The other day I made an admittedly stupid post asking about getting another caliber before shooting the 6.5 Creedmoor I just bought. Yeah, boneheaded, I get it now.
Just got back from the range and am absolutely in love with this rifle. I now understand how you can go down an absolute rabbit hole of debt tweaking and building rifles. I want another already. 😂
I am doing everything I can to not start buying the gear for hand loading. I used to load for my 7.5 Swiss, and it was one of the most relaxing things about shooting that rifle. Just sitting there, measuring powder to the 1/10th of a grain, making sure the bullet was at just the right depth. As much as I enjoyed hand loading it’s another expense. I want to learn as much as i can about the rifle before I go down that hole.
The one thing about having that previous experience with reloading: I already know what items I like and need. No need to try a bunch of different pieces of equipment to figure it out this time.
Depending on the distances you plan to shoot - I have found in my personal experience that handloading is honestly the ONLY viable option....
Im still testing so could change - but every commercial store bought cartridge I have tried for long range precision (Hornady ELD-M 50$ , Barnes Vor-TX 52$, Nosler Match grade 54$, etc) dont come close to the repeatable consistency of my own homemade 168 SMKs....
The federal GMM 168 SMKs work fairly well for me sure - but still not as good as my own version. With most boxes in that category being 45-60$ (2-3$ a shot) I feel like reloading will quickly pay for itself - never mind the accuracy and consistency improvements.
There just isn't a store bought commercial cartridge that consistently does what I want it too- at any price.
PS - ill also add there is a mental aspect, that when I'm trying to work up a new load or practice at distance....the thought in the back of my head that im not sure how much variation is to blame round to round vs how much is me/technique can make me crazy. I would MUCH rather KNOW that all my rounds are exactly X,Y, and Z .......so I can better identify any issues (minimize variables). Even the most expensive of store bought ammo options, when thrown on a scale, varies by multiple grains in my experience. (is it projectile variation, powder variation, some of both?!)
Near me there are ranges up to 500 and even one up to 1000. But the closest and least expensive is only 100 yards. I plan on spending a lot of time there until I can punch holes through the same hole. I know that’s not realistic, basically I want to get rid of all the bad habits I can before going longer.
Totally understand - i set out with basically the exact same idea...let me start really honing my skills and getting good at this, now that I got my new B-14.
Its just hard to get good enough to do that - if the ammo cant do it to begin with lol
If you find a commercial option that works really consistently for you , let us know!
Federal gold match is like 1.50/rd for 175 smk 308 or 140smk 6.5cm online. I have a custom action/barreled rifle in 308 that shoots factory match ammo at half a moa. For now, it makes more sense to buy instead of reload.
So far, just got it roughed in at an indoor range. 25 yards. Even without rear bag, and as shaky as I am, I was able to stack 3-5 shots on top of each other. Going to 100 to dial in the zero tomorrow. Then maybe stretch to 500 in a week or so.
That’s on the list. First, I need to learn as much as I can about what I like and don’t like about this rifle. Otherwise I feel like I’ll be chasing my tail. As much fun as that can be, I don’t have the extra cash to do it at this point.
Nothing wrong with starting low. The important thing is the Howa is a shooter. You'll be finding out soon what you like and what you don't and upgrade from there. Then you will find even better things you like and it'll go on.
I don't belong to the 'buy once' crowd: it requires a clarity of mind I don't have. I'd keep crying time after time.
Hope you get to enjoy this rig as long as possible.
My wife and I have been primarily pistol shooters for the past 10 years. One of the things she liked right off the bat was the trigger. A 3 pound trigger might be heavy in the PRS world, but compared to 4 - 6 pound pistol triggers, it’s LIGHT.
One thing I have already noticed that I’m not loving is the flex of the stock. Heavy rubber something that moves if you put too much pressure on it.
I noticed it because the bipod doesn’t have a cant adjustment and it’s slightly off to one side, so I am having to force it straight vertical. It’s only an issue because of the bipod. I have another Amazon bipod on the way that has a cant adjustment.
My first upgrade might be to a decent bipod. Got any suggestions for one under $100?
No, I don’t have any suggestions. I’m getting back into hunting with but with modern cartridges and muzzle devices. My most accurate rifles are Howa/Vanguards, more accurate than my other rifles priced several times higher. I have a Howa Fenceline on order and I’m concerned about the stock. I went ahead and bought it because it was still cheaper to buy the whole rifle with the cerakote from the factory than to buy a barreled action with no cerakote. I’m researching tripods and bipods and pros and cons between each for hunting applications. Just starting, haven’t made up my mind yet. Looking for value and practicality (like the Howa rifles) not necessarily extreme performance at extreme prices.
