Fudd Friday: Howa Superlite Gen 2 Will Lighten Your Backcountry Load
It’s that time of year to get out there on a backcountry hunting expedition, or at least, get planning. If, for some reason, you need a new rifle—or if you just want a new rifle (just fine with us!)—then you might want to check out the Legacy Sports catalog. They’ve just announced that the Howa Superlite Gen 2 rifles are now shipping in the U.S. market.
Lugging Lightweight rifles @ TFB:
Who’s Howa?
Howa is a Japanese manufacturer that dates back to 1907, when it was founded to manufacture equipment for the textile industry. In the lead-up to World War II in the 1930s, Howa ended up making firearms for the Japanese military. After the war, they stayed in business producing military rifles like the AR-18 (a licensed copy), the Type 64, the Howa 84mm Recoilless Rifle (a licensed Carl Gustaf copy) and the Type 89. They also diversified into the civilian arms market.
You’ve probably seen Howa-built firearms and had no idea of their origin. Howa built the Smith & Wesson Model 1000 in the 1970s and 1980s; they also made the Weatherby Vanguard, and even produced copies of the M1 Carbine for the U.S. market for a while.
These days, Legacy Sports brings Howa rifles to customers in the U.S.
The Superlite Gen 2
Howa’s rifles have a reputation for reliability and accuracy, and they often focus on ultra-light platforms. All of these ideas come together on the Howa Superlite Gen 2, which has the bold claim of being a “SUB 5 Lbs. & SUB MOA” rifle.
It’s a bolt-action, built on the Howa 1500 design, which has been around since 1979 and has served as a military and police sniper rifle as well as a hunting arm—you know you can trust it. In this configuration, it comes chambered for short-action cartridges with a flush-fit detachable magazine and a three-position safety. The extractor/ejector assembly is patterned after the M16’s design, and the barrel is cold hammer forged. Action and barrel only come in a blued finish; no Cerakote or similar treatment available for now. The action is mated to a two-stage match trigger. For now, this rifle is available in right-hand only; sorry, lefties.
The action is compatible with rings and comes with a one-piece Picatinny rail.
Two barrel lengths are available, 20 inches or 16.25 inches. Both barrels are threaded for a suppressor or other muzzle device, with 1/2x28 threads. Currently, the Gen 2 version of the Superlite is available in .243 Winchester, 6.5 Creedmoor, .308 Winchester or 7mm-08 Remington.
Their marketing material keeps talking about how the rifle is made for outdoorsmen on the move, or as one line puts it, “hunters around the world who ascend trailheads, tree stands and ridgelines everywhere.” To that end, they kept the weight down to 4 pounds, 15 ounces in the 20-inch barrel rifle, or 4 pounds, 7 ounces in the 16.25-inch version. That number does not include an optic or anything else attached to your rifle.
Much of the weight savings is due to the new HS Precision stock, featuring aluminum bedding and construction from a mixture of Kevlar, fiberglass, carbon fiber and a proprietary urethane. Finishes for the stock include olive drab, gray, tan or a black-webbing look. This stock is what differentiates the Gen 2 Superlite rifles from the first production.
The lightweight and sub-MOA guarantee are attractive options, and so is the lifetime warranty. Howa stands behind their products. MSRP is $1,089 through Legacy’s distributors. See more details at LegacySports.com.
The budget-friendly option
What if you’re broke, but you want a lightweight rifle? If you don’t need the hitting power of the cartridges listed for the Superlite Gen 2 rifle, the Howa Mini Action is surprisingly lightweight as well, and comes in at an MSRP of $529, half the Superlite's.
For that money, you don’t get a half-MOA guarantee, and your cartridge choices are 338 ARC, 6mm ARC, 223 REM, 6.5 Grendel, 7.62x39mm or 350 Legend (other markets have had other caliber availability over the years, including 300 Blackout, .222 and .204 Rem). Depending on whose numbers you believe, the weight of the Mini is under 6 pounds before you add the optic. That’s a pound more than the Superlite, but shooting the lighter ammo rounds might make up the difference of a few ounces.
The Mini comes with a threaded muzzle, an HTI stock, 5-round or 10-round detachable mag, two-stage trigger and three-position safety—basically the same action as the 1500-series rifles, but shrunk down. It’s one of the most underrated rifles on the market, and if you don’t believe that, check out TFB’s review from nearly a decade back. While almost nobody would buy a Mini in a light-hitting cartridge for something like moose, large bears, sheep or other once-in-a-lifetime tags or dangerous game, there are still plenty of other uses for this handy, affordable and lightweight rifle. See more details at Howa’s website here.
Professional hoser with fudd-ish leanings.
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Vendors on Gunbroker are quoting much heavier weights. I don't uncritically believe everything from salespeople, but it's tough to imagine why they'd want to make their product sound worse.
https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/223-for-bear-mountain-goat-deer-elk-and-moose.130488/
A lot of people “buy a Mini in a light-hitting cartridge for something like moose, large bears, sheep or other once-in-a-lifetime tags or dangerous game.”
What wound channel, created by what bullet at what velocity, is sufficient for you?
I have 4 Howa 1500-series rifles. My favorite is a Model 1500 223. Personally, I wouldn't trade it for 2 Ruger American bolt action rifles even though I do have 4 Ruger Americans as well as just short of a total of 2 dozen Ruger firearms. I don't base my thoughts on what I read even though I am quite open to opinions of others who target practice more than I do and have a certain amount of expertise I often lack. I average about 10,000 rounds of centerfire ammunition a year, so although I am not the best marksman out there, I can usually get the job done. Being a published author in several profession journals, I know the value of peer-review and prior research even though I might be very familiar with the topic being discussed. "A closed mind stumbles over the blessings of life without recognizing them." -Napoleon Hill