Howa 1500 accuracy

[Yellowfever440]

I bought a howa 1500 in a krg bravo chassis in 6.5 creedmoor last Thanksgiving and I think my hopes were just too high. I have a gen 2 ruger precision in 308 and at 100 yards I can easily shoot .5 to 1 moa with it. It shoots factory ammo well even, match grade or not. So i was thinking i was probably a 1 moa shooter roughly, still a beginner(in reloading and shooting) though. I wanted a 6.5 creedmoor so I started researching and everyone spoke well of the howa for accuracy and quality for the price.

So I thought about a tikka tac and a rpr in 6.5 but decided I would go with a howa 1500 in 6.5 creedmoor, so I found a good price on a new color scheme and bought it. I got an athlon argos btr for it since I had great luck with the one I put on my rpr in 308. I have put 200 to 250 rounds through it, factory and handloads and I haven't shot a group with it under 1.5 moa and I am starting to lose the drive to even mess with it any more. So I removed the chassis and loctited all the screws and scope base and rings. Now I am just puzzled and the next thing I am going to do a tracking test on the scope again. I can still pick up the rpr in 308 and shoot sub moa but not with the howa.

I have shot hornady 129 gr soft points, 140 gr eldm, 147 gr eldm factory rounds and I have loaded hornady 129 gr sst, 140 gr eldm and just got some 147 gr eldm to try. Using h4350 powder and hornady and starline brass.

Has anyone else had trouble getting a relatively decent grouping out of a factory howa fairly quickly?

 

[Shankin]

My Howa Bravo was shooting .5-.75moa out of the box with factory Hornady 143 ELD-X. Hand loads put it at .5moa consistently with 143’s. Switched to 130 Berger Hybrids and it’s in the .3-.5moa range.

What are all of the specifics of your hand loads?

Bullet?
Case?
Powder and weight?
Primer?
Over all length?
Velocities?
S.D.?
E.S.?

What are your torque settings for everything?

Action screws?
Scope base?
Rings?

ETA- I’m pretty sure Howa has a sub-moa guarantee when using match grade ammo. Might consider giving them a call to see what can be done. I’d don’t know if their groups are 3 or 5 rounds.... don’t know that it should matter either.

I’m pretty sure @Matt from @Howa @LSI frequents the board as well. He might be able to steer you in the right direction as well.

 

[Yellowfever440]

I can answer all those questions later this evening when I get home.

 

[Fweedombypepe]

Not me. Mine shoots half moa if I do my part..she's easily more accurate then I am. Every powder charge and bullet seating ive tried(RL 16 with 140eld-m) has done 1moa or better.

 

[stilesg57]

Own two Howas and have spent a good bit of time with a third (a buddy has it now). All were sub-MOA out of the box, and two of those were pencil barrels in cheap plastic stocks. So that definitely sounds weird to me.

I like the idea of reaching out to LSI about it.

 

[Codiekfx400]

I would clean the barrel thoroughly. Use sweets 7.62 solvent or something similar to remove the copper. If I have a non custom barrel that doesn’t shoot well it is usually copper fouled badly.