Howa 1500 .223

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Howa 1500 .223

Post by 2freeq » 28 Aug 2018, 4:12 pm

Just sharing a pic of my new Howa 1500 Sporter .223 i picked up this morning. It had a 4-9x40mm scope on it as part of the package but i wanted to try out this cheapo BSA 6-24x50mm scope i purchased a few weeks ago, if it dies i'll the original one back on. Also added a bipod and am quite happy with it at the moment. Hoping to get it to the range soon as test it out properly.

40228905_1819683464779835_4038352663740416000_n.jpg
40228905_1819683464779835_4038352663740416000_n.jpg (38.91 KiB) Viewed 6260 times
Howa 1500 .223
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by Stix » 28 Aug 2018, 8:14 pm

Looks nice 2freeq...!
Id like to buy a cheap 223 & been thinking of one of those for over a year now...
Let us know how it goes eh...!!! :drinks:

And by the way...i like your priorities...buy 2 rifles before a table to sit the rifles on... :thumbsup: :lol:
But before you buy the next rifle, save up for a table... :sarcasm:
Oh and a weather seal for the front door too!! That will save on power bills to get the next rifle quicker.. :thumbsup: :lol:
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by 2freeq » 28 Aug 2018, 8:22 pm

Stix wrote:Looks nice 2freeq...!
Id like to buy a cheap 223 & been thinking of one of those for over a year now...
Let us know how it goes eh...!!! :drinks:

And by the way...i like your priorities...buy 2 rifles before a table to sit the rifles on... :thumbsup: :lol:
But before you buy the next rifle, save up for a table... :sarcasm:
Oh and a weather seal for the front door too!! That will save on power bills to get the next rifle quicker.. :thumbsup: :lol:


I have a table setup in the garage but the lighting is crap until i get around to mounting a work light above the table...

That front door seal (or lack of) drives me nuts on windy nights. I'll get to it one day, Maybe the same day i do the work light..... lol
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by paddyoh » 29 Aug 2018, 5:37 pm

I have one of these and love it,

I use the buffalo river blitzkings in it and it shoots great
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by 2freeq » 29 Aug 2018, 5:56 pm

paddyoh wrote:I have one of these and love it,

I use the buffalo river blitzkings in it and it shoots great



I picked up a packet of them and a few others to try in it. I'm hoping it likes Winchester Super X 55 grain because they were on sale and i brought a case of them lol.

I'm going to the range this weekend and i'll run a few through it and see what it likes.
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by marksman » 29 Aug 2018, 7:27 pm

nice setup
I'm sure you will have a lot of fun with it :drinks:
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by Toppy91 » 30 Aug 2018, 4:40 pm

Nice mate. I’m waiting on my licence so I can pick mine up with OD green stock and vortex crossfire 6-18x44.
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by Uber_petey » 07 Nov 2018, 7:15 pm

Still happy with the Howa mate?
I have just put a PTA in on a mini action varmint .223 with a boyd's pepper t/hole stock.
Really looking forward having some fun with it.
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by Kelsey Cooter » 11 Nov 2018, 8:15 pm

2018-11-11 19.57.01.png
200m with osa blitzking
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I've had my howa 223 for 3 years now and its never been anything less then awesome. This is its normal sized kinda group at 200m with osa blitzkings, and this is the rifle with 2 suckers i hit with 1 bullet. (I layed across the front wheel of the tractor for 5minutes waiting for 2 of the bastards to line up perfect haha!)

Its always shot the osa blitzkings at around half moa and the osa game kings at around 1 moa. I've just bought a box of super roos and started reloading for it in the last couple of weeks, but the bloody wind is up before the sun lately so haven't been able to properly test my loads.

One of my mates has a stainless varmint 308 in the Boyds thumbhole, he bloody loves it and it groups awesome also
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by Diamond Jim » 12 Nov 2018, 1:08 am

My brother has a Howa Varmint in 223 and its a very accurate rifle. The factory trigger is not brilliant but triggers can be worked on. He loves it and I worry I spent a lot more on a different brand for no discernible advantage.
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by Kelsey Cooter » 12 Nov 2018, 5:44 am

Diamond Jim wrote:My brother has a Howa Varmint in 223 and its a very accurate rifle. The factory trigger is not brilliant but triggers can be worked on. He loves it and I worry I spent a lot more on a different brand for no discernible advantage.


