Howa .223 accuracy?

bulletbob7

New member
What kind of groups are you getting with your Howa.223?
Ihave a 1500 that is driving me crazy. A .6 group then
the next group might be 1 3/4 inch. Get this: floated
the barrel, no luck. Glass bedded, no luck. Two trigger
jobs, no luck. Recrown the barrel, no improvement. Took
off the Sightron and put on a Leupold, no luck. Installed
a Timney trigger which gives a superb 30 ounce break, no
improvement. Over 300 rounds of load development and it's
still all over the map. I should'a stuck with Remington.
 
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Shoulda...

See what happens when you decide to "try" something out because of stuff you've heard or read...

I did the same with a Savage in 270 WSM. The thing wouldn't shoot for $hit, and after $200 or so of load development later, would only shoot a 1.25" group at 100 yards...So much for Savage being accurate for me...I shoulda stuck with Remington or Winchester...
 
What bases and rings are you using and did you use locktight,also have you gave the bore a good scrub.should of got a Remington maybe or somthing else for the money already spent it.
 
Quote:
Sporter weight or bull barrel?

If sporter, let er cool down.



Sporter weight, two minutes between shots, at least ten
minutes between groups. Barrel cleaned with Sweets and
Montana Extreme, followed by Hoppe's.
 
What ammo are you shooting? Are shooting factory or reloads?

This time of year accuracy can get a little inconsistant, as the temps get higher. Ammo loaded with certqin powders that are sensitive to high temps, it can give erratic pressures and velocities, thus giving erratic groups.

As a long shot, it could be that year barrel has not been thoroughly stressed releived. you could have the barrel cryogenic treated to releive some of that stress.
 
A friend of mine has a Howa in .223 Rem. A light barreled gun. It will put 3 shots at 100 yards around 1/2", with handloads using the 40 grain VMax, pretty consistently. The other few Howas I have seen have shot quite well. None were even remotely as inaccurate as yours is.

On the other hand, his heavy barreled Savage FVSS in .223 will do slightly better, or I should say did, around .300", until his grandson put 250 rounds of Wolf ammo through it. After that, the best it would do was slightly over 3" groups at 100 yards, with the same handloads. He's still working on cleaning the bore and trying to get it to shoot well again. Needless to say his grandson won't be borrowing any more of his rifles.

Maybe your problem with the Howa is of a similar nature. It could be if it was a used gun.
 
This is really a long shot.
Check the action screws, they may be too long and not holding the action to stock tight enough. Loosen the rear screw and see if you can rock the barrel in the stock, then try the front screw.
 
Thanks Dan, already tried that. After glassing, barreled
action is rock steady. I shoot only handloads: W748, N133,
Benchmark, Norma 200, IMR4198...same result.

Sent it back to my gunsmith buddy for another recrown job.
He says previously the cutter pilot was wobbling in the bore. After whacking another 1/2inch off, the pilot is now
a snug fit. Possibly a bad barrel that was over-sized at
the muzzle. I'll shoot it again Tuesday.

Thanks for the input gents.
 
I have a Howa .22-250 in Hogue overmolded stock (pillar bedded, free floated) that will shoot MOA all day long. I have close to 1500 rounds through it and never had an issue... it OUTSHOOTS my stock Rem 700 VLS easily.
 
Don't know what to tell you, the Howas and Savages I have owned have shot better out of the box than any Remington I have ever had. And I have been buying shooting and trading rifles off for forty five years looking for that "right one"
At this time I have a Savage in 270WSM that shoots into 1/2" all day. I had a Howa 30-06 that I gave my Daughter a couple years ago it shot 3/4" groups off hand with my handloads. I will not keep an inaccurate rifle no matter what it is or one that is inconsistant. Cneck every thing from bedding to scope mounts you should find the problem. But remember that any modern rifle is usually more accurate than the person pulling the trigger.
 
"I had a Howa 30-06 that I gave my Daughter a couple years ago it shot 3/4" groups off hand with my handloads."
I hope this is some kind of misprint because even the best shots in the world can't even come close to shooting a 3/4" group offhand.

Jack
 
I have a friend going through the same problem with a high dollar .223 Remington. He had found two factory loads that suited him and shot only these loads. his competition load was Black Hills reloads in 75 grain, and his practice load was some Ultramax cheapies. You can't buy Black Hills 77 gr. reloads now (there's a war going on you know), so he's going through a wicked learning curve on precision reloading. In his case, we know it's the ammo and he hasn't found the right combination yet for his rifle. His 3/8 MOA rifle went straight to 7/8 & worse.

Back to your situation, have you tried your ammo in other rifles of known accuracy to see how the ammo performs elsewhere? My ARs all seem to have different preferences, maybe you haven't found a load that your rifle likes.
 
Quote:

have you tried your ammo in other rifles of known accuracy to see how the ammo performs elsewhere? My ARs all seem to have different preferences, maybe you haven't found a load that your rifle likes.



Yes. I fired 3 consecutive .4 groups in a Cooper with
the N133 load.
 
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