Remington SPS Tactical or Howa 1500

bulldogto

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Sep 16, 2010
18
0
46
Cincinnati, Ohio
Howa is about $25 cheaper, so price is a wash. Both in .223 with 20 inch barrel and come with the Hogue stock. Remington is 1:9 twist, Howa is 1:12. This will be for paper punching and shooting some coyotes. Shots are 200 yards max. Does one of these guns have anything over the other? Accuracy, quality, etc.??
 
Re: Remington SPS Tactical or Howa 1500

Check gunbroker, you can buy the howa as a barreled action and then buy the stock you want. Tom Manners inlets his stocks for howa and you can't find a better stock. Bell and carlson also has stocks for howa with the aluminum bedding block.

Just something to think about.
 
Re: Remington SPS Tactical or Howa 1500

Is one built better than the other? I.E. tighter tolerances or more rubust. I don't plan to do alot of upgrades except the stock. My purpose for the rifle is mostly just a start into a bolt gun (paper and coyotes). I have mostly shot AR's
 
Re: Remington SPS Tactical or Howa 1500

There was another thread where the differences were discussed. I'll try to find it or find someone on here who knows. I am pretty sure there is a gun smith from Europe on here who has made some real nice ones.
 
Copied from Accurateshooter.com

Overall, what twist rate is best? For varminting we like a 12-twist. The slower twist will give you a bit more velocity, and minimize the risk of jacket failure at high rpms. For general use, an 8-twist barrel will let you shoot the excellent 77gr and 80gr Sierra MatchKings and nearly all varieties of non-tracer milsurp ammo. We’d only select a 1:7″ or faster twist barrel if we had a need to shoot the 90gr VLDs.

Barrel Twist Rate 1:14″ 1:12″ 1:9″ 1:8″ 1:7″or 1:6.5″
Max Bullet Weight 55gr FB 65gr FB 73gr BT 80gr BT 90gr BT VLD
 
If Howa and remington SPS were my only choices, I would choose the Howa.

+1 to this. The japs make good stuff. All up quality of the Howa is better. Nice rifles, highly underrated.

Right about now is where I'd usually get up on my soapbox and bitch about factory 223 rifles having slow rifling twists...

...but I'll save it. For the stated purpose by the OP, 1:9 or 1:12 will work OK, though the 1:9 SPS is probably a little better because he could use the 69gr smk and do quite well out to 300-400 yards. However, the ~50gr vmax or blitzking over ~27gr H335 @ 3300fps will zap the shit out of a coyote @ 250 yards. The 1:12 Howa will do beautifully with this weight class bullet.

The Savage would provide for an easy rebarrel in the future, should the OP decide he wanted a rifle to shoot out to much longer distances.
 
Last edited:
Savage 10 FP is the best shooting rifle I ever shot out of the box, not as many accessories available as the Rem 700 but then again you can rebarrel it yourself in 15 minutes unlike a stock Remmy. Look a little harder at the Savage site under the gun finder section to help you decide what model.
Savage Arms

I had the opportunity to handle the Savage 10PC today. I really liked the way the rifle felt. I think this will be the rifle that I go with.
 
I just sold my Sps tac, was a decent shooter but damn was it heavy for coyote hunting. I've shot a few howas of friends and I've been nothing but impressed.I'd go howa if I was going to hunt. If I was just shooting targets I'd take the rem.
 
Id go with the howa if you don't intend to mess with it at all. The sps tupperware stock is awful, the new trigger is nice enough but the shoe they use is awful (its round and slick ) and the barrels use WAYYY to slow of a twist and not a good enough steel, at least for my taste. That said if youre a tinkerer the 700 is a dream come true, the aftermarket is massive and choices endless. Personally though id go with a savage fcp, beats everything in its price range and most rifles well above its price range hands down.