the receiver was definitely crooked, apologized for the stock, and sent him a brand new rifle.

 

Back in the late '80s I bought two Howa barreled actions...one marked Smith&Wesson in .308 Win...the other a heavy barreled Mossberg in .223 Rem...mated them both to Richards Microfit stocks and glass bedded them...both tack drivers!!!!!
I hate to admit that I sold the .308 about two years ago when I needed the money...broke my heart but the .223 is going nowhere! Topped with an older Japanese made Tasco 6x24 scope it has won many many matches with Sierras 53 gr. HP Match bullet.
I love Howas...slick and smooth, dependable and accurate!

 

love them

right now i think i have 10or 11 i got 4 more to bring home 1 is pay for sitting at the gun shop 3 more are coming from j dyer?????? i think sent the money but still no guns sent money last week monday??????

 

Mickey said." think i have 10or 11 i got 4 more to bring home 1 is pay for sitting at the gun shop 3 more are coming from j dyer?????? i think sent the money but still no guns sent money last week monday??????"

And to this I say, What????

 

I hope you get your guns! Did you use PayPal or some means of payment with protection?

As far as Howa's in general, I never hear any complaints about these rifles. I wish I could afford a few more!

 

Question of interest

Are they both Japanese Made? if so, that would explain the price wouldn't it?

 

Yeah they are japanese made. They tend to be a lower quality steel than American steel. My stainless barrel on mine started to rust pretty easily, it was never in rain, it just got dew on it from tall grass and had rust forming near the muzzle.

 

Lower quality steel??
Howa is the premier weapons manufacturer of Japan and has been producing military as well as commercial firearms for many years.
Stainless steel does not mean it's rust proof...it merely means it will resist rust a bit longer than other steels. How long did you let your barrel remain wet and did'nt you have all metal at least wiped down with a very thin coat of oil like all weapons are supposed to be?
By the way...Howas are not cheap in price...the last time I was at Weatherbys in 1990 (before they left California) they had a sale on for some of their Vanguard rifles (factory seconds)...to the tune of $600!
The Howas today are list priced around $500 or so.

 

Yeah, I believe that Japanese steel is made from more reused steel than american steel. Maybe I should change it to different quality. As for the rust, it rusted a lot easier than other guns I've had out in similar weather. I put it in a dry gun case and wiped it down after I got it home. It was a great gun and I still wished I had it.

 

I should also add that I had a Howa in 300 Win Mag that was worn enough that the bluing was coming off, but that never got any rust on it or anything.

 

Lower quality or reused steel? That's the most assinine thing I have heard in months! You really should get your facts straight before you post for all the world to see. Some of the best alloys and steels in the world come from Japan.

 

Weatherby left California?

I know that the Central Coast doesn't SEEM like a lot of California (any more, anyway; it used to all be like that), but Atascadero is definitely not in another state.

Company HQ is still:

Weatherby, Inc.
3100 El Camino Real
Atascadero, CA 93422
805-466-1767

And I really like my Vanguard Sporter (walnut stock, blue finish) in .30-'06. The stock had a couple scratches in the finish, so I picked it up new for $400 last year. Normally, they're around $500 with walnut, no scope or mounts included.

Since I shoot shotguns a lot, I really like the recoil-away cheekpiece. Nice solid weld, without the nice solid punch in the jaw.

 

ooops...I meant to say the Los Angeles area(over on Firestone Blvd.)...sorry about that...should have previewed my post first!

 

I've considered them many times. Once I nearly bought one at a pawnshop however a better heeled customer beat me to the punch. They sure have all the ringers of a rifle that will perform, I'm not surprised to hear from so many that they shoot great.

 

The Howa/Weatherby's are some of the very few modern bolt-action rifles that have any appeal for me. In this case they would appear to fall into the very good value for money category IMO.

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These are fantastic well handling, very accurate, and bargain priced rifles.
J

 

Just read an article where the Howa 1500 varminter in stainless with a Boyd laminated thumbhole stock now has a MSRP of over $850...not exactly a modest priced rifle anymore!

 

I've been looking around and they seem to be some of the best rifles available in their price range. The best deals I've seen on them so far are at Bud's Gun Shop. You can get the lightnings for about $314-$331 and stainless steel laminate thumbhole varminters for about $579.
I've got my heart set on the non-thumbhole laminate stock .223 with a blue finish. When I'm done it'll be all camo'd up Vamint Al style ready for a coyote or ground squirrel hunt. I hope I can still get one for under $500 when I get back from Iraq in a year. If I can shoot expert with a forty year old M16 those varmints are gonna be in a world of hurt when I get my Howa.

 

NorCal
Save yourself a ton of money and buy a Howa heavy barrelled action and then buy a Boyd or Richards Microfit stock! With Richards you will have to do some fitting and finishing and maybe learn to glassbed it but it's well worth the effort!
Howas built that way are capable of ragged one-hole 3-shot groups at 100 yards!

 

Bluehawk,
Where's the best place to get a Howa barreled action at a decent price? I've only seen them at the Legacy website for $414. That price plus the cost of a Boyd stock ($78.74) is actually a few dollars more than buying them together from Bud's ($490). And if I buy them together I have a working gun, not a project. I'm all about parting together if I can save some money and do it right the first time so to speak.

 

NorCal
I think Legacy Sports is the sole importer for Howa now that InterArms has gone out of business but those prices you see are full retail (MSRP) and nobody pays those prices!
You should be able to have a gun store order one for you in the $350 range for the heavy barrel blue version (hopefully less). Last year I looked at prices WalMart had and they carried heavy barrel .308 Howa actions for around $300 or so but they may or may not be carrying them any longer. You can always call their corporate headquarters in Arkansas...I think it's in either Bentonville or Rogers...I can't remember which, and see if they still carry them.
Let me know how you make out but don't wait too long...prices rarely go down!
I'll try and find out what distributors carry Howa and get back to you.

 

Man, I wish I could jump on a deal like that, but I won't be buying until I get back from Iraq. I just hope the prices don't get stupid while I'm gone. Thanks for the info. That's definitely betterr than what I thought I was gonna pay.

 

Howa Quality, Price

Yep, my Howa's a 1500, imorted by many and sold as their own by their logos.
Mine's just a HOWA. Maybe interarms imported them. They're the same as the Vanguard with different finish. Period. And that's exactly the way mine operates. Bare essentials on finish, but for $300 new a few years ago, I'm not bitching. Mine's .308 and a fine shooter. Another shooter's bargain gun, like the Savage bolt guns.