Howa mini action mag release
- Thread starter Groverino
- Start date
I also have a Howa mini in 7.62x39. As Joel said, the factory bottom ‘metal’ is the weak link in an otherwise solid rifle.
Mine is an older model and the mag release was very easy to catch accidentally. Also very easy to operate - but perhaps a little too slap happy.
However the main problem with the plastic bottom metal is the maximum torque value of the bedding screws. At anything above ~35lb, repeated loosening and retightening will eventually crack the bottom metal - after around 40 trys if I recall.
Howa themselves researched into this and have their findings published on the internet somewhere. I’ll try and find a link. I suspect (or at least presume) that following this research, Howa have remedied this in later models, as they seem to of done with the mag release.
I replaced mine with a Jefferson bottom metal and that fixed the mag release and the plastic problem.
I’ve only used factory/surplus rounds. Shoots very well with Winchester SPs, PPU and S&B. Around 1.5moa. Hornady Black is a bit tighter ~ 1moa.
Surplus Chinese is surprisingly good at around 2moa.
Mine struggles to extract Red Norinco. Will be fine for a couple rounds maybe but there’s always one. Or several. Not as tight shooting as surplus anyways, and being a bolt action it’s a breeze to clean after corrosive.
My tuppence, YMMV
Mine is an older model and the mag release was very easy to catch accidentally. Also very easy to operate - but perhaps a little too slap happy.
However the main problem with the plastic bottom metal is the maximum torque value of the bedding screws. At anything above ~35lb, repeated loosening and retightening will eventually crack the bottom metal - after around 40 trys if I recall.
Howa themselves researched into this and have their findings published on the internet somewhere. I’ll try and find a link. I suspect (or at least presume) that following this research, Howa have remedied this in later models, as they seem to of done with the mag release.
I replaced mine with a Jefferson bottom metal and that fixed the mag release and the plastic problem.
I’ve only used factory/surplus rounds. Shoots very well with Winchester SPs, PPU and S&B. Around 1.5moa. Hornady Black is a bit tighter ~ 1moa.
Surplus Chinese is surprisingly good at around 2moa.
Mine struggles to extract Red Norinco. Will be fine for a couple rounds maybe but there’s always one. Or several. Not as tight shooting as surplus anyways, and being a bolt action it’s a breeze to clean after corrosive.
My tuppence, YMMV
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Not trying to hijack this thread, Jefferson Outdoors answered my email concerning replacement trigger guard for the Superlite Howa saying "it is in the works". I have seen a lot of positive comments about them, I intend to give them a few months before buying something else.
Groverino - This is the new design for the mag release, it's much smaller than the previous one.
Just picked up the same rifle with a 20" heavy barrel in 7.62x39. I had a Savage Axis II 7.62x39 before, it shot well but was not great for feeding. The Howa has been flawless. You can get some sticky extraction with a hot rifle, probably from lacquer on the cases heating up and getting sticky. Never had a failure to extract though.
If you're a reloader, a great trick I picked up here at gunnutz was to use steel case ammo (you can find non-corrosive if that's an issue), pull the jacketed steel core bullets, even the powder charges, and reload with a Hornady 123gr Interlock or SST bullet. You don't need to buy powder, primers, or cases this way.
I usually average 20-40 cases because they do vary quite a bit with powder charges from the factory. They are built to a price, and not designed for accuracy. The Norc red box is OK for reloading. Barnaul shoots pretty well out of the box if you're not a reloader.
The pic shows both the new Howa bottom plastic design for the mag release and one really nice group from reloaded Norc red box. This is not average of course, but you can usually count on sub 1" groups at 100 with careful powder measuring.
Great rifle and highly recommended! The only annoying thing is the really chintzy plastic bottom 'metal'. How long will that last?
Happy trails
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Thank you this is all excellent information. I am a reloader. I have a ton of the Hornady bullets here. I used to use them plinking with my Lee Enfield. I also have about 3 lbs of imr 4198 that I used for cast bullets so I’m all set. On top of that I have about 1000 .314 cast bullets that I’ve run through my Sks very successfully. I’ll try them in the bolt gun once I make sure there’s room for the case to expand.
