Howa?

[joeb33050]

I'm going to buy a new 308 CB rifle, have been looking at Savage, Remington and a little at Howa.
Had a Savage 12BVSS in 223, it was quite accurate with jacketed, not too bad with cast but not competitive.
I've been wrestling between Savage and Remington in 308, then saw the Howa.
Has anybody got any experience with a 308 Howa and cast?
How is the triggfer?
Thanks;
joe b.

[Junior1942]

Joe, have you looked at this http://www.savagearms.com/10fple1.htm Savage rifle?

The 20" heavy 308 barrel looks to me like a dandy cast shooter.

[PatMarlin]

My Howa's a new stainless, and is built hell for stout and quality.

Barrel has broke in very smooth. For .223, I think it will be a very good cast shooter.

Crappy trigger. Very nice rifle though and accurate. Plan on a Timney trigger for it, but I think it's way more quality of a rifle than Savage.

[Oldfeller]

Ah, but the full price Howa costs more than the full price Savage and the full price Savage comes with an Accutrigger already on it ..... and some models even come with the scope package and Accutrigger at less than the Howa price (remember, Walmart sells Savages at discount prices).

Now, you CAN say a Howa looks better than a Savage and nobody will argue much about that statement. A Howa is a pretty gun and a Savage is -- a Savage. You can try to say it is stronger (but then you gotta be able to prove it, which is pretty tough to do).

But if you try to say it shoots better than a Savage or has a better trigger than an Accutrigger Savage then you may have to scrape off your boots some .... you might have stepped in it a wee little bit. Too many Savage shooting folks who have owned one at one time or another 'round here and we know how they shoot (even with them cantankereous previous-type triggers).

Oldfeller

[StarMetal]

Pretty, beauty, is only skin deep. A 55 to early 60's model two door post chevy sedan might not looked as good as the well embelished Impala model, but boy oh boy that plain Biscayne would sure kick ass in the quarter mile. If you''re going to buy a rifle to display and not shoot, by all means buy a pretty one. But if you're more interested in how it shoots, well don't be fooled by the pretty ones. Howa follows in the Japanese tradition and that is of being the greatest copiers. Howa made alot of other rifles for other companies. There are alot of similarities between them and Sako and we all know they made rifles for Weatherby. Yes they are well made as most everything Japanese nowadays. But reading rifle report after rifle report the one rifle that stands out for good shooting for the best prices....is Savage. CZ is getting pretty good also. Rick Jamison likes Savage alot. His one test vehicle for the 22-250 is the Savage. I don't think the wood stocked Savages look all that bad, as they did in their early days. Face, just about any rifle in a plain and black fiberglass stocks looks just that...plain.

You done good Oldfeller.

Joe

[SharpsShooter]

I'm going to buy a new 308 CB rifle, have been looking at Savage, Remington and a little at Howa.
Had a Savage 12BVSS in 223, it was quite accurate with jacketed, not too bad with cast but not competitive.
I've been wrestling between Savage and Remington in 308, then saw the Howa.
Has anybody got any experience with a 308 Howa and cast?
How is the triggfer?
Thanks;
joe b.


I've had a couple of Savage 110's in the past and both shot extremely well with J-word boolits. The 22-250 Savage would shoot as well as my High-Wall in the same caliber. Reading this thread made me go check on prices for the 308 version. You might check out this one before you buy the Howa.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=38415858

It looks pretty decent and the price is rather good also.

Regards

:coffeecom

[Jumptrap]

A savage rifle reminds of a Checker cab. SOB may be dependable, but uglier than hell. I can't help it, an ugly rifle is like an ugly woman. She might do everything well, but you still have to look at the sick eyed bitch come daylight..YUCK!

You reckon you can put a bag over that savage and then shoot it? Maybe it's just a rifle you take to woods to use, but never let your friends see you out with it.

A man has got have a little pride, if your dates are all cheap beer types, get a Savage. Spring for a little kirchwasser every once in a while and it not only does it good, but looks nice too. Before I'd spend my money on a homely gun or girl, I'd save my coins and hit the shower!

