Howa Superlite

[Cody finch]

Thank you for the mag length. The stock is carbon fiber isn't it?

 

[Imabballer]

Thank you for the mag length. The stock is carbon fiber isn't it?

I was 100% convinced it was just a plastic stock (as I stated in my precious post) but then I read the American rifleman article that says it’s a carbon fiber stock, so I’m not sure now. It FEELS like a plastic stock to me. LOTS of flex. The stock has a coating on it everywhere, so I can’t see what’s under it for sure.

 

[Imabballer]

I just took the action back out of the stock to look at where I sanded the barrel channel down to get it to free float and it is 100% plastic. I did sand through the coating there and it is definitely plastic.

 

[Cody finch]

Well that's not good !!! they advertise them with a stockys carbon fiber stock like the carbon stalker model, I wouldn't be happy with that. Thank you for the update.

 

[Imabballer]

I haven't seen where Howa ever says it has a carbon fiber stock, only some magazine articles that probably just assumed it used a carbon fiber stock by looking at the price point these are selling at. Howa is probably making a killing off of these rifles assuming they didn't have to spend a fortune on R&D on the shortened receiver.

 

[ElPollo]

It was a reasonable assumption, given that Stocky’s was known for fiberglass and carbon fiber stocks and they were making carbon stocks for the 1500s and mini actions that Howa had released over the past couple of years. Thanks for the info.

 

[jaredg]

I'll weigh in on the 223 version.

Immaballer had it about right. I had to swap out trigger to Timney, inlet the stock for the trigger, inlet the forearm to free float the barrel and sand all the shiny crap off the entire stock. Stock was touching barrel at end of forearm and is not evenly channeled. The butt of the stock has some weird glue / bondo mating Limbsaver to stock. Shitty job mating it all up correctly.

I have not shot mine yet, but...

My friend bought the identical 223 Carbon Stalker (except Swaro Z3) and his shoots 1/2 MOA (3 rds) and he loves it. He told me I was an autistic gun snob and to shoot it before I pass judgement.

So I will mount up a spare Meopro 3-10x44 and give her hell. On the upside, by sanding (320 grit) the shiny finish off of the stock, it now looks light my Sako Carbonlight!

 

[Stinky Coyote]

I would be all in if it weren't for that 2-stage trigger. I hate them. I have never understood how adding reliable creep to a trigger became a good thing.

100 and it's worse than just that 2 stage trigger, it's too far back, too curved, the face of it feels cheaper than gas station cap guns

I've dumped a fair bit into howa's and I'm still a sucker for punishment as there's still one barrelled action in the safe for an ultralight project one day but I'd bet once the fun of finishing is over I'll do what I've done so many times and flip it for peanuts compared to my spend and aggravation as I'm soured permanently on the brand now. The only good part was the action and barrel...not a single thing else lol, money pit you might be able to make as nice as a rem 700 build one day...maybe....where's the stainless? They offer it in other markets...one more thing that makes my blood boil, would rather do a 700. Don't get in the howa game is my recommendation.

 

[kooz]

I ordered one of these in .308 , it has not shown up yet . After reading this thread , I called and spoke with the senior VP of marketing and sales for Howa. He assured me that the stocks are Stocky's carbon fiber with Accublock bedding block . I also called Talley and asked about light weight rings and although they are not in stock now, he said to keep an eye out as they are working on them and expect them to be in stock in 8-12 weeks . Howa is also working on traditional mounts for the gun , but they have no projected release date on them as of yet .

 

[Imabballer]

I ordered one of these in .308 , it has not shown up yet . After reading this thread , I called and spoke with the senior VP of marketing and sales for Howa. He assured me that the stocks are Stocky's carbon fiber with Accublock bedding block . I also called Talley and asked about light weight rings and although they are not in stock now, he said to keep an eye out as they are working on them and expect them to be in stock in 8-12 weeks . Howa is also working on traditional mounts for the gun , but they have no projected release date on them as of yet .

Are you saying you ordered a Howa superlite and they told you that? Or did you order a carbon elevate or carbon stalker?

If you ordered the superlite you will be disappointed if carbon fiber and bedding is important to you. It has no bedding block or pillars and is not carbon fiber. Besides the fact I have one on hand to look at with my own eyes I called howa myself and confirmed they are plastic stocks.

I had also called Talley about the lightweight mounts before I modified a set of standard 1500 mounts and they said they planned on making some once they got an action in-house to measure.

