I haven't been able to find much info on these. Has anyone here played with one of them? The tenon looks like it's probably smaller than a regular howa 1500. Would it likely be metric also? Is the magazine a standard AR part, or its own different shape?

I saw this thread from a while back, but again, not much info:

http://forums.accuratereloadin...331034902#1331034902

I would "assume" it is metric.
As to magazine it is their own. Double stack going into a single.

Tromix did a 375Socom
http://forums.accuratereloadin...4711043/m/8401064812

He had to make a sheet metal mag. Said he couldn't get enough interest to set up the cnc. Said AR mags wouldn't work.

From the info provided in their catalog I think the action is just shorter. Too bad it's not smaller in diameter also. At least it appears that way in the photos.

It has the potential to make up into a very nice PPC...

What is the bolt diameter on the other howa actions? The mini has a 0.625" bolt. The best pictures I've been able to find were here:

http://www.gunworks.co.nz/shop...23-mini-action-rifle

I don't have one to measure up right now. But I'd be willing to bet a box of beer that the 1500 and the 1500 short action are exactly the same. Other than the 1/2 inch or so chopped out of the bolt and the action body. The thread extension would probably be the same M26x1.5 metric and they got around the 222 case diameter by making those calibers only in a detachable magazine to deal with the wide feed rail problem.

BETCHA !

The mini action is smaller in every respect, length, barrel shank, action diameter and bolt diameter. It seems to be a very nice little action. I have three of them in my shop now, one I'm going to convert to 6.5 Grendel for a customer. One is mine, in 223 I mounted a scope to and sighted in with some loads I had for a PD shoot several years ago... seems to want to shoot, I'd guess a MOA or a hair better with the little I shot it.

As for the action, they kept the same radius as the standard actions (REM 700 mounts), but overall the action is smaller in diameter. There is a definite 'step' in the contour on the front ring. The 20" lightweight 223 is a lightweight at 5.75 lbs or so. Magazine is very nice too, but I don't like the latch. Couple weeks ago the coyotes were howling below the house and I snuck out of the house, put the mag in, and I bumped the latch when bringing the rifle up....magazine dropping from 5 feet on the front porch scared the critters away.

With feeding though, cycling the action with a full mag feels the same as cycling the action without....it's very smooth. The new trigger is a good improvement as well.

Matt,
Would like to know the Receiver OD, bolt diameter, and the type of extractor. I have one of the new mini Mauser actions and not impressed with the manufacturing quality. It is stamped so hard that the markings seem to show on the inside of the receiver.

Thanks,

Les

Ohhhhh, I see. They appear to make three different actions. The standard and short, which I have seen and a mini action which I have never laid eyes on. The mini appears to be some sort of hermaphroditic, demon spawn, Smurf on steroids, like the tiny Sakos.

http://www.americanhunter.org/...re-howa-mini-action/

How-bout-dat !

Les,
I'll take some measurements tonight after work. For a long time I was contemplating making my own mini version of a 700 but after seeing these, I don't feel the need anymore. Overall the quality and machining is very good and the action is extremely smooth...much nicer than any of the mini-mausers I've handled, although the CZ 527 is better that the interarms ones I handled. The Howa Mini is slick.

The extractor is a mini-M16 style extractor, plunger ejector.

I haven't seen my wholesalers with any in stock, but picked up several from Whittaker's...they had them for $329 for the rifle with green Hogue stock, and for that kind of a price, I think it was a steal. I'd like a different mag system that doesn't drop the mag so easily while in the field (or shooting coyotes from the front porch) but other than that, the action has a lot of possibilities.

Here's a few measurements from one of the Howa Mini actions.

Action diameter (width) 1.175"

Barrel shoulder diameter 1.100"

Bolt diameter .620"

Port length 2.090"

Action screw spacing 6.725"

Bolt travel 3.350"

That's about it, I haven't taken a barrel off to measure the thread tenon yet.

As mentioned before, the radius on top of the front ring is 1.350 and any Rem 700 or Howa 2pc scope base will fit.

Sports South has them.

Thanks Matt! When you pull a barrel off I'd be interested to see what you find.

quote:

Originally posted by matt salm:
Here's a few measurements from one of the Howa Mini actions.

Action diameter (width) 1.175"

Barrel shoulder diameter 1.100"

Bolt diameter .620"

Port length 2.090"

Action screw spacing 6.725"

Bolt travel 3.350"

That's about it, I haven't taken a barrel off to measure the thread tenon yet.

As mentioned before, the radius on top of the front ring is 1.350 and any Rem 700 or Howa 2pc scope base will fit.

I looked at a few photos of the mini on line. It sort of looked like they simply double shortened a regular 1500 and then to make it lighter they narrowed the sides by cutting a wider radius on the sides to lighten it leaving everything else the same. Do you see the same with your example Matt or is everything dimensionally smaller?

Spear,
No, the diameter of the action is truly smaller in all respects, they just raised the front profile enough to be able to give it the radius of the larger action. I just made some quick measurements tonight and didn't pull it out of the stock, but I'd guess the action would be maybe 2/3rds the weight of the SA Howa. the rear of the action looks a little funny too with the wider flat on top to match the standard action. I suppose they could have started with the same base forging, but there looks to be forged marks on the underside and that is smaller also... Hell, I've got a barreled action in 6.5 Creedmoore, I'll take a mini out of the stock and take some comparative photos SxS. Won't be til tomorrow afternoon.

