The Howa is the better quality rifle, the bolt sucks on the Ruger. The Ruger takes Mini 30 magazines and can take AR mags if you change the magwell (which I haven't see available in Canada). The Howa also looks much better.
This if funny, is it April 1st or something? They say 95% of all automobiles are bought based on looks, so only 5% use their logical brain, you showed your colours here with that last part of your comment.
Do you own all the rifles being discussed here?
I have a bone in this fight. I have had 3 howa mini's and 3 ruger rar's. Still have 1 howa mini and 3 ruger rar's. Here's what you need to know about howa. The only part they got right was the action, the bolt, and the barrel. Everything else is crap. They are accurate but it's amazing how much garbage people will put up with for accuracy and think that accuracy equals quality. Barf. Anyhow, lets start with the stock, you got a svelte little piece of metal stuffed in a 34.5 oz pig of a piece of plastic, like putting a honda 4 cylinder turbo into a bread van, quality from steel to stock difference on a scale of 1-10 is about a 20. Next lets move to the bottom plastic and magazine. You got a 5 round magazine that's just as porky and cheap as the stock and it's about the right size to hold 10, sadly the finicky little push feed needs a delicate bottom pressure from the rounds below, any the plastic surround has cracked for so many guys, the magazines have proven unreliable for many (tipping rounds down at the shot) and that removes hunting reliability (range toy only confidence). Now lets look at the trigger, the only thing it does right, like the action/barrel (accurate) is it breaks at the right weights and adjusts to the right weights and is reasonably crisp, but the blade feels like a gas station cap guns blade, two stage feels cheap as well, and the stamped metal safety is a proper joke. Lastly, for those willing to spend triple the original price to 'do it right the second time' Legacy sports doesn't import the stainless versions of these, huge fail in this massive North American market. I've done two customs builds and sold them, proof carbon barrel on one, an ultralight chassis on another, and just finishing up the final one I had in an ultralight compact sheep hunters theme (think Kimber Montana) so I've spent the coin and know what I'm talking about. You need to buy the Pendleton stock, or stocky's carbon and there are other stocks from bell & Carlson etc. then you need to find aluminum bottom metal kits, couple guys make hinged floor plate, one guy makes a cz 527 magazine conversion as well as a blind bottom along with the hinged, then you'd wanna talk to timney to get a proper trigger and safety. All of that would be worth it on a stainless base...maybe. As it is I'll be 99% of the way there (just no timney yet but if she shoots how I hope then I may finish it all the way with the trigger).
The ruger, needs absolutely nothing. The money you spend to buy one is all you need to spend. No smithing, no replacement parts, nothing. Trigger gets down to 3 lbs. They shoot. The stock is 1000x better and completely adequate and nice for the price point. Mount a scope and use it. It's a working mans rig and is perfect for it's price point. The howa starts at the same price point and you have to basically build a whole new rifle around the barrelled action to get a sense of a proper rifle not some Mattel plastic toy. Mine are all in 6.5 Grendel, but same x39 case.
This little carbon howa I'm building will be triple the cost and headache to get right as compared to the ruger. It's broke in, range days planned to see how it shoots, zero, collect drop data to set up and then will hunt it potentially or it's going down the road at a huge loss to me...again. I wanted to love them as the cartridge is what I'm about. One would be better off if seeking a proper high quality rifle in this cartridge in different platforms altogether, sako 85 XS action, even an older ruger 77 boat paddle x39 stainless would be a dandy start (barrel and wood stock with red recoil pad like rugers should be) and even a cz 527 American can be done way better and of higher quality. I will never buy another howa, ever.
yup, have heard that only accurate rifles are interesting, but interesting covers anything, in this case...it's an interesting piece of sh1t
what I like and appreciate from the ruger is that it's honest, needs nothing, fits it's value/function perfectly, the howa is not, it should be a $200 gun to start because you still spend more than the cost of a ruger to get it in the same league, you can't build an ultralight out of the ruger as it's got a beefy action/barrel but if that's not on the menu for project then I'd take the ruger platform over the howa every day that ends in y and twice on Sundays
you've all been warned, protect your wallets, a howa done mostly right is no bargain, you'd be better off chasing down other platforms period
