What are your thoughts on the Howa built rifles? Howa, I believe, has a pretty decent reputation building firearms for others but what design is the S&W 1500 & 1700 based on and in general what's the opinion of them on the used market?

I bought my son Glenn many years ago a S&W Model 1500 in 270 Win for $235 and gave it to him for his birthday. That was many years ago and to be quite frank it's a seriously accurate rifle at less then 1 inch at 100 yards. It has served him well over the years and when we lived in Colorado he killed many Mule Deer and Antelope with it. It pretty much stays in his safe now because we both live out of Colorado and we hunt Elk every year he uses his browning A Bolt in 300 mag for that.

The Howa rifles, (either the S&W or their own label), tend to be undervalued, at least up here. They are generally very accurate, no-nonsense rifles. The only drawback to the action is that it has metric threads, which a lot of smiths don't like to mess with. So unless you're planning on building one up to something custom they're a great value.

My Howa 1500 in .308 will shoot under 1" at 100 yds and more in the 1/4-1/2" range at 100 with Match grade ammo! Very smooth action, too. Same scope mounts/bases hole pattern as a Rem 700 as well.

I get 1 1/2" groups with my 300 Win Mag (S & W) and with my 338 Win Mag (Weatherby).

I've taken 2 wild pig, 1 mule deer and 1 elk at slightly over 400 yards with the 300.

Even though I shoot left handed I've found a 1500 in 300 win mag. and am trying to convince myself that it only takes on shot so being a r.h. rifle it shouldn't matter. I've had a hankerin for a 300wmag and I'm just waiting for the right one to come along. Thanks for all the input.

I replaced the stock with a Bell and Carlson. The resin "gives" a little and the butt is slightly wider. This is the second paint job (It's the S & W 1500).



ps: all my elk and deer have gone down to one shot=most took a second to finish them, though.

You don't see many on the used racks, and they're gone quickly if one shows up. Wish they still had a bolt gun, regardless of who makes it for them, just want to see their name on it, same with Colt.

I have one in 30-06 and it shoots well if the nut behind the butt plate does his job. If you buy one there is a recall out about the bolt, apparently if you take the bolt apart and put it back together wrong it will fire when you close the bolt. Last I checked you can send the bolt back to Howa USA and they will fix it for free and ship the bolt back. The same applies for the late 70s and early 80's Weatherby Vangard rifles as well. As others have said they are a good value.

Is there some way to know if the update's been done by Howa already? Like the way S&W stamps an "M" in the yoke of the 686. Does Howa mark them somehow?

I did not see any sign on mine when I got the bolt back. Howa might be able to tell you if they did it already by the serial number.

good luck.

Howa 1500 rifles were sold as the Weatherby Vanguard, S&W 1500/1700, and the Mossberg 1500 rifles.

The barreled actions are the same, with the difference between them being the degree of fanciness in the stocks and finishing.

The Mossberg 1500's are real sleepers on the used gun market, most people associate Mossberg with relatively inexpensive "utilitarian" grade firearms, and prices for them are lower than their more distinguished siblings, because most people have no idea of their shared lineage with Weatherby and S&W rifles by virtue of them all being made by Howa.

S&W 1500's also suffers somewhat from the same "brand recognition" issue in that they are known mainly as a handgun manufacturer, so people while being a bit leery of rifles from a handgun company, were more receptive of them than the Mossberg 1500's, because of S&W's reputation, so you'll see pricing of S&W 1500's reflect that.

At the time, it was either a Remington 700 or Winchester 70 that were the "go to" rifles for someone wanting a bolt action sporting rifle, with the Ruger 77 quickly making it's mark... Weatherby's were considered high end for the rich (and why many Weatherby snobs looked down their noses at the Vanguard), and everything else was looked upon with skepticism as unknown/untested "newcomers", despite Howa having a long and well known reputation in Japan as a renowned firearms maker.

Howa also made shotguns sold under the browning name.

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Conrad
SWCA #1830 SWHF #222