How do you like them and what kind of groups you getting?

I have had 3-4, they all shot well but they all needed a little trigger work as you might expect from a factory rifle in the day and age. Best one was a 243, easily 1/2-3/4 moa

1500 308 with a 24” heavy barrel in an HS Precision Stock. My best group has been a .63 5 shot group with factory 175 SMK’s. I am currently working up a load with 178 ELD-X’s. I have been really happy with the rifle.

Spend a little extra and get the Vanguard. They are made by Howa for Weatherby. Then you have Weatherby warranty to fall back on if needed. I needed warranty work and was not impressed in the least with the Howa warranty work. That said, they are shooters, but I got a dud and got stuck with it.

Shot a few and I can say all are accurate. Last one was fairly recent 223 with heavy barrel and it shocked the hell out of me. Even my son was hitting bottle caps with ease at 100 yards. And he’s not an experienced shooter by any means.

Imo, for the money they are one of the best made rifles on the market.

No frills, workhorse rifles, but not cheaply made. My oldest has the howa 1500 and my youngest and my wife both have vanguard rifles of varying designs. The weatherbys are a bit more refined in the finished product for not much more money. The howa does not come with many stock options, the weatherby vanguard also has many more options.


From what I can tell, the stock is the biggest difference between the howa and the vanguard....the barrel, action, trigger, etc. are all the same.

Accuracy is great from the ones we have.

My Vanguard is the most accurate rifle that I own. For what it's worth, that includes models made by Winchester, Remington, Marlin, Savage, and Browning. And most of these have free-floated barrels. The Vanguard uses a design that includes a pressure post near the end of the forearm that Weatherby claims improves harmonic performance. Can't argue with them.

Who did the warranty work as I'm sure it was not sent back to the manufacturer in Japan? What was the problem? I ask because I bought a Howa mini that came with an MOA guarantee that it did not meet. The importer replaced it.

My first rifle was a Howa 1500 in 270 Win. I learned to shoot long range and reload with that rifle. With good hand loads, it will shoot about 3/4 moa, sometimes better. I have since bedded the action and tuned the trigger, which helped tighten up the groups. For a factory rifle, they are a good gun.

The action is a metric thread and many gunsmith's do not work on metric threaded actions. So if you plan to ever change out the barrel, it might be something to consider.

Very good guns for the money. Taking my 1500 mini action to the range to sight in today or tomorrow. I personally prefer the vanguard to the Howa, as others have stated more options and a little better refinement on the Weatherby's, but you still can’t go wrong with the Howa at all.

Will the vanguard stocks fit the Howa?

Compare the actions and bolts with a Nosler 48 and report back, I think you will be enlightened

Thanks guys.

yes

I was instructed by Howa to return the rifle to their gunsmith in Reno NV at my expense. Sent the gun in to them and they supposedly fixed it. They did not. The problem with the rifle is that with factory ammunition the bolt sticks after the shot about half of the time. It is difficult to extract the casing. This is with multiple brands of ammunition. Its very frustrating. Accuracy is not an issue. I have owned several Howas and Weatherby Vanguards and never had an issue like this. I'm sure I could send it back again at my expense, but I will eventually just sell it (with full disclosure) and take a loss. I have lost confidence in this particular firearm.
The Howa gunsmith in Reno is not the same as the customer service centers that Weatherby offers. That is why I would recommend Weatherby over Howa.
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I’d be a buyer if the deal was right.

The outfitter I use in South Africa provides his clients Howa 1500’s in .308 topped with Ziess glass. In my opinion that speaks volumes.

But what does he carry? That’s the important rifle, not the clients.

Have you had a local smith look at it? Could be as easy as a chamber-polishing job.

I was going to shoot it and let the bolt seize up and then take it to a gun smith. That way they can see exactly whats happening.

It’s a headspace issue, chamber disfigurement, or primer flow issue due to oversized FP hole. My guesses.

TDK, your guess would be better than mine. My frustration is sending it back to their gunsmith, they supposedly fix it and having it returned with the same issue.
To OP, I apologize for hijacking your thread with my problem.

What caliber is it? Do you reload for it? I had a Remington 600 that did that. I started reloading the cases that I shoot in it and they shot fine. Just did neck resizing and then load. Yeah I couldn't go to Walmart and buy ammo for it but it is still working after 25 years.

6.5 Creedmoor. I don't reload. Factory ammo. Equal opportunity, does it on all brands.