Yes mine came with a 2 stage trigger that I didn't like, so I swapped it out for a timney
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by zobster » 12 Nov 2018, 12:35 pm

No complains here. I have the 223 sporter stainless, if i were to do it again, I would go varmint blued.
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by Col » 12 Nov 2018, 8:18 pm

I have a varmnt blued in 223 and ove it. The OSA Blitzking are super accurate through it.
It has taken a bit to get used to stepping down from a 243 when shooting roos but does the job if there is no wind and I do my bit.

Still love a 243, but that is another story.
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by Diamond Jim » 12 Nov 2018, 11:45 pm

The trigger on my brother's is gritty and just nasty. I have a CZ with adjustable trigger that I've set to my preferences and it's as smooth as cat's poo. That said he's learned his rifle's quirks and shoots better than me. The Howa is a good, affordable rifle that can do just about any job you ask of it.
There is no doubt a .243 does the job on 'roos but I haven't seen any run after a hit with the .223 either. I've never been a professional shooter and I haven't shot the volume that a professional has so I will accept without challenge any first hand experience.
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by booomr » 14 Nov 2018, 10:05 pm

2freeq wrote:i wanted to try out this cheapo BSA 6-24x50mm scope i purchased a few weeks ago, if it dies i'll the original one back on.

40228905_1819683464779835_4038352663740416000_n.jpg


Just out of interest, 2freeq, how do you rate the BSA? I've got a mate said I can have one of his when my licence and PTA come through.

Rate it? Or am I better chucking my own cash at a Bushnell etc?
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by bigfellascott » 15 Nov 2018, 9:01 am

Kelsey Cooter wrote:
Diamond Jim wrote:My brother has a Howa Varmint in 223 and its a very accurate rifle. The factory trigger is not brilliant but triggers can be worked on. He loves it and I worry I spent a lot more on a different brand for no discernible advantage.


Yes mine came with a 2 stage trigger that I didn't like, so I swapped it out for a timney


A little bit of plastic tubing can turn em into 1 single stage trigger in no time (ebay trigger guy did mine) one very sweet trigger now and nice and light and crisp too and can be adjusted down further if need be which it isn't it would be too light for spotlighting. :drinks: Sadly Glen doesn't do trigger work anymore but from what I've read he will happily send the springs and other bits so you can do it yourself with instructions too if my memory serves me correctly so not all bad and only for the cost of return postage. :drinks:
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by Kelsey Cooter » 15 Nov 2018, 12:05 pm

bigfellascott wrote:
Kelsey Cooter wrote:
Diamond Jim wrote:
A little bit of plastic tubing can turn em into 1 single stage trigger in no time (ebay trigger guy did mine) one very sweet trigger now and nice and light and crisp too and can be adjusted down further if need be which it isn't it would be too light for spotlighting. :drinks: Sadly Glen doesn't do trigger work anymore but from what I've read he will happily send the springs and other bits so you can do it yourself with instructions too if my memory serves me correctly so not all bad and only for the cost of return postage. :drinks:


Thats good to know bigfella. I now have a howa 308 as well so will look into this as I still don't like the 2 stage factory trigger
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by bigfellascott » 15 Nov 2018, 4:13 pm

Kelsey Cooter wrote:
bigfellascott wrote:
Kelsey Cooter wrote:
Diamond Jim wrote:
A little bit of plastic tubing can turn em into 1 single stage trigger in no time (ebay trigger guy did mine) one very sweet trigger now and nice and light and crisp too and can be adjusted down further if need be which it isn't it would be too light for spotlighting. :drinks: Sadly Glen doesn't do trigger work anymore but from what I've read he will happily send the springs and other bits so you can do it yourself with instructions too if my memory serves me correctly so not all bad and only for the cost of return postage. :drinks:


Thats good to know bigfella. I now have a howa 308 as well so will look into this as I still don't like the 2 stage factory trigger


just look up ebay trigger guy on facebook, glens a nice fella, shame he was forced to give up modding triggers as he was very good at it (got a heap of howas he's done for me over the years, all brilliant to use now. :thumbsup:
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by 2freeq » 15 Nov 2018, 8:18 pm

booomr wrote:
2freeq wrote:i wanted to try out this cheapo BSA 6-24x50mm scope i purchased a few weeks ago, if it dies i'll the original one back on.

40228905_1819683464779835_4038352663740416000_n.jpg


Just out of interest, 2freeq, how do you rate the BSA? I've got a mate said I can have one of his when my licence and PTA come through.

