Howa Mini Fireball?

[Adam in WI]

Does anyone know if the Howa Mini will feed/ extract/ eject the Fireball/Vartarg cases? I'd like to have a rifle in .221 but original CZ and Remington versions are stupid expensive nowadays. Does anyone do prefit or nut barrels for these?

 

[Elnicko]

I have one in .17 Fireball that feeds from the factory magazine. I didn’t use a prefit but I believe Preferred Barrels and Carbonsix sell them.

 

[D-mon]

i have a 17fireball as well, no feeding issues either.

 

[Bill K]

My 17 Fireball feeds just fine from magazine in one of my CZ527's ( this may help you, don't know) but I also have a Howa Mini with a Preferred Barrel pre-fit in 22PPC, which feeds just fine from the magazine. I am sure your mini would work for you with the 17 fireball, which is one fine little cartridge to shoot.

 

[Adam in WI]

I actually want to just do a straight up .221 Fireball. I knew it would feed okay, I tried that. My big concern is ejection. I remember a 721 Remington in .222 that would lose the empty case when the mouth cleared the chamber. The brass would tip enough that it would slide out of the extractor and lay in the action if the bolt was not worked smartly. The shorter fireball brass would've exacerbated that issue.

 

[Bill K]

The Howa Mini I have rebarreled into a 22PPC ejects fine. The mini's extractor is much different than the old 721 rem had. So I would think it would work for your want and build. Maybe someone will chime in with direct knowledge in the conversion you are after.