You can pick up one of the bottom dollar 700's for little more, if any, and they shoot great and look nice too. Sell some of those closet queens you have hoarded up and find a nice used Sako....there's a high class girl with poise, shoots unbelievable groups and you can't keep your hands off it. That's the kind all your friends get a woody just looking at and everytime you get a woody to shoot something, you get to use it.

[StarMetal]

That's simply not true folks, bout what Jump said. Savages with wood stocks or laminated wood stocks aren't bad looking. I'd say they rate right up there. I'd also say a two door post chevy sedan looks a hell of alot better then a checker cab even if the checker was painted fancy, had fat tires and mags, and wide stance....nothing could make that car look half decent. Savage got a damn good system, damn fair price, and DAMN good shooting. All the fat ugly girls have tighter p***ies and the hot pretty ones are wore out whores.
Remingtons have a lousy extractor and I wouldn't own a new Sako, they changed them too much and they cost way too much now.

Okay Jump, your stage

Joe

[Oldfeller]

<g>

..... and to think I actually used to get into trouble for lubing cast pellets with anti-diseling silicone oil - these boys are field gaging their rifles no less.

<g>

Oldfeller

[Scrounger]

A savage rifle reminds of a Checker cab. SOB may be dependable, but uglier than hell. I can't help it, an ugly rifle is like an ugly woman. She might do everything well, but you still have to look at the sick eyed bitch come daylight..YUCK!

You reckon you can put a bag over that savage and then shoot it? Maybe it's just a rifle you take to woods to use, but never let your friends see you out with it.

A man has got have a little pride, if your dates are all cheap beer types, get a Savage. Spring for a little kirchwasser every once in a while and it not only does it good, but looks nice too. Before I'd spend my money on a homely gun or girl, I'd save my coins and hit the shower!

You can pick up one of the bottom dollar 700's for little more, if any, and they shoot great and look nice too. Sell some of those closet queens you have hoarded up and find a nice used Sako....there's a high class girl with poise, shoots unbelievable groups and you can't keep your hands off it. That's the kind all your friends get a woody just looking at and everytime you get a woody to shoot something, you get to use it.

When Jump says something, there's never any doubt what he meant. Don't you wish the damn politicians were like that? Can you imagine an American President telling a French or Swedish Ambassador to quit selling arms to the terrorists or we'd piss on their country so bad even the Germans wouldn't want to take it! Or the Arab countries to turn over the terrorists now (for a fair and speedy trial) or we'd bomb them back into the Stone Age. Come to think of it, that wouldn't take much, they're barely out of it as it is... HAR :hijack:

[Jumptrap]

Joe,

What can I say...some guys like ugly girls. As far as wearin one out HAR! Hell, you could resole your shoes with one them 'thangs' and never need buy another pair. Use don't do'em any harm. Droppin 10 pound calves through one don't do one any good though. I once knew the owner of one that was 45 years old and it was tight as banjo string and played a much prettier tune. Nosir, use don't hurt'em any....impossible to shoot out.

But we were talking about UGLY guns......no reason for anybody to own one. Apparently somebody gets hardup enough to own a ugly woman...at least once anyway. Soon as they find out them pretty ones got the same equipment, they're sorry they bought into that Ugly is, As Ugly does ********. Damn good thing those Savages can't breed....they'd knock up and ruin every Mossberg in your gun safe. HAR!

[StarMetal]

Jump,

Well Jump, I had devised a plan to refine the juice from one of those things (and you know what I'm talking about) into a lubricating oil for cars, but couple of things, the oil companies would probably hire a hitman to take me out and guys like you would be addicted to smelling the exhaust from an engine running my wonder oil. har har har.

I think you hate Savages because they shoot so damn good.

Joe

[PatMarlin]

My Howa's got a tight p***ie... :( :mrgreen:

I was all sold on a Savage, till I held one and it just didn't feel right. The bolt kinda bothered me, then the guy at the gunshop says many he's sold to guys, they wound up gettin'somethin' else.

The Howa feels like a rock solid piece, and the bolt is serious. The Savage I was lookin' at was $549, and the Howa Stainless was $389.

THe trigger needs delt with though. I don't think you could go wrong with either one.

