Hunting

Howa Super Lite Rifle

By Mike Dickerson

Howa’s lightest rifle ever is accurate and surprisingly affordable

For 2022, Howa has joined the exclusive sub-five-pound hunting rifle club with its new Super Lite rifle, which is the lightest centerfire rifle Howa has ever made. It weighs just 4 pounds, 7 ounces. That’s quite a feat for a production rifle, but Howa has, surprisingly, brought the rifle to market at an affordable price, with an MSRP of just $1,399. That’s not exactly cheap, but it’s far less than you’ll pay for many other rifles in this weight class.

To make this gun, Howa created an entirely new, scaled-down version of its rugged and reliable 1500 action. It’s actually a reduced, short-action receiver, sized in between Howa’s mini action and the standard 1500 short action. Howa managed to downsize the action, including the bolt, without sacrificing some of the 1500’s notable features, such as a three-position safety that allows you to cycle rounds through the action with the safety in the middle, engaged position. It’s also equipped with a pretty decent two-stage trigger, which is adjustable to a pull weight of about 2 pounds.

The slender 20-inch barrel was a major ingredient in Howa’s weight-loss plan and goal of a sub-five-pound rifle. The barrel is threaded to 1/2-28 TPI to attach a suppressor and/or muzzle brake. The lightweight Titanium-alloy Banish 30 Gold suppressor and its accompanying muzzle brake are shown here, available through Silencer Central (silencercentral.com.) A lightweight MDT (mdttac.com) CKYE-POD Gen2 is shown attached to the rifle’s forward sling-swivel stud.

Howa also saved weight in the Super Lite’s design by scaling down the barrel. The rifle has a rather slender 20-inch barrel that sacrifices just a little bullet velocity to keep the rifle’s weight down. The muzzle is threaded (1/2-28 TPI), so you can add a suppressor or muzzle.

The rifle’s hand-laid carbon fiber stock from Stocky’s also helps keep weight to a minimum. With clean, classic lines, the stock incorporates an Accublock patented lug bed and is available with attractive Kryptek Altitude (pictured) or Kryptek Obskura camo pattern finishes. These finishes have a black soft-touch webbing stock coating to help maintain a firm grip on the rifle. The gun comes with a detachable, flush-fitting three-round magazine. In testing, rounds fed smoothly from the magazine, and there were no issues with case extraction or ejection.

Initial chamberings for the gun are limited to 6.5 Creedmoor and 308 Win. (tested), which happen to be two of today’s most popular rifle cartridges. I found perceived recoil to be quite tolerable and less than I anticipated. That’s partly due to the design of the stock and partly due to its Limbsaver recoil pad. I tested the rifle with a Trijicon Credo 2-10×36 scope, attached to the gun’s pre-installed Picatinny rail.

Howa managed to downsize the venerable model 1500 action and bolt for the Super Light platform without sacrificing some of the action’s notable features, such as a three-position safety that allows you to cycle rounds through the action with the safety in the middle, engaged position. The rifle is equipped with a pretty nice two-stage trigger, which is adjustable to a pull weight of about 2 pounds. The detachable, flush-fitting magazine holds three rounds.

For accuracy testing, I shot only three-shot groups because groups typically open up as slender barrels heat up. As I settled in behind the rifle, I wondered if it would live up to Howa’s sub-MOA accuracy guarantee. Rifles this light are inherently more challenging to shoot tiny groups with at the range. Even a stiff breeze can make barrels wobble, and any inconsistencies in shooting technique are magnified. I find I get the best results at the range with ultralight rifles by simply resting one hand atop the scope, and that’s how I shot the Super Lite.

The Super Light’s hand-laid carbon fiber stock is from Stocky’s and also helps keep weight down. The stock incorporates an Accublock patented lug bed and is available with attractive Kryptek Altitude or Kryptek Obskura camo pattern finishes with a black soft-touch webbing coating. A Limbsaver recoil pad is standard, and in keeping with the lightweight theme, we installed a Butler Creek (butlercreek.com) Featherlight sling.

Despite conducting all range testing on a day when I had to cope with a full-value wind blowing 7-14 mph, the rifle did quite well. Using match ammo would have likely produced tighter groups, but this isn’t a match rifle, so I tested it with hunting loads only. Winchester’s Deer Season XP 150-grain load and Hornady’s Superformance 165-grain SST load produced average groups of about an inch and a half, with slightly better best groups. That is perfectly acceptable for most hunting applications. Two other loads fared even better. Hornady’s American Whitetail 150-grain Interlock load shot 1.06-inch average groups and a best group of 0.90 inches, while Federal’s Power Shok 150-grain Copper load shot a 0.89-inch best group and one-inch average groups. That’s very good accuracy for such a light rifle.

If you’re looking for an ultralight rifle that won’t require you to take out a second mortgage to purchase, take a closer look at the Howa Super Lite. It may be just what you need to make that climb up the mountain a little easier and make the shot when you get there. See one in person at your nearest dealer, or for more information, contact Legacy Sports International; Tel.: (800) 5-LEGACY; Web: www.legacysports.com