Howa mini action 6.5gren questions

[Todd-67]

I have a .223 in an Oryx chassis. I tried springs and cleaning up the trigger but it was still too heavy. I contacted timney and they told me they didn't support the mini actions despite what I see Posted in the forums. I dropped in a Jard 6oz trigger. Night and day. Money well spent for me anyway.

With decent ammo, I don't reload yet, it will shoot sub moa pretty easily. I have shot some 1/4-3/8" 5 shot groups with it.

 

[JSH]

My fifth one arrived. I am not real excited after receiving it. It is one of the new wood stock offerings in 7.62x39, threaded barrel. It is threaded 1/2”, you do the math. I am not real pleased as I looked on their website, I read it as a 5/8 tenon. Buddy just got his 6.5G and it is 5/8.
The taper on this 7.62x39 if I were to cut it back to where I could get 5/8, would be under 16”.
I sent an email, will see what becomes of this.
I looked up a standard thread for threaded muzzle and 1/2” isn’t listed for a 30 caliber.
Anyone have a 1/2” 30 and use a can with it?

 

[moorepower]

I have the .222 with what they call a #6 20" barrel. They call the hunter a #2 profile at 22". Mine took a bit before it turned into a hummer, at first it was a 1" shooter. After a thorough cleaning with the Bullet Central ThorroClean, "fantastic", shooting a load for my L461, Remington brass 50 Vmax and H4198, I shot a .301 5 shot group, checking for zero before I went on a Pdog safari. I did the Gun Bloke springs, and they work well if you work the bolt slowly. I did trim away some of the plastic stock near the barrel, so that it does not touch at any time. Stocky's has a CF stock for them, if you want a sub 5# rifle before adding a scope.

 

[WSnyder]

Anyone have a 1/2” 30 and use a can with it?

Plenty of Tikka users do it. Thunderbeast doesn’t recommend it but many still do. Their reasoning is they feel there’s too high of a chance of it bending at the root of the thread at the shoulder. Many use adapter bushings to bring it up to 5/8”. I’ve seen several done with permanently attached nice looking adapters to bring them up to 5/8”. They look like they were machined as part of the original barrel.

Stocky's has a CF stock for them, if you want a sub 5# rifle before adding a scope.

Stockys offers these in a 2nd if you don’t mind some minor but easily fixed surface finish defects. They can be used as is or the defects fixed. Word has it they are as they come out of the mold and not really 2nds at all. I have one and use it as it came. Easy way to save some $$$ for a no worries field rifle. Oh, It seems when you order one of these they are a back order item but seem to ship immediately.

 

[DLT]

I found one 2 hours away. Went today early this morning and picked it up. I bought a egw pic rail for it and some medium height leupold rings, I love em but they are way to high. What base and ring setups are you guys using ? I plan to run no bigger than a 50mm obj scope.

 

[Laurie]

I have the .222 with what they call a #6 20" barrel.

Interesting. I'm assuming it's an early rifle as .222 didn't show up on the Howa / LSI listings not too long after the 'Mini' was introduced? (204 Ruger later appeared, then it too seems to have been dropped long since.) The Google searches I did produced write-ups for 222 models that were all from New Zealand or Australia, so I did wonder if an initial 222 batch had been made for that part of the world given the cartridge's continuing popularity 'down-under'.

 

[JSH]

The Pic rail is ok if you stay with a detachable magazine. If you go with bottom metal it will be a bear to load from the top.
I use two piece base and rings that keep as low as possible. I put it in a Boyd’s varmint stock with DIP bottom metal.
I have had my 222 mini maybe three years, bought new off of GB. There were a few around for a couple of weeks and then no more. FYI my first 222, there is something magical about the 222. Easy to load for and not picky.

 

[DLT]

The Pic rail is ok if you stay with a detachable magazine. If you go with bottom metal it will be a bear to load from the top.
I use two piece base and rings that keep as low as possible. I put it in a Boyd’s varmint stock with DIP bottom metal.
I have had my 222 mini maybe three years, bought new off of GB. There were a few around for a couple of weeks and then no more. FYI my first 222, there is something magical about the 222. Easy to load for and not picky.

Bottom metal ? Is that a hinged floor plate im guessing ? And what brand rings. The magazine is Mickey Mouse bad. Sometimes the rounds case heads tilt down and bolt won’t pick up to feed

 

[WSnyder]

Bottom metal ?

Blind mag.

Jefferson Outdoors

jeffersonoutdoor.com

Oregunsmithing LLC - Pendleton, OR

Oregunsmithing, LLC - We build custom rifles, Pendleton Composite Stocks, offer reboring and relining, custom services, Howa Mini Bottom Metal

www.oregunsmithingllc.com

 

[Ledd Slinger]

Here’s one of my Howa Minis in a Boyd’s Pro Varminter stock with custom 20 PPC barrel. Gunbloke springs, aluminum bottom metal, and aluminum magazine floor plate. Have another mini barreled action in the safe but haven’t done anything with it yet.

 

[DLT]

Here’s one of my Howa Minis in a Boyd’s Pro Varminter stock with custom 20 PPC barrel. Gunbloke springs, aluminum bottom metal, and aluminum magazine floor plate. Have another mini barreled action in the safe but haven’t done anything with it yet.

View attachment 1385571View attachment 1385573View attachment 1385572

They can be made into some bad machines for sure. Who did your barrel work ?

