Howa 1500

I wasn't dying to have a Howa rifle, nor was I particularly looking for a rifle in the .270 Winchester caliber. However, I was eager to have an excuse to make use of a Boyd's Forest Camo laminate stock. This is it. I figure it will make a good loaner rifle.

I intended to buy a Howa barreled action, but Dunn's had this rifle marked down to the same price.

Caliber:	.270 Winchester
Barrel:	22" blued steel, 1 in 10" twist
Action:	bolt-action, blued steel, 5+1 round magazine
Stock:	Boyds' forest camo laminate
Trigger:	3¾ lbs
Scope:	Vortex Crossfire II 3-9x40mm
Weight:	7.95 (5.15 + 2.80) lbs without scope

I purchased this rifle in 2013.

Stock

The Boyd's stock is 2D23110-04-110 (Classic, Howa 1500, Long Action, Factory Barrel Channel, Forest Camo Laminate, Finished) with laser checkering pattern #1 (120038).

Tim glass bedded the stock for me.

Optics

I have a Vortex Crossfire II 3-9x40mm scope mounted on this rifle. It seems like a good scope, with good optics. The only downside is that the click adjustments are difficult to hear or feel.

Ammunition

The scope is currently zeroed at 100 yds. for Barnes VOR-TX ammunition using 130 gr. T-TSX bullets. My first group with it was sub-MOA (0.795"), but then my second group with it opened up to 1.547" (it was windy). I should probably clean it and test the grouping and the zero again on a day with no wind.

Eventually, I would like to develop a load based on the 130 gr. Sierra GameKing bullet.

Remington 130 gr. Core-Lokt: about 1½ MOA

Status

April 26, 2019: This rifle is now fully built, and it has been sighted in for premium ammunition. It is ready to hunt. I have a box with 10 remaining rounds.

Round Count: 32