Howa Mini Rifles, Builds, and Upgrades

I avoid the problem with most Howa by tightening the rear screw so the action is flat, then bring the front tight, and work them up together.

It is definitely a problem if you torque the front first to pull it down and lever the rear up.

Doing this takes a Howa from 2 moa to half moa. Maybe I will do a video to show how to make your Howa suck eggs, lol.

Bedding can help with the problem too.
What torque specs do you run?
 
What are you testing with this one bro?

I'm heading to Chris's tomorrow to spin the 223AI barrel on.
I spent today making up a few loads with fireformed brass and 75BTHPs, 75ELDMs and some 55SPs just for shits and giggles.
Man I love how long the Jefferson bottom metal is.
20250327_191508.jpg

Oh and the one on the right us a subsonic with a 55gr minus the soft point, these work bloody good on camp raiding possums
 
What are you testing with this one bro?

I'm heading to Chris's tomorrow to spin the 223AI barrel on.
I spent today making up a few loads with fireformed brass and 75BTHPs, 75ELDMs and some 55SPs just for shits and giggles.
Man I love how long the Jefferson bottom metal is.
View attachment 860295

Oh and the one on the right us a subsonic with a 55gr minus the soft point, these work bloody good on camp raiding possums
Just seeing if it will shoot the 75 ELDs with this barrel and going to test whether slimming it down made it unusable (took 5.5ounces of the contour). I have a hardy barrel to put on eventually but want to see what happens when i contour it super skinny. May play with tensioning the barrel in a Carbon Sleeve to see if there are any effects.
 
Does Howa keep tolerances close enough for pre-fit barrels or do you need a custom barrel spun up? Barrel Nut?
I've only seen Howage (barrel nut prefits). So far, I haven't been wildly impressed with the accuracy of my 6 ARC. Granted, the wind was pretty horrible at the range on Friday (could see the reticle moving around due to the gusts).

Planning to keep working up some loads and if it's not producing, I'll go with an aftermarket barrel.
 
Does Howa keep tolerances close enough for pre-fit barrels or do you need a custom barrel spun up? Barrel Nut?
McGowen did a 7PRC shouldered prefit for me a couple years ago on a Howa 1500 that headspaced good without them ever seeing the action. Shoots great, not sure if they still offer shouldered prefits for that action or not.
 
I took my Howa out for the first time today. It is replacing a Savage 110 with a heavy 20" barrel.

Impressions:
1) I had trouble getting rounds to feed from the magazine. The second round kept tipping up

2) The 3-9 scope Leupold fit the Howa perfect, the glass was very clear, but with my poor vision, it was a hard to aim precisely at 100 yards.

3) Action is much much smoother than than the Savage.

4) The light carbon barrel made it easy to handle.
 
First 40 out of the mini 6dasher today with virgin brass.

Best load was 108eldm 32gr Varget 2700fps.

I’m pretty happy with this project. Fed and ejected flawlessly.


IMG_6959.jpeg
 
First 40 out of the mini 6dasher today with virgin brass.

Best load was 108eldm 32gr Varget 2700fps.

I’m pretty happy with this project. Fed and ejected flawlessly.


View attachment 860653
What length is your barrel again? The 22” factory sporter 6arc use to get 2730 with the factory loaded 103eld-x till Hornady changed powders/decided to download it in the last 6ish months. Now it’s 2610ish.
 
What are you using for bore guides?

Even my skinny bore guide won't fit because the tip is too large. I like Possom Hollow guides, but cannot locate the correct size.
 
What are you using for bore guides?

Even my skinny bore guide won't fit because the tip is too large. I like Possom Hollow guides, but cannot locate the correct size.
Contact to verify: Possum Hollow for the Mini in 6.5 #326, 223 #325

I used one of those four piece with plastic ends and an alu bushing for bolt bore and modified it. It was sitting unused in my junk box and I have no idea who made it. Had small diameter replaceable noses for different bores. I machined a smaller bushing for the bolt bore and used the original handle of the original bushing.
 
Curious, has anyone used the Brownells bottom metal?
I have been thinking about that one as well since the Jefferson one hasn't been available in months. I have reached out to them a few times and the answer has been the same. They say "A couple weeks" but I still haven't seen any pop up in stock.
 
I have been thinking about that one as well since the Jefferson one hasn't been available in months. I have reached out to them a few times and the answer has been the same. They say "A couple weeks" but I still haven't seen any pop up in stock.
I picked up The Jefferson one in the last month. You have to check and refresh their site like a hound a few times a day. They drop a handful at a time. But I’m selling my mini and the Jefferson hinged bottom metal together over in the gun classifieds section. But I won’t sell the bottom metal before the rifle goes.
 
I have been thinking about that one as well since the Jefferson one hasn't been available in months. I have reached out to them a few times and the answer has been the same. They say "A couple weeks" but I still haven't seen any pop up in stock.
Jefferson just finished a batch about 3 weeks ago and they were for sale. They finish a batch of around 25-30 about every 3-4 weeks.
 
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