 

[JSH]

Went with Jefferson Outdoors bottom metal hinged floor plate. I was informed they no longer make that and offer a solid bottom and another that uses CZ 527 magazines. Sure wish I had bought an extra hinged. I used this one along with a B&C stock on my 6.5G rig,3x9 Leupold makes for an exceptional rig.
Yes their mags could use a bit of work. The 7.62x39 I just got looks like they did a little work on the mag still plastic though……..
All of the things that make the price point cheaper, most users want to replace these things. The money the chassis factory minis bring is ridiculous.
I barreled one up to 22 Nosler it sets in an Oryx chassis, uses 6.5/7.62 mags. Had to do a little work to the mags. Now I catch myself looking to see if it picked up a round or not, very smooth.

Buddy has a 6.5 Grendel with Oregon bottom metal he is having issues, first I have heard from anyone. I am going to take a look.

 

[DLT]

Went with Jefferson Outdoors bottom metal hinged floor plate. I was informed they no longer make that and offer a solid bottom and another that uses CZ 527 magazines. Sure wish I had bought an extra hinged. I used this one along with a B&C stock on my 6.5G rig,3x9 Leupold makes for an exceptional rig.
Yes their mags could use a bit of work. The 7.62x39 I just got looks like they did a little work on the mag still plastic though……..
All of the things that make the price point cheaper, most users want to replace these things. The money the chassis factory minis bring is ridiculous.
I barreled one up to 22 Nosler it sets in an Oryx chassis, uses 6.5/7.62 mags. Had to do a little work to the mags. Now I catch myself looking to see if it picked up a round or not, very smooth.

Buddy has a 6.5 Grendel with Oregon bottom metal he is having issues, first I have heard from anyone. I am going to take a look.

Keep me posted on here

 

[moorepower]

Interesting. I'm assuming it's an early rifle as .222 didn't show up on the Howa / LSI listings not too long after the 'Mini' was introduced? (204 Ruger later appeared, then it too seems to have been dropped long since.) The Google searches I did produced write-ups for 222 models that were all from New Zealand or Australia, so I did wonder if an initial 222 batch had been made for that part of the world given the cartridge's continuing popularity 'down-under'.

It was an early version, and I got it off of Gunbroker. The irony is that it was the cheapest one I could find. It's just a guess, but probably 99% of American buyers would rather have the .223, due to ammo availability. I am guessing that the .222's were a small batch. I will add that I used the low Tally rings with a 4x12 Vortex Diamonback. My 10 round magazine actually fed like butter, but I picked up an Oregunsmithing bottom metal for the compactness. It took a bit of fitting on the follower, but now it feeds very well and is a bit cleaner. I want to hate the plastic stock, but after trimming to float the barrel, I am enjoying the light weight. FYI, I did check the twist with a tight patch and it is 1-14.

 

[Rtheurer]

My fifth one arrived. I am not real excited after receiving it. It is one of the new wood stock offerings in 7.62x39, threaded barrel. It is threaded 1/2”, you do the math. I am not real pleased as I looked on their website, I read it as a 5/8 tenon. Buddy just got his 6.5G and it is 5/8.
The taper on this 7.62x39 if I were to cut it back to where I could get 5/8, would be under 16”.
I sent an email, will see what becomes of this.
I looked up a standard thread for threaded muzzle and 1/2” isn’t listed for a 30 caliber.
Anyone have a 1/2” 30 and use a can with it?

That is a disaster waiting to happen..... Please reply back on what they say.

 

[Pyscodog]

I have a HB 6.5 Grendel in a mini. One of my favorite rifles. I put mine in an MDT Oryx stock. One a real good day it will cut holes at 100yds but its hovers around a half inch +/- most of the time. But its accurate enough and fun to shoot.

 

[Oso]

I have the 6.5Grendel with the 20" HB. As others have indicated this is not a Heavy Barrel by industry standards. It is more like a medium sporter profile. If you are planning to use a suppressor or shoot more than a couple of shots at a time then you will want the heavier barrel.

I bought the barreled action and then outfitted it with a Timney Trigger, Oregunsmith hinged floorplate bottom metal and BC stock I went with the picatinny scope rail, which makes it tight for top loading ammo. To make it a little easier to load, I had my gunsmith machine away some of the rail directly over the the loading/ejection port.

If I were to build another rifle on this action then I would be tempted to try out Jefferson Outdoor's 2.0 bottom metal.... aka bottom metal that utilizes a CZ527 removable metal magazine in place of the factory jenky plastic magazine and plastic bottom metal.

This rifle is a great size for compact field gun, plinking, and young adults. I think there are better options for building a precision rifle for long range or competition.

 

[JSH]

That is a disaster waiting to happen..... Please reply back on what they say.

This came from Howa

“Yes you are correct the industry norm for heavy barrels for the 7.62X39 is 5/8X24; however, it is common for standard barrels to be threaded 1/2X28 like your Howa 7.62X39. With that, yes your firearm is suppressor ready, and completely safe and operational.”

 

[JSH]

I don’t know what happened……..
I deleted it so there was no confusion

 

[JSH]

Here is the response from Howa on the 7.62x39 threaded barrel 1/2”.


“Yes you are correct the industry norm for heavy barrels for the 7.62X39 is 5/8X24; however, it is common for standard barrels to be threaded 1/2X28 like your Howa 7.62X39. With that, yes your firearm is suppressor ready, and completely safe and operational.”