Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 700 ADL or Howa 1500

I'd find and older (gloss finish) ADL.

I can't stomach a Howa due to the weight.

That said, they make very good guns.

The Howa 1500 Lightning that was imported about 10 years ago with the heavy duty black synthetic stock is the way to go. You can find them used in VG+ condition for around $425.

The Remington 700 built in the 1980s is a superior rifle, but it only came in walnut.

Mannyrock

The Howa benefits a lot from a lighter stock. I try to start with a barreled action and put the money saved towards a better stock right out of the gate. Even with a premium stock they are still a good value.

^^this
My 1983 S&W Howa 24" bbl'd action in .300 magnum goes 6lbs 6ozs in an early 80's BP stock.

Bare Howa barrel and action weigh 5.35 lbs. A decent lightweight stock will come in at ~2 pounds. All up, the typical Howa is going to weigh ~8 pounds. Certainly not a super heavyweight, but all things equal (barrel length and contour) a Remington is going to be ~6-8 oz lighter.

G F Y = Good For You

I'm an 'older 700 guy but the newer ones fell under the TRAIN.

I ain't exactly sure but I've had 3/4 Howa's (Vanguards). I had NO problems w/any. All shot very well.

2 of them had Beautiful wood, REALLY wish I had kept the 270W>>no shame. It was gorgeous black walnut>>accurate and HEAVY.

Good luck with yours.

Jerry

Nice looking rifle. I acually like a B&C stock, though they are not as uber as a McMillan Edge. Never saw a Howa I couldn't get to shoot.

A positive for the B&C Medalists is that you can get one this week for under $300 from Stocky's. While it isn't a McMillan, it is an upgrade from the factory stock without the wait.

The day I bought the gun the kid at the counter was telling me how good the 700's were and that was all he owned. I asked him if I could see the Vanguard and he gave me this look like he couldn't believe I wanted to see anything other than a 700. I had both on the counter and was looking them over when I handed him the Vanguard and told him I'd take it. I think he was genuinely pissed that I didn't buy the 700. He never said a word to me and handed the gun to the other guy at the counter and told him he needed to do the paperwork because he had other stuff to do.

I thought the whole thing was funny. He was a nice kid.

As was pointed out, that is a tough number to justify...

After using a stock light enough to get those numbers (not really possible) you get a very poor handling rifle...

Had the rifle done in 1983 so it's been that long since I've weighed it bare and wrote the
numbers down I quoted. So I weighed it last evening as in the pic below(7lbs 13ozs).
That's a 6x36 Leupold,Weaver bases,and Leupold rings. It's got a blind magazine,Timney
trigger,steel trigger guard,and action was trued. Even still it can't be 6lbs 6ozs bare. So
with the sling and 2 rounds it'll put it in the ballpark with Nut's figures. Can't be having
any false info floating around here.

As far as handling it's just muzzle heavy enough to help with off hand shots.