Howa Superlite

[taylorce1]

Has anyone purchased or handled the Howa Superlite? I keep looking at this rifle, and must say I'm intrigued. A sub 5 lb rifle for under $1300 seems like a good deal. It's only offered in .308 or 6.5 Creedmoor, and if I get one it would be the .308. Carbon fiber stock and advertised weight of 4 lbs 7 oz, only thing I'd like to see is a Cerakote finish on the metal.

Being under 5 lbs gives me a lot of flexibility for a hunting rifle. My current .308 Win is 9.5 lbs suppressed with sling, optic, and a full magazine, just over 10 lbs with 6-9" bipod. The Superlite would get me right at 8 lbs suppressed ready to hunt, 8.5 lbs with bipod.

The easiest way to shed a pound off my rifle is to loose the suppressor, but where is the fun in that? Buying the Superlite is actually the cheapest way to loose about 20 ounces, and still use my suppressor. If nothing else this rifle got the wheels turning and gives us something to discuss!

[hooligan1]

With all these new bullet options, why not the Creedmoor?

[taylorce1]

Why not the Creedmoor? I just feel the .308 is better suited for, and has better bullet options for elk. Elk will definitely be on the menu.

[eastbank]

take a look at the kimber montana, i have one in .257 roberts comes in a 6lbs2 oz,s scoped with a compact leupold 2-7x. i think they make them in bigger calibers, 7-08, .308. it carries well and will put three 115 grs bullets at 2800+fps on a inch or better.

[USAF Ret]

Buy it!

[taylorce1]

Originally Posted by eastbank

take a look at the kimber montana

Montana rifles are next to impossible to find, as well as the Mountain Ascent. The Mountain Ascent is the only sub 5 lbs Kimber with a MSRP over $2000. The only other sub 5 lb rifle I've found is the Weatherby Backcountry TI 2.0, but it is retailing for $3000.

This is why I'm highly interested in the Howa. Unfortunately I can't find one to handle to see if I'd be happy with it. I like my Daughter's Howa Alpine 308, and my 6mm Creedmoor a lot. I think Howa delivers a very good produnt for a reasonable price.

[Nathan]

I’m interested too, but have the same issue as you. I cannot find one, no reviews. It seems like a good choice.

I cannot see putting a suppressor or a heavy scope on it. A scope under 20oz and Ti brake would be great…I’ll wear some ear pro.

I agree with your 308 over the 6.5 sentiment. 7-08, 284 win, 270 win, 280ai would all be good options!

[taylorce1]

Originally Posted by Nsthan

I cannot see putting a suppressor or a heavy scope on it.

I used to think the same, then I got a suppressor. Now I want to use it with all my rifles.

[jmr40]

I chased light rifles for 30 years before finally getting a Kimber 84M in 308. It weighed 5 lbs 15 oz with a Leupold scope in Talley Lightweight mounts.

I used it for several years, it was a joy to carry, but eventually came to the conclusion that it was too much of a good thing.

I still want a light rifle, but I've found something between 7-7.5 lbs including scope and mounts to be ideal. No more than about 8 lbs. The thing that concerns me about the Superlight is WHERE they reduced weight. Short skinny barrels are the wrong place. I'd be concerned about the kind of accuracy I'd get with it.

I understand what you're trying to do. Adding a heavy scope, suppressor, and a bi-pod to a light rifle and still keep weight reasonable. It may be just the thing for you, but I wouldn't be interested in going that route. A 22"-24" barrel on a 308 isn't loud enough for me to want a suppressor. And rather than hanging a bi-pod on the rifle I keep shooting sticks in my pack.

All of my bolt rifles weigh between 7 and 7 1/2 lbs scoped with 22" sporter weight barrels. The easy button approach is a Tikka. I also have a couple of SS Winchester 70's in McMillan Edge stocks with lightweight aluminum bottom metal that make weight. But the Tikka is the same weight, maybe a touch more accurate, and I can buy 3-4 Tikka's for what it would cost to put together another Winchester set up the same.

[taylorce1]

Originally Posted by jmr40

The thing that concerns me about the Superlight is WHERE they reduced weight. Short skinny barrels are the wrong place. I'd be concerned about the kind of accuracy I'd get with it.

From the info I've read it's a smaller action, think model 7 Remington. That along with the use of a polymer trigger guard and magazine system paired with a Carbon Fiber stock to keep the weight down. It does use a 20" light contour barrel, but if it's like my Daughter's Howa Alpine it shoots amazingly well.

Howa backs it with a 3 shot MOA or better guarantee using premium ammunition. My daughter's Alpine will do that, with cheap ammo. It'll stack the next three rounds on top of the first, after letting it cool down a few minutes. The barrel will walk if you try to shoot more than 3 rounds without cooling the barrel. I also have a fairly light Howa 6mm Creedmoor that shoots the same way.

[hammie]

@taylorce1: You're right. I wasn't aware of it until just now, but it's a new action size between the standard 1500 short action and the 1500 mini action.

If you haven't already found it, there's an April 2022 article on the Howa Superlite. Go to legacy sports.com, select Howa products, then select the Superlite and view details. There's a link on that page to the Shooting times article.

Howa rifles are one of the better kept secrets for quality and accuracy. I have a 6.5 Grendel mini 1500, a 7.62x39mm mini 1500 on the way, and a 1500 long action chambered for .300 win mag. Surprisingly, the .300 Win mag will put the first 3 shots in an inch circle at 100 yards. I don't go beyond that, because by the fifth shot, I will most likely have a flinch.

EDIT: Having praised Howa rifles, I'm now going to rain on the parade a little. The plastic trigger guard and magazine well on the mini 1500 has a tendency to crack around the stock bolt tabs when you torque the action screws. The tabs are pretty thin and flimsy. Also, the magazine latch configuration and spring are such that magazine dumps can occur. The easy solution is to replace everything with a Diversified Innovative Products (DIP) trigger guard and latch for the mini 1500. But, of course, then you're adding weight, which you don't want. I have no idea if this problem is carried over into the different plastic trigger guard assembly on the Superlite action.