Thread: Opinions and experiences of Howa 1500 mini heavy barrel 223

Hi all,

I am in the difficult process of narrowing down a rifle for my next 223. Unfortunately I purchased a Extreme Hunter in 223 which turned out to be a complete lemon, this has now put me off Bergara, so I'm left with a Howa or Tikka.

A bit of background: I already own a fantastic Tikka T3 in .270 which happily prints sub MOA groups if I do my part, and I am a big fan of the action and trigger on the Tikka's however it's hard to go past the value in a Howa barreled action.

The 223 will mostly be used for paper punching and some goats etc so I'm leaning more towards a heavy barrel profile like the Howa.

What are your experiences with the Howa Mini heavy barrel in 223, is it on par in terms of accuracy with a Tikka? I will be hand loading for this so that should help a bit. I have also heard there can be some problems with the magazine release and reported feeding issues.

If you currently own a Howa or have had experience with them, positive or negative, It would be great to hear.

Thanks.

**This picture is a recent three shot group from my T3 in a GRS berserk stock running 130gn Hornady interlock behind AR2209 at 200m**

How many years do you intens to use the rifle?

over that time period, does the difference in price actually make a difference?

Howas generally recieve good reviews and its probably going to be a good rifle, but if you love your tikka just buy another one.

Originally Posted by STC

How many years do you intens to use the rifle?

over that time period, does the difference in price actually make a difference?

Howas generally recieve good reviews and its probably going to be a good rifle, but if you love your tikka just buy another one.

Hi mate, the heavy barrel was swaying me to the Howa as a barrelled action

standard barrel howa shoot under 1moa anyway

Originally Posted by gonetropo

standard barrel howa shoot under 1moa anyway

For how many shots, how frequently, with what percentage of loads?


https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....rifles-116971/

I have a mini in 300BLK.
The mag release on the factory bottom metal is stupidly designed. It sits in the front of the mag, so your mag drops anytime you use a rest which presses on it. There are heaps of aftermarket 'guards' you can use to get around that issue.
The only other niggly thing with the Howa's (at least this is my experience), is the surface rust. It doesn't take much for it to appear after a trip to the forest.

Other than that, I'm happy with Howa's. There's a reason I have a Mini, SA and LA :p

A friend of mine has a heavy barrel howa mini in 223. I have been extremely impressed with the accuracy of it. Well sub moa with some of the factory ammo, including the Hornady Black. Yes everyone with a Howa mini hates the mag catch. Not usually a problem if you put the barrelled action in an after market stock like the exel lite ones. Ive had a Ruger Ranch too that was also very accurate. Downsides of that were non-stainless, 16” barrel so a bit less speed. Upsides were easy to get AR mags and no catch issues.

In lager cal rifles Ive had much better experience with Tikka over Howa. Tikkas are such nice quality, lighter, sleeker always shoot well and seem to have rock solid zero whether using a bipod, rest, standing etc. But yes I would get a 223 in other brands.

I've got a Howa heavy barrel 6ARC which shoots Hornady Match and Extreme Hunter in and around 1MOA all day, every day, and haven't tried any other factory loads.

As mentioned Howa's are suspectable to rusting, and in my opinion, more than other manufacturers I've seen under the same conditions. I've owned both stainless and blued Howa's and both quickly showed signs of surface rusting. I've had my 6ARC ceracoated, so it's no longer a concern.

What's wrong with your Bergara, as I'm considering purchasing a 223 for the kids to learn on, and the Bergara Extreme Hunter is a serious contender. I've got a 6.5Cr Extreme Hunter and can't fault it.

Your begera is less than ideal....have you seen the other thread on here showing the proud pillelar issue??? Might be a half hour diy fix and your lemon may improve....worth a crack Nigel....

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Your begera is less than ideal....have you seen the other thread on here showing the proud pillelar issue??? Might be a half hour diy fix and your lemon may improve....worth a crack Nigel....

Hi mate, she has been refunded, 4-6 inch groups regardless of ammo and grain weight. Seems to be a common issue with their 223's. I wouldn't hesitate to go for a HMR or something similar but those fluted 223 barrels are known for issues, the pillar bedding sitting proud just exacerbates the issue.

Originally Posted by Westie

Hi mate, she has been refunded, 4-6 inch groups regardless of ammo and grain weight. Seems to be a common issue with their 223's. I wouldn't hesitate to go for a HMR or something similar but those fluted 223 barrels are known for issues, the pillar bedding sitting proud just exacerbates the issue.

Cheers for the heads up, I'll strike fluted Bergara's off the list then. Looks like I'll be adding my first Tikka to the cabinet. How vanilla.

Originally Posted by steadwah

Cheers for the heads up, I'll strike fluted Bergara's off the list then. Looks like I'll be adding my first Tikka to the cabinet. How vanilla.

Its not vanilla if it’s your first one! You’ll soon realise why everyone has them haha. As they used to say at Shooters Supplies - Its the Toyota Corolla of guns, they just work well.

Originally Posted by Juicy

Its not vanilla if it’s your first one! You’ll soon realise why everyone has them haha. As they used to say at Shooters Supplies - Its the Toyota Corolla of guns, they just work well.

I think you mean the Toyota Hilux of guns...

Originally Posted by steadwah

Cheers for the heads up, I'll strike fluted Bergara's off the list then. Looks like I'll be adding my first Tikka to the cabinet. How vanilla.

I can only speak for my experience but there are a number of reports even just in this forum with the same issues. We may have just been unlucky but I would not go down that track again, it was an expensive and time consuming exercise

What weight projectiles will you be using? Howa's are good once you change a few things, like the stocks and get decent mounts/rails on them. My T3lite 223 is like a laser and that's just got a standard barrel.