I won a Howa 1500 Stainless/Synthetic Varminter, in
22-250 Rem, at the local DU banquet. I usually put a scope
on the rifles I win, check them for signs of accuracy, and
most are trade bait for something I really want. I figured
this one would end up that way. I strapped on a Weaver 16V,
that I have laying around, and shot a few break in rounds.
They went sub MOA. OK. Built up a few loads, that usually
shoot well in 22-250s, and adjusted the trigger down to
just under a lb. The hand loads went into .5 MOA groups,
or better...Hmmmm! So replaced the scope with a new Nikon
Buckmaster SF, and I worked up a 4064 load that was
putting 50 gr. Vmax bullets into pretty consistent .4 MOA
average groups, with a the best in the high 2's. OK now
I am impressed. I just started working with VV140, instead
of 4064, and they are looking at least as good, average
wise, and with a bit more tweaking, I might get the average
down to .3 MOA. Not bad for banquet gun. Yup, I am keeping
this HOWA.
I have a Howa 1500, in 300 WSM, that I won a few years
earlier, and that one is still with me, too. I am typically
a Tikka fan, for low volume shooting factory guns, and a
Savage fan, for high volume shooters, so I can replace the
barrels myself. But I have two Howas, now and would quickly
make it 3, if it was a rifle I wanted, and the deal was
right. My luck has been good with them, accuracy wise.
Mine are not the smoothest operating, but I have not
had issues with them mechanically. They just feel a little
rough.
Squeeze