Howa .223 mini barreled action
Paired with MDT Oryx, it is a tack driver driver
Howa mini action .223 heavy Barrel
Love it. Well worth the money.
Would you recommend this?
Yes, I would recommend to a friend
Great rifles
I’ve bought several Howa barreled actions from here and put them into MDT, KRG or Jtac chassis. The Jtac Elf owl is a perfect fit for a Howa mini action and makes a really sweet rifle with a collapsible stock. Whoever said the Howa mini magazines aren’t available.. I haven’t had the same experience. I’ve bought both the 223 and the 6.5 Grendel/7.62x39 mags from a couple different places. It just takes a little online searching. Overall I love these Howas. The factory barrels are about 1 MOA accurate. I’ve had prefit barrels spun up at McGowen’s and replaced them myself to make an inexpensive highly accurate 1/2 MOA precision rifle.
Howa 223
Looks good if it's like my other 2 it will be a good shooter with a really nice trigger. Waiting in CA to pick it up from my ffl.thanks again brownells!
Love it
Very pleased. Haven’t shot for accuracy yet with good ammo but was shooting about 1.25in groups at 100 yards with some bulk 55gr stuff that I think has 2 different batches mixed together. It’s just cheap ammo I use in my ARs so not the best. Handloads to come. Lots of comments in the mini action reviews about plastic bottom metal. Two options. You can put washers on it that will let you get closer to the torque specs or you can get new bottom metal. I spent a lot of time trying to find it. DPI offers a nice one. Aluminum good machining and finish. It uses the factory magazine (others I found use their proprietary magazines that are around $120 a pc) and magazine catch and it’s also a better magazine fit and eliminates the rattle. $120 It dropped right into a Bell and Carlson stock (used the M40 style. It’s a good stock). I topped it with an Arken ELP 4-16 (really nice scope for the money). This should make a really nice coyote rifle.
Great shooter
shoots amazingly after fitting to my stock, sub-moa tight groups with the right ammo. Replaced the plastic 'bottom metal' with an aluminum and steel constructed hinged floor-plate that I ordered from Oregunsmithing. Love this rifle.
Budget Rifle well done
A darn good little rifle. Shot well made match ammo very nicely for the overall price. Only cons would be the cheap “bottom metal” it comes with. Replace immediately, as torquing down to spec stated by manufacturer WILL crack the plastic.
Would you recommend this?
Yes, I would recommend to a friend
Howa mini 223
Very nice action. Not as smooth as my other 2 Howas. Only complaint is the trigger guard / floor plate . Definitely not up to Howa standards.haven’t found a 75 grain bullet that it shoots well. Shoots 3/4 inch groups with my 68 gram bullets.
Would you recommend this?
Yes, I would recommend to a friend
Nice, except trigger guard and magazine
Love the mini action. Not many that are sized to the smaller cartridges. Trigger is decent. Using the adjustment screw/nut was able to achieve a 2.5-2.75# pull. Trigger guard and magazine are low quality plastic. Bought an aftermarket aluminum alloy BDL style replacement. Holds 5 rounds. Overall am pleased. Put a OEM Howa stock on it, 6.5# total weight. Haven’t shot it yet, confident it will shoot based on other reviews.
Would you recommend this?
Yes, I would recommend to a friend
Requires a LOT of work to get it to work.
Got the heavy barreled kit for PRS trainer. Went with HOWA because of the raving YT reviews ...
After a LOT of work .. almost 20 hours I got it to work half decent.
1) requires trigger job. Lighting up trigger and running the bolt fast (as in PRS match) causes the seer to slip turning the 2 stage 2lb trigger to become 1 stage 10lb trigger.
2) 3 position safety is VERY CLICKY and is a gimmick more than anything. I've worked on it, braised the mid hole over so it only slips into ON-OFF positions, polished the lever etc... Bottom line I recommend buying an aftermarket trigger that doesn't have these problems.
3) 90 degree bolt hits the scope. Tried different scopes, hits every single one. Had to bend the handle stem, cut the bolt knob and glue a longer knob at a steep angle to clear the scope and stock.
4) flat bottom action must be bedded regardless of the stock. Boyd stocks are very limited in design and require substantial modification.
5) Kit comes with 2 action screws that RUST. So I recommend getting 2 stainless or titanium bolts m6x1.0 40mm and 30mm.
6) the bottom metal and magazine are the worst quality plastic I've ever seen and they stick out from under the stock. Almost anything you do will cause the mag to release. I've shaved the release knob but it still catches on sand bags etc.. HOWA has no metal bottom upgrade option. the only option is aftermarket which comes with its own proprietary magazines .. so that's $200 for the metal + $120 for each mag.
7) bolt has a lot of clearance so it's not smooth by any means. After lapping and polishing it sticks 80% less but still nowhere near as smooth as a Tikka.
I own Tikka, Win XPR, Bergara, Brownings .. NONE of these rifles have ANY of these problems or the silly 3 stage safety. Of course TIKKA beats them from the get go, but I would choose a varmint heavey barrel TIKKA for the next PRS trainer project. all the learning experience with HOWA just was not worth the time. lesson #1, stay away from 90 degree bolts :)
