Howa for Lefties

Big Fin · Apr 30, 2014

Ask and ye shall receive.

When I posted about the new Howa lightweight rifle that was displayed at SHOT Show in January, many of you commented how you would like to see more manufacturers making left-handed bolt action rifles.

I passed that request along to the good folks at Howa. They have heard that request from others.

Well, good news. They are tooling up to meet that request. By this time next year, you will be able to get Howa rifles in the left-hand option.

I am not sure the exact dates when dealer deliveries will be made, but when I do, I will be posting it here. Hopefully the lefties on this site will jump on that option.

Now, I just have to get this new lightweight rifle in my hands and get it zeroed for my Alaska black bear hunt next month. This will be the first hunt with the new lightweight rifle. I will be toting a 7mm-.08. I will give updates of how it shoots and how it performs in the saltwater spray of Alaska.

MinnesotaHunter · Apr 30, 2014

Randy,

Any picks of this new Lightweight rifle yet? I have been checking their website periodically.

Big Fin · Apr 30, 2014

Nope, I don't think any pics have been published. But rifle #00001 it is being shipped to me this week, so when I get it, there will be lots of pics on this website.

Ben Lamb · Apr 30, 2014

Dear Howa,

I'll take a lightweight one in .358 Win & a bull barreled .223 please.

Thanks for birdogging this Randy!

MinnesotaHunter · Apr 30, 2014

Thanks, Randy!

smarandr · Apr 30, 2014

Many thanks to Howa and Randy. I'll be one of the first in line for a new .308

sbhooper · Apr 30, 2014

I can't really justify another rifle, but I would definitely be looking at a left-hand Howa if and when I can. I hope that they sell well for them. I am with you on the .308, smarandr.

ScottP · Apr 30, 2014

Great news! Hope they turn out the lightweight model in a good selection of calibers. Would be nice if it came in at a price point below the Tikka, I'll likely pick one up then.

MTbowhunter84 · Apr 30, 2014

Just when I thought I didn't need to add any other gear to my want list. Always tough to find left handed stuff now and again. Can never have too many rifles may have to pick one up.

1_pointer · Apr 30, 2014

SUPER! Depending on the configuration, my oldest might end up with 2 of these! Kudos to Howa!

PS- Fin, I know you post on another site that has a forum dedicated to lefty rifle discussions. I'm sure many of the folks over there would be glad to hear that announcement.

Big Fin · Apr 30, 2014

ScottP said:
Great news! Hope they turn out the lightweight model in a good selection of calibers. Would be nice if it came in at a price point below the Tikka, I'll likely pick one up then.

I suspect they have consider the entire range of calibers. The calibers it wll start with are .308 Win. and .7mm-.08.

Hard to have a lightweight rifle in long action calibers, for a couple reasons. First, just the weight of long actions compared to short actions, when you are getting down to the business of cutting weight tenths of ounces. Second, the recoil of the long action calibers, being most often less efficeint in case design and resulting use of powder (read recoil), makes that an unappealling option for a lightweight rifle.

Right now, the rifles are expected to start shipping to dealers in August. Part of the supply limit is the availability of custom parts from suppliers. With the current level of demand, many suppliers are already operating 24/7, so asking them to add more production requires some planning.

The lightweight rifle, not the left-handed rifles that were the start of this thread, will have the rifle and action completely protected with Cerakote. It will come with a Hi-Tech stock from Legendary Arms (now the parent of Bansner and whose stock design will be on this rifle). Like all the current Howa rifles, it will have the new HACT two-stage trigger.

Not sure what the final MSRP will be for these, but given how they do things at Howa, I expect it to be amazing value for someone looking at a lightweight rifle that can handle a lot of abuse.

Big Fin · Apr 30, 2014

1_pointer said:
........PS- Fin, I know you post on another site that has a forum dedicated to lefty rifle discussions. I'm sure many of the folks over there would be glad to hear that announcement.

For now, we will keep this bit of information among the Hunt Talk crowd. I am sure that Howa will be making some bigger announcements in the coming months.

junior88 · Apr 30, 2014

Great news for us lefties! I will have to start squirrelling money away now. I already own a 22-250, 270 , and 308. 300 win mag looks to be next. Thanks Fin. It's always nice to pick up a little inside information.

