Howa 1500 LA

About the Howa

Howa Machinery, Ltd. (shortened Howa) is a Japanese manufacturing company that produces a wide range of products, from machine tools and sweepers to doors and windows, but it is internationally known for their production of civilian and military weapons. Originally named Toyoda Loom Works, the company was established in 1907 by the famous Japanese inventor Sakichi Toyoda who wanted to domestically produce looms (machines for weaving cloth), which he invented because most of these kinds of machines were imported back then. Twenty-five years later the company accepted its first order from the Japanese army and started producing weapons, their first product being a hand grenade. In 1936, they then started producing cannonballs, airplane parts and rifles. During the war, they manufactured Type 99 Arisaka Rifle, machine guns, artillery and infantry-gun parts.

After the war, they went back to only manufacturing looms because arms production was at first prohibited in post-war Japan. This all changed with the outbreak of the Korean war when the weapons restrictions were amended and the USA contracted them to produce a copy of M1 Garand and M1 Carbine for the Japanese Self Defense Forces. Howa has also manufactured many products and components for other arms companies, like Weatherby, Mossberg and Smith & Wesson. They also started producing sporting arms, entering the US hunting rifle market and building Japan’s first tunnel target shooting range. In 1960, they produced the Model 300 hunting rifle which was the first mass-produced hunting rifle in Japan. They achieved great popularity with their Howa 1500 bolt-action rifle which they introduced in 1979 and which has since been named one of the best budget precision rifles. The Howa 1500 action is often used by other brands and sold under different names — on such example is Weatherby Vanguard which is essentially a Howa 1500 rifle with a different stock.

Howa 1500 LA Rifle Review

Howa 1500 (also known as Howa M1500) is a centerfire push-feed bolt-action rifle introduced in 1979 as a budget precision rifle. It consists of a Mauser-type action, a cold hammer forged barrel and a forged-steel receiver. The bolt has two locking lugs, an M16-style ejector and extractor. Howa 1500 rifles have a basic two-stage trigger, although models released after 2011 feature a new two-stage trigger system called HACT (Howa Actuator Controlled Trigger). The safety is a three-position catch that locks the trigger and the bolt. The internal magazine can hold 3–5 rounds, loaded through the action, but some models come with a removable box magazine which can hold up to 5 or 10 rounds. Howa 1500 comes in three action lengths: mini, short, and long.

Howa 1500 LA

Figure 1: Howa 1500 .300 Win. Mag. Source: https://adelbridge.com/product/howa-1500-223/

Howa 1500 LA is chambered for the following calibers:

6.5x55 SE
7mm Rem. Mag.
.30-06 Spr.
.300 Win. Mag.
.338 Win. Mag.
.375 Ruger

Caliber choice depends on the variant

This rifle has four holes in the receiver for mounting purposes.

Howa 1500 LA

Figure 2: Howa 1500 7mm Rem. Mag. Source: https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/rifles/howa-rifles/howa---1500---7mm-rem--mag.cfm?gun_id=101440425

Howa 1500 LA

Figure 3: Howa 1500 receiver

A: 21.9 mm
B: 113.91 mm
C: 15.3 mm
BHU: 3 mm
Ø: 6-48
R1: R60
R2: R17

Which rifles have interchangeable mounts

Two-piece mounts

For two-piece mounts to be interchangeable the mounting surfaces of the rifles must match in every dimension except the B dimension which can vary. This is because the distance between the two pieces of the mount is not fixed. Rifles that have two-piece mounts interchangeable with Howa 1500 LA are the following:

BSA Repetierer
Churchill Highlander
Sabatti Rover
Weatherby Mark V Standard
Weatherby Mark V Magnum
Weatherby Vanguard SA
Weatherby Europa
Weatherby 300
Howa 1500 Mini
Howa 1500 SA
CZ 550 Scandinavia
Remington 721
Remington 722
Remington 725
Remington 700 SA
Reminton 700 LA

