Lightweight Howa Mini Builds - .223 Rem & 6.5 Grendel

[Bowhunter-tw]

They are decent to ok rifles, however a Tikka T3 223 with 1-8” twist is a better rifle in every way.

Yah id like to get one when I can find it, I was thinking build a lightweight howa mini in the mean time to replace my savage axis then get a tikka when one pops up.

 

[Formidilosus]

Yah id like to get one when I can find it, I was thinking build a lightweight howa mini in the mean time to replace my savage axis then get a tikka when one pops up.

That’s a good plan.

 

[4090Sharps]

Still waiting for my rifle to be returned. Sitting at a month and a half since I sent my rifle out, so assuming Howa sticks to their quoted return times "only" another month and a half left...

Edit: I'm bad at math. Quote was 60-120 days. So maybe two weeks left to wait, maybe two months.

Today is 105 days since Howa has received my rifle, and they have yet to provide me with a status update.

 

[4090Sharps]

Today is 105 days since Howa has received my rifle, and they have yet to provide me with a status update.

I called today and was told there was no update, and to call back in a couple weeks.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Love this thread. I too am looking at getting into the ultra light 223 game. Was going to get a howa, but couldn’t find one. Now I am glad that I didn’t head down that route. I went with a tikka t3x lite compact, which I’m waiting on to ship. Will chop the barrel down to 16” and thread. Then a stockys CF stock and top it with a leupold or an old vortex razor 2-10. Hoping with barrel chopped and stock replaced to come in around right under 6lbs

 

[PsRpOiGrRiAtM]

The 6mm ARC mini barreled actions are in stock at Brownells! I've got one headed my way.
6mm ARC mini action

 

[4090Sharps]

Roughly day 138 since my rifle arrived back at Howa, and I got a proper update when I called today. The stock has reportedly been fixed or replaced, and now the barrel is in the queue to be recoated due to a number of blemishes in the finish when I received it.

No ETA yet.

 

[4090Sharps]

Roughly day 138 since my rifle arrived back at Howa, and I got a proper update when I called today. The stock has reportedly been fixed or replaced, and now the barrel is in the queue to be recoated due to a number of blemishes in the finish when I received it.

No ETA yet.

Called today, day 158, and was told it will be at least three more weeks while they wait for the stock to be recoated (I guess the information I received last time wasn't quite correct). What a pain.

It's worth noting that no one has ever reached out to provide me with an update from Howa/Legacy Sports--not through an automated email when they passed their estimated deadline, nor through updates in their ticketing system (maybe they update it with comments that are only viewable internally).

 

[4090Sharps]

Update: My rifle is now marked complete and should be shipping out via FedEx soon!

 

[WyoWild]

For anyone following I just did a summary of a build I did in 6 ARC using a Howa barreled action.

6 ARC Backpacking Rifle Build

 

[4090Sharps]

Awesome build!

Here's how my rifle turned out with the 16" lightweight contour Carbonsix Barrel. I was told this was the first prefit Howa mini barrel that Carbonsix had received at the time of ordering, and it installed without issue. With the DNZ mount and a 3-9x40 Trijicon Accupoint (triangle and post reticle), it came out to 5lb 13.5oz. I have a Kenton top turret ordered for it and the 77gr TMK load.

I have also decided I'm going to go the 6 ARC route with my other Howa (currently in 6.5 Grendel). It will be getting an 18" Sendero contour Carbonsix barrel, but I expect that won't arrive until summer.

 

[Sun_and_Steel_77]

Awesome build!

Here's how my rifle turned out with the 16" lightweight contour Carbonsix Barrel. I was told this was the first prefit Howa mini barrel that Carbonsix had received at the time of ordering, and it installed without issue. With the DNZ mount and a 3-9x40 Trijicon Accupoint (triangle and post reticle), it came out to 5lb 13.5oz. I have a Kenton top turret ordered for it and the 77gr TMK load.

I have also decided I'm going to go the 6 ARC route with my other Howa (currently in 6.5 Grendel). It will be getting an 18" Sendero contour Carbonsix barrel, but I expect that won't arrive until summer.

View attachment 520497

Awesome build!

Here's how my rifle turned out with the 16" lightweight contour Carbonsix Barrel. I was told this was the first prefit Howa mini barrel that Carbonsix had received at the time of ordering, and it installed without issue. With the DNZ mount and a 3-9x40 Trijicon Accupoint (triangle and post reticle), it came out to 5lb 13.5oz. I have a Kenton top turret ordered for it and the 77gr TMK load.

I have also decided I'm going to go the 6 ARC route with my other Howa (currently in 6.5 Grendel). It will be getting an 18" Sendero contour Carbonsix barrel, but I expect that won't arrive until summer.

View attachment 520497

4090Sharps that carbon barrel looks great!
Did you have to open up the barrel channel? If so how did you do it?

 

[4090Sharps]

4090Sharps that carbon barrel looks great!
Did you have to open up the barrel channel? If so how did you do it?

The gunsmith who installed the barrel did it for me, so I couldn’t tell you which tools he used. Sorry I’m not more help!

 

[Sun_and_Steel_77]

The gunsmith who installed the barrel did it for me, so I couldn’t tell you which tools he used. Sorry I’m not more help!

Was the stock originally inletted for a sporter barrel or heavy/varmint? I know stockys shows the two options and wondering if I can get away with hogging out a sporter as that's the only option in a factory second.

