howa 1500 .308

[nicky.223]

I'm new to this long range shooting and I'm thing about getting a Howa varmint with a 24 inch barrel for doing some range work , I'm on a tight budget atm just wondering what do you guys think of the Howa for the range I like the look of the rem 700 sps varmint to but I'm not 100% sure what to get , atm I got a Howa varmint in 243 and I'm very impressed with that

Cheers

[Laurie]

The 1500 Varmint is a good choice as a budget starter range rifle, but it does depend on the distances you want to shoot over. A 24-inch barrel is OK for up to 600 yards, loses out at 800 and is severely limiting (ie completely struggles) at 900 and 1,000.

 

The Remington SPS's 26-inches is a considerable help in the velocity stakes, although still shorter than ideal for the two longest distances. Precision wise, I doubt if there is anything much between them, Howa being likely better on production consistency thanks to Japanese manufacturing quality. People in the gunsmithing business who do work on Remingtons say they're still OK, but back home in the good ole US, there seems to be a view held by some shooters at least that Remington production quality has dropped and there are too many 'dogs' being turned out.

 

Neither has a great trigger from the factory, but there is a Timney model available for both and others for Remingtons. The SPS 700V hollow plastic stock is horrible, the Howa depends on what you specify if buying a new rifle and what you pay for. At worst, it's as bad as the SPS or even more so, at best you can get a good OEM stock at a lot less than you pay for a subsequent restocking of any rifle.

 

Why 308 particularly? Are you thinking of local FTR comps (or the Sporting Rifle variant of F-Class) where you must use 308 or 223, or are just thinking that most people shoot 308? For club level F and lots of other types of range shooting, 308 is neither mandatory or ideal, cartridges like 260 Rem a better choice. There's nothing to stop you starting out with your existing 243 if (i) you don't mind the accelerated barrel wear, and (ii) are careful on bullet choice as 95-108gn 6mm match bullets won't stabilise in the 1500V's 10-inch twist barrel. This lets you have a go and see what sort of shooting you want to do. It might save you a lot of money in the longer term by pointing you to a better choice when you do buy a rifle for range use only, or the chance of a good secondhand competition rifle from another participant.

 

For a bit (lot?) more than the 1500V / SPS Varmint, the 26-inch barrel Savage 12 series Long Range Precision Varmint rifles and the LRP (Long Range Precision) variant, the latter in .243, 260 Rem, and 6.5mm Hornady Creedmoor offer a lot of performance and can shoot outstandingly well if it's a single-shot or limited magazine capacity type rifle that you want.

[nicky.223]

Thanks for the info that was very helpful. I thought about the 308 due to barrel life , I'd be shooting up to around the 1000 yards mark but im not sure what to go for caliber wise , a friend of mine got his .243 re barreled in 1:8 twist so hes using bergers and amax because i dont now to get mine done in a 1:8 twist , just that i don't know what to get for 1000 yard shooting .

[joe soapy]

Look up dartman and neibhour on utube shooting coyotes well out past 1000 with 243