Howa?

[onebohemian]

My dad's farm store is going to start selling Howa rifles. I've never heard anything about them before. I see Buds sells them. Anybody know anything about them: good or bad?

Thanks,

[cobb]

Howa is in Japan and they make the Weatherby Vanguard barreled actions.

That's about all I know. I have seen several and have heard good things about the Howa guns.

[Spartan117]

I have a Howa 7mm mag. It's been pretty accurate for me. It seems well built as well.

[Aftrshck]

the ones I have seen and shot are VERY nice...I would buy one for myself if I had the extra cash laying around....

~Aftrshck

[aviator]

I bought one for deer season last fall in .243. The action is nice and smooth and the finish decent. The stock was a little offside on one side so that the free floating barrel was touching slightly. The trigger was total crap! Three distinct stopping points throughout the pull. Terrible creep. I had to have a trigger job done. It responded well to that. The rifle is a little touchy on ammo. It would only shoot 2 1/2' groups at 100 yards with Remington ammo but right down to 1" groups with Winchester bullets. I think it has good potential with some custom loads. The scope it came with is junk. All of that being said, it dropped a five point buck in his tracks at 144 yards. Hank.

[1911fan]

THey have been building decent guns for a LONG time, They made S&W shotguns in the 60's and 70's, they have made the Vanguard for 40 years, and made the M-1 and M1 carbine under license before building the original AR 180 from armalite for years, they build all sorts of big and heavy equipment as well as CNC and other CAM tools.

http://www.howa.co.jp/english/index.html

The basic marketing of firearms under their brand name is relatively new, but they are good, solid and reliable pieces.

[Aftrshck]

not sure what gun aviator received but the scopes we had with the packages at the shop were really nice and I even bought one just for my rifle...and the triggers I tried and played with were pretty nice for the cost of the gun....cant expect perfect without paying for it...

~Aftrshck

[goalie]

They are a great hunting rifle for the money.

[ttousi]

Somehow the name triggers the thought of the "fugawi" indians with me

[aviator]

The scope is a Nikko Stirling Gold Crown 3-9X 42. The problem with the scope, and I don't know how this can be possible, but at least twice, after making windage adjustments, the POI would change after a shot. It seemed as if the crosshairs would stick and then be knocked into place by the recoil. Otherwise, the clarity seemed fine.

The trigger was definitly creepy. Even the gunsmith agreed upon this issue. Maybe it was just my trigger but it's good now. The gunsmith worked it and it feels like it should. Overall, I like the gun a lot. Hank.

[cobb]

The problem with the scope, and I don't know how this can be possible, but at least twice, after making windage adjustments, the POI would change after a shot. It seemed as if the crosshairs would stick and then be knocked into place by the recoil.

Try this. After you make the adjustment to a scope, tap the adjustment head a few times with the handle of the screwdriver, a spent case or what ever you are using to adjust the scope. This will maybe set the new adjusted position instead of the shot that is being fired.

[DeanC]

That's good advice Cobb. I also do that to the screws for the bases and rings when mounting the scope.

I have also heard that cranking the adjustment turrets back and forth to their extremes a couple times before zeroing can take some slack and/or excess tension out of the gears.