Sam,
The Legacy website misled you.
The lever gun, Puma, is manufactured by Rossi of Brazil. The Howa is made in Japan. Howa is a Japanese company and does not have any holding in Rossi be it part or whole.
Legacy is the importer of both Howa and Rossi products. Legacy put together the website and it is rather unclear the way it is presented.
Howa was previously imported by Interarms. Before Interarms it was imported and branded as Mossberg 1500 and Smith & Wesson 1500. Howa never made any lever action rifles. The only rifles Howa exported to the US have been the bolt action 1500 and very few copies of the Armalites AR-180.
Howard