 

[Imabballer]

A few pics of my superlite stock:

 

[kooz]

I ordered a superlite . I have not received it yet . I am in no way doubting you analysis of your stock , just relaying info that was told to me by Howa . I also saw a full page Howa add in this months Rifle magazine that says big as day that the gun has a the Stocky's carbon fibor stock with bedding block , so it is curious to me what is going on . Maybe it is just a real flimsy poorly made carbon fiber stock ?

 

[kooz]

I am really on the fence right now , I am thinking about cancelling my order while I still can and waiting to see how this all shakes out . $1200 is to much for a project gun .

 

[Imabballer]

I ordered a superlite . I have not received it yet . I am in no way doubting you analysis of your stock , just relaying info that was told to me by Howa . I also saw a full page Howa add in this months Rifle magazine that says big as day that the gun has a the Stocky's carbon fibor stock with bedding block , so it is curious to me what is going on . Maybe it is just a real flimsy poorly made carbon fiber stock ?

I am always open to the possibility I am an absolute idiot and just can’t recognize the carbon fiber, but it feels just like any plastic stock I have ever used. When I called howa I just asked the first guy that answered the phone and he confirmed it was a plastic stock on the superlite. I have noticed that howa never says it is a carbon fiber stock in any of their advertisements, which would be shocking if it was, because that would be a major selling point. The one magazine article you referenced is the only place online I can find anybody saying it’s carbon fiber.

As far as bedding blocks, even if it did have one, it not very useful since the trigger guard/magazine well is plastic. You can’t put much torque on the action screws without breaking that plastic.

 

[ElPollo]

I am always open to the possibility I am an absolute idiot and just can’t recognize the carbon fiber, but it feels just like any plastic stock I have ever used. When I called howa I just asked the first guy that answered the phone and he confirmed it was a plastic stock on the superlite. I have noticed that howa never says it is a carbon fiber stock in any of their advertisements, which would be shocking if it was, because that would be a major selling point. The one magazine article you referenced is the only place online I can find anybody saying it’s carbon fiber.

As far as bedding blocks, even if it did have one, it not very useful since the trigger guard/magazine well is plastic. You can’t put much torque on the action screws without breaking that plastic.

I hear what you’re saying about this gun, and I agree the advertising wasn’t clear. And if the VP of sales is passing misinformation on their products, that’s disconcerting. But despite that, I would shoot the gun before I made any decisions. My Tikka is not significantly handicapped by a plastic stock, floor plate, magazine, and trigger guard. While the Tikka is not $1300 gun, making a sub-5 pound gun will take some outside the box thinking and materials.

 

[Imabballer]

I hear what you’re saying about this gun, and I agree the advertising wasn’t clear. And if the VP of sales is passing misinformation on their products, that’s disconcerting. But despite that, I would shoot the gun before I made any decisions. My Tikka is not significantly handicapped by a plastic stock, floor plate, magazine, and trigger guard. While the Tikka is not $1300 gun, making a sub-5 pound gun will take some outside the box thinking and materials.

I agree, I'm withholding final judgement on the gun until I have a chance to see how it shoots. It it performs and shoots well I can live with everything else.

 

[kooz]

Well, the .308 showed up a couple days ago . It is very lite for sure . The stock is definitely carbon fiber to my eye and feels like it , but not as stiff as I would like it feels a bit "cheap/chinky" . I will need to relieve a little of the barrel channel , but nothing major . The stock won't bother me one bit as long as it shoots decent .Has a nice light trigger, cant be more than 2lbs . Very very hard to manipulate the magazine release button , will look at that when the action is out . I fired a couple shots out the front door just to get an idea of what the recoil would be like . Factory fusion 165gr was a bit lively , only in the sense that the gun wants to jump out of your support hand . For me the recoil was not a big deal and not punishing at all and I am no fan of recoil . I hope to get it on paper in the next week or so and will update again afterwards . Overall I am optimistic, it cant be easy making a production gun this lite for $1150 . If it shoots anywhere in the MOA range I will be happy . A good 1-6 scope and some Barnes 130TTSX would make this a great easy to carry elk rig out to 300-350yds .

 

[roosiebull]

I just bought one of these in 6.5 creedmoor. If any of you have any questions let me know and I’ll do my best to answer them.

