Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Howa 1500 Superlite

Hi, and happy holidays to everyone. Just curious if anyone has any hands on experience with the Howa 1500 Superlite?

Debating on Walnut 6.5 creed or 7mm-08 rem, and really appreciate any feedback from anyone whom has handled the rifle and/or shot them.

For the walnut stock models, I'm seeing different weights listed. Called Howa and they stated it varies due to the wood density.

Thank you.

I've read multiple reviews of the walnut super lite that involved the stock cracking. Howa claiming they can't tell you what it weighs doesn't inspire confidence...

Check out the Howa Mini carbon in 6.5 grendel. Known around the Grendel circuits... 4lbs 10oz... great shooters

YouTube has a few reviews. Mostly favorable. Ed k

I handled a couple of these at one of my LGS and for the money ($559) i thought they looked like a dandy little rifle....I have a Superlite .308 Win with the carbon fiber stock on the way ($889) figured id try one for heck of it as i am a lightweight rifle whore 😁......Hb

Don’t know anything about the walnut model. I picked up the one with the stocky’s stock in 6.5 for my wife to hunt with this year. We both really like it, I took the rail off and replaced it with talleys, that’s an improvement in my opinion. I can usually get a 3 shot group with 2 touching and the 3rd still within 1” or just barely out. With a leupold vx2 3-9x40, sling and full of ammo it weighs 5lbs 15oz. I like the 3 position safety and can live with the trigger. For the money I think it’s a good value. You see them priced all over, I had a local shop order this one and was about $925 out the door.

If that one has a plastic guard I’d pass in favor of one of the standard models with a carbon barrel and regular floorplate.

Just old guy taste. I have two Minis, a carbon and another with the Pendleton stock. Both have J.O. replacement magazine setups. About a grand in each, and well worth it.

Are they actually 4lbs 7oz or 4.7 lbs? I've seen them listed both ways.

4.7lbs.

The sticker on the stock sez 4lbs. 7oz. same as LSI's Pdf catalog.
https://www.legacysports.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/2023-LSI-Catalog-1.pdf
I can't confirm until I change scopes next spring.
I don't know what the bottom metal is made of, but it sure isn't the same craplo that is on the "minis".

Just Out of the box with the rail still on mine weighed 4lbs12oz.

Does the Howa 1500 Super Lite have any advantages over a Kimber Hunter?

All of the Howa 1500s and Weatherby Vanguards that I've had haven't been particularly light, but I've yet to see, hold, or shoot a 1500 Super Lite.

I would assume the stock on the howa would be much stiffer than the plastic on the Kimber.

I’ve got 2 Kimber hunters, the Howa superlite is about 3/4 of a pound lighter. But in my opinion there isn’t many real advantages, I like the Howa, but if I had to pick one I would keep a Kimber over it.

Wish people were not jacking the prices of the super lite up to over MSRP... Oh well.

Probly a hundred or more on gunbroker all priced well under MSRP.....Hb

GB prices are running from $914.16 to $1,067.83, plus whatever the seller charges for shipping, insurance, and sale tax.

All of the Howa 1500 Super Lite rifles on GB at this moment in time appear to be new rifles.

Nice deal on the walnut if the stocks are actually holding up.

https://www.triggerhappyva.com/rifl...-308win-20-sl-bbl-walnut-hunterghwhsl308

I've had a 223 for 4 year's. Can't fault it, dropped 48 foxes from my doorstep with it out to 280 yards.

A little bit of looking around and I was able to find them as low as $864 shipped with no extra fees.

I didn't realize the super lites had been out that long?

Thats because they were just introduced at the 2022 Shot show and never have been chambered for .223 Rem...He must have a Mini ...Hb

10-4 lol. Was happy to be educated but the dots weren't all connecting there.

Anyone actually have one of these? Curious about the overall fit and finish. Saw one on YouTube that seemed to have quite a few issues. Wondering if it's typical for these or just an outlier.

The action itself is pretty nice, though the newer Howa bolts have a coarser surface finish that needs some breaking to smoothen out. I personally am just not enthused about the the plastic “bottom metal” and I don’t think there are any aftermarket options yet for the superlight action. I think I’ve also heard of some issues with barrel channel contact as well as they’re supposed to be floated.

