Sportsman's Warehouse has the Howa 1500 Hogue stocked rifle for $399. I am thinking about getting one in .308 or 7-08.
They feel pretty good for a basic, no frills hunting rifle. the specs say 7.8 lbs so not real light but doable.

So what experiences do you have with Howa1500?

I already have a Leupold 3x9 to sit on top. Recommend bases or a rail?

Thanks in advance.

I bought a barreled action a few years ago & put it in a laminated stock. Leupold scope, rings & bases. Same bases as the Rem. 700 I believe. It is on the heavy side but it has a very nice two stage trigger & groups under an inch with a few different reloads. The action was very smooth out of the box. Not a finely polished/blued finish but more than good enough for a hunting rifle, and the price. I like it.

I really like the Howa 1500 rifles. I have owned several and they are problem free, feed and eject smoothly. All I have owned were MOA or better. The only downside is the weight for the standard rifles, but the Alpine and Mini rifles are quite light. They are a great value for the money.

I just bought a HOWA 1500 in their Kuiu model in .223

I like it quite a bit, and the only quirk I found with it is that I needed to fire a number of rounds to get the barrel to be more receptive.

At first it shot only a few select loads well, after 200 rounds it accepts just about anything...

Howas and vanguards are my favorite rifles. Never had one not be accurate.

Thanks for the feedback!

I have one of their heavy barrel 308. 20". Its put a lot of venison in the freezer.

I built my daughter a Faux Alpine from one of those Sportsman's Warehouse $399 rifles. If you can find a used or new Howa Alpine stock and use Talley Mounts your rifle should come in right at 7 lbs scoped with your Leupold (I used a VariXIII 2.5-8X36). You can usually pick up used Alpine stocks for around $200, and they are worth every penny.

2019 Pronghorn
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2018 Mule Deer
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Hogue & Alpine Stock
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I bought one in 6.5x55 at SW for $299. I liked it so well that I treated it to McMillan Edge. It feels just right now. Sadly, I haven't even shot it since I dropped it in the new stock.

My SW has one of those on closeout for $349. I have had a really hard time not buying it.

Go back and get it! I got mine for $399 and thought THAT was a bargain!

I've had, and have, multiple Howa 1500's and Weatherby Vanguards in various calibers and styles. Really nice, accurate, rifles. Right now, my 2 most used rifles are Howa's, 1 in 7mm-08 and the other in 223 Rem. Between the 2, I'm covered for anything I'm going to hunt for.

Good guns but they're tanks. I doubt you'll have any trouble with accuracy or function.

This. They are excellent (one of the best IMO) actions, but heavy.

I have three for some reason. One the most accurate rifles I own is a mid 80's S&W 1500 (made by howa) that I thought I would have shot the barrel out by now. But it still prints, it just has a bit longer throat now than whn it was new

I own a Howa mini action and a Weatherby Vanguard. Like them both. I have some complaints about the Mini Action drop box magazine, and I don’t love the stock on my Vanguard, but otherwise they’ve been flawless. The fit and finish on the Vanguards seems better than the Howas and they are often just as cheap. I prefer the Hogue stock to the Weatherby one but I’m probably in the minority.

If I could build a custom rifle and my gunsmith could work metric threads, I’d start with a Howa action.

Recently I been playing with a Howa Mini HB in 6.5 Grendel. Working up reloads for it, and I find it amazing the velocities that you can get out of 31 grains or less of powder with such a little case. It's fun round!!

Sounds good. Standard contour on layaway still here.


Here's a 1500 6.5 Creedmoor I messed around with. Someone here bought it. Wondering how they liked it?

Is the Vanguard stock that you don't like the current Vanguard2 Griptonite stock or the older style of stock?

I don't care for the older Vanguard stocks, but think that, for me, the V2 Griptonite stock is one of the very best injection molded stocks that manufacturers are currently making.

I like to put my Howa 1500s and Vanguards in McM Hunter stocks, but the B&C Medalist Weatherby style stock is a nice upgrade for under $300 from Stocky's.

Thanks for all the great information! Will probably go pick up .308 today.

Is there really a problem finding a smith to work on metric rifles? I don't plan to do anything to it but shoot the heck out of it in the short term but down the road who knows.

so for Scope bases and rings.. I have some bases and rings that from a long action Remington 700. I have read they work on the long action Howa but don't know about the short actions.
Is a one piece rail a better way to go?

Thanks again.