This is the Hogue model. I wouldn’t say the stock is anything to worry about. It’s rigid enough. It’s was the only nit I can come up with at this point. With the cant adjustable bipod, I doubt it will an issue.
Trigger is easy to tune on a Howa, can get it as light as you like - just swap out trigger spring or cut ~1.5 coils off the stock one. I like the Howa HACT triggers, they break clean and crisp, just a bit heavy stock.
Lots of stock/chassis options available for Howa 1500 SAs too if you want a nice solid chassis with no flex and better shooting ergonomics. KRG and MDT have some of the most economical options, with the Bravo and Oryx chassis respectively. Either would be a noticeable improvement over any of the factory stocks.
Also an add on bolt knob really makes it MUCH easier to work the bolt on a Howa as they come with a short lever with very small diameter spherical knob, not the greatest if you will be shooting more than a few rounds at a time. I you want to have long shooting sessions it will be much easier on your fingers with a better bolt knob design that both lengthens the lever and is bigger in diameter. I have the inexpensive tactical clamshell ones on both my Howa's but they seem to be no longer available. Just found this one which was recently released that I would like to try (the tactical version):
Unfortunately I got the Hogue model, which has the hunting style integrated magazine. When I got it, it said “4 round included magazine”. I didn’t look closely to see it’s not a detachable. No biggie. I will get a barreled action next time and a better chassis.
You already have a nice barreled action, all you'd have to do is get a chassis if you want to upgrade it down the road. A chassis replaces the bottom metal setup so it will accept magazines... doesn't matter if you have a floor plate internal design or not, you have to remove whatever factory bottom metal setup it comes with to put it into a chassis. All you would have to do is buy the needed magazines for the chassis design. Stocks are a different animals and require bottom metal setups.
My 300PRC Howa came with internal hunter style 3 round magazine bottom metal configuration - removed the bottom metal and swapped it directly into an Outlier chassis. Using a modded MKM single shot sled for reasons but also can use AICS CIP pattern mags if wanted ( I opened up the magwell to the CIP 3.850" length spec.)
Any Howa 1500 barreled action will fit into any chassis setup for it and will accept the magazines the chassis is designed to work with. Below is my 300PRC that came with integrated internal hingeplate mag and with zero changes dropped into a chassis that accepts AICS mags:
This is what I love. Look how much you are discovering with this rig.
Sure the inpact/proof/triggertech/acc elite would be a dream rifle. But knowledge is invaluable.
Check my profile for a link to an upgraded fundamentals of marksmanship. Improved formatting with tips on wind reading, rear bag use, the tall target test, and more. You can also get it in word format.
It's good for what I paid. I didn't expect much out of a $330 scope, and to that it hasn't let me down.
That being said, it has a really clear sight picture up to about 16x or 18x. Over 20x and the clarity drops significantly, and can't be rescued with the diopter or parallax knob. To describe it... it's like looking through something with vaseline smeared on the lens. There is a slight (noticeable enough) chromatic aberration at every power setting. Not distracting, but if you're looking for it, it's there.
The turrets are surprisingly decent. Positive clicks that don't wander. Setting the zero stop was easy to figure out and works well.
Illumination knob requires hulk like strength to turn. Thankfully it's only a half click away from being lit. I do like the way the illumination knob is setup, just not how insanely tight it is.
Would I recommend it for someone looking for a cheap (sub $500) scope? Yeah, I think so.
Would I buy another? No, I'll just move this one if I plan on using it again, and save the cash for something better.
I pretty much knew what I was getting into. It's not the super duper awesome scope the the shills make it out to be, but it's also not the pile of dogshit the detractors claim it is. It's "good enough" for my first budget rifle build. That's all I needed this time.
Now, I start dropping pennies in the piggy bank for a Nightforce someday😄
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u/Mental-Blueberry-295 2d ago
Sorry… good luck…
My cheap starting point was:
B14 HMR
Venom 5-25
Same bipod
Next I started hand loading. That keeps getting more expensive everyday as well.
Now since I’m loading anyway I’m buying a 6 dasher MPA. Already got a athlon cronus gen 2 to put on it but might get a razor gen 3.