A few things off the top. My 6.5cm weighed in at 4lbs 13oz. I assume the 308 version would be a little lighter since it’s got a bigger hole in the barrel but still a little disappointing that it was 6oz off the listed weight when the primary selling point of the rifle is weight. Nowhere does it say the 6.5cm weighs more than the 308 in the howa advertisements.

To be brutally honest I was a little disappointed with the rifle upon initial inspection. I incorrectly assumed the stock would be painted carbon fiber, but it is just an extremely cheap feeling plastic. The barrel was not free floated with the stock touching the barrel in multiple places and the barrel was slightly off center of the barrel channel. The stock is very lacking in rigidity and even slight pressure on the forend causes barrel contact even after I sanded out the channel to get the barrel free floated. The bottom “metal” is all plastic that feels very breakable. It has no pillars or any sort of reinforcement for the action screws.

One other downside I ran into is the scope rail it comes with it unnecessarily tall. Even with low rings it holds my 3.5-10x40 Leupold WAY too high. I was going to need to add a cheek riser to get a good cheek weld on the stock if I used the factory picatinny scope mount. No scope mount manufaturer that I was able to find makes any other mounts for it. I ended up buying a set of Talley lightweight low mounts for a regular 1500 and modifying the rear mount by cutting it shorter and milling a new screw hole due to the smaller .500” rear screw spacing on this modified action.

With my modified low 30mm Talley lightweight scope mounts, a leupold vx-3hd 3.5-10x40 firedot, and an empty mag the gun weighs in at 5lbs 15oz. Even though the bare gun weight was a little disappointing I am pretty happy with that total weight including the scope.

I haven’t had a chance to shoot it yet and probably won’t for another couple weeks, but if it shoots decent I’ll keep it. I’ll try to update this thread with a range report when I get a chance to shoot it.

In conclusion I have to admit that I don’t feel this rifle is worth anywhere near its price tag. The fit and finish of this gun is MUCH closer to a savage axis or ruger American than it is to one of the kimber ultralights. I understand things like not using metal for the trigger guard to save weight, but even the plastic there has sharp edges and mould flashing that wasn’t cleaned off. I would feel much more justified in the price tag if it had a more rigid stock, the one it comes with is just unforgivable on a $1k+ rifle.

we appreciate the feedback, thank you for posting that with little info (especially firsthand) around

i do think you are pretty much paying for the lightweight aspect, so i'm not surprised on the lack of fit and finish, but that is crazy light, and to have a nice rifle with quality components with nice fit and finish will cost money.... for crazy light/affordable, i do think kimber has really done a great job.... not much else in the sub 5lb that are anywhere close on cost..... i will admit, i was pretty interigued by howa's recent offerings, including your rifle, and i'm not in the market for a super lightweight rifle..... the price/weight was/is tempting.... at least tempting to my impulsive side

i hope it shoots well for you, if so, i'm sure you can look past some of the other things. i bought my wife a savage lightweight storm in 6.5 creed a couple years ago, and it's similar to what you describe, it looks cheap, feels cheap, and is ugly, but it's a shooter.... we have lost the need for that rifle, and if it was a nice, quality feeling rifle, i would keep it just because, but as it is, i just am not inclined to keep it. i bought one of the savage ultralites a couple years ago (also in creed) and ordered an xlr chassis for it, and braked it, and have decided that will be my wife and daughter's rifle and i'm going a different route.... the howas piqued my interest, but i have decided to not chase lightweight too much with this next rifle, but i'm still interested in the future

if they make a carbon fast twist .223, that could push me over the edge (or a super lite) something light and handy for calling lions/coyotes, or take deer hunting in certain scenarios.

keep us posted how it shoots, i'm very curious, and i hope you have a good report! thanks again for the feedback on a rifle that has very little info available.

 

[sndmn11]

The picture of that stock is what the carbon V block looks like from Stocky's.

 

[kooz]

Took a much closer look at the rifle today and pulled the action out of the stock . There was a little piece of paint stuck in the magazine release that was causing my stiff magazine extraction issue , so that has been solved . Also , I would say that after having the action out and taking a good look at the stock, it is pretty stiff for what it is , not bad at all, so I take back my previous "cheap/chinky" comment . The "bottom metal" is extremely well made/machined, whatever it is made of it is crazy stiff like kevlar or some type of carbon material . Other than probably needing to open the barrel channel of the stock up just a little , I am very happy with the gun, hope it shoots good . It looks to me as they have done a damn good job for $1150 and being so lite .