Howa Mini or Ruger Ranch Gen II

slinkylegs said:
Interesting! I was talking to a guy about one yesterday, and without a scope or anything on the gun, he says his balances in his hand right in front of the magazine, which doesn't seem too out of place to me. I have actually thought about a 20" HB Howa, it would make for a good bush gun (if you had a hinge floorplate)
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He must have duct taped a brick to the buttstock. I have had several 223 HBs and they are very nose heavy.
 
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I haven’t put my hands on a mini, but like the idea of a SS mini 6.5 Grendel stalker rifle.

Ideally 20” barrel, hinged floor plate. From the factory as a barrelled action. Placed in a mid grade stock. Leupold 2.5-8 on top.

Lightweight, quality, efficient little rifle that’s mild recoiling for the wife and kids in a couple years that I’d be happy to take out all deer season.
 
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alpining said:
Yeah, maybe his was in 450BM or something like that, with a heavy stock. (and maybe counterweights in the stock!)

I can't stand nose-heavy rifles, especially for field use.
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Don't think so, it is a bone stock, synthetic HB mini rifle. Again, I've never held it, just stating what I've been told. A little nose heavy has never bothered me, but I usually carry folding sticks with me
 
Jimbobob08 said:
I haven’t put my hands on a mini, but like the idea of a SS mini 6.5 Grendel stalker rifle.

Ideally 20” barrel, hinged floor plate. From the factory as a barrelled action. Placed in a mid grade stock. Leupold 2.5-8 on top.

Lightweight, quality, efficient little rifle that’s mild recoiling for the wife and kids in a couple years that I’d be happy to take out all deer season.
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Yes
I wud love it if i cud find this in a lightweight 18-20” barrelled action.
I will likely be putting the stock up for sale without shooting it.
Never been a hogue fan.

Im actually considering getting both the carbon one and this one and swapping them over. Then getting a hinged floorplate. AND having the barrel cut down and bolt knob threaded.

But That feels like a lot of cheddah. $$$

Pretty much get all that with the ruger.
 
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Beeron said:
...Pretty much get all that with the ruger.
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If you like how Ruger specs all of those features, then yep. Personally, I don't like AR mags on this type of rifle. Also, they feel and handle really different. Strongly recommend you try to handle the Ruger to avoid potential disappointment on that front. Lots of shops should have them by now.
 
alpining said:
If you like how Ruger specs all of those features, then yep. Personally, I don't like AR mags on this type of rifle. Also, they feel and handle really different. Strongly recommend you try to handle the Ruger to avoid potential disappointment on that front. Lots of shops should have them by now.
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Hey thanks.
I have a ruger already. Actually two.
Though one is on its way to a friend so i guess i am back down to one.
All good except the stocks suck. Surprise surprise. The gen ii do have a raised comb which is a huge improvement over the gen 1 which I also owned.
And as for bedding a crappy plastic stock, ruger might be winning that game with the v blocks.
The howa is aluminum pillar bedded but to be honest, neither choice wud live in its factory stock for more than a few minutes.
 
You sound adept at changing stocks, so I wouldn't let the steel vs stainless be a barrier
pretty easy to whip it apart to hose down the trigger after a day of action

plus if you have a stock, maybe a barreled action will be available again.......sometime......maybe....
 
Update:
Had pretty much settled on the HOWA but the bottom metal still wrankled a bit so I reached out to Howa Canada (Legacy Sports) and asked about availability of the rumoured and impending Mini Action bottom metal in Canada.
I got a response which surprised me a bit.
The nature of the response was even more surprising and borderline impolite (maybe I'm missing something).

I said:

"Greetings,
I am on the verge of purchasing my bolt action 6.5 Grendel.

Full disclosure, I am deciding between the Howa Mini (Stainless 22" at Prophet River) and the Ruger Gen II (also from PR).

I love the idea of the Howa because of their sterling reputation and the action in question is stainless. However, I do not like the bottom metal and the primary aftermarket bottom metal (Hinged floor plate) is very expensive and backordered forever in any case.

I have been hearing that Howa is making a hinged floor plate for the mini action available (in 2024 I heard) but I don't see them anywhwere.

What is the realistic timeframe on these Howa HFP bottom metals being available to Canadian customers.

My purchase of a Howa rifle pretty much depends on it.,

Thanks"

They Said:

"Upper management has put the hinged floor plate for mini-actions on hold."

Not very helpful and they did not say "Hi" or sign it or offer any other normal conversational niceties.

