#Howa

Davidson’s, in collaboration with Legacy Sports International and Howa, proudly presents the exclusive edition of the Howa Superlite rifle. Whether you’re a seasoned shooter or a firearms enthusiast, the Superlite is set to revolutionize your shooting experience.

Modular Driven Technologies, also known as MDT, is a major producer of rifle chassis systems. They also produce magazines for those rifles. The newest addition to their magazine lineup is a 10-round magazine for the Howa Mini Action series.

Japan’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) showcased the Japan Ground Self Defense Force’s (JGSDF) latest standard-issue rifle, the Type 20 Howa at the DSEI Japan expo held in Chiba from 15 to 17 March. Overt Defense was able to speak with Howa’s Firearms and Ammunitions Department Deputy General Manager Kazuhiro Kimura, JGSDF light weapons instructor Master Sgt. Kentaro Ota, and with Engineer Yuichi Omote from Asahi-Seki’s Ammunition & Precision Engineering Division about the rifle. Asahi-Seiki is the company responsible for the new 5.56x45mm J3 cartridge which is fired by the rifle.

The 6mm ARC Cartridge has started to see a perceivable uptick in adoption by the shooting sports industry and along with that rise in popularity, HOWA, and Legacy Sports International are proud to announce their much-anticipated 6mm ARC HOWA Mini Action Rifles are finally shipping to customers in a fairly large number of different offerings depending on the specific users needs.

The launch of a new sister brand for Modular Driven Technologies (MDT) has just been announced. MambaMag is intended to provide shooters with quality aftermarket magazines for factory rifles that increase their overall magazine capacity. This supposedly allows you to field higher round capacities on a traditional rifle without any need for drastic modifications to the platform. Their starting lineup should include magazine extension offerings for TIkka, Howa, Remington, and Lithgow rifles.

Photo Of The Day: For some reason, it’s always difficult to get clean pictures of Japanese infantry firearms, but here’s a welcome exception. Here we have Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force soldiers assigned to the 34th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division. They’re engaging in a firefight during a guard and protect exercise in Samurai Readiness Inspection at Yokota Air Base, Japan, 2021.

New from Legacy Sports International this year is the Howa Carbon Fiber Stalker.  The stock itself comes from a collaboration between Howa and Stocky’s, an American gunstock maker.  Stocky’s has this to say about their newest line up of ultralight carbon fiber stocks:

Not so long ago, the vast majority of hunting rifles were only available with traditional wood furniture or they were of the all-black tactical variety. If you wanted something different in the aesthetic department, you would likely have to break out some rattle-can spray paint in a selection of browns and greens or find something like a cloth-based wrap-around solution. With the proliferation of better methods like Cerakoting in other colors or hydro-dipping patterns, options have greatly expanded in recent years and many of these alternatives are now being offered straight from gun factories. Howa has gotten on board with satisfying this customer demand, and they are now offering a new full-dip Kratos camo pattern rifle.

In December 2019, we reported that the Japanese Self-Defense Forces had completed evaluations for both a new service pistol and rifle. It was announced that they had selected a 5.56x45mm rifle developed by Howa and the Heckler & Koch SFP9. Today, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces unveiled their new weapons and confirmed that the rifle will be designated the Type 20.

For some time now the Japanese Defense Forces have been moving towards a replacement for some of their key small arms. The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force is currently equipped with the indigenously developed Howa Type 89 5.56x45mm rifle and the Minebea 9mm Pistol, a licensed copy of the venerable SIG Sauer P220. As recently as 2018, the JG SDF has procured as many as 2,300 Type 89 rifles at a projected cost of ¥ 900 million or $8,292,600. The Type 89, introduced in 1989, is now lacking in key features such as modularity, ambidextrous controls and optic and accessory mounting capabilities.

Most shooters don’t really care where their stuff comes from or how it was made as long as it performs up to their standards.  If this is you don’t waste your time reading this entire article, you just need to know that Preferred Barrel Blanks, out of Hurricane Utah, makes some darn good prefit/variable shoulder barrels at a reasonable price and with short turnaround times.  Now, if you are like me, getting into the weeds is a past time, and you know the details make the difference. That is why the opportunity to see how these match grade barrels are made was such an interesting experience.  

During the Huntex 2018 exhibition, a South African company called Gun Warrior introduced the latest, Gen5 iteration of their Warrior aluminum bolt action rifle chassis. Although this chassis will be quite a capable platform for multiple applications (tactical, hunting etc.), it is primarily designed for the Precision Rifle Series (PRS) competition shooting.

Legacy Sports International, the US importer of Howa rifles, has a new firearm for the precision minded hunter. Howa is glad to introduce their newest offering to shooters with the H-S Precision rifle.

At SHOT Show 2018 we speak with Christopher Goodall at the Davidsons booth. Chris gives a brief overview of the history of the company – which now offers services to both dealers and individual buyers via galleryofguns.com, and he shows us some of the firearms he’s most excited about.

At the 2018 SHOT Show, Kinetic Research Group – known for their high quality chassis for Remington 700 and Tikka T3 rifles – displayed something totally new: A complete precision bolt action rifle they called the “SOTIC”, after the Special Operations Target Interdiction Course, which is now called the Special Forces Sniper Course. The rifle is based partially on the TRG series, but comes equipped with a KRG stock and forend, and which can be upgraded with a larger forend that sports M-LOK slots and other mounting points.