Looking forward to those photos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bsu...ature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CmQypK8eBo

ok, so here are a couple pics, and a few measurements after, I did not duplicate any measurements taken before.








Overall height. 1.145" Vs. 1.305"

Overall width. 1.175" Vs. 1.345"

Overall length 7.160" vs. 7.905"

Mag cutout lgth. 2.525 vs. 3.00

Mag cutout width. .793 vs. .930 to .995

OA bttm width. .944". Vs. 1.150"

Definitely a completely different action (well, same action scaled down in every direction) with the EXACT same trigger, which probably has a lot to do with the OAL being closer than could be, but after taking these measurements I'm more impressed....it's really a great little action. It could really use a hinged floor plate or AR-15 compatible bottom metal, but the opening as is won't fit an AR mag.


These are measurements between a Howa mini in .223 and a Howa Barreled action in 6.5 Creedmoore.

I think Howa is going to sell a pile of these.

Best info I've seen anywhere on these. Thanks Matt!

that didn't take long, Brownells had the mini bbl action, sold out already

Brownells still shows a few in stock and others available for order, unfortunately even the barreled action is more than I paid for the complete gun. The stock isn't really worth that much, but it's still serviceable for a knock-about rifle.

Has anyone pulled a barrel off of one yet? I've read that howa barrels are on super tight. Is a vice on the square part of the receiver enough to get a barrel off, or does it require a special wrench that fits the receiver?

I'll be pulling one soon to build a 6.5 Grendel, but it will be a couple weeks.

Doesn't look like much taper on the front lug!


I always glassbed a wrench to fit barrels or actions that I don't have a wrench to fit in a sleeve that will fit my vice and action wrench.

God Bless, Louis

Flat bottom and the same 1.350" radius on the top of the action, shouldn't be too much trouble....I hope!

That thing needs a Wiebe bottom metal.

Thanks to Matt I can report that the barrel tenon is indeed metric: 22x1 and it looks like some sort of funny edge on it:



I'm not sure why they'd do it that way. The "cup" is much larger than bolt diameter, so what's the purpose?

Also, the mini is starting to get some support:

http://warnescopemounts.com/pr...i-action-rail-20moa/

Supposedly boyds will have an inlet for it soon as well.

Howa has a nasty habit of coming up with some rather weird and haphazard dimensions. I've rebarreled more of the standards than I care to remember and I just posted a drawing of the 1500 earlier today. I'm just as perplexed with some of those things as you are. At least once a year I get a call from other gunsmiths asking me what gives with the goofy metric threads or wondering what the deal is with the oversized bolt nose counter bore or the huge 45 degree feed cone. It's almost like they threw some darts when they came up with the drawings. I guess it just goes to prove that engineers the world over do the same sort of recreational pharmaceuticals.

I would assume the counterbore is large enough to clear the m16 style extractor. There may be plenty of room to not make it so large with a 223 bf bot with it opened up for the 7.62/Grendel it will need some extra clearance. I was going to post the dimensions of the shank but I never brought that slip of paper I wrote them all down on from the shop to the house...and I don't trust my memory anymore..

Looks like boyds can do a stock for these now:

jpl
Can't find the mini listed on the Boyd's site. Did you contact them directly?

I have a current production Weatherby Vanguard II in 223 Rem.

The bolt body is not really fluted, more like grooved and varies in diameter around the circumference .660" - .690"

The guard screw spacing is 7.25"

Boyd's does list a drop-in classic stock for mine.

The Mini spacing is more like 6.75"

Howa Mini next to a CZ527:

The magazine release lever can be shortened to make it less likely you will accidentally lose the magazine. I wonder what it would take to get a Ruger American magazine to work in one? I would far prefer to have a simple blind box magazine than the ten shotter it comes with.

Here is a howa mini next to a rem 7 for comparison. So it's about the same length:



I was looking at the extractor hook. Shouldn't it be angled or notched out the other way?:

Here's a different bolt face that also has the notched extractor:



I've seen them notched the other way too. I wonder why.

Just for grins I swapped the barrel on my howa mini with the spare I got from matt. I was surprised that the 2nd barrel screwed on and had the exact same headspace as the original, and the markings even indexed to the same place! Interchangeable parts on a gun, imagine that.

One difference is that the 2nd barrel has about 0.040" less throat. I believe this barrel was an earlier production so perhaps it has to do with the 223 vs nato spec, because the 1-9 twist is usually paired with the latter from what I've read. Anyway, it will let me try some different bullets now that are close to the lands and fit the magazine.

I'm just taking a wild guess and saying that the receiver threads may be indexed and interpolated in the same way Howa did with the Mark V for Weatherby. If that is indeed the case the barrels should all be fully interchangeable. The sights and stampings should come to top dead center and the headspace should be identical on each one.

But I don't know for sure if this is the case. When you brought it up it got me to thinking.

Interesting thread. I just bought a Howa 1500 in 243 in a rubber Hogue stock. Very accurate rifle out of the box and cheap. Heavier than the Tikka Lite but certainly worth a consideration. jc