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Howa 1500 300 PRC

wyattgtx

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Minuteman
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Jun 6, 2024
61
15
Texas
I have been back and forth on buying the Howa 1500 300 PRC barreled action from Brownells. The price point is great and I plan on dropping it into the MDT Oryx chassis. I have not been able to find any reviews on the 300 PRC barreled action and was just curious if anybody in here has has any experience with it at all. Thanks
 

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I have one. It was a full stocked rifle though. It shot good enough, but I replaced the barrel with a 28” Shilem match barrel from NSS and dropped it in a Boyd’s stock.
Shoot great and I love the action. I wanted the longer barrel so that I could shoot the 250 A-Tips. They shoot good, but I don’t get enough velocity on them to give them an advantage over the 230 A-Tips.
 
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The heading of the sale page says the barrel is non-threaded but the pics and the specs lower down the page say it is threaded. Can you confirm it is threaded and the spec?

I am also very interested in further reviews of this barreled action.
 
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The heading of the sale page says the barrel is non-threaded but the pics and the specs lower down the page say it is threaded. Can you confirm it is threaded and the spec?

I am also very interested in further reviews of this barreled action.

This is the one I am looking at. I would prefer to spend the extra $100 on this one because it has a heavy barrel and the 5/8 x 24 threads. I did talk to brownells about the one you are asking about and they did confirm it was a typo and the barrel is threaded.
 
Thanks! This is very helpful and appreciated info.



This is the one I am looking at. I would prefer to spend the extra $100 on this one because it has a heavy barrel and the 5/8 x 24 threads. I did talk to brownells about the one you are asking about and they did confirm it was a typo and the barrel is threaded.
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Is this action possibly respectable for a beginner's build to reach out to 1200 yards or is it really advisable/necessary to bump up to an action in the $1000 range and/or a much better barrel?

I am hoping to put more of my limited $ into the optic.

Would I be better off just getting a Ruger RPR in 300 PRC or going this route with the Howa barreled action and a chassis in the $500-700 range?
 
I got the heavy barrel with the 5/8 threads & couldn’t get any decent results shooting Hornady 208,212 ELD’s or Sierra 200g & 220g smk & H1000 powder …couldn’t get better than like 2” groups then I tried the Berger 220’s & finally got 3/4 moa . The only thing is if I try to push them faster than 2,725 fps the groups open up pretty bad . I also have it in an Oryx chassis & had my smith mill the front of the mag well to accept the longer oal of the 300prc rounds .
I shortened the trigger spring 1 &1/3 coils & the trigger feels awesome ,best factory trigger I’ve felt . It shoots pretty good for a cheap rifle compared to a Ruger RPR.
 
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I don’t have the receipts, so my best guess when I built it a couple of years ago would be $1,300, minus the scope. Since I bought the complete rifle I was able to shoot it as I upgraded it a piece at a time.

It weighs about 16 pounds, that’s a 28 barrel and I have some weight in the bag on the stock. Recoil is less than my Model 1903; not bad at all.
 
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Sounds like 1200 should be no problem, then.

Thank you for all this very useful info. I think I am picking up this action. As far as the Boyd stocks which look great, I am figuring out how to put some real weight on them.
 
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I got the heavy barrel with the 5/8 threads & couldn’t get any decent results shooting Hornady 208,212 ELD’s or Sierra 200g & 220g smk & H1000 powder …couldn’t get better than like 2” groups then I tried the Berger 220’s & finally got 3/4 moa . The only thing is if I try to push them faster than 2,725 fps the groups open up pretty bad . I also have it in an Oryx chassis & had my smith mill the front of the mag well to accept the longer oal of the 300prc rounds .
I shortened the trigger spring 1 &1/3 coils & the trigger feels awesome ,best factory trigger I’ve felt . It shoots pretty good for a cheap rifle compared to a Ruger RPR.

Is this Howa action 3 rounds only loaded from the top internally? Do you like it in the Oryx?
 
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Im not even sure what it holds if you use the factory mag , it being in the oryx uses AI type mags , I got mine from MDT & yes I like the chassis on a budget . It doesn’t have arca rails or any of the fancy crap the more expensive chassis offer but for my cheap ass it’s perfect .
 
Im not even sure what it holds if you use the factory mag , it being in the oryx uses AI type mags , I got mine from MDT & yes I like the chassis on a budget . It doesn’t have arca rails or any of the fancy crap the more expensive chassis offer but for my cheap ass it’s perfect .

Excellent. For the .300 PRC is there any issue with having to alter the Oryx to use AICS mags?
 
I agree with ^ you shouldn’t have to alter anything but if you use the 300 PRC 3.850 mag you absolutely have to alter it otherwise it won’t enter the mag well . The PRC mag is longer than the inlet …..plus you’ll have to notch the feed ramp on the action a bit to make clearance for the round to line up & feed .
 
I agree with ^ you shouldn’t have to alter anything but if you use the 300 PRC 3.850 mag you absolutely have to alter it otherwise it won’t enter the mag well . The PRC mag is longer than the inlet …..plus you’ll have to notch the feed ramp on the action a bit to make clearance for the round to line up & feed .

Thanks. Are there any good Howa 1500 Long Action compatible chassis in the under $800 range where the 300 PRC mags just work correctly?
 
For anyone interested; I discovered part numbers available in other countries showing the Oryx available with the 3.850 inlet. I contacted Ryan at MDT and eventually he was able to locate some for us and has added them to the MDT website!
Screenshot from this morning. Shows green and FDE available.
 

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I am looking at a Fat Bastard Gen 3 or an ATS self timing brake. The best I can find out is that the barrel diameter on the Howa 1500 heavy barrel action is .820 or .830. The Fat Bastard Gen 3 says .850 and above. Any opinions on this?