Howa action

[Yelnats]

Has anyone chased Howa action threads from metric to English?

 

[mike22250]

I have not done it, but have read that you can take a Tap and run it through to make the action fit a Remington 700. A friend of mine has one he was to change out the barrel, but I am just in the making of getting the machines and equipment to work on them.

I would love to hear how it goes if you try it.

 

[Yelnats]

Thanks, I am a little hesitant since it is a new receiver and have never done one.

 

[mike22250]

Was there a barrel on it before? And if so, did you remove the barrel?

 

[Yelnats]

brand new rifle, barreled action. Barrel is still installed. I understand that there barrels are difficult to remove and have to be relieved close to the action to remove stress.

 

[kendog]

I have done it . The Howa thread will clean up with a 1"-16 tap. Then you need to modify the Remington barrel to that thread pattern and the Howa counter bore. There may be more than a few purists chiming in about how it can't/shouldn't be done, but I have done it and it works.

 

[Spook]

brand new rifle, barreled action. Barrel is still installed. I understand that there barrels are difficult to remove and have to be relieved close to the action to remove stress.

...occasionally I can get an SS barrel off a Howa action without the relief cut but have never been able to get a blued barrel off without one. Must be some heavy duty "Wrench Fu" they use on that island.
Ive always just cut a metric tenon for the rebarrel though.
Probably the most under-rated rifle action I've worked on and never havent turned out to be great shooters.

 

[Yelnats]

Kendog can you give more How to details on the conversion to Remington thread? Did you use single point threading or a tap? Also please give some details on your additional conversion to box magazine. My rifle is .223. I Purchased a ATI conversion to box magazine which is all plastic. Although it works, I am not really pleased for the price. There has to be a better manufactured bottom metal and magazine for a better price. Especially with all of the AR magazines available on the market.
Thanks

 

[Yelnats]

Spook, I would really like to use the pulled barrel after removal. Is this still possible after cutting a relief cut?

 

[boltman223]

Hi yelnats, I have converted a howa to 1-1/16, 16 TPI. Before I converted the howa, I re-used the factory barrel for a Remington. I cut off the threads re-turned and threaded a new tennon for a rem 700. So, yep it's possible to use the barrel after the relief cut. As a side note the shoulder was a little smaller than 1.200 but, it is sufficient.

I used a PTG mandreled tap. I can't remember exactly off the top of my head but, the minor diameter of a howa receiver is .8 something I believe. Anyways, Whatever it was I needed to bore out the I.D. of the receiver out fir the tap. So that's what I know.

 

[kendog]

........... I have converted a howa to 1-1/16, 16 TPI. ......I needed to bore out the I.D. of the receiver out fir the tap. So that's what I know.

Thats why I used a 1"-16 tap, the threads cleaned up without boring. Less intrusion on Howas design. I am sure either way would work, its just less trouble to not have to set up for internal threading.

I have pulled many a Howa barrel without relief cutting, just grab it as close as possible to the receiver and use a big, strong action wrench and barrel vise. Of course I learned this the hard way after I bent a sporter barrel trying to take it off. I thought I could grab it about 4" in front of the reinforce area and twist it off. Not happening!!

 

[kendog]

Kendog can you give more How to details on the conversion to Remington thread? Did you use single point threading or a tap? Also please give some details on your additional conversion to box magazine. My rifle is .223. I Purchased a ATI conversion to box magazine which is all plastic. Although it works, I am not really pleased for the price. There has to be a better manufactured bottom metal and magazine for a better price. Especially with all of the AR magazines available on the market.
Thanks

We made this conversion for M14 mags. It is an exercise in futility. Getting bolt action receivers to feed properly from double stacked semi-auto/machine gun magazines doesn't work to well. The original guns these mags were designed for have bolt/carrier speeds and ratios that will both feed and strip rounds reliably from a full mag that are just not there with manual bolt actions. The spring will need to be altered drastically so the guy working the bolt can get the round to feed without putting a ton of force on the bolt. With the spring so altered it makes the magazine useless for anything over 5 rounds.
Also, M16 mags don’t put the top round high enough in the well for the bolt to strip it. Take a look at Mossberg’s MVP (?) rifle to see how they addressed this problem. They put a little one way flapper on the face of the bolt to drop down and grab the round and also spring out of the way when the bolt is pulled to the rear.

The best way to go about a magazine conversion is use the cheapie from Howa/Legacy, or CDI that takes AICS mags. Single stack magazines are the way to go.

 

[boltman223]

........... I have converted a howa to 1-1/16, 16 TPI. ......I needed to bore out the I.D. of the receiver out fir the tap. So that's what I know.

Thats why I used a 1"-16 tap, the threads cleaned up without boring. Less intrusion on Howas design. I am sure either way would work, its just less trouble to not have to set up for internal threading.

1", that sounds like a better way to do it.

 

[msalm]

I've taken maybe a half-dozen barrel off chrome moly Howa actions..never needed a relief cut but those buggers are on there tight. Use the brownell's barrel vise w/ rosin and TIGHT, and the brownells action wrench with the handle in a vertical position. It takes a pretty stout hit with a steel/brass bar to break them loose...picture a baseball batter's stance. Just pulling and pulling on that wrench handle will not do a thing. I suppose you could put a bunch of tension on it and have someone give it a smaller 'whack' to break it loose too, but I never had anyone around to help.