Howa 1500 - semi custom build

[ducky]

My 16 year old daughter likes her .308 Howa Faux Alpine I put together for $600. $399 for the rifle at Sportsman's Warehouse and $200 for the Alpine stock off another forums classifieds. The rifle weighs 7lbs with Leupold 2.5-8X36 VXIII and Talley LWT mounts repurposed from a different rifle.



Howa actions are pretty square to start with. If your .308 barrel isn't over 20", I'd leave it alone. If not cut it down to 20", which will help lighten things up. I'd spend the money you were going to spend on a CF wrapped barrel and invest it in a McMillan Edge or similar type of stock. If you're worried about recoil just have your wife shoot 125 grain NBT or Accubond bullets, that has worked well for my daughter as seen above.

 

[rafterP]

Hope she likes her Howa. Here's a couple pics from my son's Howa 1500 in .25-06. His is a shooter. 100 yd, 3 shot group under that dime. "As is" from the factory; no trigger mods; factory stock (not the aluminum block). Winchester Super X 120gr. He shot the doe on a management hunt last season at 188yds.

 

[CVCOBRA1]

He is in Cali so I would stick with the Hammer Hunters as mentioned before. In my opinion I would bet she would take a small amount of recoil over a large amount of noise. Let her shoot some lighter bullets before you do anything to the rifle. I still recommend the trigger replacement.

 

[Sgt. grizz]

I just bought a Howa 1500, 308 tactical for really cheap and I'm thinking about putting some money into it and building a semi-custom. I want to build it for my wife, she likes shooting and I'm trying to get her into hunting. So basically what I want to do with this rifle is get the action trued/blueprinted, new stock, barrel (carbon Fiber), and a light scope to go along with it. I don't think she'll ever take this out past 500 yards....if that. The rifle needs to be lightweight, easy to handle and carry, she's not used to running around the woods with a gun. My goal is to make it as easy and fun for her as possible so she'll want to come with mw. So with that info my main question is,

What caliber/barrel length/twist rate would be the best to make it easy for her to shoot and still have a good round to go hunting with?

Howa 308s are a great shooter; but that being said I would ask how big is your wife? mine is only 5'3 and tiny so don't think I would put her behind a lighter 308, I would use a 6.5 cm. In fact that's what my wife dose shoot. I started her out at 100yd and at the end of the day she was shooting 700, the following week we started out at 500 yard and went to 1000. now I know not all ranges go that far out mine goes to 1400. But she love it. But I also know she would of only shoot my 308 howa once and probably never would want to shoot again. The 6.5 was on a nice AR10 with a vortex razed gen two and it's a heavy gun. I just built her a custom 6.5 on a old 03a3 action I had laying around and a wood target stock and timminey trigger. Get her out there but I would start slow with a light kicker unless you know she can Handel it.

 

[ntsqd]

Stock fit has been mentioned a few times, but I'm going to mention it again. A stock that fits HER will be your best bet. The obvious aside, women's anatomy can be different in unexpected places. There was a post in a recent thread that discussed stock fit for women and what to look out for. Wish that I could recall where it is.

If you're determined to change the chambering I'd look at 7mm-08 or 6.5 CM, otherwise I too would leave it alone. At least until it's shown to be a desirable change for her.

For an OEM trigger I'm pretty happy with what my 1500 Mini came with. I have a Timney for it, but not sure that I'll use it. It is an easy swap so I will probably at least try it out.

This 1500 Mini of mine has their LW barrel contour. I've yet to paper it, and have only shot maybe 20 rounds. First two shots out of a cold barrel were easily in a 2" square box at 100 yds from a standing position. One could say "Intrinsically accurate" in that it hit the target without effort. Third shot tended to move. Let it cool down and it was back to POA. I've since pillar bedded the Boyd's stock to remove some stock contact with the barrel and have it apart for Cerakote or I could comment on how it shoots now.

 

[Prairie]

My 16 year old daughter likes her .308 Howa Faux Alpine I put together for $600. $399 for the rifle at Sportsman's Warehouse and $200 for the Alpine stock off another forums classifieds. The rifle weighs 7lbs with Leupold 2.5-8X36 VXIII and Talley LWT mounts repurposed from a different rifle.



Howa actions are pretty square to start with. If your .308 barrel isn't over 20", I'd leave it alone. If not cut it down to 20", which will help lighten things up. I'd spend the money you were going to spend on a CF wrapped barrel and invest it in a McMillan Edge or similar type of stock. If you're worried about recoil just have your wife shoot 125 grain NBT or Accubond bullets, that has worked well for my daughter as seen above.

