HOWA M1500 V.S Remington 700SPS Varmint

[ryan0320]

Dear All,


Which one rifle you guys go for if they use the same cal
HOWA M1500 is $299
Remington 700SPS Varmint is $539(after $40 mail in rebate)...
Considering price and performance, quality...
Which one you go for??

[pontiacpratt]

My buddy has a Howa 1500 great rifle very accurate.
I own a 700 great rifle very accurate.
You plan on shooting it out of the box. Not a customizing kind of guy?
Howa is the answer.
You plan on making it your own with upgrades?
Remington is the answer.
P.S after owning a 26" barrel 700 all those 20" barreled rifles look short.lol

[CK_32]

Go with the 700 SPS tactical. Varments stocks are just horable. The SPS T's stock is a little better not that much better. But its a solid shooter.


I went out and shot and some guy has a Howa 1500 and we had a little shoot off and my 700 shot way better groups once we got past 300 yards.. They are ok rifles but you cant beat a remington.

[dlouie87]

Go with the 700 SPS tactical. Varments stocks are just horable. The SPS T's stock is a little better not that much better. But its a solid shooter.


I went out and shot and some guy has a Howa 1500 and we had a little shoot off and my 700 shot way better groups once we got past 300 yards.. They are ok rifles but you cant beat a remington.

They both use the crappy hogue stock dont they??

[tpirman]

I can't speak for the Howa, never shot one. But I have a 700 SPS Varmint in .308 that I cut the barrel down to 22" on and put into a Bell and Carlson Target/Varmint stock. I topped it off with a Bushnell 4200 Elite Tactical. It can now put a 168gr projectile through the same hole at 100 yards, when I am shooting well. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

[sonnyt650]

Any SPS stock can be changed out, so I'd go with the SPS Varmint over the Tactical due to the faster bullet. True the factory stock for the Tactical is better but it's not like you're going to keep it anyway. I don't think I've ever seen any Howa aftermarket parts, so when it comes time to rebarrel...

[Mrskylinetou]

Howa is coming out with many parts in the future but if you wanna custom yr gun get the 700. I have a Howa and it shoots well

[CK_32]

They both use the crappy hogue stock dont they??

Yea pretty much. Honestly unless your a top shooter you wont even notice.. Get good with the rifle then change everything out.. A lot of people change these stocks out and change the barrels and everything else and couldnt even shoot a .5 MOA group to save their lives. Then they end up spending $3000 on a rifle set up they cant even pull the full potential out of.

Like I said the sps tactical is a decent set up and you can get some decent groups from it. It usually can out shoot half of the people shooting them for a while anyways. Most people just like to blame the rifle instead of their lack of form and shot. I've been shooting mine now at around 700 to 1000 yards now and the rifle still is keeping up with my shooting. Still working on some hand loads to get everything I can from it. I;m just now starting to be able to out prefrom the rifle but not by much and I have been shooting it for about a year now with a good 400 +/- rounds down the barrel so far.

Any SPS stock can be changed out, so I'd go with the SPS Varmint over the Tactical due to the faster bullet. True the factory stock for the Tactical is better but it's not like you're going to keep it anyway. I don't think I've ever seen any Howa aftermarket parts, so when it comes time to rebarrel...

If he wants to 26" bull barrel go for it.. But thats wayy to much barrel for anything.. Get the 20" barrel at least you get a good sized barrel and a managable stock with the SPS tactical. Yes you can shoot to 1000 yards easily with a 20" stock barrel. Im doing it as we speak and several other guys I know are having no problem getting 2,600+ FPS out of the 20" barrels..

[AeroEngi]

Remington FTW! I'd definitely get the SPS Varmint. Shoot the rifle out of the box and get used to it and then when you're ready, change out the stock to a HS Precision stock used on the 700p. You can find them for a decent price.