New barrel for my Howa or another rifle for big game?

[BobKaare]

I'll probably go moose hunting next year, but I only have a Howa in .243 currently.
What would make more sense, getting a new .284 win barrel spun up for my Howa, or live on bread and water and save up for another rifle?
Are Howa actions so ghetto that I need something nicer to justify the cost of a nice barrel and the gunsmithing cost?
Having tried some Tikkas, a Bergara and a custom Ultimatum build, the bolt on mine feels pretty sloppy and not so nice, but I don't really notice it when at the range.
Never had any issues with extraction or feeding, and the bolt cycles fine when I'm on the gun.
I'm leaning towards just getting a barrel, and use the cash I save to get a .22 lr trainer, but I don't want to have regret for putting lipstick on a pig.

 

[BobKaare]

I should probably add, that I have already invested a bit of cash in my Howa.

 

[Ebar48]

Barrel blank ~ 350, chambering ~350 threading the muzzle ~150 so you are looking at an 850 dollar gunsmithing charge. Unless you can do it all yourself. You can pick up a bergara or tikka for about what you would be out gunsmithing and you could get the new rifle in a moose ready caliber. And then upgrade that one as you see fit. Just food for thought. Also I love the 284 win choice for moose but I wouldn’t build one on a short action. Medium or long especially if you are going to load for it. And also, howas are not ghetto. They are great actions that just don’t have the aftermarket support like rem clones do. But you can build a very nice rifle on one. I have multiple semi customs on howas

 

[spife7980]

Mcgowen does howage barrels for a decent price, then it’s the same as any garage barrel nut swap.

Edit: Norway- probably not then

 

[CavReconScout]

You can get a Criterion pre-fit chambered with the muzzle threaded for around $500 from NSS. You buy another rifle then you have to figure in another scope, rings, etc. not sure what is available in your location though.

 

[fdkay]

Howa's are fine rifles.
The .284 makes sense for what you want to do, but, in reality. unless local laws prohibit it, the .308 will do what you need.
A good 165 grain bonded bullet will get the job done, 24" barrel for good velocities, any short action chambering with that bolt face is a little lite for such big bodied animals.
A 7mm or .30 cal magnum would be preferable.

 

[MakeSawdust]

I think the .284 will do fine. Put 2 holes in both lungs and things tend to die. You might have to single feed the .284 in a short action. I'm not super familiar with the Howa and what OAL they can manage from a short action.

The benefits of having a custom chambered barrel are the accuracy and ease of cleaning. I would much rather spend $850 on a good barrel (stress relieved, hand-lapped, and chamber work done by someone GOOD) than buy a cheap factory rifle with a shitty $15 barrel. Also, having the tools to swap barrels makes things pretty easy to go back and forth. One scope, one stock, one action. While Howa's aren't as refined as custom actions, there is nothing wrong with them. I would not stretch financially for a hobby.

I have a wife and kids that all love to shoot and hunt. We have 4 custom actions that we swap barrels and stocks on to go from prs match shooting to hunting. Also have 223 barrels for trainers. I would love to be able to have a bunch of rifles for each particular application but that is a lot more $$$. I would also love to shoot a bunch of 2 day matches, but with everyone shooting, the one day matches are all we can afford.

You shouldn't feel like you are wasting money to put a good barrel on the Howa. 90% plus of the accuracy potential of the rifle comes from the quality of the barrel blank and the quality of the chamber job. For field shooting it would be hard to shoot the difference between a decent factory action with a phenomenal barrel and an action trued by a top benchrest smith with the same quality barrel.

Spend what you're comfortable with and have fun.

 

[Shawn1492]

2 rifles are better than 1
Wait until Howa releases a 7prc next month.

 

[BobKaare]

Barrel blank ~ 350, chambering ~350 threading the muzzle ~150 so you are looking at an 850 dollar gunsmithing charge. Unless you can do it all yourself. You can pick up a bergara or tikka for about what you would be out gunsmithing and you could get the new rifle in a moose ready caliber. And then upgrade that one as you see fit. Just food for thought. Also I love the 284 win choice for moose but I wouldn’t build one on a short action. Medium or long especially if you are going to load for it. And also, howas are not ghetto. They are great actions that just don’t have the aftermarket support like rem clones do. But you can build a very nice rifle on one. I have multiple semi customs on howas

It will probably be at least 50% more expensive, I'm in Norway.
A Bergara or Tikka will be ~$1500 here, and I would need another scope, probably a new stock or at least bedding the one that comes with it.

 

[BobKaare]

I think the .284 will do fine. Put 2 holes in both lungs and things tend to die. You might have to single feed the .284 in a short action. I'm not super familiar with the Howa and what OAL they can manage from a short action.

According to GRT, with a 2.880" COAL, I should expect to be able to get a 162gr ELD-X up to ~2750 fps from a 22" barrel with safe pressures.
This should also fit into an AICS mag.

 

[SeekingNorth]

A barrel installed in Norway costs $680 or 770, for either a black or stainless Walther barrel.
Add another $200 if you want Pac-Nor or Lilja.
And another $86 for threading.
(that all changes depending on currency)

And I would get a 308 in that short action...
Its point and shoot to 300m.
Really no need for a fancy caliber, that you won't find in a store when you really need it.

Plenty of nice rifles on finn... even cheaper then getting a new barrel.

Though for Moose in Alta, I would get the ultimate Moose caliber... 9,3x62.



Howa is a great action... in almost all respects.
I won't buy one, because they dont have integral mounts machined into top of action.
If they did, all my rifles would probably be Howas!

 

[BobKaare]

After doing some more research, I think I'll be going for a 7-08AI, saw Rafdal has a reamer for it, and the price is quite ok for an IBI carbon barrel.
I just can't bring myself to get a .308 win, it's too vanilla

Though I'll probably get a very vanilla Ruger American in .223 as just a beater for small game and plinking.

 

[SeekingNorth]

Ruger American?

Really!!

You must be into SM, getting nonexistent cartridges and sub par rifles.

Hell, even a 6,5x55 would be better and is the cheapest big game cartridge to shoot in Norway.
Fully loaded Lapua Match ammunition is cheaper then Lapua brass = cheap practice.


Right now there is a pretty T3 SS in 223 and a Kimber Custom Match for sale on finn.
More expensive, but just much better rifles!

Or several Sako Vixens in 222... those are triple the rifle!

 

[BobKaare]

I completely forgot Sako Vixen existed.
There's a really cheap one in .222 for sale now.
Is it even possible to get ammo in .222 though?
There are zero primers in stock in all of Norway right now, and it looks like there will be zero in stores for the entirety of 2023, so something with cheap factory ammo is a must.

Edit: Well, this turning into a fucking blog now, or something.
I think my own post just talked me out of doing anything interesting with my rifle for now.
Might as well just do a .308 barrel, I only have a bit over 200 LR primers left, and I'll need ammo to shoot.
Fuck it, it's probably the best bet for the foreseeable future, it's about the last cartridge that will see a stop in production due to shortages.
Weak loads with fmjs should do fine on birds as well, and it can handle a pretty short barrel.

 

[SeekingNorth]

6,5x55 will probably be in good supply as DFS alone shoots millions of rounds each week in just this caliber.

 

[BobKaare]

6,5x55 will probably be in good supply as DFS alone shoots millions of rounds each week in just this caliber.

Yeah, I'll probably get an STR 200 too at some point.
By far the best bang for your buck in terms of a range gun, and Scenar factory loads are dirt cheap in 6.5x55.

First priority is getting a barrel or two for the one I already have, then I'll probably get an STR or custom gun for the range, in 6.5x55.