[StarMetal]

One of the shooting rags a few months back did a shooting test of a Howa heavy barrel varmint 223 and you know how they don't like to criticize. He said he was disappointed in the groups, that they were on the extreme margin for varmint hunting. Personally I wouldn't own a rifle that groups that bad. He did say the rifle was well made...big deal...didn't shoot like a Savage, that's for sure.

Joe

[PatMarlin]

I Know... let's ask Greybeard.. :bigsmyl2:

[ammohead]

Jump,

To paraphrase ol' Forrest Gump, "sexy is, as sexy does".

My savage may not be a prom queen, but she'll outperform any I've had for a kind smile and a soft caress. Real low maintenance she is!

Besides, tip 'em upside down and they all look like mausers.

ammohead

[PatMarlin]

Ifn I woulda known the 22-250 was good cast shooter, I woulda got the Savage, and still might someday. I didn't want to buy the dies and brass and yadda, yadda, since I already had a mountain of .223 brass, and tools.

My friend pops P-dogs at 300yds with his Howa heavey barrel .223, but mines a standard barrel. I wanted something light and it shoots under an inch at 100, if I concentrate on the trigger. It was a good buy IMO.

[Jumptrap]

Jump,


I think you hate Savages because they shoot so damn good.

Joe

Yeah, that's it.

[StarMetal]

Pat,

My farthest shot at a praire dog in Colorado when I lived there with my AR15 Colt HBAR stock rifle with 3x9 scope was 375 yards resting the rifle off the top of a giant fallen over tree. Ammo was reloaded WW 55 gr FMJ Vietnam surplus bullets over WW748 powder. That rifle really shoots good.

Joe

[9.3X62AL]

Damn, you guys.......I go deer hunting for one day, and the whole damn board goes deeply Freudian on me.

No time with Savage bolters, but Buckshot's heavy-barrelled 223 sure shoots well. That's about the only Savage I've had much to do with, and if the majority shoot like that--I'd get one.

I had exactly one Howa, in 338 Win Mag. Of the three 338's I've had, it was the most accurate--but the CZ-550 in 9.3 is a MUCH better cast boolit gun and is better with the j-words, too.

I doubt I'll get another 22-250. I have a Rem 788 in that chambering that is about shot out, and I'm undecided what to do with it. If I get a hankering for a flat-shooting rat ripper, I think a 17 Remington will get the nod next time.

[NVcurmudgeon]

I shot a friend's LH Savage today. It is a stainless, fibreglas stocked, muzzle braked, .338 that weighs little more than 7 lbs. with scope. It is accurate, felt recoil is less than my .260 Remington, and it is certainly not ugly. It looked well-made and business-like to me. This is a non-accu trigger but has a good trigger after what the owner described as a little tweaking. A rifle that combines excellent accuracy and comfortable ergonomics in one package is a real revelation. Another friend of mine in Montana has one of those 20" .308 accu-trigger/fibreglas rifles that Scrounger mentioned. He sends me one-hole group targets every time he writes. I think good things are happening at the Savage plant.

[Scrounger]

Damn, you guys.......I go deer hunting for one day, and the whole damn board goes deeply Freudian on me.

No time with Savage bolters, but Buckshot's heavy-barrelled 223 sure shoots well. That's about the only Savage I've had much to do with, and if the majority shoot like that--I'd get one.

I had exactly one Howa, in 338 Win Mag. Of the three 338's I've had, it was the most accurate--but the CZ-550 in 9.3 is a MUCH better cast boolit gun and is better with the j-words, too.

I doubt I'll get another 22-250. I have a Rem 788 in that chambering that is about shot out, and I'm undecided what to do with it. If I get a hankering for a flat-shooting rat ripper, I think a 17 Remington will get the nod next time.

Everybody should own a .17 caliber rifle at least once. The .17 is the 'red-headed woman' of shooting...

[Bass Ackward]

Well, I use Savages as building platforms for myself only because the floating bolt always aligns to the chamber. If Howa made left hand actions, I would use Howas because each one tests like it was blueprinted. Savage barrels are too soft for my liking. You can turn them with a 2 penny nail. Howa is tough as hell.

We have had experience on Howas since they were Colt's back in the 70s. The steel is tough and the machine work is always dead nuts. For no other manufacturer, regardless of price, can you indicate up a barrel that doesn't look like a wagon wheel in a Three Stooges short.

