A Howa Mini build. The Ultimate action to build on.......

[jbmauser]

.....if you want a stainless 7.62x39, in an action scaled to match, without a detachable mag.

This started out as a barreled action from Prophet River to which I added a Pendelton stock and Jefferson Outdoors blind mag. In an effort to cut weight I used a carbide masonry bit to hollow out the bolt knob then sent the bolt to PR Precision to have it fluted. Each of those mods removed a whopping .2 of an oz for a total of .4 oz weight shaved off the bolt. The fluting was pretty expensive for the weight saved but I've never had a fluted bolt and just wanted one. Paul at PR did an amazing job and the turn around time was fast.

My trusty old Leupold 3-9x33 Ultralight in Talley Lightweights top off the rifle for a scoped weight of 5lbs 3.4oz.

I developed 3 hunting loads for it using mono bullets and will be working on a fourth at some point soon. The first load I developed uses the Barnes 110gr TAC-TX designed for the .300 BLK and it's the most accurate so far. Groups under 1" are the norm. The next one I worked up with the Barnes 150gr TSX designed for the .30-30. This bullet is designed to expand down to 1400fps so it should be perfect for the ranges I'll be using the 7.62. Accuracy is averaging just over the 1" mark. Third load uses Fox 123gr bullets designed for the 7.62 and again, they're right around that 1" mark the rifle seems to shoot most things at so far. At the time I was developing the 110gr and 150gr loads, the Barnes 123gr TSX designed specifically for the 7.62 was out of stock everywhere but now that it's back in and I have a good stock pile of it I'll be working up a load using that bullet. It's an awesome performer and has worked very well on many deer and bear out of my daughter's rifle for years now.

With the Jefferson Outdoors blind mag you can take advantage of a longer COL. All of these are seated out well beyond spec.

Here it is on a northern SK whitetail hunt last weekend. Haven't shot any game with it yet but it is a real pleasure to carry.

 

[Ungrateful]

That’s exactly what I’ve wanted for 10 plus years. I’d put good iron sights and a walnut stock on mine and being a stainless barrel might be a good way to use up the old surplus ammo. Simple rifle. The problem with proprietary detachable magazines is that if you only have one you are taking the mag out of the gun to reload it then putting it back in. You need a bunch of them otherwise the system doesn’t really work. I have a very old Winchester model 70 with blind floor plate in 308 and it’s probably my favourite bolt action for that reason

 

[mctrigger]

My man! That is outstanding! I love my Cz but a flush double stacked floor plate is far nicer, and this absolutely looks better. Agreed with ungrateful. Walnut is my style. Regardless this is super. Thanks for sharing.

 

[350tracker]

Great looking rifle . What range do you figure you have with these loads , just curious ?

 

[Joel]

Looks freakin great. Must handle like a favorite old BB gun

 

[jbmauser]

Great looking rifle . What range do you figure you have with these loads , just curious ?

Where I intend to hunt with it, most shots would be well under a hundred yards. I feel confident pushing it out to 150 or so if needed. To be honest I haven’t ran any of these loads over a chrony so I don’t know exact numbers regarding how far they’ll still expand or down range retained energy but for the distances I’ll be shooting with it, it will more than do the job.

 

[Sun_and_Steel_77]

Now get yourself some starline small primer 6.5 Grendel brass and really stomp on it and get some crazy speeds.
One pass through your sizing die, one load through the gun to fire form to the chamber and then put the boots to it!
With the added cartridge length available to you due to the aftermarket bottom metal you can get a lot of CFE BLk behind a flat based bullet.

I bought one of the SS barreled actions from PR as well and shot .308 125gr SSTs quite well.

 

[Joel]

Now get yourself some starline small primer 6.5 Grendel brass and really stomp on it and get some crazy speeds.
One pass through your sizing die, one load through the gun to fire form to the chamber and then put the boots to it!
With the added cartridge length available to you due to the aftermarket bottom metal you can get a lot of CFE BLk behind a flat based bullet.

I bought one of the SS barreled actions from PR as well and shot .308 125gr SSTs quite well.

Now here I've been b*tching about not having SRP brass available for the 7.62x39, my dumb ass never even realized we could do that!

With that mag setup the 120gr Tac-Tx for the 300 BLK really interests me. You must be able to get very good speeds for the 125gr SST as well.

Cheaper than a 300 HAM'R build.

 

[grassforbreakfast]

Now get yourself some starline small primer 6.5 Grendel brass and really stomp on it and get some crazy speeds.
One pass through your sizing die, one load through the gun to fire form to the chamber and then put the boots to it!
With the added cartridge length available to you due to the aftermarket bottom metal you can get a lot of CFE BLk behind a flat based bullet.

I bought one of the SS barreled actions from PR as well and shot .308 125gr SSTs quite well.

This is revolutionary for me if it's true, but i'm wondering if you have tried to do this yourself. Are you quoting something you read online and perhaps getting the conversion transposed?

I can find plenty of data on resizing 7.62x39 to 6.5 Grendel but nothing online where someone resized 6.5 Grendel to 7.62x39 . I have resized 416 ruger to 375 ruger since I can never find the 375 ruger brass, but only the neck is sized down in that instance.

