Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Howa Alpine Mountain Rifle in 308 Winchester

I recently picked up a Howa Alpine Rifle in 308. My interest in this rifle came from discussions on another forum on how to prepare for life under a hostile political regime. We’ve dodged that for the time being, but I still like the idea of a relatively compact long gun that can be used quickly at close range and that can still reach out a ways with authority if needed.

The Tikka has been covered pretty well, but not the Howa Alpine Rifle. The purpose of this thread is to talk about it as a general-purpose rifle, and to complement this thread about the same rifle in 6.5 Creed: https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...40291/all/Howa_Alpine_Mountain_rifle_6.5

Overall, the Howa seems ready to go right out of the box. It has a weatherproof finish, a good trigger, a good recoil pad, and a superb stock. Glass bedding is conspicuous by its absence, but I’m not yet convinced that it needs bedding. It uses a Howa 1500 action that has had some material removed to reduce weight, and weighs right at 6 pounds without optics. (Weight with a 4x Leupold in Weaver rings and bases was right at 7 pounds. With a Leupold VX 2 3-9x40 CDS in Weaver rings and bases, it weighs 7 pounds, 3 ounces.) Once scoped, the balance is good, and while slightly lighter in the muzzle than I prefer, it's far better than a Remington Model 7. A 22” barrel would probably improve the balance, with slightly more velocity and slightly less muzzle blast.

This rifle is available with a DBM, but I don’t like them on bolt guns because they’re one more thing to lose and you usually need two hands to get them out of the rifle. The non-DBM Howas have a classic Mauser-style magazine that lets you top off easily with one hand even while you’re moving, so I got that version. There’s not much room around the ejection port with a scope mounted, but it’s no worse than any other short-action rifle in that respect and it’s downright spacious in comparison to a Tikka.

This rifle also has an excellent two-stage trigger. Pull could be lighter, but it’s perfectly crisp and I do not intend to change it. I’m not sure whether good triggers are unique to the Alpine or common to all Howas, but this one is exactly how rifle triggers should be. Other strong points include:

• A positive three-position safety on the right side of the action. Another classic Mauser function, just not on the bolt. This one is high enough that you can feel it with gloves, but not so high that it hangs up on stuff.
• Sako/M-16 style spring-loaded extractor.
• The bolt release is on the left side of the action. Like the safety, it's easy to use without being obtrusive.
• The floorplate is easy to open and close. It's not as glove-friendly as the safety, but it doesn't have to be.
• The one-piece bottom metal is held in place with hex-head screws.
• The sheet-steel magazine box floats a bit, as it should. There are markings in Sharpie inside the barrel channel. I don't know what they mean, but I suspect that they were made while someone was paying attention to fitting the stock properly.
• The bolt handle is big enough to use quickly while wearing gloves, but it doesn’t stick out too far.
• CeraKote finish.

This rifle has a Bansner stock that weighs 1 pound, 10 ounces with recoil pad, swivels, and aluminum pillars. The stock finish is a bit on the slick side but I’ll address that in time. The stock design helps soak up recoil, and has a 13.5-inch LOP. Once I get lower rings, I suspect that it will fit me very well. Best of all, this rifle has a Decelerator pad with a properly rounded heel and toe. I find that light rifles get tiresome off of the bench pretty quickly and far too many rifle makers drop the ball on recoil pads, but Howa has done an excellent job here. They should put these stocks on more of their rifles.

Thus far my impression of the Howa Alpine rifle is pretty positive. I’d prefer that it had a CRF action, but I’m not hunting anything dangerous with a 308, so it probably doesn’t matter.

Stock and inletting:


One-piece bottom metal:


Barrel channel markings:


Recoil pad detail:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/UPINYEP.jpg?1[/img]

Bolt handle geometry:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/luwqSoU.jpg?1[/img]

This rifle is what a love child between the Winchester Featherweight Model 70, the Winchester Extreme Weather Model 70, and the Remington Model 7 should be. Not that many years ago, you had to buy a rifle and spend $1-2k to upgrade it to match features that are standard on this rifle. Now you can get a rifle with most of those features for about $1,000 without upgrading parts on your own dime or shipping your rifle all over the country for work and waiting months or years for that work to be done. So yeah, the Alpine is a strong contender before you even open the box.

But what happens after you open the box?

I set this one up with a proven 4x Leupold scope in Weaver rings and bases. I LocTited everything in place and let it cure for 24 hours, then took it to the range and zeroed it at 200 yards with 155-grain Hornady American Gunner ammo because that’s what I had on hand.

The rifle as tested:


First group at 100 yards was 0.625”:


I got a couple of other sub MOA groups at 200 yards with cheap match ammo that I can find in any big-box store in the US, so I don’t see myself working up a handload for it any time soon. It shot well enough that I swapped the 4x scope for a more powerful one and will try to make small groups at 200 yards (maybe further) in the next few weeks.

Let me know if you have questions.


Okie John

Great review. Thank you. They seem like well built rifles

Awesome review. I think I want one. How would you compare it to a Tikka T3/T3x? Which one would you prefer?

I’ve never shot a Tikka, so take my comments with a grain of salt.

Functionally speaking, the Howa Alpine Rifle and the Tikka T3 Lite are both weather-resistant bolt action hunting rifles with synthetic stocks and good reputations for accuracy. Both rifles offer features that were only available on expensive custom rifles for decades, and either would be fine if you want to buy a short, light rifle, scope it, zero it, and shoot big-game animals in bad weather within about 350 yards.

