Howa Superlite 308win Field Evaluation

[Fireflyfishing]

I read through the entire thread. I won’t buy one of those.

 

[ElPollo]

@Formidilosus

Are you still waiting to get this gun back or for a replacement from Howa? Interested to hear what they are doing about it.

 

[Formidilosus]

@Formidilosus

Are you still waiting to get this gun back or for a replacement from Howa? Interested to hear what they are doing about it.

Yes. They have it, but I have no update as to what they are doing. The last I heard was supposedly sending another or fixing that one.

 

[49ereric]

Yes. They have it, but I have no update as to what they are doing. The last I heard was supposedly sending another or fixing that one.

I didn’t read through all the posts replies but found this tid bit I saved in my notes.

 

[Liftman101]

I learned my lesson. "Pay attention when Form writes or speaks about something." I got my Howa Superlite barreled action in a 6.5 Creedmoor with a 16.25" barrel. Just for fun I thought. I bought the Stocky's special Superlite stock in the Vertical Grip model. It weighs 22 oz vs 17-18 oz for the regular hunter model that comes from the factory. The rifles weighs 4 lbs 12.8 oz in the VG stock. Assembled the rifle and stock. Seemed to fit well. Torqued the action screws to 25 in/lb. Increased the torque to 35 in/lbs. The trigger guard promptly snapped in 2. The bottom plastic is fine, it just split in the middle of the trigger surround. Left it at 35 in/lbs. Put the mag in to cycle some rounds. It will not feed a single round. The back of the mag drops down when you pull the bolt back and the bolt passes right over the top of the case. If you hold the back of the mag up flush with the stock, it feeds just fine. I haven't shot it yet because I am just annoyed. It is going in the safe. Anyone want a Superlite cheap?

 

[ElPollo]

I learned my lesson. "Pay attention when Form writes or speaks about something." I got my Howa Superlite barreled action in a 6.5 Creedmoor with a 16.25" barrel. Just for fun I thought. I bought the Stocky's special Superlite stock in the Vertical Grip model. It weighs 22 oz vs 17-18 oz for the regular hunter model that comes from the factory. The rifles weighs 4 lbs 12.8 oz in the VG stock. Assembled the rifle and stock. Seemed to fit well. Torqued the action screws to 25 in/lb. Increased the torque to 35 in/lbs. The trigger guard promptly snapped in 2. The bottom plastic is fine, it just split in the middle of the trigger surround. Left it at 35 in/lbs. Put the mag in to cycle some rounds. It will not feed a single round. The back of the mag drops down when you pull the bolt back and the bolt passes right over the top of the case. If you hold the back of the mag up flush with the stock, it feeds just fine. I haven't shot it yet because I am just annoyed. It is going in the safe. Anyone want a Superlite cheap?

That sounds like an issue with the floor plate inletting. I would guess it’s too shallow given that it’s not picking up a cartridge and maybe not level given that your trigger guard cracked. If so, it may be an easy fix.

 

[Liftman101]

That sounds like an issue with the floor plate inletting. I would guess it’s too shallow given that it’s not picking up a cartridge and maybe not level given that your trigger guard cracked. If so, it may be an easy fix.

Thanks. I figured it might be the stock causing the problem.

 

[razorsharptokill]

Howa (Legacy Sports) warranty service is awful. It took them 6 months to get my issue (accuracy) resolved! They have ONE gunsmith that is contracted off site that does their range testing. Never buying one of their products again....

 

[Article 4]

It’s nearly a total waste of my time. But, this isn’t for me. I do not ask to do this, I am asked to do it. The industry, gun writers, “reviewers”, etc are near totally full of shit. Almost never is there any actual use on products, and only glowing reviews are done… got to keep the advertisers happy and get that free swag again.

The industry sucks and products don’t work because no one calls out the BS.

I have published many articles about rifles. I can tell you this, every single time I was hands on, running them hard, and using them as meant to be used. A few things I learned.

Yes, some writers - like many in the mainstream media will sugar coat things. I have seen it happen. Some don't but it is rare. Your life as a writer is pretty short when you poo poo someones product.

