Click HERE to learn more about Howa and Legacy Sports.
Japanese gunmaker Howa is a mainstay in the precision rifle world for offering quality, accurate barreled actions at a reasonable price. We recently tested one of their setups—a 1500 barreled action on a KRG Bravo stock—and it flat out shoots.
Now they’ve taken the 1500 a step further. Legacy Sports (Howa’s U.S. importer) announced at SHOT Show 2020 a new line of M1500 rifles featuring carbon fiber barrels and H-S Precision stocks.
Each H-S Carbon Fiber rifle comes with a threaded, carbon-wrapped Howa barrel. It looks sweet, but it’s about more than aesthetics. A carbon-wrapped barrel cuts nearly half the weight of a steel barrel of the same profile, which allows the H-S Carbon Fiber to weigh under eight pounds even with a “heavy” profile barrel.
Carbon fiber barrels also have advantages in terms of heat dissipation, according to the Legacy Sports reps we spoke with at SHOT Show. Carbon fiber barrels don’t get as hot (the temperature plateaus more quickly), and the heat is spread more evenly over the length of the barrel. Both qualities tend to increase accuracy, though we’re eager to get one of Howa’s models out to the range to see for ourselves.
The H-S stock is a full aluminum bed stock constructed from a mixture of Kevlar, fiberglass, and carbon fiber. It will be available in HS Precision Gray, HS Precision OD Green, KUIU Vias 2.0, and KUIU Verde 2.0.
The Howa H-S Carbon Fiber will be offered exclusively in 6.5 Creedmoor (for now) for an MSRP of $1,819. It comes with Howa’s sub-moa accuracy guarantee along with a lifetime warranty.
SEE ALSO: Sub-MOA All Day! Howa 1500 + KRG Bravo Chassis = Awesome Factory Accuracy
But that wasn’t the only new rifle causing a buzz at the Legacy Sports booth. Howa is also jumping into the rimfire game. The new Rimfire is a bolt action rifle available in .22LR, .22WMR, and 17HMR.
Legacy Sports reps told us that the increasing popularity of rimfire rifle competitions has created a demand for accurate, high-value options in that space, and Howa decided to put their hat in the ring.
The Rimfire features a threaded, 18” barrel and comes standard with a NikkoStirling Gamepro 3.5-10x scope. The stock includes a slightly raised cheekpiece and a bottom hook for pulling the rifle into the shooter’s shoulder.
The complete package weighs only 6.3 pounds and will start at an MSRP of $699.
Click HERE to learn more about Howa and Legacy Sports.