Joe is quite familiar with the Savages in competition. If for no other reason, I would go the Howa route just to be different. You get a custom barreled quality job that stands the best chance of shooting well. All you need do is bed it. But since I am left handed, I get to use the Savages.

[PatMarlin]

Pat,

My farthest shot at a praire dog in Colorado when I lived there with my AR15 Colt HBAR stock rifle with 3x9 scope was 375 yards resting the rifle off the top of a giant fallen over tree. Ammo was reloaded WW 55 gr FMJ Vietnam surplus bullets over WW748 powder. That rifle really shoots good.

Joe

Now you are really rubbin' it in and getting on my nerves Joe...[smilie=p: :mrgreen:-I can't have an AR-15, cause as a Kalifornian I'm not worthy! :groner:


....

[fourarmed]

The trigger on my wife's Howa .223 HB is fully adjustable. Is that not true of other Howas?

[PatMarlin]

Evidently not.

I paid a gunsmith to do a trigger job on mine and he made it worse.. :roll:

[moodyholler]

i GUESS i'D BETTER NOT GET YA'LL STARTED ON MY POOR OLE 340 22 HORNET. I'D PROBABLY BE EMBARRASSED TO BRING ER OUT 'ROUND THIS BUNCH!!!!!!!!!!MOODYHOLLER

[felix]

My 340 shoots like a house afire, but it is a Jumptrap ugly 30-30 in the worst way! It stays in a closet all by itself so the kids around here won't feel guilty for taking it out at will. I occassionally look for their empties, and reload them when the kids are gone back to school. Maybe they collectively shoot 100 rounds per year out of this gun. However, I make them buy their machine gun ammo (4.62*39) in 5000 round lots from gunshows. They still like to blow things up, but that feeling is starting to wane with their age(s). On their behalf, though, they have learned to shoot shotguns extremely well with that adventureous attitude. ... felix

[Jumptrap]

Okay, I had my fun razzin your asses about Savages...you're all good sports!

I have been looking for a 340 in 30-30 for a long time, just because they are the only AFFORDABLE 30-30 bolt gun going...and that ain't saying much nowadays, they're getting awfully high.

I never owned a Howa, was tempted once to buy one of their HB barreled actions and play with it..but never did.

As for Al's 788 in 22-250......I had 2 of them and absolutely loved them both...even with the ****ty triggers, I could shoot bugholes with them. They are a good field rifle.

I have a new SS Lilja .224 sporter barrel in the safe.... that might become a winter project for some pipefitter. I looked forever trying to find a L579 SAKO action and finally said to hell with it.....you'd think the things were 24k gold plated!

Anybody have a medium length 700 they'd trade for a 700 in 30-06? Mine is a wood stocked ADL, damned near new, but I have no use for it. I COULD use it for a 22-250 but don't want to if I can get a medium length action to use.

[KCSO]

All the Howa's I have seen have adjustable triggers and can be set as low as 2# crisp. To date I have shot 9 Howa's from 223 to 300 win mag and all were good shooters and a real value for the money. They are what use to be the Weatherby Vangaurd a few years ago. Looks wise the Howa is a step up from the Savage, as to the value of the accutrigger over a plain single stage that would be a matter of what you like. I think that the accutrigger is just more complication without any benefit. Up to a point you get what you pay for and Savage rifles do not gain in value much, but with the prices that Wally World runs out the Savage they are hard to resist.

[StarMetal]

Jump,

Hang in there for the Sako action or something like it. I follow the the crowd on Remington's ejection is the spring loaded piston type and that if the cartridge doesn't fit the chamber perfect, that is if the damn thing is sloppy, that piston type ejector can push the cartridge a certain way where the Mauser type doesn't. Oh boy, this openned a can of worms. The only thing I can say good about Remingtons is that they seem to have really good barrels, well the old ones. Personally I don't see what all the fanfare is about tubular action, bedding ring, plain jane action . Winchester saw the light and brought their classic pre 64 action back. By the way I think the CZ actions are exactly a pre-64 Winchester action more then a Mauser. They just took the safety off the bolt shroud. Even the bolt release system is the same on the CZ. CZ also put the ejector slot in the bolt body not the left lug.

