Howa Mini Rifles, Builds, and Upgrades

[General RE LEE]

I agree with @hereinaz and I don’t feel like the sporter is too thin a profile. Plus the shorter barrel will lose some of that thin profile at the end as it’s shortened. I planned to do the same but ended up just leaving the barrel alone and adding an adapter to get the thread size I needed.

I also left mine 22" and got an adapter with zero issues after 1700 rounds.

Got a new load with Lever and 108 ELDM that gets close to 6GT speeds with the 22" barrel. I hunted with it and my 6" Banish Backcountry and never felt the need to cut it shorter.

 

[mahonsr]

I also left mine 22" and got an adapter with zero issues after 1700 rounds.

Got a new load with Lever and 108 ELDM that gets close to 6GT speeds with the 22" barrel. I hunted with it and my 6" Banish Backcountry and never felt the need to cut it shorter.

I loaded up some Varget off your previous post but haven’t shot it yet. Will be curious how you like the lever. I haven’t made up my mind on how concerned I am about temp stability in the 6arc and shooting here in Colorado

 

[General RE LEE]

I loaded up some Varget off your previous post but haven’t shot it yet. Will be curious how you like the lever. I haven’t made up my mind on how concerned I am about temp stability in the 6arc and shooting here in Colorado

I’m probably stick with Varget but I like to tinker. I get some of the lowest SDs and ES with Varget I’ve ever seen from any of my rifles. 2650 FPS at 1K altitude is 1800 out to 600 yards. More than I will ever need on deer.

 

[hereinaz]

Helped a buddy put together his mini .223 with 22” sporter barrel. It shot like 2-3” groups with a bunch of ammo.

The factory loaded match 73 grain ELDm ammo shot moa or better for a few 5 shot groups.

 

[General RE LEE]

Helped a buddy put together his mini .223 with 22” sporter barrel. It shot like 2-3” groups with a bunch of ammo.

The factory loaded match 73 grain ELDm ammo shot moa or better for a few 5 shot groups.

What’s weird about my 22” sporter Mini, it shoots 1.5-2” groups with a lot of different ammo but when I put the can on the end of barrel, it’s a different gun. Any chance your buddy was shooting without muzzle attachment?

 

[hereinaz]

What’s weird about my 22” sporter Mini, it shoots 1.5-2” groups with a lot of different ammo but when I put the can on the end of barrel, it’s a different gun. Any chance your buddy was shooting without muzzle attachment?

I had my suppressor on it. Was the first 100 down the pipe and was a little windy.

 

[General RE LEE]

I had my suppressor on it. Was the first 100 down the pipe and was a little windy.

If I didn’t reload, I’d be stuck with a 1.5” MOA gun. Being able to tune loads has it shooting great. This was Tuesday. 0.33 MOA. Groups with more shots are around 0.75-0.90.

 

[KyleR1985]

Does anyone know what pressure these actions are rated to?

Offered in 4/5 different chamberings, all with different SAAMI specs on max pressure for the cartridge.

Legacy is being, well, Legacy, says they can't comment.

There's no way to get to Howa directly, that I can find.

My assumption would be the actions are based on whatever the highest cartridge pressure they offer, plus their safety.

Or, there's some minimum "bolt action pressure requirement" that most or all bolt action rifles are tested to/adhere to.

 

[hereinaz]

I ran a 6BRA and switched to a 22 BR. I opened the face up for it.

Consider that the barrel and the brass has to be the part that actually contains the blast, except for recoil lugs to control bolt thrust.

It is a two lug action, which is the strongest type for bolt action. It’s smaller than typical, but not that smaller.

Check out failures, and you’ll see it’s the bolt lugs failing until enough gas vents. Lugs get stretched and action torn.

They test them beyond failure, typically. Of course they won’t tell you anything…

Build one at your own risk. I live on the edge…

 

[mahonsr]

Put the DIP bottom metal on my 6 arc tonight. It is nice. A lot nicer than the plastic bottom “metal”. If I don’t think to hard about how much cost… I’d definitely do it again. For a rifle that will see real use like mine will - I think it’s worth it. Everything fit fine on my stockys VG. Spring was a little bit of pain to get back in when moving the mag release over but not too bad. Yah I’d do this again.

 

[The Guide]

Put the DIP bottom metal on my 6 arc tonight. It is nice. A lot nicer than the plastic bottom “metal”. If I don’t think to hard about how much cost… I’d definitely do it again. For a rifle that will see real use like mine will - I think it’s worth it. Everything fit fine on my stockys VG. Spring was a little bit of pain to get back in when moving the mag release over but not too bad. Yah I’d do this again.

What do you mean by "see real use" and what does the DIP bottom metal do better than the factory plastic? Real questions.

Jay

 

[mahonsr]

By real use I just mean hunting, not just a fun gun for plinking at the range. As far as better, I think it will be structurally significantly more sound then the plastic bottoms. I’ve had 2 of the plastic bottoms crack within the last couple months, the original one and one I got off the classifieds on here. Both in the same spot on the front action screw and they’re both the new style. Not sure why - maybe I used too much torque - i think I put 55 in/lbs on them. Maybe there’s some inconsistency in the stock where the parts interface but it didn’t seem like it. I definitely had bulging on the bottom of the plastic at the screw hole like I’ve seen on other pics. So basically the improvement is structural integrity in my opinion. The mag release is also alittle stiffer due to how the spring fits in this one, but I didn’t think the new design on the original was bad. And the trigger guard is larger which i like. So structurally would be the benefit. Honestly though it also feels nice - haha! But that’s not particularly practical.

 

[BBob]

except for recoil lugs lug abutments to control bolt thrust.

 

[Benjy howell]

I also left mine 22" and got an adapter with zero issues after 1700 rounds.

Got a new load with Lever and 108 ELDM that gets close to 6GT speeds with the 22" barrel. I hunted with it and my 6" Banish Backcountry and never felt the need to cut it shorter.

I having the same rifle and silencer put together mind sharing your load data ?

 

[The Guide]

I having the same rifle and silencer put together mind sharing your load data ?

6arc 103 ELD-X

Wondering what everyone is loading for this in a bolt gun? I was thing of going .5 grns off hdy max loads but wasn’t sure. I have Cfe 223, varget, and lever on hand.

rokslide.com

 

[General RE LEE]

I having the same rifle and silencer put together mind sharing your load data ?

I’d start at 29.6 grains and work up. I landed at 30.7 grains, which is 0.5 grains below published max. You might find something good between 29.6-31.2 grains.

 

[hereinaz]

Howa release the 22 ARC in the Mini, I made a post with pics of the catalog.

 

[KyleR1985]

Has anyone added spacers or recoil pads to the stockys VG for the mini to increase LOP?

Could use another inch. I know I can get universal stuff and cut grind to fit. Just curious if someone found something simpler.

 

[KyleR1985]

Does anyone know what parts of the factory magazines are different for the different cartridges?

They have 3 best I can tell:

223/300/350

Grendel/arc

450bushmaster


Is it just the follower that’s different, or is the spring, housing, or floor plate different as well?

 

[Te Hopo]

Does anyone know what parts of the factory magazines are different for the different cartridges?

They have 3 best I can tell:

223/300/350

Grendel/arc

450bushmaster


Is it just the follower that’s different, or is the spring, housing, or floor plate different as well?

Follower and feed lip spacing will definitely be different, maybe the spring