Attn: Matt at LSI

[Sixoeight]

honestly, if people are nit-picking the safety lever....everything else must be going pretty smoothly : )

It is a fantastic rifle ��

[bj139]

The front and rear tabs on the safety should just be bent down a bit for better thumb feel.
This might be an easy manufacturing modification. I might try to bend mine down.

[adamjp]

Hi all! im back from my Army dealings for the time being.
...
Matt

Congratulations on earning your commission!

Not many make the transition to the dark side of the force, but every one of them truly understands the lot of the simple soldier.

[klr]

honestly, if people are nit-picking the safety lever....everything else must be going pretty smoothly : )

Not for all of us. The replacement rifle I received for the rifle I had with the crooked chamber also had a chamber that was crooked, although half as much. I also bought a barreled action from Brownells that has a slightly crooked chamber. I'd rather Howa get their barrel manufacturing problems resolved before worrying about the safety lever.

[Msalm]

Not for all of us. The replacement rifle I received for the rifle I had with the crooked chamber also had a chamber that was crooked, although half as much. I also bought a barreled action from Brownells that has a slightly crooked chamber. I'd rather Howa get their barrel manufacturing problems resolved before worrying about the safety lever.

I only have one question in response to this comment...how did the rifle shoot????? Sub MOA I'm guessing....from a sub 6lb sporter weight rifle... I commented on the concentricity of the throat on your other thread, but don't remember you stating anywhere how well the rifle even shot. This is a FACTORY rifle, borescope a bunch of factory rifles and you will find that all throats are not perfect or even close to it. On a custom chamber/barrel job you pay for that perfection and just that work will cost you on average $225-$300 plus the cost of the custom barrel. Shoot the rifle, if it shoots well, there is no problem. Factories do not have the time to dial in a bore to within .0002", prebore a chamber and chamber the barrel to a gnat's posterior of perfection, it is as simple as chucking the barrel and driving a reamer in to proper headspace. One thing Howa does have above most all others is their barrels will screw on and time up properly (caliber markings) between all actions. You don't see that on any other rifle made to my knowledge.

[Taz575]

Matt, how do I tell if I have the new or old bottom plastic?? My OD green 6.5 Grendel 20" HB arrived today Forend is very flexible and hits the barrel, so I will try to stiffen it some how and start looking for a different stock. Trigger feels good so far, safety doesn't bother me at all?

[klr]

I only have one question in response to this comment...how did the rifle shoot????? Sub MOA I'm guessing....from a sub 6lb sporter weight rifle... I commented on the concentricity of the throat on your other thread, but don't remember you stating anywhere how well the rifle even shot. This is a FACTORY rifle, borescope a bunch of factory rifles and you will find that all throats are not perfect or even close to it. On a custom chamber/barrel job you pay for that perfection and just that work will cost you on average $225-$300 plus the cost of the custom barrel. Shoot the rifle, if it shoots well, there is no problem. Factories do not have the time to dial in a bore to within .0002", prebore a chamber and chamber the barrel to a gnat's posterior of perfection, it is as simple as chucking the barrel and driving a reamer in to proper headspace. One thing Howa does have above most all others is their barrels will screw on and time up properly (caliber markings) between all actions. You don't see that on any other rifle made to my knowledge.

I guess we can agree to disagree: I think a straight chamber is both important and possible in a factory rifle at this price point. I have seen (and own) many that were fine. (Btw, I posted the answer to your question in my thread long ago.)

I commented here because if I were the importer I would want to know what is going on with the products I'm importing, and if the factory was sending straight chambered .223 rifles and crooked 6.5/7.62 chambers, I'd want to know why.

[Msalm]

[klr]

It's most usual for them to put three into about 1.125" @ 100yds. I've had an occasion group below an inch, but generally I can count on 1.125" to 1.250".

[Msalm]

A friend has a factory mini that did similar to maybe a slight bit better, about MOA. He drilled a bunch of holes in the action inlet to lock in the bedding compound and full-length bedded the action leaving the barrel freefloating. That tightened his group's into a solid 1/2 MOA consistently. I think MOA or close is pretty good for such light Rifles, but we always want to see better of course.

[roor]

[Taz575]

Roor, do you have the Brownell or MDT chassis? I am looking hard at the Brownell currently; I like the longer handguard area.

[roor]

Roor, do you have the Brownell or MDT chassis? I am looking hard at the Brownell currently; I like the longer handguard area.

[Taz575]

Do you think it would work well for a hunting gun? I started work on my factory stock to inlay a metal strip or aluminum channel to stiffen the forend up, which has around 1/8" of movement currently! I saw that the recoil lug is against just the plastic stock, so I was going to bed it and epoxy the metal to the forend to stiffen it. Brownells has a 10% off and free shipping today, so it would be only $387 for the BRN-1 chassis.

[grayfox]

Taz, I've got the MDT for a 243 Ruger predator and it sure is gtg for hunting. I'd expect the similar setup for the Howa would do as well. Rock solid out of the box no bedding needed. Keep your Howa mags, AIRC you need them for the chassis... could be wrong tho', maybe AICS mags...? but I think it's the Howa ones.