I've been considering getting a more traditional rifle, but am shocked by prices for Remington 700's and the like.  I want something I can afford to shoot but still have knockdown, so .308 seems like a good choice.  I can acquire a Howa rifle at a competitive price (~$350), and wonder if anyone has any experience with them.

Has anyone fired or purchased one?  How is it?  I'm considering the synthetic stock, bull barrel varmint model.  Any experience would be appreciated.

    Black Fox

They are reported to build a good receiver. Not sure about the while thing.

I don't have any personal experience with Howa, but there are some guys at www.shooters.com in the rifle forum that are Howa owners and can give you the benefit of their experience.

I had one for years and loved it. It would do everything a 700 would do at half the price. Mine was a Howa/S&W hybred but was a great shooter. One major downside is the resale value. People generally will not touch them with a 10-ft. pole.

I have a Howa 1500 in .270. Bee-you-tea-full!

Shoots like a dream, I consistantly get 1 MOA groups or less (3 to 5 shots).

They made rifles for other "Big Names", and they put the names on at the end of the assembly line. I got mine new back in 1990.

No_Expert

My dad got one in .223 after he tried out my Bushy and decided he liked the round.  I love it.  It has a great feel, and is very accurate.  His has the synthetic stock and standard 20ish inch barrel.  Very handy.  I'll probably pick one up myself sometime.  Haven't decided on the caliber.  I've never shot a Remington 700, but I understand that they are very similar.

Blackfox,

Howa makes a great rifle. Believe it or not they are a Japanese company that is and has been imported for a number of years.

Smith & Wesson, Mossberg, Weatherby all were importing them. I am not sure who picked them up this time around.

Some Inter Arms or something, don't quote me.

Anyhow I have a buddy, like his and it is a tack driver. I looked at them and about the same stock as a Savage 10FP. The stock is the weak link......308 and above it can be brutal.

The stock is light plastic and made for a .177 pellet rifle IMHO.

At least there are some options for the Savage as to a sturdier platform to mount it in.

The Savage 110FP and 10FP's are also low cost tack drivers out of the box. The trigger is fully adjustable or there are replacement drop in units.

A Savage can be had for $10-50.00 more depending on where you are.

For more info, email me...

Good Luck

Karsten