I bought a couple of flatheads and one has a Howard cam with adj. Johnsons. I've never used a Howard, I'm an Isky fan, and they're close by. One of the blocks I had magged and is crack free , the one with the goods someone used a prybar to get a head off and cracked the center water jacket.
So what's the question? Is it just the Howaed cam you're concerned with? When that cam was ground, Howards was "close-by" as well. During the '50s, Isky and Howard were the two biggest names in cams-you probably wouldn't go wrong with either brand but what you really need to know is the specs on an M-14 and whether or not it suits your prokected needs.