As far as KSCO's statement you get what you pay for to a point...not so with a Savage. Savage will more often then not outshoot most factory rifles, that's saying alot. Would I buy one today? No, my buying rifle days are over, the last one I had made and made part of it. I'm not paying the crazy prices they want for new guns today. I was raised on Sako's. My first one I bought right after I got out of Navy bootcamp. A 243 Forester model for $165 at Bob's Gun Shop in Norfolk, Va. Would I buy a new Sako today? Nope...waaaaaaaaay too much money.

Joe

[ammohead]

My 340 shoots like a house afire, but it is a Jumptrap ugly 30-30 in the worst way! felix

Jumptrap ugly?

Now if that don't take the cake. Folks, we have just witnessed the coining of a phrase. Not to say jump isn't a hansome man, after all his picture is on castpics and I seen uglier men. But somehow I think this is going to stick. A rifle so-o-o-o ugly that you would only hunt with it out of state for fear that someone you know might see you out with her.

I feel a new thread coming on. See y'all in off topic.

ammohead

[NVcurmudgeon]

Jumptrap, Thought about you when I saw a couple 340s at the Big Reno Gun Show. They were not pristine and priced IIRC $225 and $260. Notice when a cheap gun gets a reputation for accuracy that the price starts creeping up to rival more expensive offerings from the same company? Look at Rem. 788s, you can often buy a much nicer 700 cheaper! These guns must be selling to the same guys who bid current production moulds higher than list price on Ebay.

[Jumptrap]

ammohead,

HAR! I confess..I REALLY am ugly and that is why I hate ugly things..ugly women, ugly guns, ugly cars, ugly dogs and all cats!

Think about it for a minute......why should we want anything that is ugly? I see people driving ugly cars and their excuse.......it's dependable...it's economical..it's practical. Now, I have an old Toyota pickup that is all three of the aforementioned things..but it ain't ugly.....Fords are ugly. Why would anybody go buy a new Buick? Goddamned things are homely and it seems to be the top fovorite with the geriatric crowd. I'll be old soon enough without having to drive a car usually occupied by the comatose. 99% of the time I see a Buick coming, I give it a wide berth because there will be some blue hair peering between the spokes of the steering wheel and heading straight for me. If it ain't an old woman..it'll be some old bastard with hair growing out his snout and ears like mini brooms and is so deaf he can't hear himself fart. They never look up or in the rearview mirror.....they just plow straight ahead at 32 miles an hour while in a state of semi consciousness. If they'd just outlaw Buicks, half the elderly would have to quit driving. Kill two birds with one stone.

Dogs...don't get me started on dogs. People treat the stinkin mutts like human beings. 'Ol' Poopsie'...Cuddles....Max....doodle bug. Nothing but a walking flea hotel. Nothing like having Fluffy lick his dripping phallice and then give you a big lap on the face...aw...how sweet, he loves me! Geezus.....damned disgusting! How can anybody love a dog whose face looks like it's been kicked in...like those inbred Chinese Pekin-ese. I had an aunt who had one called Mugnik........appropriate name for the ugly varmint. It's favorite trick was to **** in the floor and drag its ass across the carpet.......aw, watch him...he's wiping his ass!

Now, back to ugly guns. my first gun...and I still have it...is a Stevens 22-410 with one of those atrocious tenite stocks. Looks like a Bakelite radio cabinet.

Ugly women.......whew. Lets face it, beauty fades with age, so why start out with a ugly one? You think it can't get worse? The hell it don't! "She's such a nice girl......" No damn wonder, she has to be nice to get anybody to even feed her, otherwise they'd haul her off to the dogpound and gas her ass.

Oh yeah...forgot to metion ulgy tractors. Tractors are green and they have yellow wheels, big diesel engines and snob appeal. Anything else is, well...ugly.

[ammohead]

there will be some blue hair peering between the spokes of the steering wheel and heading straight for me. If it ain't an old woman..it'll be some old bastard with hair growing out his snout and ears like mini brooms and is so deaf he can't hear himself fart.

ROLFLOL....I've been away too long, I need to hang out here more often.

That rifle was so-o-o-o ugly, even mugnik wouldn't piss on it!

ammohead