Howa Superlite - my experience
- Thread starter Justabirdwatcher
- Start date
Justabirdwatcher
Well-known member
I don't think we'll ever know, but after handling enough Howas over the past 10 years, I would love to know who does what to the stocks on the rifles that BigFin uses. I can't believe he's using them as they come, unless someone is working on them before he ever gets them. That said, the Alpine with the Bansner stock left nothing wanting, and I would guess that might be true for the HS Precision stocks as well.
Thanks for posting this thread.
I use the the CF stocks as they come. I’ve not had any issues with the seven that I have. I do add a cheek riser due to the rail. I’m waiting for Leupold to get me their backcountry mounts that for this rifle so I can get rid of the rail. Just not a rail kind of guy.
I’ve been using them in the field for three years now. They’ve performed very well. I only have 7mm08 and .308 versions.
My 7mm-08 in this rifle with the CF stock shooting 140 grain AccuBonds has taken:
Utah pronghorn at 440 yards.
Wyoming whitetail at 180 yards.
Arizona Coues at 265 yards and another at 185 yards.
Montana mule deer at 210 yards.
NWT Dall Sheep at 240 yards.
NWT Mountain Caribou at 120 yards.
My .308 Win in this rifle and a CF stock has taken the following with 165 grain Nosler Partitions:
Alaska black bear at 205 yards.
Wyoming elk at 110 yards.
Arizona elk at 160 yards.
Wyoming elk at 120 yards.
Yukon Mountain Caribou at 285 yards.
Yukon moose at 110 yards.
Arizona elk at 75 yards.
The others I have are set up very similar. Two 16.5” barreled versions are still in the box, awaiting new scope models coming soon (SHOT Show release) from Leupold.
On mine, triggers are set at 2.5#. All have Leupold VX5-HD 3-15x44. I run a Nosler suppressor on them, 30ALTI. Cheek risers on them.
I’ve been following this thread with interest, wanting to see the results you experienced. Most people are surprised by the accuracy they get from such a light rifle. I’ll admit to being suspicious when they sent me the first one to try. Once I got it dialed in with ammo selection, trigger adjustment, and cheek fit, it’s far more capable than I am. Same experience with the others they’ve sent.
I will be meeting with Legacy next week at SHOT. Usually that includes meetings with HOWA and Stockys. I’m going to pass along your comments and experiences with the CF stock. They’d want to know that.
Again, I appreciate you doing this thread. I’ve had many people see these rifles with me in the field. When they hold it, they almost smirk, as if I’m out hunting with a toy gun. When the Alaska and NWT guides saw me use it and the results, they were impressed. Two of them now have a .308 in this rifle.
elkduds
Well-known member
Note the ranges Big Fin reported for taking game animals. Because he's a hunter.
Justabirdwatcher
Well-known member
Thanks for the reply. Please understand I have the utmost respect for you and appreciate the time you put in here, and the time you spend helping sportsmen and women on very important legislative and policy matters. I understand your response as I myself been sponsored by manufacturers in the past as well (not firearms related) and I was pretty careful not to do or say things that would reflect poorly on the brand. That is usually written into the contracts, in fact. But it's also the responsibility of the athlete or celebrity to provide real world feedback to the brand, so they can head off problems. And I believe you are someone who would do that and do it in a very matter of fact way. In my competitive career, I parted ways with a couple of companies because they wouldn't fix known problems and I wasn't going to lie for them. My reputation meant more to me than the money.
I don't think it's any surprise to most folks who have dealt with LSI that a Legacy provided stock or accessory would not measure up. There is also a track record of Stocky's stocks having poor QC. Plenty of examples of that and not just with Howa related products. I sent two Stocky's CF stocks back to them after trying them on my Savage Ultralights. If you have had nothing but good CF stocks from Howa, I have to believe they are working out the bugs before you ever see those rifles (they would be fools not to) based on what I've seen and what others have shared. The torque issues with the front action screw pulling the barrel down and into the stock has been shared by several folks and I saw the exact same thing when fitting my barreled action into a "factory" CF stock. I couldn't put more than 25 in. lbs. of torque on that front action screw without the barrel being pulled down into the stock. This is easily fixed with a quick bedding job, but of course most customers aren't prepared to do that, feel they shouldn't have to, or will never notice the issue and will return their rifle or sell it and not come back to the brand. The other known issue is cracking the bottom plastic when torquing the action screws. Very common problem.
This is a shame, since HOWA makes great shooting barreled actions. I have just wished for all the years I've used them that they would match those with stocks that rose to the same standard. I've shot Savage rifles much longer than I've shot HOWA, and even in their cheap tupperware stocks, Savage rifles almost always shoot sub-MOA with very little tinkering if any at all. I don't have a single Savage stock that is bedded. Never had to bed one to get sub-MOA accuracy, and those stocks are light. By contrast, I've ended up bedding every single stock I've used on a HOWA barreled action, except for one - the Alpine with the outstanding Bansner stock. After that, they all shot lights-out and in fact several were 1/2 MOA guns that I killed a pile of game with. Half the time, the bedding job was as much to solve a fitment issue as it was an accuracy one.
Regarding your trigger adjustment, I think it would be useful for you to show how you do that (if you haven't already), if you are allowed to. I'm sure that for legal reasons HOWA isn't going to explain to their customers how to break the seal on the trigger adjustment screw and adjust it, but maybe they will. I just haven't seen an "official" version of this how-to on these rifles yet and I'd bet most customers want to make that adjustment (it's the first thing I did, even before installing the action into the stock).
Again, thank you for your reply. You're a busy guy and have a lot of irons in the fire. Keep up the great work. We all appreciate what you do.
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