The Howa 1500 has been around for roughly 50 years, so it’s a lot like the post-64 M-70 or M-700. The T3 action has been around since 2003, so it has more in common with newer designs. I don’t know much about the technical differences but I do know about functional differences. The biggest one that I see is that you can top off a Howa versus swapping mags with a Tikka. This matters in the brush where you often fire a close, fast shot at an animal that vanishes immediately, so you top off the mag and start tracking. It is pretty much irrelevant for any other hunting method. Award this point based on where/how you hunt.

The next biggest difference I see is the stock. The Howa comes with a Bansner, which is absolutely top drawer. The Tikka stock is good, but the most common advice I see about them is “drop it into a McMillan, add a steel recoil lug, and have it bedded”, which doubles the cost of the rifle and can add significant waiting time. The Howa wins this point—all it needs is bedding.

The third difference I see is potential accuracy. The T3/T3X benefits from a lot of knowledge gained in the last 40 years, but the Howa is still built as designed decades ago. I believe—and this is NOT based on having fired a Tikka—that the Tikka probably has an edge in accuracy in its stock form. So if you’re looking to shoot deer within 350 yards, then toss a coin. If you want to push things farther, then the Tikka wins, especially if you pony up for a high-end fiberglass stock and have it properly bedded.

I’m not sure which one I prefer, mostly because I’m a CRF guy. I’ve spent a fair amount of time lobbing 30-caliber slugs out to 7-800 yards on a square range, but my average shot on game in the last 25 years is about 90 yards and my longest was about 140 yards. I have some hunts planned that might require a 300-yard shot, but I’d rather cut that in half. I got the Howa for the price of a Tikka, so I’m checking it out first. I’ll probably test a Tikka before long, but a stainless Ruger M77 in 30-06 is my main rifle right now and I don’t see that changing unless I go to a MRC X2 in 30-06.


Okie John

Good day at the range. I swapped the 4x Leupold for a Leupold VX-2 3-9x50 CDS. Hornady 155 American Gunner is just over 1 MOA at 100 yards and Remington green-box 150 CoreLokts are sub MOA. Winchester 150-grain PPTs still only do about 2.5 MOA though.


Okie John

In general I like them better than the Tikka, but they cost more considerably more as well. A friends son bought one and i got to shoot it while he was zeroing. Sweet rifle...
And his had the floorplate. Don't think I'd care for the Howa DBM that I see pics of.

Not sure if it's sweet enough to take the place of a Tikka for my money...

I believe BigFin hunts with one of these in his videos. Not sure which caliber though.

Rifle cost is less than $1,000?

Is the money in the stock? Howa has historically been more of a budget minded rifle. Not trying to be an azz. Just wondering. Actually considering one for this fall. I've been lightening my load so to speak. Pretty well outfitted in Sitka gear,and a light weight rifle would be sweet as well. I'm not getting old mind you. A lighter rig means I can carry more weight in snacks.

I think the stock is a lot of it, but other non-standard things also raise cost/price:
1. Lightweight (#1) barrel profile
2. Machining on the action to reduce weight
3. CeraKote metal finish
4. Decelerator recoil pad

The Alpine Rifle combines all of these features, and is ready to go out of the box. You don't have to spend hundreds of dollars to get these things and ship your rifle to several specialty shops all over the country, then wait months for them to do the work.


Okie John

For what it's worth,

Every 308 I've fired the factory-loaded Hornady 168 AMAX Match out of has produced 3/4" or less groups. Any Tikka will shoot these into 1/2" or less. Most into one hole.

My alpine rifle is in 6.5 Creed, or I'd be shooting that load, or the 155 Secnar over 45.5 Varget.

Both amazing in any 308.

I bought a Howa Alpine Mtn rifle in 308 as a gift. I see it as average mechanicals on a fabulous stock. It really is the nicest stock I've felt. Yes, even nicer than the Kimber Montana. That's a subjective evaluation of course. This one shot quite well after I bedded it and shot some Tubbs final finish through it. It didn't want to feed with the detachable mag, but it was fine with the bottom metal and mag installed. The bolt is pretty rough, but some compound and about 1000 cycles of the bolt improved it. Had to work the lugs to get good contact on both. With some effort it turned into a really nice hunting rifle.

I believe it. My bench technique probably isn't as good as yours, though...


Okie John

Based on my limited experience thus far, I think this is a pretty good summation of the Howa Alpine Rifle.


Okie John

Okie,

What's the length of the mag box, ie, what is the max COAL you can load to and still cycle properly?

Thanks,
bludog

When first produced the Alpine Mountain rifle did not have any extra machining done to the action. All of the weight savings were in the thinner barrel and stock. I am not positive, but I don't think they have changed that.

HOWA makes a very good rifle and I think their bottom metal is the best of its kind in a factory rifle. I have restocked them using 700 ADL guards because I prefer that set-up. They will benefit from bedding.

Not sure, as I haven't loaded for this rifle and probably won't for a while. I think this thread (https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...40291/all/Howa_Alpine_Mountain_rifle_6.5) gets into that to some extent.


Okie John

Not sure about the original ones, but mine has a big flat on the left side of the action between the front ring and the bridge. Other Howas that I've seen don't have this flat. You can sort of see it in this pic:


The bolt handle is also drilled, as you can see in this pic, while most other Howa bolt handles are solid:


Okie John

I know 2.855 will cycle in a 6.5 creed.

Thank you! I stand corrected!

And a good move on HOWA's part.