Well.. Howa makes the Weatherby Vanguard which I had one of for a few yrs. Loved the rifle's accuracy just not the weight, with scopeit was a tad under 10lbs. Shot a friend's Lightning he picked up at WalMart in .30-06 and it did well from a bench, roughly 1.4" 3-shot groups using Fed. 150gr rds. Finish/bluing (and some tool marks)needs refining but overall nice enough for hunting, exspecially at that pricing level.
I currently have 2, one in .308, and the other in .338 Win Mag, they are essentially the same as a Weatherby Vanguard, and a very good rifles, in particular the action, is very smooth, and has good ejection, I think they are the best deal in the firearms industry.
Don't know if this helps but I handled one at a firearms store and it seemed to be a good quality gun. I just didn't care for the shape of the forehand guards.
Howa Lightning??
