I have built off of Howa, and the builds are nice. The Howa is a solid factory option, I think of it as a Rem 700 type 90 degree bolt throw with integral recoil lug and better extractor. Watch Brownells for a barreled action during Black Friday for really good prices. You can pull the new factory barrel and sell it.
There are carbon fiber Stocky stocks available, the factory trigger is nice and there are aftermarkets. If you want to go with AICS, there is a bottom metal that fits into the factory inlet. On Ebay, there is a service that will flute the bolt and thread the handle inexpensively.
You can buy excellent Howa prefits from Preferred Barrels if you want to headspace the barrel yourself, which isn't technically difficult with a gauge and wrench.