 

[4090Sharps]

Was the stock originally inletted for a sporter barrel or heavy/varmint? I know stockys shows the two options and wondering if I can get away with hogging out a sporter as that's the only option in a factory second.

It was I letter for a sporter barrel.

If you’re going to change the bottom metal to the Oregunsmithing metal, you may need to tweak the feeding a little. Occasionally I have failures to feed or jams when two rounds jump the rails. Haven’t quite figured it out yet.

 

[Veloci_Wrench]

Here is my recent build. Not nearly as light as others' builds, but I made purposeful choices along the way, and I had a "thoughtful" budget to work within.

- Barrel cut down to 18"
- I grabbed one of the OEM HTI stocks from Brownells and went to town on it in the MtnBoomer fashion.
- I didn't go very far at thinning the material, but I did chop off the forearm and made a wooden insert from cherry, and then filled the forearm channel with Devcon Plastic Steel epoxy (the liquid stuff), I also made a flip-flop butt pad, and re-shaped the grip area to my liking.
- Jefferson Outdoor blind bottom metal
- EGW HD Pic Rail
- Seekins Low Rings
- SWFA 6x Mil Scope

I could have gone for more weight savings in my stock work, but stiffness was also a concern. All in all, the stock only lost about 3.5oz of weight. I'll take it.

The bare rifle (with bipod mount) weighs right at 5.8lbs

With scope, rings, pic rail, and suppressor, she sits at 8.4lbs. This is acceptable to me. I wouldn't mind scoring a SWFA UL eventually for it. I also could have gone with Talley Lightweights, but wanted to keep open the option of swapping scopes.

 

[4090Sharps]

These rifles have ended up a bit differently than originally intended, especially after I found the AR15 makes a better ultralight rifle. Here's how they are equipped right now (have yet to paint the hideous, shiny carbon stock).

Up top is the .223 with a 16" featherweight CarbonSix barrel, 2nd FP NX8 4-32x, stock bottom "metal", Silencerco Omega 36M with Griffin Armament taper mount. 7lb 13.6 oz.

Below, sits the 6mm ARC with a 18" sendero CarbonSix barrel, 2nd FP NX8 4-32x, DIP bottom metal, Griffin Armament Bushwhacker 46 with Griffin Armament taper mount. 8lb 2 oz.

I intended to use the NX8 temporarily on the .223, and then move it over to the ARC when the new barrel arrived. I enjoyed the scope so much, that despite its weight I got another.

For anyone curious, I get 2650 fps with Hornady Match 108gr ELD-M ammo out of the ARC. Shooting through a bunch of that factory ammo to get myself some brass for reloading.

Both barrels were prefits, headspaced without issue, and live up to the 1/2 MOA CarbonSix guarantee. Thanks @CarbonSix !

I had Oregunsmithing bottom metal on both of these rifles, but in the end could not get them to feed reliably. The Grendel bottom metal tended to bind or completely miss picking up a round, and the .223 bottom metal liked to eject multiple rounds out of the magazine while cycling the bolt. I also tried out the new MDT Howa Mini bottom metal and magazines, and immediately returned them. The MDT bottom metal design seemed promising, but in the end felt like corners were cut to either save costs or rush the design to production. I can explain further if anyone needs to be talked out of spending money on that product.

Upcoming Changes:

• Add DIP bottom metal to the .223
• Possibly move my GA Optimus Micro to the 223, and temporarily shuffle the Omega 36M to the ARC to drop some weight from each (both shoot so well that I'm hesitant to change anything
• Once I get my ATF permission slip, replace the Bushwhacker with an AB Raptor 10 on the ARC
• Paint that damn carbon stock (something ASAT-like)

 

[4090Sharps]

Here's the bare carbon fiber stock now. I applied the grip panels by taping off areas, spreading JB Marineweld, and pressing a stripping pad against the epoxy to create the texture.

The paints were Krylon's flat camo khaki and brown, and because I wasn't paying attention, Rustoleum flat black. Rustoleum has a greater tendency to seep and goes on wetter than the Krylon. That resulted in subpar results in applying the black paint, the last color, of course. Everything was followed up with flat Krylon clear coat.

I probably could have gone denser with the camo pattern, but this will work, and it looks better than the bare carbon.

 

[Loper]

Here's the bare carbon fiber stock now. I applied the grip panels by taping off areas, spreading JB Marineweld, and pressing a stripping pad against the epoxy to the pattern.

The paints were Krylon's flat camo khaki and brown, and because I wasn't paying attention, Rustoleum flat black. Rustoleum has a greater tendency to seep and goes on wetter than the Krylon. That resulted in subpar results in applying the black paint, the last color, of course. Everything was followed up with flat Krylon clear coat.

I probably could have gone denser with the camo pattern, but this will work, and it looks better than the bare carbon.

What did you use for the texture on the grip and forend?

 

[4090Sharps]

What did you use for the texture on the grip and forend?

I applied the grip panels by taping off areas, spreading JB Marineweld, and pressing a stripping pad against the epoxy to create the texture.

Cures quickly, sands fairly well.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/J-B-WELD-J-B-Weld-0-85-oz-MarineWeld-Adhesive-Syringe/1002653732

Stripping pad for texture

https://www.lowes.com/pd/3M-4-Pack-3-375-in-x-5-in-Coarse-Steel-Wool/1000101245

This is after I removed the tape and blended the edges (poorly) with a gloved finger.