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> Early Howa Synthetic Stock
Early Howa Synthetic Stock
@ 02:36 pm (GMT) |
Cam HHi all,New forum member here. I'm looking to get back into hunting after a 15 year hiatus, mainly due to kids, other hobbies and moving off of acreage. Stumbled across this forum while looking for answers and have since started reading Nathan's books. I have a Howa 1500 Sporter in 30_06 with the original black synthetic stock, pre Hogue and have a few questions in regards to modifying it. From memory, this rifle was never a sub-moa shooter in my hands. Now, 15 years later, I'm looking at it with a little bit more experience and notice that the barrel isn't free floating and has fore-end contact as well as irregular contact down the entire channel. I'm assuming the forend contact was a standard approach to this model from factory however the rest of the channel has grind marks like they were made at 4pm on a friday before a long weekend. Are these stocks worth the effort of stiffening, full length bedding and floating the barrel? I had been looking at a HS Precision stock due to the ambidextrous design (LH shooter) but enjoy a good project if these original stocks can be improved. The entire barrel and action look tight in the stock so I am assuming I would need to remove considerable material from the side walls for bedding and floating purposes. There is also no pillar bedding on this stock and appears to be completely synthetic. The action screw holes don't have much clearance so imagine pillar bedding would be difficult. I guess I am just trying to gauge whether the juice is worth the squeeze. I've had the trigger lightened by a gunsmith years ago and it's nice and crisp and I will be putting some better optics on it than the old Nikko Sterling that it came with. The barrel still looks to be in good condition and just a small amount of light surface rust on the bluing after years of storage. Cheers for any advice the brains trust can share as to the likelihood of making something from this or if I'd just be better off upgrading to the HS or similar. |
Replies
@ 06:34 am (GMT) |
Nathan FosterRe: Early Howa Synthetic StockHi Cam, it depends on your budget. If you can afford the HS then I would suggest that you go for it.Plastic - the original stock can be stabilized and bedded. It does require some patients and extra care needs to be taken to avoid flexing the stock (bungee tension) during the bedding cure, but it can be done. Pillars, though nice to have are not 100% necessary. Flexing during the cure can occur with or without pillars during bedding if one uses too much bungee tension. The original plastic stocks had a nice form including one iteration that had a varmint type layout. All could be pretty bad without stabilizing and bedding but after application, could shoot very well. The Howa version (as opposed to Wby Vanguard) had a straight comb and produced significantly less recoil than the Weatherby plastic or fiberglass stocks. HS - Very sturdy. The Monte carlo type (for Vangaurd) does increase felt recoil but provided power is not over the top, it is manageable. It is not however suitable for left handers. As you point out, an ambidextrous straight comb model is available for the Howa. The glass / ali stocks do sometimes need bedding to prevent flexing / stressing the receiver. It is quite vivid in some examples. This is something you will need to keep in mind. Perform the 1 oclock test as per the book set and test shoot the rifle. Determine how much accuracy you need and whether the rifle meets that criteria. Note that some of the older barrels were not the best. Accuracy issues may be a result of the stock, but might also be as a result of the barrel. Be prepared to experiment with the barrel (harmonics). See the Accurizing book for mock bedding tips so that you can isolate issues before going through the whole exercise of bedding. See especially - Rigid mounting - Rifles second edition. Otherwise, these are very nice to own and use. The Howa receiver combined with a sturdy ali / fiberglass stock makes for a good long term platform, especially in .30-06. Although the long action receiver is slightly too short for .300 Win Mag (hand loading), it can be considered generous for the 2.5" case length cartridges. It allows for a huge range of experimentation with the .30-06 cartridge. Hope that helps, all the best. |
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@ 11:57 am (GMT) |
Cameron HupfieldRe: Early Howa Synthetic StockHi Nathan, thanks for the fast and thorough reply!I think I'll invest in the HS Precision straight comb and work up from there, that way avoiding any cans of worms I might introduce into the mix. I'll throw some new optics on it while I'm at it. Hopefully, the barrel isn't a concern but at the end of the day, a new Howa is relatively cheap if I were to replace it, or relegate it to a short range sambar rifle. Thanks again for the wealth of knowledge you share. I'll update the thread with the outcomes, however, not having private land to shoot on anymore and being an hour from the nearest range means this may take some time! Cheers |
