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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My wife loves the rifle and with a silencer it’s the same overall length as a normal rifle. It’s been accurate for us and she shoots it very well around MOA all the way out to 400.
To me it’s just a stock I’m not used to, very trim and dainty. Almost like a single shot in a smaller caliber so that takes getting used too. My wife lover everything about it, no complaints but she is new to rifles where I have shot the same 9.5lbs rifle for over a decade and have a prefer a more substantial stock to fill the hands.
The rear action screw doesn’t use up all the threads which makes me question the already tight fit. Ima take it to a gun smith to have the action bedded and investigated for the fit.
To me it’s just a stock I’m not used to, very trim and dainty. Almost like a single shot in a smaller caliber so that takes getting used too. My wife lover everything about it, no complaints but she is new to rifles where I have shot the same 9.5lbs rifle for over a decade and have a prefer a more substantial stock to fill the hands.
The rear action screw doesn’t use up all the threads which makes me question the already tight fit. Ima take it to a gun smith to have the action bedded and investigated for the fit.
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Justabirdwatcher
Well-known member
Yea, with the factory CF stock, my rear action screw only caught two threads. Meanwhile the front action screw kept going and going. Very poor inletting on those. The factory 2nds stock I have coming tomorrow will get bedded straight away, and I'll mill out some of that rear tang inletting to make room for the bedding so the rear action screw seats correctly. When I bed a stock, I use a milling bit in my Dremel to remove material under the tang and under the front of the action and rear of the recoil lug. This allows the bedding material to be thick enough in those areas to not crack. Also allows me to float the barrel with tape, ensuring that once set, the bedding will line up perfectly with the barrel channel.
It's not very hard to do. I've bedded 7-8 rifle stocks now, only using a Dremel, JB Weld, some paste wax and One Shot case lube as release agents, some silly putty to create dams or fill holes, and electricians or painters tape to hold the action in the stock overnight. I'm not a craftsman by any stretch, and every one I've done has turned out pretty well. I bet you could do it yourself if you wanted.
It's not very hard to do. I've bedded 7-8 rifle stocks now, only using a Dremel, JB Weld, some paste wax and One Shot case lube as release agents, some silly putty to create dams or fill holes, and electricians or painters tape to hold the action in the stock overnight. I'm not a craftsman by any stretch, and every one I've done has turned out pretty well. I bet you could do it yourself if you wanted.
TheJason
Well-known member
It sounds to me like your mystery groups are because they are too small. A group of two touching and then a “flyer” is not an anomaly. It’s a reflector the true accuracy of the rifle.
I used to chase three shot groups and wasted a lot of components doing so. I don’t put any credence in the accuracy of a three shot group.
The accuracy starts to show when you get up around 8-10 shots. Lower than that and you can easily be fooled by random dispersion.
If your fist two shots are 2” apart, stop right there. If they are 1.25” apart, drive on and see what the load is truly capable of. A 1.5 MOA load for hunting situations inside of 600 yards is plenty good.
I used to chase three shot groups and wasted a lot of components doing so. I don’t put any credence in the accuracy of a three shot group.
The accuracy starts to show when you get up around 8-10 shots. Lower than that and you can easily be fooled by random dispersion.
If your fist two shots are 2” apart, stop right there. If they are 1.25” apart, drive on and see what the load is truly capable of. A 1.5 MOA load for hunting situations inside of 600 yards is plenty good.
Justabirdwatcher
Well-known member
That's a really good reminder. Thank you.
I personally put a lot of faith in "first shot groups." Not a group of course, but in knowing that the first shot of the day from that rifle went where I expected it to. And in that regard, this rifle is now doing really well. The first shot of the session has been exactly 1.5" high at 100, three times in a row now. And the 2nd shots have been right on that mark as well. Even if this is just a "two shot gun," who cares? By then the critter should be on the ground anyway and nobody should be surprised that a pencil-thin ultralight barrel doesn't behave like a target rifle.
I look forward to continuing my range sessions with this gun, also because it's been my experience that a new rifle doesn't generally settle in and shoot its best until 50-100 rounds have gone down the tube. And I am only halfway there now. So I think the best is yet to come. I continue to accept the challenges that often come with HOWA/LSI products because it's been my experience that these barreled actions are capable of very good accuracy at a reasonable price.
TheJason
Well-known member
A pencil thin, ultralight barrel should still hold a group for a 10 round string unless there is something wrong with bedding, etc.
This is a string from a Kimber Hunter, fired as fast as I could load and settle back into position.
For your first shot “group”, are you overlaying all of the shots onto a singular POA and then evaluating the overall group dispersion?
This is a string from a Kimber Hunter, fired as fast as I could load and settle back into position.
For your first shot “group”, are you overlaying all of the shots onto a singular POA and then evaluating the overall group dispersion?
Justabirdwatcher
Well-known member
I haven't taken the time to do that with this rifle (weather has been challenging here, to say the least) but I have done that in the past, hanging the same target every session, for one shot, then taking it down and keeping it. It's an interesting exercise that I think more hunters should do. That is one impressive group above for sure, although from memory, I would say the Kimber barrel has considerably more meat on it than the Howa Superlite barrel. But I could be wrong. I haven't seen a Kimber Hunter since I helped a young hunter mount a scope and sight his in for an upcoming hunt a couple years ago. He found that rifle on clearance at a nearby Dick's sporting goods and asked me if I thought it was a good buy at $499. LOL
Insight my rifles in at 2” high at 100 yards always, which means shooting the same target more than three times to be sure the “average” is about 2 “
This rifle is probably not “moa” but in my book is just fine. Certainly minute of dead deer out to 400 yards. For the price as weight I’m fine by that.
This rifle is probably not “moa” but in my book is just fine. Certainly minute of dead deer out to 400 yards. For the price as weight I’m fine by that.
rogerthat
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- Joined
- Aug 29, 2015
- Messages
- 3,027
My superlite has been great right out of the box. No modifications needed. 1 moa accuracish 7-08 140 accubonds. Great gun. But I’m not even slightly picky. People complain about the plastic clip and what not. I don’t even know what they are talking nor do I care. 1 bull elk harvested with it at 80 yards
TheJason
Well-known member
I highly doubt it. It’s a 5 1/2 lb rifle.
Deez Nutz
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- Jun 6, 2024
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- 171
And the howa is 4 1/2 lb rifle which means there is a full pound to be made up somewhere.
TheJason
Well-known member
Like 6” difference in barrel length?
TheJason
Well-known member
Okay
Justabirdwatcher
Well-known member
Now I'm curious. Do you have a Kimber to measure at 20"? I want to know the difference between the Kimber and my Howa Superlite, just for my own curiosity. My Howa is .560"
TheJason
Well-known member
0.565” @ 20
0.560” @ 22
