Is there a tangible difference

[Die Judicii]

After hearing many accounts of how Howa 1500s are not fussy with what they are fed, as in very good accuracy regardless of brands etc,,,
I am prompted to ask what it is that they have, that other brands may not ?

Is it a particular manufacturing process, or the quality/standard of the factory machinery itself ?

Or is there other factor/s that come in to play ?

A fact that I certainly have proven with mine, that if I change brands,,, after the initial re-zeroing, I still get good consistent accuracy regardless of brand ammo.

Any qualified thoughts out there ???????

[sandgroperbill]

Then factor in that some rifles of the same brand and model like different loads to each other..

My best guess would be manufacturing consistency, the barrels line up with the rifling and chamber being consistent and concentric, mahining methods and tolerances, smooth finishes, etc. Also, lets not forget the importance of a nice uniform crown.

No doubt others here would have more expertise than I could offer on the subject, as I said, this is best guess. If others do know more, I'm definitely interested as well

[sandgroperbill]

Or perhaps ammunition companies have agreements with firearms manufacturers to keep the status quo so we have to experiment to find what our rifles like, and buy lots of different ammo in the process

[happyhunter]

.

[p3seven]

I find with my Howa 243 W it, is more susceptible to changes in bullet weight. It is accurate with 95- 100 grain Federal and Hornady Soft points. The light weight Hornady 58 grain varmint load shoots all over the place. I did start with Remington 80 grain soft points but found 1 in 5 tended to be up to 3 inch out of group at 100 m (wasn't due to flinching) so changed brands.

I did read somewhere on the web that Howa recommended for the 243 W for medium game use of 95 grain and varmint loads 75 grain. Of course I can't find the reference now.

[tom604]

my 223 was a dog with factory ammo, we are talking 2/3 moa at a 100 all but Hornady super performance, costly but it brought the size down to .5 at a 100 which i was very happy with ,,,,,,, and then i started handloading and while i got down to moa the finer group size still eludes me but im not changing powder (stubborn) for a half a moa that critters wont know or care about , mine may be a friday arvo gun

[MalleeFarmer]

That's a good question. my Howa .308 isn't fussy either it shoots most brands and weights Moa or better.

[bigfellascott]

I remember when I first got my CMC Mountaineer (Howa) 30odd yrs ago, I tried Sako ammo and it was bloody awful, I think I tried a few diff brands too and much the same results, that's what got me into reloading and I haven't looked back since, that bloody things shoots very well with hand rolled ammo I put a few 5 shot groups that would fit into a 1/4 of a 1cent piece - not bad for a $400 rifle.

All the latest versions have been good shooters with factory ammo (not that I bothered with that much as I just used the cases to start reloading for em) but that 204 certainly shot well with the two types of factory ammo, both well inside a 5c piece for 5 shots (50m) and shot real well at 100m too (10c piece group)

The first 3 shots that went through the 22.250 were touching from memory (100m) which was a real surprise as it was Rem Factory crap LOL

I found fiddling around with the tension on the front action screw made a big diff to how they shot (I only do em up fairly lightly) I just grip the screwdriver with the 3 fingers (not grip it with a fist type thing like some do and screw the living bejesus out of it. LOL

[Gwion]

I have noticed the chamber in my Howa 223rem was quite tight, that combined with tight Japanese manufacturing tolerances may be why the seem to shoot well. Mind you, mine was only just on MOA at 100m with rem & fed factory ammo.

[Strikey]

I am not so sure its the rifle but the quality of factory ammunition, at my local range I have seen Rem 700s, Sako's & Tikka's, Savage and the Weatherby/Howa's shoot most factory ammo very reasonable with some being exceptional with their preferred ammo. Maybe production tolerances with rifle manufacturers has improved with better machinery and with ammo being produced with better quality components perhaps that is why we see some good results that are hard to match with reloading

[p3seven]

Found the reference:
http://legacysports.com/howa-rate-of-tw ... by-caliber

[Ariat]

Any qualified thoughts out there ???????

Yes! I have lots of.... Oh, sorry, qualified.... I'm out

[Gwion]

I think Japanese, like northern europeans, have a fairly particular mind set when it comes to quality control. That may also be a contributing factor; consistent quality standards = consistent accuracy, perhaps.

[Die Judicii]

I think Japanese, like northern europeans, have a fairly particular mind set when it comes to quality control. That may also be a contributing factor; consistent quality standards = consistent accuracy, perhaps.

Methinks you've hit the main "nail" squarely on the head.
Sigh,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Oh for the old world charms and quality that used to exist in everything.

[Elek]

Cheap and disposable, that's today's motto.

[zobster]

I've got 2 Howa, 223 and 308, my 308 I've been feeding her Remington corelokt initially and when my budget tightened, switched her to a diet of ppu, never missed a beat!

On the other hand, my 223 had a steady diet of ppu 223 but stupid me decided to try some fiocchi. The fiocchi ran well, but when I switch her back to ppu, the empty brass kept getting stuck her the chamber. So I switched over to feeding her OSA 223 and the stuck brass issue resolved by itself.

So what I'm trying to say is that, it is really down to individual guns. And unless I run out of ppu308, I'm not feeding her anything else!

[chacka]

Chamber didn't just need a clean? Dirty ammo?

[happyhunter]

Cheap and disposable, that's today's motto.

Got that right.

[Khan]

People keep buying the same crap over and over instead of spending more for something that'll last so its obviously working for some businesses.

Lower the expectation and cash in.