RE: Howa ???
I have one from 1984, made for Smith & Wesson. Bull barrel, heavy as sin, but shoots around 1/2" with cheap factory ammo. I should reload but why??? Only beef is it has a crappy trigger but I haven' t taken it in yet to see if it can be fixed.
I wouldn' t hesitate to buy another and in fact looked to buy one for my deer/elk hunting rig. Going with a Tikka simply due to the removable external box magazine (plus the same barrel as Sako rifles so great accuracy out of the box).