Entry Level Howa Tactical Package

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Sniper Central Entry Level Tactical Rifle Package

One of the most common questions that I get here at Sniper Central is "What do you recommend for a rifle and scope for someone just getting into long range shooting?" That question actually has many wonderful answers including such things as a Remington 700P, 700 SPS Tactical, Tikka Varmint, and many other great rifles at under $1000, as well as optics from Leupold, Bushnell Elite, Falcon, SWFA SS, and many others. Unfortunately in order to answer the question there are many other factors that need to be taken into consideration like how much money they have to spend, what type of shooting they will be doing, etc. I have no problems with these dialogs and of course everyone is always welcome to email me to ask these types of questions.

Well, one day I received one of these same questions but someone point blank asked me "Do you have a rifle package that you would recommend or sell to me?". And by golly, that was a great idea. So what you see on this page is a fairly unique package that I put together just for people who are looking for an affordable entry level tactical package to start out with. I had a few goals that I thought needed to be achieved:

No custom action/barrel work!! (for my sanity and to keep the cost down)
Unique, not just another varmint rifle able to be purchased off the shelf
$1000 target for a complete package
.308 Win, others if available

Of course performance needed to be decent but with the restriction of no custom work it would not be feasible to place an accuracy requirement on it due to the fact that they will be mass produced barreled actions and ultimate accuracy will be out of our control. After a little bit of research and examination what we came up with to achieve those goals is the following package:

Howa 1500 Heavy Barreled Action, 24" barrel length
.308 (1:12"), .243 (1:10"), .22-250(1:14"), .223(1:12")
Bell & Carlson Tactical/Varmint Medalist Synthetic Stock (Mk1), full aluminum bedding block, free floating barrel
New B&C Vertical Grip Tactical Stock (Mk2), full aluminum bedding block, free floating barrel (No charge option)
Legacy International 1 Piece Picatinny Rail
Burris XTR Tactical Rings
Bushnell 3200 10x Tactical Scope with mildots
Harris Bipod, solid mount, 9-13" or Versa-pod 9-13"
Plastic double rifle hard gun case
$950 + $25 shipping total cost for standard colors ($975 non-member price)
8-9 week wait, mainly for the custom ordered stock

The rifles come completely assembled and zeroed at 100 yards. We fire the minimum amount of rounds to zero the rifle, usually 9. These few rounds should not interfere with the barrel break-in procedure by the owner if they elect to do so. We would prefer that the rates of twist be faster for all calibers, but everything is a compromise and the twists will work fine as they are. Unfortunately the stocks take about 8 weeks to get in from the time we place the order. At some point we may stock some of the popular colors, but I don't know the popular colors yet! The package may change if new products are released that will perform better. The performance of the rifle cannot be guaranteed but they all seem to be shooting around .75 MOA while zeroing without any break in. The new Bell & Carlson Tactical stock is a much more tactical oriented stock with a nice palm swell, but not too much, and a good vertical grip. The forearm area is also very flat for a good solid platform. It does weigh more than the original tactical/varmint stock, but makes a good package. We are calling the original stock the Mk1 and the new Tactical stock the Mk2.

We have reviewed several of the items that are part of the package, and you can read the reviews here:

Bushnell Elite 3200 Tactical 10x
Howa Supreme Varminter The varmint rifle that uses the same barreled action.

OPTIONS

While I tried to put together a good package for most entry level shootings, it by no means will be what everyone wants, so I thought I would offer a few options. Below are a list of the available options and their cost:

N/C - Calibers: 308, 243, .22-250, .223
N/C - Original Tactical/Varmint Stock (Mk1) or new Vertical Grip Tactical Stock (Mk2)
N/C - Versa-Pod Bipod, recommended on Mk2 stock because of flat forearm.
+$80 - Stainless Steel Barreled Action, no metal finish, so it'll be silver
+$175 - Falcon Menace 10x Tactical Scope, MP20 or Mildot reticule
+$275 - Leupold Mark 2 3-9x40mm, T2, Mildots
+$POR - Any other scope of your choice, contact us for pricing
N/C - For solid and webbed colors from Bell and Carlson
+$35 - Any camouflage color from Bell and Carlson

Yes, the complete package price, all assembled and ready to go is $950 plus $25 shipping and handling to your FFL dealer. Of course, we require a signed copy of your dealers FFL for us to ship it to them. A fax is fine and our fax number is: (208) 979-8571. Once we receive payment and the FFL then we ship it to your dealer and he will then do the firearms transfer to you. All dealers know the process so do not hesitate to ask your local gun shop about handling the transfer for you. If you are interested in this package or have questions, please feel free to email me at mele@snipercentral.com.

PAYMENT OPTIONS

There are three payment options for purchasing one of these rifle packages.

Full payment up front and we ship the rifle to your FFL dealer when completed.
50% down gets the project rolling, the balance is due before shipping the rifle to the FFL dealer.
Layaway. 25% down with 25% due each month until paid off, and then we ship the rifle.

If you have stayed with us until this point, here are a few more pictures of the rifle for your viewing pleasure. I will continue to add some photos of some of the more unique packages we put together.