Thread: Howa mini action 223

Thinking of maybe buying a new varmint setup and had a quick look at the new Howa mini action.
I have tried to contact Cameron sports the importer to ask a few questions but to be blunt I ve heard nothing back , was hoping the rifle is better than their shit customer service.
I picked one up in a shop and the bolt felt a bit gritty compared to a Tikka.
I believe there are three different barrel options but think we only get one here in NZ ?

Just wondering if anyone has purchased one and how they find it , being used as a long range varmint setup accuracy will need to be good.

Any feed back / opinions would be great.

Most bolts need a clean and a touch of oil from factory before they are smooth, someone would have pulled that howa out of a box and slapped it on a shelf. My CZ needed a bit of working (loading and unloading) before it smoothed right up.
If you want Tikka smooth; buy a Tikka?

Got a Tikka, that's not the question I am asking, was more of an observation.

The Tikkas are always what something is compared against, my opinion is that they're not as fancy as made out to be and for less money the HOWA offers identical performance with a proven design that's been around for 40 years.

My only comment on howas (I have a 1500) is their short action is the same size as a tikka (Bolt length the same)
And they are heavier than one might expect
I like their HACT trigger, I haven't even adjusted it from the box, saftey is a touch noisy

I've got a .223 T3 and a .308 Howa and to be honest there's no difference perfomance wise. I don't know about the Howa micro action but it should be fine.Only gripe with Tikka is the mag capacity.

Ahhh well at least the sanitary pads aren't swinging yet as we aren't discussing 7-08 Tikkas :-) lol

Got a mini action 223 sweet wee gun shoots good around 3/4" @ 100 with hand loads, probably could do better with more development. Got it for my kids to use they love it, unsure whether it's suitable for a long range shooter only ever shoot out to 300 yards with it. Only thing that was annoying about it was the mag catch was easy to bump & the mag would fall out, fixed that by cutting it in half.

Originally Posted by optio

Got a mini action 223 sweet wee gun shoots good around 3/4" @ 100 with hand loads, probably could do better with more development. Got it for my kids to use they love it, unsure whether it's suitable for a long range shooter only ever shoot out to 300 yards with it. Only thing that was annoying about it was the mag catch was easy to bump & the mag would fall out, fixed that by cutting it in half.

What load are you are you using?
The rabbit load I have is 27.5 win748 40gn V max or 28.2 goes ok as well.
KH

Apparently,only 5 howa mini in 6.5 Grendel are due to atrive in the country in December . The rest next year in April. Would love to see one with a normal floor plate system instead of a mag. I tend to use only one or two bullets to kill something.

Proven design, yes maybe, but I still prefer the original design I.e an old sako l579 or vixen. Their action was lighter and more suited to the size of the round they were firing than the actual how's offerings

50 gn zmax, 26gn W748.