I have an opportunity at a new Howa 1500 rifle, threaded heavy barrel for $675. How are the Howa guns for varmint/precision (non competition) shooting?

I think they are underrated and are an excellent long range rifle. I bought an 24" barreled action and put it in a B&C stock, stuck a Mk4 lrt 4.5-14x50 Leupold on a 20moa rail and have shot it out to 1K and been very happy with it. I've taken all my deer and elk with it in the last 20+ yrs. 45 to 50 IIRC. Out to just -700yds. That was in Western Wyoming.

I’d never heard of Howa until I got my dad’s 1980s S&W 12 gauge and researched it. Made by Howa. Damn fine shotgun. Hope their rifles are as nice. Got pics of it?

I have two Howa's (.338 Win Mag and 6.5 Creedmoor) and one Weatherby Vanguard 2 (.270 Win) which is made by Howa. They all shoot well. The .338 and .270 are 24" hunting weight barrels. The 6.5 CM is a 26" bull barrel chassis rifle so it's more accurate due to the barrel, the better stock, and the better cartridge.

I've owned several of the Howa built Weatherby Vangards. They're excellent rifles for the price.

sold a new 1500 in 223 to a regular customer a few months ago,

he's a Master or HM shooter (service rifle/match rifle/silhouette)


he worked up a few light bullet loads and was getting some seriously tight groups out of his rifle at 100 and 200


sold a few in other calibers in the past few years to folks who also were getting good accuracy out of them,



HOWA has been around a long while, and has made a lot of firearms for other brands

Thanks Lyman. I did know that they made a bunch of guns for other brands, and was aware that they had a good brand reputation.

The package that is for sale is this one. The shop is looking for $675 for the package. I recognize that the Scope probably isn't worth much, but I'm trying to find out if the rest of the package is a decent deal.

Howa not only still makes the Weatherby Vanguard, they used to make the Weatherby Mark V. Howa makes an excellent gun. Years ago I had a Weatherby Vanguard in .270 Winchester. It was an fantastic gun and I'm sorry i sold it.