Man that's a real nice buck! I'd really be proud of her, as I'm sure you are! Glad to see you bringing her up right!

 

[Prairie]

Hope she likes her Howa. Here's a couple pics from my son's Howa 1500 in .25-06. His is a shooter. 100 yd, 3 shot group under that dime. "As is" from the factory; no trigger mods; factory stock (not the aluminum block). Winchester Super X 120gr. He shot the doe on a management hunt last season at 188yds.

I can't say enough good things about a Howa. I have a Howa 1500 in .338 Win. Mag. that shoots the same way. I covered a three shot group at 100yds. with a dime also. Found a real good handload and it's all history after that. By the way, congrats on that fine doe of your boys. I'd be real proud of him! Good job!

 

[rafterP]

I can't say enough good things about a Howa. I have a Howa 1500 in .338 Win. Mag. that shoots the same way. I covered a three shot group at 100yds. with a dime also. Found a real good handload and it's all history after that. By the way, congrats on that fine doe of your boys. I'd be real proud of him! Good job!

Thank you! He loves to hunt. He shot the muley in my profile pic with a borrowed Savage .243. These were hunts in West Texas. We've just moved to western Montana...and he's on cloud nine!

 

[Prairie]

Thank you! He loves to hunt. He shot the muley in my profile pic with a borrowed Savage .243. These were hunts in West Texas. We've just moved to western Montana...and he's on cloud nine!

Thanks for the reply. Well, sounds like you've got your head screwed on right. AND, Montana's got a whole lot of great hunting and supurb animals. Hope to see more success stories of you and your boys endeavors. (Oh and by the way, a .243 will definitely do it!) Cheers!

 

[skipglo]

I just bought a Howa 1500, 308 tactical for really cheap and I'm thinking about putting some money into it and building a semi-custom. I want to build it for my wife, she likes shooting and I'm trying to get her into hunting. So basically what I want to do with this rifle is get the action trued/blueprinted, new stock, barrel (carbon Fiber), and a light scope to go along with it. I don't think she'll ever take this out past 500 yards....if that. The rifle needs to be lightweight, easy to handle and carry, she's not used to running around the woods with a gun. My goal is to make it as easy and fun for her as possible so she'll want to come with mw. So with that info my main question is,

What caliber/barrel length/twist rate would be the best to make it easy for her to shoot and still have a good round to go hunting with?

JJ said it right. I have 3 Howas, bought 6 more this past 7 months for family....they are incredibly accurate out of the box weapons. You are talking about taking a really cheap and turning it into really expensive before you even know if you're wife will enjoy hunting. Let her shoot this Howa the way it is ....she will love the accuracy....I have a daughter that loves shooting everything that doesn't have a heart beat...but no way will she hunt! Don't over invest until you are sure and the .308 is a great start for a lady

 

[skipglo]

I just bought a Howa 1500, 308 tactical for really cheap and I'm thinking about putting some money into it and building a semi-custom. I want to build it for my wife, she likes shooting and I'm trying to get her into hunting. So basically what I want to do with this rifle is get the action trued/blueprinted, new stock, barrel (carbon Fiber), and a light scope to go along with it. I don't think she'll ever take this out past 500 yards....if that. The rifle needs to be lightweight, easy to handle and carry, she's not used to running around the woods with a gun. My goal is to make it as easy and fun for her as possible so she'll want to come with mw. So with that info my main question is,

What caliber/barrel length/twist rate would be the best to make it easy for her to shoot and still have a good round to go hunting with?

Howa out of box, scope fresh out of box, boresighted, bottom three shots sighting in...next ten shots as you see...this is a 1" bull at 100....3 shots left bull deliberate... Howa tactical GRS

 

[RAGGED EDGE]

As was said earlier, the 7-08 is hard to beat. Having said that, I started my daughter out in 1988 with an A-Bolt in that caliber. Unfortunately, she got a hold of somebody else's .260 and never looked back. She said "much less recoil". I now use the shortened A-bolt as a tree stand gun.

 

[jjmp]

If your Wifeis petite, the stock won't fit& bbl is to hvy ,change stock &cut dwn barrel to 22 inchs . If she's strong and big boned it's still to hvy , she's not a Man .above said with Respect , just trying to help good luck !,cheers

 

[Juano86]

Few things mentioned above... find a stock that fits, id go a 22" sporter profile 7mm-08 with the VX3 2.5-8x36 and a limbsaver. light weight, placid to shoot and plenty of horsepower out to 500yrds.
Hope you both enjoy the build.