Several important differences, like:

1. Dimensional mismatch: 6.5 Grendel has a larger case diameter than 7.62x39, making it difficult to size down.
2. Different shoulder angles: 6.5 Grendel has a 30-degree shoulder angle, while 7.62x39 has a 45-degree angle.
3. Case length discrepancy: 6.5 Grendel cases are slightly shorter than 7.62x39.
4. 1,2,3 that's a lot of working of the brass to squish down into a 7.62x39 case

I really want this to be true, but I'd rather not blow my face off. Cheers

 

[boxhitch]

jbmauser, nice set-up there
does the mini have a generous chamber? still have some jump with the longer col?
The 308 chamber in a 1500 seems huge

 

[Sun_and_Steel_77]

This is revolutionary for me if it's true, but i'm wondering if you have tried to do this yourself. Are you quoting something you read online and perhaps getting the conversion transposed?

I can find plenty of data on resizing 7.62x39 to 6.5 Grendel but nothing online where someone resized 6.5 Grendel to 7.62x39 . I have resized 416 ruger to 375 ruger since I can never find the 375 ruger brass, but only the neck is sized down in that instance.

Several important differences, like:

1. Dimensional mismatch: 6.5 Grendel has a larger case diameter than 7.62x39, making it difficult to size down.
2. Different shoulder angles: 6.5 Grendel has a 30-degree shoulder angle, while 7.62x39 has a 45-degree angle.
3. Case length discrepancy: 6.5 Grendel cases are slightly shorter than 7.62x39.
4. 1,2,3 that's a lot of working of the brass to squish down into a 7.62x39 case

I really want this to be true, but I'd rather not blow my face off. Cheers

It's absolutely true, and was a real eye-opener for me and I even got to keep both my eyes through the whole experience.

I used RCBS dies with a .308 spud and Starline 6.5G srp brass with CCI450's.

No real work at all, a single pass through the sizing die, didn't lose a single piece of brass out of my bag of fiddy.
Put together a mid level load and fire... you've just made perfect high quality SRP 7.62X39 brass! It may have ended up .10" shorter I cant recall.

The fun starts when you begin load development. The main reason I did this was for getting away from large rifle primers, but other benefits became apparent as regular load development continued.

DISCLAIMER!!!

This was done in a bolt action rifle with a magazine that allowed a long COAL...NOT a semi.
I am not giving out recommendations or encouraging you in any way. You're an adult capable of making your own decisions regarding your safety as well as others and I'm just some loudmouth on the intrawebs.

 

[hoytcanon]

I have been mulling over a similar build sans the mini action and in 6.5 Grendel... it has been.on the backburner for a few years... might get done during the winter doldrums.

Did you do it in .311 or .308?

 

[Sun_and_Steel_77]

Now here I've been b*tching about not having SRP brass available for the 7.62x39, my dumb ass never even realized we could do that!

With that mag setup the 120gr Tac-Tx for the 300 BLK really interests me. You must be able to get very good speeds for the 125gr SST as well.

Cheaper than a 300 HAM'R build.

Smoked my 16" HAMR speed-wise...but in fairness the Howa was a 20" barrel.

 

[Mik123]

Glad to see the stainless Howa Mini here, last time I looked I could only find them in Australia and NZ.

 

[jbmauser]

jbmauser, nice set-up there
does the mini have a generous chamber? still have some jump with the longer col?
The 308 chamber in a 1500 seems huge

I have two Howa minis in 7.62x39, one heavy barrel for plinking and such and this one. The throats on both are quite generous but the chambers seem pretty normal.

 

[Sun_and_Steel_77]

I bought the Stainless 7.62 barreled action to do a 22 ARC build. Before I pulled the barrel I messed around with the X39 for a few months. It shot both .308 bullets and .311 decent. Really liked 125gr SST's and Hornadys 150gr SST (300 Savage variant) Czech surplus was abysmal...maybe 4 MOA.
Below is a picture of the Brass it is Large primer Fiocchi mixed with the fireformed Starline... 6.5G is the shinier of the two.
Not meaning to de-rail your thread JB...beautiful build and pictures BTW.

 

[jbmauser]

I have been mulling over a similar build sans the mini action and in 6.5 Grendel... it has been.on the backburner for a few years... might get done during the winter doldrums.

Did you do it in .311 or .308?

It’s just the factory Howa barrel. I haven’t slugged it but I am pretty sure they’re in the .310 range from what I’ve read. Shoots .308 bullets just fine with no real discernible difference in accuracy between .311 loads. Seems to shoot everything I put through it around that 1” mark.

 

[Sun_and_Steel_77]

I have two Howa minis in 7.62x39, one heavy barrel for plinking and such and this one. The throats on both are quite generous but the chambers seem pretty normal.

Mine was throated long as well...it was what made the "fun" possible when paired with the Jefferson Outdoors hinged floorplate and it's long magbox. Went together like PB&J.
I am super excited to see what the 22 ARC can do out of a 20'ish barrel in a bolt action with the bullets seated out.

 

[hoytcanon]

It’s just the factory Howa barrel. I haven’t slugged it but I am pretty sure they’re in the .310 range from what I’ve read. Shoots .308 bullets just fine with no real discernible difference in accuracy between .311 loads. Seems to shoot everything I put through it around that 1” mark.

I've had several M77 7.62x39's and the all had .308 barrels, which was convenient. The Lee 7.62x39 die sets come with both .311 and .308 buttons.

 

[jbmauser]

I've had several M77 7.62x39's and the all had .308 barrels, which was convenient. The Lee 7.62x39 die sets come with both .311 and .308 buttons.

I would assume my daughter’s Hawkeye compact would also have a.308 dia barrel then? We have only ever loaded and shot .310/311 bullets from it. The Barnes 123gr TSX is a consistent sub 1” shooter, often grouping.5” or less.