If a manufacturer "sent" me a rifle that had all those issues, its 100% on them. Makes me wonder if some marketing guy just randomly decided to go grab one without any oversight or forethought and so you get what you get for a review - would not fix it so it shot better

If I did get one of these, I would send it back with a polite and respectful no thank you for the review. I have returned glass and other review items before for this reason rather than keeping them as part of the payment.

I have a howa 1500 action rifle. The action is about 25 years old and it runs great, now with with minimal smithing it runs even better. I did put a Timney in it which made a huge difference as well. Built another one in 6.5 CM for a 14 yr old hunter - runs great.

Have a huge dislike for lightweight guns. When you are so focused on trimming weight, something has to give and it looks like in this case, the entire build is flawed. Sucks when it happens

 

[Mike 338]

I have published many articles about rifles. I can tell you this, every single time I was hands on, running them hard, and using them as meant to be used. A few things I learned.

Yes, some writers - like many in the mainstream media will sugar coat things. I have seen it happen. Some don't but it is rare. Your life as a writer is pretty short when you poo poo someones product.

If a manufacturer "sent" me a rifle that had all those issues, its 100% on them. Makes me wonder if some marketing guy just randomly decided to go grab one without any oversight or forethought and so you get what you get for a review - would not fix it so it shot better

If I did get one of these, I would send it back with a polite and respectful no thank you for the review. I have returned glass and other review items before for this reason rather than keeping them as part of the payment.

I have a howa 1500 action rifle. The action is about 25 years old and it runs great, now with with minimal smithing it runs even better. I did put a Timney in it which made a huge difference as well. Built another one in 6.5 CM for a 14 yr old hunter - runs great.

Have a huge dislike for lightweight guns. When you are so focused on trimming weight, something has to give and it looks like in this case, the entire build is flawed. Sucks when it happens

I commend you for being upfront about how you dealt with a dud. You pretty much said outright that only favorable, or at the very least, neutral reviews of a product would maintain your association both with whatever publisher is buying your article and whatever manufacturer is sending you free subject matter. Reminds me of every State of the Union address I've ever seen. Everything is rosy! Good reviews sell rifles and selling rifles generates ad revenue. The only problem with that is the omission of the truth and omitting the truth is a deception in its own right.

No doubt you're just cog in a machine that could easily be replaced, so a guy goes along to get along. Fortunately for everyone who doesn't get free rifles to shoot and the ability to just send back the duds with a wink wink, we can get our information directly from the consumers who actually buy and use these products. For the old-guard gun writer who's now forced to compete with that, they're forced to expose how they came by the rifle and a savvy gun buyer can look at their history of reviews and see whether or not they work for the reader or the manufacturer. A marketing rep who tests a rifle before shipping it to a writer is a cheater without scruples. He's putting something in your hands that a guy who actually dips into his family's food money to purchase a the same model rifle that quite possibly may be junk. Then unlike you, he may or may not be jerked around depending on how that company recovers. None of that gets covered when a gun writer covers up his experience and deceives his readership by omission.

Old guard gun writers may well share some of the same interests I do but once they've seen how the system works and elect to continue deceive their readership, I want nothing to do with them or their opinions. They may be knowledgeable but lack of trust trumps that any day.

 

[9.3koolaid]

@Formidilosus any updates on this?

 

[180ls1]

I am also wondering how much this rifle is effected by the recoil of the 308 and if the 6.5 or .243 would have preferable results.

 

[Formidilosus]

@Formidilosus any updates on this?

Nope. I’m guessing we’ll never get the gun back nor see another.

 

[9.3koolaid]

Nope. I’m guessing we’ll never get the gun back nor see another.

Damn. Was looking forward to seeing how the trigger worked out.

 

[TheGDog]

Interesting. I've been nothing but impressed with the Howa SuperLite 6.5cm 20" we got for my son for 2023 season. My only quibble is the "zwip!" kinda sound actuating the bolt makes. But that can be remedied with some polishing apparently. So I figure at some point it should likely wear-in decent enough at points of contact to hush it up in terms of machining marks on the bolt surfaces.

Was shocked at the accuracy my son got out of it w/ the 130gr tsx! I personally watched him, in the spotting scope... hit the red of the center dot.... twice! He did it once, I excitedly let him know he hit bullseye! Then I asked him to move over to a new circle that hadn't taken any shots yet and see if he could do it again? And S-O-B if he didn't end up doing it AGAIN! I was so jazzed that he had this first experience with what I want to be his first big game rifle!