Could you tell me what you used for scope mounts? Did you use a rail?
I’m interested in this for both a range gun and a deer rifle. Should do fine at normal hunting ranges here in NS.
Yup,The problem isn't the mag release
Its that the whole "bottom plastic" itself and the mags are complete dogsh*t
Stocks too??
I have come to love my howa mini (6.5 Grendel) but I ordered the hinged floor plate.
Paid thru the nose for it but its right slick now.
Very accurate rifle and 4 for 4 this season.
Very few decent aftermarket stock options for the howa mini.
Was gonna get a Stocky's stock for it this BF but I just cant pay that kind of quan without an adjustable comb.
It's an awesome calibre in great action and very accurate but I wished I loved it more.
I also have some Ruger Ranch's and they are fine. Nowhere near as refined as the howa but also quite accurate.
Hi Groverino -
I did pick up an MDT 20MOA rail for the Howa. It's not really necessary. You can use normal 2pc Rem 700 weaver bases (I think they are #36 and #35). I had a 0MOA rail on my Savage previously, and the scope had more than enough travel to adjust out to 500m.
I don't know about others' experiences reloading for 7.62x39, but I did experiment quite a bit with brass case loads and IMR4198 powder. I found at lower velocity loads (under 2000-2200 fps) the accuracy really fell off (at least in the Savage). I think the 7.62x39 shines at 2300-2400 fps (123gr bullet), which is the velocity for most factory and surplus loads. Could be wrong about that, I know some have had good luck with subsonic loads too. The trick of reloading the steel case ammo is cheap and cheerful.
I did pick up an MDT aluminum bottom metal for my Howa too. It doesn't work with the Howa mags without modification. I was told it was designed for MDT/Mambamag magazines. I haven't played around enough with the Howa mags yet, I suspect they can be modified to work well enough. Again, this may not be necessary, but I tend to get a bit heavy handed with snugging down action screws, so sooner or later I'm sure I'd mess up the plastic bottom metal.
I know Tenda has this rifle on sale right now, the price is hard to beat. Might want to have a look.
Cheers!
I did pick up an MDT 20MOA rail for the Howa. It's not really necessary. You can use normal 2pc Rem 700 weaver bases (I think they are #36 and #35). I had a 0MOA rail on my Savage previously, and the scope had more than enough travel to adjust out to 500m.
I don't know about others' experiences reloading for 7.62x39, but I did experiment quite a bit with brass case loads and IMR4198 powder. I found at lower velocity loads (under 2000-2200 fps) the accuracy really fell off (at least in the Savage). I think the 7.62x39 shines at 2300-2400 fps (123gr bullet), which is the velocity for most factory and surplus loads. Could be wrong about that, I know some have had good luck with subsonic loads too. The trick of reloading the steel case ammo is cheap and cheerful.
I did pick up an MDT aluminum bottom metal for my Howa too. It doesn't work with the Howa mags without modification. I was told it was designed for MDT/Mambamag magazines. I haven't played around enough with the Howa mags yet, I suspect they can be modified to work well enough. Again, this may not be necessary, but I tend to get a bit heavy handed with snugging down action screws, so sooner or later I'm sure I'd mess up the plastic bottom metal.
I know Tenda has this rifle on sale right now, the price is hard to beat. Might want to have a look.
Cheers!
Bought a Howa mini in 6.5 Grendel a few years ago. I used it for silhouette shooting and got tired of releasing the mag inadvertently as all shooting is done off-hand and my hand positioning on the stock created the problem.
Did major mods to satisfy my preferences. I got a good deal on a Bansner glass stock inletted for a mini Mark X and with resin/cloth/Devcon made it fit. I also bought DIP bottom metal and their mag release and I'm happy with both. I also had the OEM heavy barrel fluted which reduced weight, maintained rigidity (hopefully) and promoted cooling (again, hopefully). Had the wonderful factory two-stage trigger tuned and ended up with a short, light, accurate rifle in a caliber that meets my needs for any hunting I do; it did OK for silhouette but did leave some standing despite being hit well.
