Howa mini actions?

Good afternoon guys, do you guys that own or have owned howa mini actions like them? I'm looking to buy a .223 caliber bolt gun and was considering buying a howa mini. Use will just be target practice at 100-600 yards, maybe some predator hunting. I am also considering buying a Tikka in .223 as I have a Tikka and love it. The gun store could not find any Tikka .223 in stock so I would have to find someone with one and have it transferred if I went that route so that's half the reason I'm debating the howa mini. Brownells has barreled howa mini actions on sale for just under 400 bucks right now..
I gunsmithed full time for 30 years. Now tired and retired. 35 or so years ago, I bought a factory SAKO 222 HB for my own use. The little SAKO was the only mini bolt available at that time, and was about the same size as the Howa and Mauser minis. ----- Used a 12x fixed power Leupold and slew prairie dogs with it. Accuracy was poor. It was a wood stock, of course. After a while, I decided the problem was the mini action. The frame rails cross section was miniscule compared to the barrel, and the action must be flexing depending on hold and balance point when shooting. I added a screw and stock anchor point about 5 inches ahead of the front action screw. Re-Epoxy bedded front ring and about 6 inches of the barrel. Cleared out other bedding so the rest of the entire action free floated, including magazine/trigger guard. Metal spacer at the rear screw held that in place on the action, but none of it touched. ----- That really tightened up the shooting, but it was a lot of fuss and feathers that would have been unnecessary with a stiffer action.
 
I bought a Howa mini action in 223. I found the barrel contour to be too small for a .223. Tried everything to make it shoot well and it finally settled down when I hung a tuner (steel turd) on the end of the barrel. The tuning function of the tuner did not do anything but having that weight on the end of the barrel slowed down the barrel vibrations enough to let it group. The target is with the tuner hung on.
 

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Good afternoon guys, do you guys that own or have owned howa mini actions like them? I'm looking to buy a .223 caliber bolt gun and was considering buying a howa mini. Use will just be target practice at 100-600 yards, maybe some predator hunting. I am also considering buying a Tikka in .223 as I have a Tikka and love it. The gun store could not find any Tikka .223 in stock so I would have to find someone with one and have it transferred if I went that route so that's half the reason I'm debating the howa mini. Brownells has barreled howa mini actions on sale for just under 400 bucks right now..
I purchased one for a lightweight 6.5 Grendel build. Haven't started the build yet but eventually will. Should be a great little whitetail woods rifle
 
Good afternoon guys, do you guys that own or have owned howa mini actions like them? I'm looking to buy a .223 caliber bolt gun and was considering buying a howa mini. Use will just be target practice at 100-600 yards, maybe some predator hunting. I am also considering buying a Tikka in .223 as I have a Tikka and love it. The gun store could not find any Tikka .223 in stock so I would have to find someone with one and have it transferred if I went that route so that's half the reason I'm debating the howa mini. Brownells has barreled howa mini actions on sale for just under 400 bucks right now..
I own 2 of them they are a great action and for the money you can't beat it better than a mini Mauser
 
I have and like both tikka and howa's. I really like the mini. It's compact and everyone I've had my hands on shoots well. I would opt for the heavy barrel one myself. I have one with a small pencil barrel 223 and a heavy barrel. I think the heavy has a bit more of balanced feel when shooting off hand, but that's me.
cant beat a cz 527 mini mauser if u can find one at a fair price. they have shot up since discontinued. the Howard and Tikka are both good choices as well.
Good afternoon guys, do you guys that own or have owned howa mini actions like them? I'm looking to buy a .223 caliber bolt gun and was considering buying a howa mini. Use will just be target practice at 100-600 yards, maybe some predator hunting. I am also considering buying a Tikka in .223 as I have a Tikka and love it. The gun store could not find any Tikka .223 in stock so I would have to find someone with one and have it transferred if I went that route so that's half the reason I'm debating the howa mini. Brownells has barreled howa mini actions on sale for just under 400 bucks right now..
u can't go wrong with a cz 527 mini mauser. harder to find and price has risen a lot since they are discontinued. the Howard is very nice also. Tikka I like but not a mini action
 
I have a mini rebarreled in 6 ARC and bedded Into a Boyd's laminated stock. The action certainly is not as smooth as a Tikka. Having said that the bolt lugs made very square and even contact with the abutments. Aside from the Tupperware bottom "metal", which I replaced with a BDL style metal, I really like the package. And it shoots a nice group. F8EB4812-9D5D-4D0A-85C5-DC678145E0CA.jpeg1953BAC4-E2E8-4E09-ACB0-E32DEAC4C7B2.jpeg
 
cant beat a cz 527 mini mauser if u can find one at a fair price. they have shot up since discontinued. the Howard and Tikka are both good choices as well.

u can't go wrong with a cz 527 mini mauser. harder to find and price has risen a lot since they are discontinued. the Howard is very nice also. Tikka I like but not a mini action
dang spell check keep changing
Good afternoon guys, do you guys that own or have owned howa mini actions like them? I'm looking to buy a .223 caliber bolt gun and was considering buying a howa mini. Use will just be target practice at 100-600 yards, maybe some predator hunting. I am also considering buying a Tikka in .223 as I have a Tikka and love it. The gun store could not find any Tikka .223 in stock so I would have to find someone with one and have it transferred if I went that route so that's half the reason I'm debating the howa mini. Brownells has barreled howa mini actions on sale for just under 400 bucks right now..
dang spell check keeps changing howa to Howard.
 
Pipper:

I'd like to hear more about the 30 Blackout on the Mini action. I've been thinking of doing the same thing on a Mini action. Only problem is, I guess I'd have to buy a new action to do it with, as I don't think I could find a used donor action. But a bolt action Blackout with a suppressor on a Mini action should be a sweet coyote rifle. Feel free to PM me if you don't want to hijack this thread.
if building a 30 cal on a mini for hunting, look at the 300 hamr by Wilson. I thing it is a superior hunting round unless u are wanting sub sonic super heavy.
 
Just finished a 500 yard cold bore match with my Howa mini in 6.5 Grendel. Hadn't shot it in a year, but finished not so bad. Hole is circled. Target is 5 inch diameter.
Agree, replace the bottom plastic metal with real metal to created some rigidity in bedding area. I also replaced stock trigger with Jard.
That's shot seated with only a backpack for a rest.
 
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