I've posted a few time on this rifle as I have on in .308 Win. I'm getting the kinks worked out, it has had a few. I just got it back from the GS, he worked the ejector over and tweaked the magazine retention spring. I need to put a scope on it and shoot it.

New Rifle

Hoping it shoots as good as it carries.

Just got one in 7-08 today .Removed the brake . Mounted a Bushnell elite 3200 on it. Recoil wasnt bad at all without brake

Shot it about 10 times this evening, scope went crazy and starting shooting 6" high.

Changed scopes and run out of daylight.

I have had mine (.308 Win green synthetic stock) for about a week. I had to make a few minor tweaks to the stock, the barrel was not floated on mine so i sanded out the barrel channel a little and also the magazine release lever was a little jacked up and wouldn't work propery but was a simple fix as it was a minor inletting issue that took all of 2 minutes to file off some stock material to free up the lever inside the stock, it works slick as a whistle now 👍...I have had it to the range two times, the first time was to do my little break-in procedure and the last trip was to try a few of my handloads, I tried 5 different reloads, 3 loads with 130gr TTSX bullets and TAC powder that all grouped between 1"-1.5" for three shots then I tried the 150gr TTSX with 46.5 grains of TAC (1.5") and the last handload I tried was a 150gr TSX with 47.0 grains of TAC that shot a three shot group that measured .52" ...This load produced an average muzzle velocity of 2936 fps out of the Superlites 20" barrel so i am loading up 9 more of these to see if the .52" group was a fluke but i am very pleased with the velocity of this load....I love the feel of this little rifle with its slim stock and tacky finish.... My only real complaint is the bolt is rather sloppy but it cycles (feeds/extracts/ejects) slick as snot.....Hb

Bolts A little Sloppy. And I Really Don't Care For The Plastic Trigger Guard and Mag..But It's One Of The Best Carring Rifle I Own..Shoots Very Good..

What caliber did you get?

If someone starts producing a hinged bottom metal for them, I’ll be picking up a couple

Mines In 6.5 Creed.. And So Far It's Shot 95Gr V-Max 127 LRX, 125 Deer Season ,129 LRAB and 140 Berger's All under 3/4" The Norma Golden Target's Where Right around 1/2". Ive Got a New Spare Z-3 And Have Been Waiting On The 7-08's To Go On Sale..

Brownell's has the 243 for $899 right now.

https://www.brownells.com/guns/rifl...23_12_21_winchester-wb&sku=430105604

Local Shop Has The 6.5's For $869.. I've Seen The 08 As Cheap As $834.. That's alot Of Bang For The Buck... Like Most Wish Someone Would Make a Aluminum Bottom Metal And Mag....

Ive had to do a bit of work to mine. Freefloat barrel

Biggest problem is scope mount. I plan to get talleys.

Base wasnt machined to meet action. If you tightened rear screws on base up . It would lift off front.

so it was bending rail when tight.

iI hand filed it and sanded to make it flat when any of the screws were tightened

The base screw over barrel was way too long. Thats how I figured out base wasnt machined correctly

probably Nikko Sterling made in china

Oof. That's not confidence inspiring.

Those running Talley's on the Howa SL. Will 1" lows work with a 3-9x40 Leupold?

I couldn't tell you about lows as I am running mediums.....Hb

Ok thanks. Guess Ill order some to see if I can get this thing dialed in

I’m running medium’s, with the clearance they provide I would assume lows would work, but will probably be close. Also, Talley claims they will work.

For anyone looking for Talley's Optics Planet has the Howa SL 30mm and 1' mediums for $39.

Thats a good deal, i paid $49 for mine...Hb

https://gunzonedeals.com/product/howa-mini-6.5gren-22-thrd-bl-6-18-vrtx-sling#product_detail

Pretty solid deal here if you flip the scope for a few bucks.

On sale at Brownells for 899$

Wanted one of these bad but saw a review on YouTube where guy showing how bad the stock fitment was. Turned me off big time. I really hated that. Have a howa mini in 7.62x39 with a Tupperware stock that shoots great.