A Howa 1500 .243 is my farm beater gun. And it has been beaten for about 7 years--pickup, ATV, tractor, and when not on one of the above it lives in the kitchen. I shot a coyote from the kitchen window last summer. Anyway, this rifle has been very reliable except for 2 "problems"--the tupperware stock is a POS and will flex in a strong breeze, the trigger (the older 2-position safety type) was heavy and had a long grating creep. A shim at the forend tip (and a lot of reload experimentation) got it shooting around .5", and about 6 trips into the trigger got that performing respectably. I have been told that the new trigger is much better. I would definitely buy another Howa 1500, but would get a wood stocked model.

The Hogue stock is very good for the price. Great feel.