One-piece mounts

The necessary condition for rifles to have one-piece mounts interchangeable is that the mounting surfaces of these rifles match in every dimension. Rifles that have one-piece mounts interchangeable with Howa 1500 SA are the following:

Weatherby Vanguard LA
Weatherby Mark V Magnum
Weatherby Europa
Remington 721
Remington 725
Remington 700 LA

Our recommendations for mounts

Fixed mounts

For a fixed mount, we recommend this Talley two-piece mount since it is the better one of the two fixed mounts available. Because fixed mounts are more budget-friendly, which parallels the budget-friendly design of Howa 1500, we recommend a fixed mount over a detachable repeatable one.

Detachable repeatable mounts

If you nonetheless desire a detachable repeatable mount, we recommend this Rusan pivot mount. It is priced the lowest among the repeatable mounts for Howa 1500 and offers great quality.

Picatinny rails

This Picatinny rail from EGW brings great quality at a relatively low price.

Help us build our riflescope mounts database

If you happen to own this or any other rifle, we would appreciate it if you could help us expand our database by sending us some photos of the rifle receiver (the bare mounting surface of the rifle without the mounts installed). For your help, our company offers a fair return in terms of practical rewards.

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Pivot mounts are a special kind of repeatable mounts that are especially popular in Europe and mainly produced by European manufacturers. Most notable among them are German Companies like EAW (Ernst Apel Wurzburg), Recknagel, Henneberger and MAK. These Companies were also among the first to produce mounts of this type. Non German companies like Rusan are also following this trend.

Main benefits of pivot mounts, or swing mounts as they are sometimes called are:

100% repeatability,
very quick and easy detaching and reattaching,
extremely durable; most mounts of this kind are tested on 10000 or more reattachments,
size and weight; light and small, elegant.

There are also some minor weaknesses that such mounts posses and they are: they are usually more expensive than other types of mounts, the installation on the rifle should be done by a skilled gunsmith and most of these mounts are higher than 14 mm.

A distinct feature of pivot/swing mounts is the way the scope attaches to the rifle. The front foot of the mount on the scope is inserted in the front base under a 90 degrees angle to the barrel. Then the entire scope is pivoted around the front base until it is locked into position by the rear base.

Pivot mounts of all types enable windage correction on the rear base at the time of the mounts installation. There are three main types of pivot mounts which are distinguished by the type of the rear base:

EAW style rear base: produced by EAW and Rusan,
Dovetail rail base: produced by Recknagel, Henneberger, MAK and others.
Leupold type rear base

Different Types of Pivot Mounts

Howa 1500 LA

About the Howa

Howa 1500 LA Rifle Review

Which rifles have interchangeable mounts

Two-piece mounts

One-piece mounts

Our recommendations for mounts

Fixed mounts

Detachable repeatable mounts

Picatinny rails

Help us build our riflescope mounts database

Rusan Pivot Mount for Remington 700, 78, Mauser M18, 40 mm

Rusan Pivot Mount for CZ 550 Skandinavia, 40 mm

Rusan Pivot Mount for Haenel Jaeger.10, 40 mm

Rusan Pivot Mount for Howa 1500, 40 mm

Rusan Pivot Mount for Sabatti Rover (Bolt Action Rifle), 40 mm

Rusan Pivot Mount for Sauer 100/101, 40 mm

Rusan Pivot Mount for Weatherby Mark V, Europa, 300, Vanguard, 40 mm

Rusan Pivot Mount for Mossberg Patriot, 40 mm

Rusan Pivot Mount for Franchi Horizon, 40 mm

Rusan Pivot mount for Bergara B14, 40 mm

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Howa 1500 LA

About the Howa

Howa 1500 LA Rifle Review

Which rifles have interchangeable mounts

Two-piece mounts

One-piece mounts

Our recommendations for mounts

Fixed mounts

Detachable repeatable mounts

Picatinny rails

Help us build our riflescope mounts database

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