Thread: Kiwi made Howa mini ultralight chassis a reality?

Originally Posted by bjp

@robhughes-games, any plans for a version for the Howa 1500 short action?

Busy doing a version for the superlight first. It's the same diameter action just longer so it's the obvious starting point.
Then will be a tikka, Remington and Howa version

Got all the bits together to test the new .22 ARC barrel today.
I have necked down a few Lapua 6.5 Grendel cases as Im not a fan of the Hornady brass.
The short 13" long 1:7" barrel got much better speeds than I was expecting and likely to pick up a bit more speed as it breaks in.
I tested BM8208, H4895 (2206H) and 2208 knowing the shorter barrel will get better speed with the faster end of the burn rates.
I tested the 75gr ELDM with max book loads of each.

BM8208 - 2855fps
H4895 - 2842fps
AR2208- 2726fps

The 2208 was noticeably louder and couldn't get the speed so no good with the lighter 75gr in the shorter barrel.

I backed the BM8208 of .1 of a grain at a time from book max before the velocity started dropping and max efficiency and full burn is achieved .3gr below book max.
This is my first test load for paper.

It was super windy today but it still stacked 4 shots inside 3/4" at 100m.
I look forward to testing them 77gr TMK and the 88gr ELDMs.

Mean setup @Wingman that's great performance out of a 13inch barrel.

Originally Posted by Gkp

Mean setup @Wingman that's great performance out of a 13inch barrel.

Yeah it's scorching! The 77gr tmks are even better than the 75gr eldms