Another Mini

[B. White]

Sold the AR I had in 6.5 grendel and bought the Howa 20" heavy barreled action in the same caliber. Pieces all came in this week and put it together. I'm trying to keep it light and took the scope mounts and a VX1 off of a Remington. The VX1 weighs quite a bit less than a Vortex Diamondback I have. I'll move the Vortex to the 06. It needs a little recoil counterbalance anyway. The bases I pulled off the Remington fit, but didn't leave much room for adjustment. The rear base could only be oriented one way to not interfere with the bolt. Functions fine.

Considerably lighter and more compact than the Howa 1500 with a B&C stock I have with a 22" sporter barrel. I like the LOP in the Marlin lever actions I have and ordered this stock to match. Feels good, but we'll see if it shoots.

The action is not as smooth as the other Howa short actions I have and have also read that from others, but degree of smoothness doesn't matter much to me as long as it hits where I aim. I'll see if I can find range time on a rainy day when I'm not working or hunting to try it out. I have enough loaded to get it on paper and will see what it likes with ELDs and 8208 when I have time.

 

[Railroader]

What stock is that? I dig it. Was it a drop in?

 

[B. White]

What stock is that? I dig it. Was it a drop in?

Boyd's Heritage. I was going to order one with a wood stock and see what I could do with it, but none were available when I called dealers. It is not perfect, you can see a dark spot in front of the scope where there was a knot, but I don't mind a little character. Went with their cheapest walnut.

 

[B. White]

Took the bolt out yesterday and looked down the bore at a piece of paper about 150 yds out and moved the crosshairs to match. Got me on paper, but high at 50 yds. Had some SSTs and ELDs previously loaded to get it sighted in. Took some ELDs loaded down a little and the the hotter ones grouped better.

Loaded some of both this morning with a 1/10th grain powder increase over the hottest from yesterday. Still a bit under Hodgdon data max. The SST 5 shot group shrunk to .446 center to center at 100 with another 1/10th. ELDs went the other way , but still not bad. The brass and primers look ok, but the bolt was a little stiff. That is about as hot as I'm going to try. I'll take it out for a 3rd round and decide on a final load before I re-adjust my scope. Happy with this one, except for the stiff bolt. Probably doesn't matter for a hunting setup that will have a lighter load for plinking with ELDs.

I'm happy with how it shoots so far for a light weight compact hunting setup and a shooter with glasses and prescription eye drops for eye pressure problems.

 

[HughW2]

Good looking stock. You did well.

 

[Dub]

Have you had additional range time with this one ?

Wondering how it has been working out for you.

 

[B. White]

Only 15-20 more rounds due to hunting season. I'll play with some ELD loads in the next month. I did figure out the bolt wasn't stiff due to pressure. I put a fired case in before I went back to the range and pulled the trigger. It was a harder to open and assume the angle is steeper on the cocking cam in the mini action. Greased it and it was not as pronounced the last few shots.

The only surprise is that it ended up being so light, even with the heavy barrel, that after 10-15 shots when I got home I could feel the spot where stock at been on my shoulder. It made my prop elbow dance on the bench. Nothing severe, just something to consider if someone thought they were going to get something with almost no recoil for a kid. I didn't notice this on an AR version with a heavier scope, but in this one that little 123 gr has a little punch on both ends.

 

[Dub]

Only 15-20 more rounds due to hunting season. I'll play with some ELD loads in the next month. I did figure out the bolt wasn't stiff due to pressure. I put a fired case in before I went back to the range and pulled the trigger. It was a harder to open and assume the angle is steeper on the cocking cam in the mini action. Greased it and it was not as pronounced the last few shots.

The only surprise is that it ended up being so light, even with the heavy barrel, that after 10-15 shots when I got home I could feel the spot where stock at been on my shoulder. It made my prop elbow dance on the bench. Nothing severe, just something to consider if someone thought they were going to get something with almost no recoil for a kid. I didn't notice this on an AR version with a heavier scope, but in this one that little 123 gr has a little punch on both ends.

Great insight.


Thanks.

What are your thoughts on the trigger ?

 

[B. White]

Trigger is fine with me and feels like my other two 1500s, but I'm pretty easy to please and may not be as picky as some folks. If they shoot good and never give me a reason to think about them, they are good enough for me.

 

[Use Enough Gun]

Good looking stock ! I like wood stocks ( except when hunting in rain ).