I kept it simple with just a Burris Fullfield 3x9-40mm, those things are pretty lightweight and seems a good compromise in Clarity/Quality vs Weight ya gotta lug around.

 

[IAm_Not_Lost]

I just bought the 308 Win version in 16". Separate barreled action and stock, both from Brownells. Overall now very happy with the feel and look of the gun after messing with the stock. Appreciate the thread, and also started my own to give more detail on the stock, as well as more info on weights and the aftermarket aluminum bottom metal that OregonSmithingLLC has available.

Haven't been able to test much yet for loads, took it out to shoot one brand of range ammo and got what I would view as very reasonable groups with that (1.4" at 100), but soon I'll have 110gr and 130gr TTSX's loaded up and will test those. Honestly though, I'm pretty content with any hunting rifle that will group around 1.5".

 

[matchu865]

On the left (1,2,5) are groupings from my Tikka .223. Shots next to (3),(4) can be ignored as I was just testing for pressure signs/velocity going up in powder charge from (2). (1) is 55gr V-Max w/ Varget (2) is 55gr V-Max with TAC, (5) is 75gr ELD-M with Varget.

On the right are 3 3-shot groupings from my 6.5 CM super-lite that I've attempted to 'improve' by fixing the inletting so it feeds, clearancing the barrel channel, and glass bedding. I've tried several different bullets and loads with this gun and nothing seems to get it to shoot, they all basically look like this load (100gr BT w/ Staball Match) which was a hail mary attempt to see if it would shoot lighter bullets better. I'm glad that some folks have had better luck with theirs.

If anyone wants mine, it's for sale.

 

[Reddish]

I have published many articles about rifles. I can tell you this, every single time I was hands on, running them hard, and using them as meant to be used. A few things I learned.

Yes, some writers - like many in the mainstream media will sugar coat things. I have seen it happen. Some don't but it is rare. Your life as a writer is pretty short when you poo poo someones product.

If a manufacturer "sent" me a rifle that had all those issues, its 100% on them. Makes me wonder if some marketing guy just randomly decided to go grab one without any oversight or forethought and so you get what you get for a review - would not fix it so it shot better

If I did get one of these, I would send it back with a polite and respectful no thank you for the review. I have returned glass and other review items before for this reason rather than keeping them as part of the payment.

I have a howa 1500 action rifle. The action is about 25 years old and it runs great, now with with minimal smithing it runs even better. I did put a Timney in it which made a huge difference as well. Built another one in 6.5 CM for a 14 yr old hunter - runs great.

Have a huge dislike for lightweight guns. When you are so focused on trimming weight, something has to give and it looks like in this case, the entire build is flawed. Sucks when it happens

I know a very famous gun writer that was sent a rifle from a well-known custom/semi-custom gun maker. The writer published a glowing article about how great the rifle was, including pictures of groups fired in the article.

The rifle was returned, and they were using it for a range day event. The rifle wouldn't fire. After disassembly, they realized the firing pin was cut...it was a sample they took to SHOT. I wish they would have asked the writer a few questions, but they chose not to. He just never sent any other rifles for review.

 

[Mike 338]

I know a very famous gun writer that was sent a rifle from a well-known custom/semi-custom gun maker. The writer published a glowing article about how great the rifle was, including pictures of groups fired in the article.

The rifle was returned, and they were using it for a range day event. The rifle wouldn't fire. After disassembly, they realized the firing pin was cut...it was a sample they took to SHOT. I wish they would have asked the writer a few questions, but they chose not to. He just never sent any other rifles for review.

Yep, "gun writer".

 

[Launchpad14]

I know a very famous gun writer that was sent a rifle from a well-known custom/semi-custom gun maker. The writer published a glowing article about how great the rifle was, including pictures of groups fired in the article.

The rifle was returned, and they were using it for a range day event. The rifle wouldn't fire. After disassembly, they realized the firing pin was cut...it was a sample they took to SHOT. I wish they would have asked the writer a few questions, but they chose not to. He just never sent any other rifles for review.

Any insight into the the writer or the manufacturer?