Howa multi cam

Jcole1993

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Joined
May 7, 2017
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16
Hey guys, first post here. I am interested in this rifle in 300 win mag, just seeing if anybody has one or has messed with one. I have a savage 116 in 300 win mag now and I can't get a group under 3.5 inches at 100yds. I reload and up until this year I have always got decent 1" groups with this rifle, now I've tried about 12 different loads through it and it's really started to go down hill. Any ways I also have and howa 1500 300 wsm but haven't got to play with it yet but love the feel of the gun. Thanks in advance, josh
 
I have a Howa Model 1500 in a .300 Win Mag. It shoots extremely well.

Your report of groups being 3.5" make me think it is more likely an optics or mounting issue. That is some seriously wild grouping for 100 yards.
 
I thought the same thing, just mounted a new vortex viper on it 2 weeks ago. Had a nikon monarch previously, I switched back to the nikon and I am still getting the horrible groups. I'm not sure if the barrel has finally had it or not. I got this gun used and really don't have a record of round count but I've put about 400 rds through it since I've owned it
 
I'd try to figure out the Savage or take the Howa WSM out to play before buying another rifle. There has to be a good explanation for the rifle's sudden performance shift. Those barrels should last thousands of rounds, which most hunters never shoot out of a 300. And the 300 WSM ballistics are basically the same, so what is to gain by dropping another $1k+ on a rifle you essentially already own?

Just my $.02
 
You could have shot the barrel out of it. It can happen more suddenly than you think especially if you don't shoot a lot of paper. Same think happened to my fathers 300 win. Probably had around 1,000 rounds down it. It now has a new barrel and shoots better than ever. A gunsmith should be able to find the problem easily
 
It can happen more suddenly than you think especially if you don't shoot a lot of paper.

I believe this happened to my Ruger .270 that I bought used way back in high school. We shot the heck out of gongs when I was younger, but rarely ever shot paper. Years later I was shooting paper way more and suddenly the rifle just would not group anymore, no matter what I tinkered with. The gunsmith said it was most likely shot out, I alone put probably 2500+ rounds through it, I have no idea how much the previous owner shot.

To the OP's question, I have the Howa Multicam in another caliber and it groups extremely well. The multi cam finish on the stock looks well-used after just one hunting season though...
 
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Give the Savage bore a deep clean with a good proven bore cleaner like Wipeout until you get all the copper and carbon out of it. Then give it another try. If its still giving you 3" groups have your smith bore scope it, he should be able to tell you what is going on. Worst case scenario is to re-barrel the Savage, you can pick up a new barrel for around $300 and a DIY swap is fairly simple, or you can have the smith do it for you.

As stated before don't over look proper torque on the action screws, I just recently ran into this issue with a Savage. I believe they recommend 30-35 inch lbs on non-accustock models, I originally had mine at 45 after bedding the action and it was giving me fits, put them back at 35 and problems went away.
 
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