ScottP · Apr 30, 2014

Big Fin said:
I suspect they have consider the entire range of calibers. The calibers it wll start with are .308 Win. and .7mm-.08.

Hard to have a lightweight rifle in long action calibers, for a couple reasons. First, just the weight of long actions compared to short actions, when you are getting down to the business of cutting weight tenths of ounces. Second, the recoil of the long action calibers, being most often less efficeint in case design and resulting use of powder (read recoil), makes that an unappealling option for a lightweight rifle.

Right now, the rifles are expected to start shipping to dealers in August. Part of the supply limit is the availability of custom parts from suppliers. With the current level of demand, many suppliers are already operating 24/7, so asking them to add more production requires some planning.

The lightweight rifle, not the left-handed rifles that were the start of this thread, will have the rifle and action completely protected with Cerakote. It will come with a Hi-Tech stock from Legendary Arms (now the parent of Bansner and whose stock design will be on this rifle). Like all the current Howa rifles, it will have the new HACT two-stage trigger.

Not sure what the final MSRP will be for these, but given how they do things at Howa, I expect it to be amazing value for someone looking at a lightweight rifle that can handle a lot of abuse.

Thanks for the info Fin. I get excited cause the gap in my firearm arsenal is a weather-resistant lightweight mountain rifle geared for remote AK.. think dall sheep, bear, caribou... a guy can dream right? Although a .308 will kill all of those species just fine. Right now only options for us lefties I've seen are the Tikka T3 light, of which only a subset of calibers are imported by Beretta. The other is the Savage 116, which is chambered in long action calibers, but not considered lightweight by current standards.

Again, just great to hear another manufacturer is going to add some LH options to their lineup.

1_pointer · May 1, 2014

ScottP said:
Thanks for the info Fin. I get excited cause the gap in my firearm arsenal is a weather-resistant lightweight mountain rifle geared for remote AK.. think dall sheep, bear, caribou... a guy can dream right? Although a .308 will kill all of those species just fine. Right now only options for us lefties I've seen are the Tikka T3 light, of which only a subset of calibers are imported by Beretta. The other is the Savage 116, which is chambered in long action calibers, but not considered lightweight by current standards.

Again, just great to hear another manufacturer is going to add some LH options to their lineup.

I hear ya! Previously, I didn't much care what was available for lefties, but now I have a sone who is strongly left eye dominant...

There are some semi-custom options for lefties; Cooper and Montana Rifle Company come to mind. That said, I'm interested to see what Howa offers.

What Map · May 1, 2014

I'll take mine in 6.5x.08 (.260 Remington) but would settle for the 7x.08!
Randy, I'll be very interested in how well your new gun shoots.

ScottP · May 1, 2014

1_pointer said:
I hear ya! Previously, I didn't much care what was available for lefties, but now I have a sone who is strongly left eye dominant...

There are some semi-custom options for lefties; Cooper and Montana Rifle Company come to mind. That said, I'm interested to see what Howa offers.

True, but those are pretty much off the radar for me.

1_pointer · May 1, 2014

What Map said:
I'll take mine in 6.5x.08 (.260 Remington) but would settle for the 7x.08!
Randy, I'll be very interested in how well your new gun shoots.

I'm in the same boat and fully support that suggestion!

That said, the models they REALLY need is a sporter weight 223 (first) and a 22-250 (second) each with a 1:8" twist!

sbhooper · May 2, 2014

1_pointer said:
I hear ya! Previously, I didn't much care what was available for lefties, but now I have a sone who is strongly left eye dominant...

There are some semi-custom options for lefties; Cooper and Montana Rifle Company come to mind. That said, I'm interested to see what Howa offers.

I find very little reason to buy the customs, unless you just want to say that you did and you have the money to throw at them. I have Savages and Remingtons that will shoot with any custom rifle for far less money.

smarandr · Aug 6, 2014

Big Fin said:
Right now, the rifles are expected to start shipping to dealers in August.

Well, it's August. Any updates on shipments and who'll be selling them when shipments occur?

Howa for Lefties

Administrator

Well-known member

Administrator

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Active member

Member

Well-known member

Administrator

Administrator

Well-known member

Active member

Well-known member

Active member

Active member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Similar threads

Forum statistics

Share this page