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Howa 223 Mini Action Varminter


onehole

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Sticking with the facto

Looking good SW S for factory,,,,,,,,JS,,,,,not sure of any advantage with 40g,s? the 50/52/55 will probably hang on betterer in the wind?,,,still pretty flat to 200,,,your choice however,,,,good luck,,,,O

Sticking with this ammo , cheap to buy.

although every now and then I like to use 45 gn hp that winchester sell ! Haha

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Probably late to the party but,,

owing to a missplaced box of useful bits like scales, funnel and dippers, and being wet and windy

I had a go at making a wooden funnel, piece of pallet wood, a cone drill bit and back boring to fit shell neck

a workable solution was achieved.

next, dippers, memory brought out a picture of using empty cases cut to size.

then came the eureka moment, the smaller the diameter, the more accurate the volumn measurement,

a charge of varget fills the 223 case to the bottom of neck. So cut neck off, solder on a bit of bandsaw blade for handle

and bobs your uncle

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Thanks all for the info on the Howa mini action.

I'm really tempted by one as I have a thing for smaller rifles. I already have a Cz527 in 17 Hornet, but when my Tikka T3 in 223 is worn out then I may now got for the Howa.

So what's the general consensus on the stock? Is is better than the Hogue that comes on the medium and long action models?

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How mini is the action compared to the standard one?

 

What is the length of a mini action please along the major diameter of the tube?

Hi there ,,,,,,Tube is 1.175 inches,,,,,length of main tube is 5.2 inches and total action length from front of tube to end of rear tang is 7 inches....Bolt is 6 iches.........O

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Looking good, like the mag conversion.

Just out of interest, has anybody tried a sak rimfire mod on a 223?.

Have put a light weight scope on mine now but thats showing the weight penalty of

a heavy mod.

Shall have to see if i can get a visa to visit deepest Cornwall and see the mag

and maybe fettle the trigger

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Just out of interest, has anybody tried a sak rimfire mod on a 223?.

 

SAK .22 moderators aren't designed for centrefire pressures and have modest internal expansion chambers. It would make an interesting Youtube video, shot remotely from a safe distance out of shrapnel range. I wonder how many shots it would take before it failed?

 

Plenty of centrefire mods in a similar weight range, ATEC CMM-4, B&T Tiger Light and many more.

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Question for Onehole, Have you seen or thought about a drop down leg for butt, Shooting from the bonnet with a bipod i find a bag

under the butt helpfull,, the thought occurs to me that a drop down /telescopic leg hidden behind the butt plate would be usefull

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Question for Onehole, Have you seen or thought about a drop down leg for butt, Shooting from the bonnet with a bipod i find a bag

under the butt helpfull,, the thought occurs to me that a drop down /telescopic leg hidden behind the butt plate would be usefull

home made bag cheaper , one pair of socks , one kilo of rice and two cable ties.

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Question for Onehole, Have you seen or thought about a drop down leg for butt, Shooting from the bonnet with a bipod i find a bag

under the butt helpfull,, the thought occurs to me that a drop down /telescopic leg hidden behind the butt plate would be usefull

Sorry ,,,missed this,,,,,,no not really wanted something dangling off the butt,,,,much prefer shooting off bags on bonnets and roofs ,,,,usually a well filled old field target bum bag/seat and butt supported with an old leather bench rest rear bag,,,,used together you can get real comfy and quite solid.Nothing wrong with an old socks filled with rice,,,been there,,,it works!,,,,,Strangely I hate bipods and don,t even own one,,,,,,,,,O

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Hmm, my mini likes the bipod, must be the pillar bedding, the little plastic CZ hates it.

Am using a rear bag, just thought a rear leg hidden in butt would be convient

The reloads are doing OK on targets but so far just not getting the results in the field

And am missing seeing the impact in the scope.

seems to like the bullets seated out to what will fit the mag.

Have unscrewed the trigger adjuster till it makes no difference, still a bit heavy for me.

the stock bolts are an odd size , just slightly big for any i have of about that size, must be imperial?

The pot of Varget is going down alarmingly, some cases have had 12 or more reloads!

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Hmm, my mini likes the bipod, must be the pillar bedding, the little plastic CZ hates it.

Am using a rear bag, just thought a rear leg hidden in butt would be convient

The reloads are doing OK on targets but so far just not getting the results in the field

And am missing seeing the impact in the scope.

seems to like the bullets seated out to what will fit the mag.

Have unscrewed the trigger adjuster till it makes no difference, still a bit heavy for me.

the stock bolts are an odd size , just slightly big for any i have of about that size, must be imperial?

The pot of Varget is going down alarmingly, some cases have had 12 or more reloads!

Joe,,,,,bit late in the day but attempting to help with some of your points,,,,,The Howa does indeed have pillars but pretty much only serve as a guide for the action screws and do nothing to fix a wider action fit to stock at all ,,,some sleeveing of original pillars and then bedding of the stock to action at pillar areas is more beneficial and gives a much more solid action to stock fit if only around the pillar/stock screw area.Have done this work and stock bolts lock up solid.

Reloads,,,OK on targets should be ok in the field,,,mmmm?

