![]() Closer inspection of the stock also revealed two small screws passed through it on either side of the action’s recoil lug. Of course, this doesn’t help with accuracy. When the rifle showed up for testing, the barrel was not free-floating and was touching the stock’s barrel channel. One of things I noticed during testing was that the barrel channel in the H-S Precision stock ( ) rides very close to the carbon fiber barrel. However it all shakes out, the test rifle proved accurate, as the attached table shows. I can’t predict which will be making the barrels on Howa’s production guns, but I suspect Howa is still finalizing their selection. There are only five carbon fiber barrel manufacturers of whom I’m aware of: Christensen Arms, Proof Research, Helix 6 Precision, BSF and Carbon Six. ![]() This poses a bit of a mystery about who is going to make the carbon fiber barrel Howa will use. The carbon fiber barrel that came on G&A’s Howa Carbon Fiber rifle looked suspiciously like a Christensen Arms barrel, but a quick call to Christensen Arms confirmed that production rifles will not have their barrels. This is important because the faster the bore cools, the less abuse it takes during follow-up shots. This occurs because carbon fiber pulls heat away from the steel quickly, and it works. One claim I’ve tested on carbon fiber barrels is that they “cool faster than steel barrels.” My own testing has shown that the thin steel liner that forms the bore gets hotter than an all-steel counterpart, but no bore temperature drops faster than one surrounded by carbon fiber. The advantages claimed from using a carbon fiber-wrapped barrel are sometimes exaggerated, but certain facts can’t be argued. These barrels usually have a contour similar to a steel bull barrel, but come in at a fraction of the weight. All The RageĬarbon fiber barrels are hot right now, and not without reason. Together, the finished rifle tips the scales at less than 7 pounds. New from Howa is the combination of adding a carbon-fiber barrel to its receiver and dropping the barreled action into the latest H-S Precision stock made from carbon-fiber, Kevlar and fiberglass. From this, the Howa 1500 has earned a reputation as a reliable rifle. While that may sound odd to some, this combination makes for a stable receiver with an easy-feeding bolt. The easiest way to conjure a mental understanding of Howa’s 1500 barreled action is to imagine a Remington 700 bolt with an improved extractor stuffed into a Winchester Model 54 receiver. Their rifles are produced in Japan and belong to a small manufacturer demographic that produces both economical and high-quality rifles. Howa is one of those rifle companies that many still don’t know, but probably should.
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