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@ 02:29 pm (GMT) |
Cameron HupfieldRe: Early Howa Synthetic StockHi Nathan,I've got a quick question in regards to the tang height reference on the rear of the Howa Synthetic stock. I noted in your videos you recommending leaving the reference point at the forward section of the stock in this area. Was this just in regards to the Hogue stock? There doesn't seem to be a lot of area around the action screw hole on my early plastic stock now and wondering if I would benefit from keying the middle section of the height reference leaving just the sides to govern the height? https://imgur.com/a/V0pIZCR Appreciate any advice you could give. Cheers Cam |
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@ 02:38 pm (GMT) |
Cameron HupfieldRe: Early Howa Synthetic Stock
Sorry, can't delete last post. Hopefully this image is more manageable! |
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@ 06:31 am (GMT) |
Nathan FosterRe: Early Howa Synthetic StockHi Cam, yes, this was an annoyance with this stock molding. They could have brought the stock tang material forward a bit while maintaining clearance for the trigger.Yes, you can go either way with this. When you do your burn prep / hot wire, inspect it afterwards to see if any of the melted material ends up raised. If it raises up too high (to the level of your ref point, just dremel it again so that its a tad lower and re burn prep it. |
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@ 12:18 pm (GMT) |
Cameron HupfieldRe: Early Howa Synthetic StockThanks Nathan. Much appreciated. |
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@ 10:32 pm (GMT) |
Cameron HupfieldRe: Early Howa Synthetic StockJust a quick update on the progress of my build and another request for information from the gurus.So in the end, I decided against the HS stock and instead invested in a LH T3X Lite in .308 Stainless. In the meantime, I decided to have a go at bedding the plastic stock on the Howa for the experience and to see whether I can make something of the old girl. Have just been doing a bit here and there when I can, whilst watching and reading all the guides multiple times! Have stabilised the stock which has made a dramatic improvement to the flex the forend used to have as well as floating the barrel channel as it was making heavy contact favouring one side. Have since finished removing stock material (hopefully not too much), hot prepped and nearly ready to start the final stages. Here's a few photos to see if I've made any glaring mistakes. 
One question I have that I can't seem to find detailed in the guides or forum pics is whether I need to remove any stock material from the vertical sides of the tang area . Should I be removing material from the area marked in red? I'm assuming it would be better to have more compound there than just a thin covering? The yellow line is where I plan to relief with tape. 
Cheers again for any advice this forum gives. There's an absolute treasure trove of info here. Cam |
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@ 06:29 am (GMT) |
Nathan FosterRe: Early Howa Synthetic StockHi Cam, that looks good. The prep is the correct texture - excellent!Otherwise its hard to tell without being able to inspect it first hand but it looks like its all correct. All the best. |
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@ 09:16 pm (GMT) |
Cameron HupfieldRe: Early Howa Synthetic StockFinally had a couple of days free from work to get around to the nitty gritty. Everything went smoothly thanks to the time spent rereading the tutorials. I ran a bit short of compound around the side walls of the tang but this may have been due to the lack of material I took from there. I was probably a bit excessive on the compound left on the beads as it took a few good whacks with a rubber mallet to free the action. All in all, very happy with the outcome. I've got a bit more cleaning up to do before reassembling and performing a 1 o'clock test but fingers crossed.Thanks again, Nathan, for the time you put into your tutorials. I've watched dozens of videos on the subject and after watching yours, the rest left me a bit bemused. 
Will post again when I get around to mounting a new scope and some range time. If I don't, I've stuck it back into the safe until it gets rebarrelled in 25.06. Cheers |
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@ 07:26 am (GMT) |
Nathan FosterRe: Early Howa Synthetic StockHi Cam, looks like a great bedding job. Lets hope it shoots well. The Howa is very good in that it has quite a long mag box regarding the .30-06 length cartridges. It will allow you to experiment with a range of projectiles and seating depths. |
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