I also cut down a couple factory mags that will now hold three rounds and although not flush, they don't stick in my ribs when it's slung.
For what it's worth.
Cheers
Did major mods to satisfy my preferences. I got a good deal on a Bansner glass stock inletted for a mini Mark X and with resin/cloth/Devcon made it fit. I also bought DIP bottom metal and their mag release and I'm happy with both. I also had the OEM heavy barrel fluted which reduced weight, maintained rigidity (hopefully) and promoted cooling (again, hopefully). Had the wonderful factory two-stage trigger tuned and ended up with a short, light, accurate rifle in a caliber that meets my needs for any hunting I do; it did OK for silhouette but did leave some standing despite being hit well.
I also cut down a couple factory mags that will now hold three rounds and although not flush, they don't stick in my ribs when it's slung.
For what it's worth.
Cheers
Awesome rifle. I have one and have run about all types ammo through it and I've never had a failure of a sort that I can recall. I've got a buddy with the gen 2 ruger and I like the Howa better. I've never dropped or lost a mag but I picked an extra one up just because I prefer that for any rifle. Parts and mags come through periodically and there are even aftermarket options for stocks. I would only recommend it if you want a fun reliable rifle.
Thanks I wasn’t sure if a rail was necessary or not so this is helpful.
As someone who is used to old school wood and steel rifles it’s hard for me to get my head around buying someone new knowing it’ll need upgrades. I guess that just how it is at this price point.
So, since I did trash the earlier versions, its only fair to give the new one props. Received a stainless, wood stocked 7.62x39 today and its the first time I get to use the redesigned mag release. Its horizontal instead of vertical, and I think more secure, harder to release the mag by accident. And the mag has fed fine, even with a box of PPU round nose.
I'll still replace it with Jefferson bottom metal...but its a worthy upgrade on their part.
I'll still replace it with Jefferson bottom metal...but its a worthy upgrade on their part.
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its a 22 inch. I don't think I've ever seen a stainless 22" but there's always hacksaws haha. Unless you mean a 20" heavy barrel, this ones a 22" pencil.
I'll get you some better pictures tomorrow!
The wood stock is a bit chunkier than I remember them being. I think they went to a "one size fits all" so it wouldn't be too thin for the heavy barrel rifles. But it seems like a good stock. Most have nicer wood grain. Inletting looks good. Equal space on both sides of the barrel channel, etc.
Howa Mini 7.62x39
Sierra 125grn.HP Matchking #2121 .308 die.
IMR4198 22.5 grn.
New Lapua brass
Fed. GM210M primer
OAL 2.237
100 yrds.
Called pulled shot on the right.
With a little tweeking I will see what it can do with other loads
Sierra 125grn.HP Matchking #2121 .308 die.
IMR4198 22.5 grn.
New Lapua brass
Fed. GM210M primer
OAL 2.237
100 yrds.
Called pulled shot on the right.
With a little tweeking I will see what it can do with other loads
Hey Morp, here's a few pictures of the 22" pencil barrled stainless rifle. And how the wood stock is inletted. I checked with the paper from an envelope, its free floated.
One thing worth noting is that with Weaver or Leupold bases for a Remington 700, the heights don't line up, so that the scope ends up canted. I'll replace them with Burris XTB bases or Talley lightweights. They actually make Rem 700 models AND Howa models, so evidently they know of a diffeence.
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Very nice. Fit and finish looks good. I’d imagine there’s a lot less flex in the foreend than on the Hogue synthetic stocks. Wood looks like beech or possibly maple?
With the Jefferson bottom metal that makes a very nice rifle.
If Howa made one with a 20” barrel I’d be all over that, but the 22” is still tempting.
FWIW, I believe Weatherby vanguard bases fit the Howa mini action.
