Thread: Ultimate compact rifle & catrige - 6mmGT/22GT in howa mini action

I've been following this guy's rifle built, a 22GT: https://ultimatereloader.com/2022/02...art-to-finish/
All customized as those American do, while in NZ most of us can only dream about those things. Then I suddenly realized we have one perfect action for it, the Howa Mini. the GT has bolt face of 0.470, while howa mini largest caliber 7.62x39 has bolt face of .445, it should work I think. Also the existing magazine should work too, as the case has shorter length than 223. This will leave 6.5gredel in dust...
Surely someone will give it a go

Interesting watch

Here I'm holding a .308 case (same bolt diameter as GT), there should be plenty meat on mini bolt to accommodate the case

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....23-deer-64884/

Originally Posted by gimp

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....23-deer-64884/

which page you want me to look at, gimp? there are 53 of them. lol. If you are advocating not to use 223 for deer, I agree with you. But a 6mm/22GT has case water capacity of 43 gr, comparing to 30gr of 223, so we are talking about a very different beast here.

Originally Posted by hey

which page you want me to look at, gimp? there are 53 of them

53 pages of the .223 being effectively demonstrated to be the most practical ultimate cartridge of any size, let alone compact.

not sure about that claim. I have shot a fallow with 69smk at the range of 50M, hit in the lung, watch it bolted. Then spent quite lot time to track it down. It is dead about 50m away, but in the thick bush it is very difficult to track it, no blood trial at all. I've also watch a friend shot a red hind with is 223, again it hit the chest, same thing, bolted and that time we could not find it. I agree shot placement here is the key for 223. but more speed/energy can't go wrong

Originally Posted by hey

not sure about that claim. I have shot a fallow with 69smk at the range of 50M, hit in the lung, watch it bolted. Then spent quite lot time to track it down. It is dead about 50m away, but in the thick bush it is very difficult to track it, no blood trial at all. I've also watch a friend shot a red hind with is 223, again it hit the chest, same thing, bolted and that time we could not find it. I agree shot placement here is the key for 223. but more speed/energy can't go wrong

You lost me after "spent a lot of time to track it down"...I use a .308 with 100 grain hollowpoints for fallow...I squeeze the trigger.. deer falls over dead. Sorted.

Originally Posted by gimp

53 pages of the .223 being effectively demonstrated to be the most practical ultimate cartridge of any size, let alone compact.

What a hater ��

Originally Posted by gimp

53 pages of the .223 being effectively demonstrated to be the most practical ultimate cartridge of any size, let alone compact.

Thats one way to look at it.

Another might be that there are around 780 posts in that thread of which 164 give or take were by one member (21% of total posts). Now he is clearly a very experienced hunter who knows where his gun shoots and knows the limitations of it. However, he is shooting in a farm situation at animals that allow him to take his time and pick his shots. Most are of smaller deer and not large heavy bodied animals. Almost all of the other deer shown are of a similar type.
After about page 15 there are only a few new posters to the thread with just the same old people reinforcing the same opinion in the echo chamber the thread has become.

The 223 is a very versatile cartridge that deserves a place in every one's gun rack. It is an excellent young person's first center fire. Used by experienced hunters who know its limitations and are happy to pass up on marginal shots it is fine.

However, as an all-round, one deer cartridge to rule them all it is not.

Originally Posted by Got-ya

Thats one way to look at it.

Another might be that there are around 780 posts in that thread of which 164 give or take were by one member (21% of total posts). Now he is clearly a very experienced hunter who knows where his gun shoots and knows the limitations of it. However, he is shooting in a farm situation at animals that allow him to take his time and pick his shots. Most are of smaller deer and not large heavy bodied animals. Almost all of the other deer shown are of a similar type.
After about page 15 there are only a few new posters to the thread with just the same old people reinforcing the same opinion in the echo chamber the thread has become.

The 223 is a very versatile cartridge that deserves a place in every one's gun rack. It is an excellent young person's first center fire. Used by experienced hunters who know its limitations and are happy to pass up on marginal shots it is fine.

However, as an all-round, one deer cartridge to rule them all it is not.

He is also 74 years old and what you have read is only a snap shot of his most recent experiences with the .223, along with the addition of your assumptions. Gimp, is correct of course.

But as said a couple posts back "if YOU want a 22GT on a Howa Mini, fill ya F*ckn boots mate..."

You'd get a similar experience using a bullet that doesn't work in any cartridge. I'd recommend selecting a bullet that works.

Well none of that is any fun

The Howa Mini magazines will be a bit limiting when it comes to long bullets in the 22GT.
Using a shorter bullet should work ok but the long high BC bullets are what gives the fast 22s their edge when compared to 6mm/6.5mm cartridges.

I’d imagine the GT case would be good for an additional 300-400fps over 223 but with lower BC bullets I don’t think the ballistics would be that much better over standard hunting distances to be worth the effort. Not at realistic hunting ranges anyway.
The real low cost option would be to ream a 223 out to 223AI, which would have the benefit of being able to use 223 ammo and give a bit better FPS.

I’m sure you could do the conversion and get decent performance but it’d end up being a lot of mucking around.
If you end up getting into a situation where you are re-barrelling the thing then I’d just go a 22 Creedmoor (non-mini of course) with the shortest barrel you can get away with, or 22-250 if you want factory ammo.

Originally Posted by Beetroot

The Howa Mini magazines will be a bit limiting when it comes to long bullets in the 22GT.
Using a shorter bullet should work ok but the long high BC bullets are what gives the fast 22s their edge when compared to 6mm/6.5mm cartridges.

I’d imagine the GT case would be good for an additional 300-400fps over 223 but with lower BC bullets I don’t think the ballistics would be that much better over standard hunting distances to be worth the effort. Not at realistic hunting ranges anyway.
The real low cost option would be to ream a 223 out to 223AI, which would have the benefit of being able to use 223 ammo and give a bit better FPS.

I’m sure you could do the conversion and get decent performance but it’d end up being a lot of mucking around.
If you end up getting into a situation where you are re-barrelling the thing then I’d just go a 22 Creedmoor (non-mini of course) with the shortest barrel you can get away with, or 22-250 if you want factory ammo.

Good point Beetroot, probably the 6mmGT is better suited. I went to the GA precision site(who invented the cartridge) and the reamer they are selling has the freebore of 0.12", which is quite long. it will definitely seat further out than a standard 223 and probably over the mag length. I will order a customized reamer with less freebore if I ever want to build a one. I won't bother with those AI cases, not worth the trouble just get 1-2 more grain in.