ONe thing that's very nice with the Howa made rifles, the bolt handle is very long, compared to the Remington, that gives you more leverage to open the bolt. That's usually not much of a factor, but it might explain why Remington bolt handles have been snapped off, in the past. I live near a Remington Warranty Station, and it seems like every time I'm in there, someone is bringing in a 700bolt to have the handle fixed. I might see more of it than the average guy, but it does happen. The extra leverage might make banging on the bolt handle with a 2x4 unnecessary...... Having owned both, I think it's a tossup, but I like the Howasa lot.