Rate it? Or am I better chucking my own cash at a Bushnell etc?


I've run around 200 rounds through my Howa .223 with the BSA scope and the scope is still holding zero and seems pretty good. I'm very happy with the setup i have.
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by jaydos » 18 Nov 2018, 11:19 am

absolutely love my 223 mini varmint. it loves the aussie outback 69gr matchkings. seems to group a lot more accurately at 100mtrs than 55gr pills
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by jaydos » 18 Nov 2018, 11:32 am

also i have a niko sterling scope, dirt cheap was like 150 by itself, i got it as party of a package. pretty decent for the price. obviously if you go spend 300 dollars or more you will get better glass, but for a budget scope its pretty decent.
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by bigfellascott » 18 Nov 2018, 12:46 pm

jaydos wrote:also i have a niko sterling scope, dirt cheap was like 150 by itself, i got it as party of a package. pretty decent for the price. obviously if you go spend 300 dollars or more you will get better glass, but for a budget scope its pretty decent.


Mate I've compared my cheap Tasco scope against my $1300 at the time Zeiss and honestly I couldn't see SFA diff Clarity wise but the big diff was the turrets and the solidness of those compared to the Chinese Tasco (chalk and cheese there) the scope I like the best is my Nikon, it's a great little scope for the $$, it's been rock solid and the optics are bloody brilliant for a cheaper end scope, so much so I prefer using it over my Zeiss strangely enough :unknown:
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by Kelsey Cooter » 19 Nov 2018, 11:48 am

bigfellascott wrote:
jaydos wrote:also i have a niko sterling scope, dirt cheap was like 150 by itself, i got it as party of a package. pretty decent for the price. obviously if you go spend 300 dollars or more you will get better glass, but for a budget scope its pretty decent.


Mate I've compared my cheap Tasco scope against my $1300 at the time Zeiss and honestly I couldn't see SFA diff Clarity wise but the big diff was the turrets and the solidness of those compared to the Chinese Tasco (chalk and cheese there) the scope I like the best is my Nikon, it's a great little scope for the $$, it's been rock solid and the optics are bloody brilliant for a cheaper end scope, so much so I prefer using it over my Zeiss strangely enough :unknown:


Thats good to hear bigfella, what size is the nikon?
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by bigfellascott » 19 Nov 2018, 4:45 pm

Kelsey Cooter wrote:
bigfellascott wrote:
jaydos wrote:also i have a niko sterling scope, dirt cheap was like 150 by itself, i got it as party of a package. pretty decent for the price. obviously if you go spend 300 dollars or more you will get better glass, but for a budget scope its pretty decent.


Mate I've compared my cheap Tasco scope against my $1300 at the time Zeiss and honestly I couldn't see SFA diff Clarity wise but the big diff was the turrets and the solidness of those compared to the Chinese Tasco (chalk and cheese there) the scope I like the best is my Nikon, it's a great little scope for the $$, it's been rock solid and the optics are bloody brilliant for a cheaper end scope, so much so I prefer using it over my Zeiss strangely enough :unknown:


Thats good to hear bigfella, what size is the nikon?


3-9x50 :thumbsup:
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by Diamond Jim » 21 Nov 2018, 2:58 am

I spent way too much on my rifle and ended up with a $150 knock-off scope from a well known mail order site that starts with Ali and ends with Baba as the limit of my budget. I know it's not a Leupold, Zeiss or Weaver etc but until it breaks it is everything I need. I bought Warne rings that cost nearly as much as the scope. I can't fault it - yet. It just works. I know that goes against a lot of far wiser shooters than me but that is my experience. I've also had close friends buy brand name optics they have returned under warranty. Life is a gamble, you take your chances.....I don't shoot competition, meanwhile, any cat or fox within 300m is in serious peril.
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Re: Howa 1500 .223

Post by Rod_outbak » 21 Nov 2018, 7:09 am

We bought a Howa 1500 stainless action in .223, and the synthetic stock; back in October.
It was to replace the buggered Remington 788 station rifle, which my overseer uses most days.

Overseer is madly in love with the Howa; regularly head-shooting critters out around 200 metres, and is continually amazed at how well it shoots.
I was impressed with it, while running the barrel in and setting it up/sighting it in. It's a good, solid workhorse that also shoots pretty darn well.

I couldnt fault it.
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