The Howa is a heavy rifle, no way around it - there is a lot of weight in their receivers, add in a standard contour barrel and the weight jumps quickly. I cannot remember the exact weight but I had a Howa 1500 with the synthetic stock and with a Leupold 3-9 on it and if I recall correctly it was over 8 lbs. A Tikka set up the same way is nearer 7 lbs and much better balanced.
As far as the removable magazine I have never had a problem and cannot recall reading about any problems with them on here except for the occasional complaint about the 223 mags being a bit short with the heavy for caliber bullets .
Something else to think about - Howa rifles seem to fall into the category of "good hunting accuracy" which is not a bad thing, but take a look at the groups posted on the 'fire that Tikka's shoot.
drover
