Howa Mini Rifles, Builds, and Upgrades

[nate907]

Bought a 20" 6ARC barreled action off Brownells and built this up. Dropped it in an Elf Owl chassis with a folding Black Collar stock. I also had the barrel fluted which actually made it lighter than the 22" sporter i have in 223. Not as light as id hoped for, but happy with how it turned out. It ended up weighing the same as my 20" tikka sitting in a HNT26 chassis with the same scope, but significantly cheaper to put together.

 

[Marshfly]

Nice and that’s with using Varget? About to have a 18” soon

Factory Hornady load. I don't reload.

 

[passinggas33]

View attachment 804799
The MDT LSS Gen 2 was too cheap for me to pass on the factory seconds sale. I’ll post some more when I get it all setup.

What did this end up weighing?

 

[bigbuckdj]

What did this end up weighing?

It’s 40.4 ounces with the chassis, fostech aluminum castle nut, mdt buffer tube, magpul dt-pr, and mdt premier pistol grip. My friends daughter is using the 6 arc, I’ll get it back in a couple weeks and a give a full weight.

 

[Natebonebusta]

I upgraded to a Bell and Carlson stock from the factory Howa. I like it. I want to reach for this rifle with the same feeling I have when I reach for my Xbolt. This stock certainly improves that feeling

 

[General RE LEE]

I upgraded to a Bell and Carlson stock from the factory Howa. I like it. I want to reach for this rifle with the same feeling I have when I reach for my Xbolt. This stock certainly improves that feelingView attachment 809731

Looks like the sporter stock. Nice.

 

[hereinaz]

Man, I am getting itchy to for my bolt to get back so I can keep shooting my mini!

 

[Ferrulewax]

Does anyone have a Superlight they can compare to the mini? I am mostly wondering where/how howa is getting the weight savings on the superlight. Has me thinking about getting a superlight to modify instead of the mini, though I prefer the 6arc/6.5 grendel to the 6.5cm as offered in the SL for a sub 5lb rifle.

 

[General RE LEE]

Does anyone have a Superlight they can compare to the mini? I am mostly wondering where/how howa is getting the weight savings on the superlight. Has me thinking about getting a superlight to modify instead of the mini, though I prefer the 6arc/6.5 grendel to the 6.5cm as offered in the SL for a sub 5lb rifle.

The mini action is shorter and lighter

 

[The Guide]

Does anyone have a Superlight they can compare to the mini? I am mostly wondering where/how howa is getting the weight savings on the superlight. Has me thinking about getting a superlight to modify instead of the mini, though I prefer the 6arc/6.5 grendel to the 6.5cm as offered in the SL for a sub 5lb rifle.

I'm considering a Superlite build also. I can get similar or greater terminal distances with a 16" 308/6.5CM/243 as I can get with my 22" 6ARC. I want to run suppressed and keep a short rifle system. I'm 6'6" and get enough stuff caught on my pack without adding a suppressor to the end of my rifle.

Jay

 

[hereinaz]

I'm considering a Superlite build also. I can get similar or greater terminal distances with a 16" 308/6.5CM/243 as I can get with my 22" 6ARC. I want to run suppressed and keep a short rifle system. I'm 6'6" and get enough stuff caught on my pack without adding a suppressor to the end of my rifle.

Jay

Put the money into a short 22 arc barrel with the 80 gr or 77 gr?

You can make the barrel lighter than you could with the larger calibers.

I think the weight savings is in the barrel. The Stocky’s stock is the same, the action is lighter.

 

[General RE LEE]

FYI I emailed Legacy Sports about when the 22 ARC barreled actions will be available. I was told it won’t be the first shipment.

 

[KyleR1985]

FYI I emailed Legacy Sports about when the 22 ARC barreled actions will be available. I was told it won’t be the first shipment.

So what’s that mean for “earliest possible”?

 

[The Guide]

FYI I emailed Legacy Sports about when the 22 ARC barreled actions will be available. I was told it won’t be the first shipment.

So what’s that mean for “earliest possible”?

Since the barreled actions are a "Brownells Exclusive", I'm sure they only come out once the market is flooded with rifles in all configurations. When they hit the market you might have to take the hit of an extra $100 and a stock you don't need to get one early.

Jay

 

[KyleR1985]

Since the barreled actions are a "Brownells Exclusive", I'm sure they only come out once the market is flooded with rifles in all configurations. When they hit the market you might have to take the hit of an extra $100 and a stock you don't need to get one early.

Jay

Sorry,

I meant in absolute terms. Like “March” or “2026”. Just seeing how it lines up with other projects and if I should even pay attention

 

[The Guide]

Sorry,

I meant in absolute terms. Like “March” or “2026”. Just seeing how it lines up with other projects and if I should even pay attention

From my experience, you know about a product from Legacy Sports for a LONG time before you see that product available. If they are consistently available by June we will be lucky.

Jay

 

[The Guide]

Put the money into a short 22 arc barrel with the 80 gr or 77 gr?

You can make the barrel lighter than you could with the larger calibers.

I think the weight savings is in the barrel. The Stocky’s stock is the same, the action is lighter.

I'm considering terminal performance to 600 yards over weight as they both will be at what I'm considering the lower end of longer range shoot ability. A 5# bare rifle ends up at about 8. 5# scoped, with ammo/sling/bipod/suppressor the way I like my guns setup. I'm building a gun for off trail hunting in steep country where 400 to 600 yard shots across canyon aren't uncommon nor is a 50 yard shot in the trees. As much as I like my Mini Action rifles, I'm considering the horsepower limitations of the cartridges when the barrels are cut short.

Jay

 

[hereinaz]

I'm considering terminal performance to 600 yards over weight as they both will be at what I'm considering the lower end of longer range shoot ability. A 5# bare rifle ends up at about 8. 5# scoped, with ammo/sling/bipod/suppressor the way I like my guns setup. I'm building a gun for off trail hunting in steep country where 400 to 600 yard shots across canyon aren't uncommon nor is a 50 yard shot in the trees. As much as I like my Mini Action rifles, I'm considering the horsepower limitations of the cartridges when the barrels are cut short.

Jay

Same here. I had my mini bolt opened for 22 BR with 18” and feel comfortable in the 500 range for sure, depends a little on conditions past that. I originally had one opened for 6 BRA, but decided to go with the 22.

About 3000 fps for the 80 ELDm or 77 TMK and still over 1800 fps out to 750 yards where I shoot.

Not against a Howa superlight in any of the cartridges you mentioned.

I also picked up an Sig Cross to get a folding rifle, and will try running it in 6.5 creed for a while and if I like it then maybe switching to 88-90 grain bullets in 22 creed. While it is 6.5 creed I will flute the barrel and see what else I can do to lighten it.