Sniper Guns from Japan: Howa - Supreme Varminter

Believe it or not, Howa has been building quality barrels and actions for a long time. Howa is based in Japan and generally has always built barreled actions for other companies (S&W & Weatherby to name a few). The barreled actions are high quality, and have a very good reputation. Legacy Sports International decided to import the barreled actions into the USA, and even decided to take it one step further, and started mating barreled actions to very nice Boyd's stocks. They have several different versions, but what we are interested in most are the varmint rifles, which can easily double as a tactical rifle. This review would have never happened if it were not for Matt Koenigsberg from Kings Mountain Feel free to contact him if you have purchasing questions about these rifles. Matt contacted me and was very willing and eager to have me evaluate one of these rifles. He was confident enough to send me out a new in the box rifle, never been fired, no tune ups, nothing. A fresh factory rifle, and he was confident
it would shoot down around .5 MOA. Did it? Read on to find out.

Calibers:                           223 Rem (5.56 NATO), .308 Win (7.62 NATO) (also available in .22-250)
Barrel:                              Hammer Forged Heavy Contour, Stainless or Blue, recessed crown
Barrel Length:                   24" (610mm)
Twist:                               RH 1:12" (.308 Win and .223 Rem)
Empty Weight:                  9.9 lbs (4.5 kg) empty with no optics
Overall Length:                 44.5" (1156mm)
Magazine:                         Internal, 5 Round, Hinged Floor Plate
Trigger:                            Howa, Adjustable
Stock:                              Boyd's Laminated Wood (black or natural)
Suggested Retail Price:     $670 USD (Matte Blue Finish)

The most suitable rifle for tactical work would be the supreme varminter with a "pepper" laminate stock (black laminate) with matte black finish. This is a similar combo as the Ruger tactical rifles, and is attractive, as seen below. These rifles are also available with stainless metal finish and with a nutmeg colored stock.

The stock is right handed, period. There is no shooting this rifle left handed. The stock has a serious monte carlo cheek piece and a right hand only palm swell, which is very comfortable. The barrel is fairly heavy (.825" at the muzzle) and 24" long (my preferred length for .308 rifles). The barrel also was tapped mid way up the barrel for long tube scopes (unertl target scopes, etc) and something you don't see on many rifles. Don't know how much they'll be used, but nice none the less. The barrel has a 1:12" twist for both the .223 and the .308. I would like to see 1:10" for .308 and 1:9" for .223. There doesn't seem to be any plans to change this though.

The rifle weighs in just below 10lbs (9.9) and has a good heft, about on par with most tactical rifles. It balances well on sand bags and other rests, and offers a solid platform to shoot with. The rifle also absorbs recoil well and is comfortable to shoot. (I tested the .308 version).

The trigger came from the factory at about 4 lbs and with just a tiny bit of creep. Overall, for a factory trigger, it was excellent!! Its also adjustable, but I did not mess with it at all (for liability reasons when resold). The trigger itself is wide and has ridges, much like remington triggers, and really was very nice considering the price of the rifle and how its mass produced. The hinged floor plate worked well and all the fit and finish was excellent for this category of rifle.

Well, so now you have all the boring details, what about the good stuff? Will this rifle shoot? I headed out to my local favorite shooting spot with some Federal 168gr Match ammo to conduct my accuracy test. I zeroed the rifle and in the process threw out a group of 3 just for zero purposes, and not even trying hard, and yielded a 1.1" group.
(Sniper Guns-http://www.snipercentral.com/howa.htm)