S&W 1500

[220]

With lambing season about to start I pulled a S&W1500 bolt chambered in 222Rem out of the safe and put a few shots through it to check zero in the hope of putting a dent in the fox population.
I havent seen another S&W1500 here in Aus, this one was purchased in the mid 80's, manufactured by Howa in Japan under contract to S&W. The same as Weatherby do with Howa manufacturing the same rifle for them that is sold as the Vanguard.
It was originally in a very nice high gloss walnut stock but when daughter showed a bit of interest in shooting as a teenager we dropped it into a pink muddy girl camo synthetic stock and it became her rifle. Still topped with a mid 80's Leupold VXIII 3.5-10.
Would hate to think how many rounds it has fired, would be well in excess of 5k, struggles to shoot MOA but rarely shoots worse than 1.5MOA so good enough for fox sized game to 200y.
Back in the 80;s when furs were worth serious dollars it was my go to fox rifle, it would have accounted for hundreds of foxes and with a bit of luck I can add a few more to the tally.

[North Country Gal]

I've shot several Weatherby Vanguards made by Howa and have always been impressed. Very solid shooting rifles.

[220]

I've shot several Weatherby Vanguards made by Howa and have always been impressed. Very solid shooting rifles.

I really like them, the S&W would be worst shooting Howa I have and I have 4 all marketed under different brand names.
Through the 80s and into the 90s one Australian distributer marketed them under their own branding, have one in 25/06, since then they have been marketed under the Howa brand. Great thing with them is you can buy them as a barreled action at a reduced price and drop them into your preferred stock. They also introduced a mini length action a few years ago tailored to 223 size rounds. Have a Howa branded HB 6.5CM and also a Vanguard in 240Wby. I cant fault any of them nice solid rifles and they all shoot far better than their price point would indicate.

[North Country Gal]

I'd be very interested in the mini length 223 action. I was very sad to see the CZ 527 mini-Mauser get discontinued.

[rickhem]

I bought a Howa Mini from Brownell's a few months back. It was just the barreled action, with the 20" heavy barrel (which really isn't all that thick in reality). Got mine in 6mmARC, and put it in a Stocky's Carbon Fiber stock. I've gotten used to two stage triggers from shooting service rifle, so I like the trigger that Howa has on these mini-action models. I'm honestly not a big fan of the stock right now though. It's a beautiful stock, green with black webbing, has the vertical grip and a nice raised comb, but my hand and trigger finger don't really line up comfortably using it. Could be that I'll send that one over to eBay and get a Bell and Carlson M40 for it. Wish there was a way to hold one without having to buy it, but that's not how the internet works. Only 11 rounds through it so far, barrel break-in and getting the scope zeroed, and I'm liking the rifle and the cartridge, just not the stock.
Those Howa actions, the mini and the standard length actions, are good stuff. The integral recoil lug is one of many features that they have, and they're generally very good shooters.
If you have a good gunsmith locally 220, it might just need the barrel set back a bit to return it to it's former glory.

[Hatchdog]

When these 1500’s came out in the 80’s I was working for a S&W distributor. I always loved the high gloss stock and the beautiful blueing. Had a co-worker buy one and it was a great shooter.