Missing seeing impact in the scope,,,,,,a bipod on certain surfaces will completely destroy seeing any impact of shots,,thats why I don't use bipods on surfaces I shoot from,,,,,,

Bullets seated to mag length,,,,,no problem then this is where your homeloads like to be then

Trigger adjustment,,,,,in standard factory spec ,,,,at best you will achieve a crisp medium pull to crisp heavy pull,,,,,,,the limits of a safe factory adjustable trigger,,,it will do better but not hugely so,,,can be reworked,,,

Stock bolts are not an odd size,,,,get correct torx/star type head.,,,,,,imperial ???not on my Howa?

Sticking with stonking accurate 200 yard Vit 130 and 50 blitzkings and despite previous abandon the 1750 fps 7.0gn trail boss behind a 50g blitzking is a now proven lights out 17hmr bunny basher 100 yard replacement,,,,,,,,I just dial in 16 clicks up from a 200 yard full power loads and it hits dead on at 100 yards. If you want to go further out its still fairly flat ,,,just range it and dial in ,,,,,that 50g blitz kicks ass in wind compared to the little 17,,,,just run the numbers,,,,,nite ,,,,,O

x

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Joe,,,,,bit late in the day but attempting to help with some of your points,,,,,The Howa does indeed have pillars but pretty much only serve as a guide for the action screws and do nothing to fix a wider action fit to stock at all ,,,some sleeveing of original pillars and then bedding of the stock to action at pillar areas is more beneficial and gives a much more solid action to stock fit if only around the pillar/stock screw area.Have done this work and stock bolts lock up solid.

Reloads,,,OK on targets should be ok in the field,,,mmmm?

Missing seeing impact in the scope,,,,,,a bipod on certain surfaces will completely destroy seeing any impact of shots,,thats why I don't use bipods on surfaces I shoot from,,,,,,

Bullets seated to mag length,,,,,no problem then this is where your homeloads like to be then

Trigger adjustment,,,,,in standard factory spec ,,,,at best you will achieve a crisp medium pull to crisp heavy pull,,,,,,,the limits of a safe factory adjustable trigger,,,it will do better but not hugely so,,,can be reworked,,,

Stock bolts are not an odd size,,,,get correct torx/star type head.,,,,,,imperial ???not on my Howa?

Sticking with stonking accurate 200 yard Vit 130 and 50 blitzkings and despite previous abandon the 1750 fps 7.0gn trail boss behind a 50g blitzking is a now proven lights out 17hmr bunny basher 100 yard replacement,,,,,,,,I just dial in 16 clicks up from a 200 yard full power loads and it hits dead on at 100 yards. If you want to go further out its still fairly flat ,,,just range it and dial in ,,,,,that 50g blitz kicks ass in wind compared to the little 17,,,,just run the numbers,,,,,nite ,,,,,O

x

Cheers, as you say, its a star not allen, although an undersized allen key will unscrew them.

Thinking i might get it chopped down to 16 inches..

Getting a bit more confidence in the reloads, getting close to max load of varget with 55g bullets now.

shall have to start moving on to 200yds and beyond, just need to research a cheap camera system for the targets,

the model aircraft FPV looks as if it has the range to do the job and save a lot of walking

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Joe. My Howa .223 1 in 12 twist likes factory Hornady 40gn VMax.

Hi David,,,,,,out of interest whats your "Jam" touching lands OAL with the 40,s ,,,,approx.,,,,guess yours is the normal full size short action ,,,,,,,,The "Mini" is a 1 in 9 twist and may be chambered differently,,,,a 40 grain V max barely sits in the neck at Jam ,,,,,,,50/52 V/Amax is ok though,,,,,,and 69g well suited,,,,,,,,,,thanks ,,,,O

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So, the Tavistock shop has sold its 204 mini. Wonder if its new owner will find his way here

Yea would be good to get a few more users on board,,,,,,I love my RPA,s etc but have been grabbing the mini out of the safe for most work lately,,,now that I,ve sorted the dialling on its optics I,m pretty confident with all shots out to 400,,,,,far enough for this little fella,,,,,,,...I see they are doing a 17HMR!!? ,,,,a 17 Hornett ,,,would have been desirable but perhaps not for volume of sales?? Quite happy with the 223 you can make it do most things,,,,,,,,,but the Grendel chambered one excites me especially with a 95gn or is it 100gn Vmax now,,,,,,don't think that offering is coming here though,,,mmmm,,,shame,,,,,,O

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One hole - I haven't got a clue honestly. Yes, normal full size action.

 

I just load it and shoot and have a lucky tube. It defies the need to embrace the pleasure of re-loading (which I would love to do, but cannot justify the investment) as I am getting superb accuracy.

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Too heavy for HMR,

17 WSM might work though, might be the ideal compromise between hmr and 223

If they could shave a pound of excess weight off

 

Just looked on the highland outdoors site, they list mini in hmr

but pic and blurb all relate to centrefire.

I have the art of being lazy fine tuned, The trick is to not let it be visible to everybody

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  • 1 month later...

Have put a lb and a half of varget through the mini now, barrel shooting good for me with sierra 1390 and varget.

Using a rear bag making a real difference, I keep looking at the butt pad and thinking i ought to be able

to replace that with something to hold a telescopic leg/monopod

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