Ruger it is then.........sigh
 
Beeron said:
Update:
Had pretty much settled on the HOWA but the bottom metal still wrankled a bit so I reached out to Howa Canada (Legacy Sports) and asked about availability of the rumoured and impending Mini Action bottom metal in Canada.
I got a response which surprised me a bit.
The nature of the response was even more surprising and borderline impolite (maybe I'm missing something).

I said:

"Greetings,
I am on the verge of purchasing my bolt action 6.5 Grendel.

Full disclosure, I am deciding between the Howa Mini (Stainless 22" at Prophet River) and the Ruger Gen II (also from PR).

I love the idea of the Howa because of their sterling reputation and the action in question is stainless. However, I do not like the bottom metal and the primary aftermarket bottom metal (Hinged floor plate) is very expensive and backordered forever in any case.

I have been hearing that Howa is making a hinged floor plate for the mini action available (in 2024 I heard) but I don't see them anywhwere.

What is the realistic timeframe on these Howa HFP bottom metals being available to Canadian customers.

My purchase of a Howa rifle pretty much depends on it.,

Thanks"

They Said:

"Upper management has put the hinged floor plate for mini-actions on hold."

Not very helpful and they did not say "Hi" or sign it or offer any other normal conversational niceties.

Ruger it is then.........sigh
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Direct, minimal responses have become the norm for a lot of businesses.

Disappointing to hear about the hinged floor plate.
 
Legacy’s “upper management” is what keeps the mini from exploding in popularity like the Ruger Ranch.
This group of people have failed marketing 101.
The Howa Mini exists in a niche market comprised of mostly enthusiasts that Legacy seems to resist entering a profitable courtship with.

Proper bottom metal and durable, reliable magazines are the way.
Stainless helps as well, along with the stocking of popular new ARC cartridges suited to the mini.
 
mark k said:
The Howa is thin, but shoots well.
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I have owned the Howa Mini 22 “ for quite awhile now and like every rifle has its favourite bullet- powder combo !
Prob the biggest group ever was 1.5 “ and the smallest 3/8 “ these are Usally 3 shot groups but I have shot lots of 5 shot 3/4 “ -1 “
Being it’s a lightweight hunting rifle with a noodle barrel it’s pretty accurate . I made it light with a a Stockys Carbon Fibre . I’m at 6 lbs with the Scope I also replaced my trigger with a JARD .No Creep and a very light send off . I also installed JEFFERSON bottom metal as I like to keep it a Mag feed rifle .i cut down a couple of mags too to be Flush also.
If I was going to shoot one a LOT I would get the HB barrel for sure . Shortening a light barrel will make it stiffer BUT it’s still gonna get just as HOT just as Fast . 🤪 RJ

Factory Howa stock weighted in at 34 plus oz the Stockys CF at 17 oz .
 
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I have the Ruger Ranch Gen 1 since 2019 and the Howa Mini since 2022, both in 7.62x39mm.
The Howa Mini has a heavy 20” barrel (#6 profile). Japan made Howa’s barreled action is second to none. Absolutely superbly machined and finished. Where the Howa loses its advantage is the Legacy International synthetic stock. Mine was somehow crooked such that I had to slightly file its left wall as not to allow it to touch the barrel. The so-called “bottom metal” is not metal at all but relatively thin plastic. After an attempt to tighten it up, it cracked at the stock screw holes. I decided to replace it with a real metal “bottom metal” from Canadian MDT at some additional cost. With it installed, I could tighten the stock screws to 50ft.lbs. However, that MDT bottom metal only works with a 10-rds metal-polymer Mambamag which I had to buy. The Howa factory synthetic/plastic magazines do not function in the MDT bottom metal. So, at an additional cost of about $430 (with HST)(MDT parts are not cheap), I have a great Howa Mini shooter now. In December I was testing Yugoslavian M67 ball ammo (full brass). At 109 yards (100m) the average grouping of 10 strings, 3 shot each, was 1.5” (the best group was 0.65”, the worst 1.9”). Looks like the Howa Mini is an excellent shooter (may be not so the operator).
The Ruger Ranch Gen 1, is also a nice shooter, although the Howa Mini is slightly more accurate. On the other hand, it does not need right away any extra parts to make it a better shooter like the Howa. So, it’s good “out-of-the box”. Also, it’s slightly lighter than the Howa Mini due to a shorter barrel. I don’t know the Ruger Ranch Gen 2 but don’t think it’s so much better than the Gen 1. All in all, if I had to choose only one rifle, I’d go for the Howa Mini (with the improvements I described earlier).

P.S. (Jan 17/2025) I just learned from MTD that they discontinued the 10-rds Mambamags in 7.62x39&Grendel 6.5 for the Howa Mini action. No reason given. This way buying a real metal "bottom metal" for the Howa Mini does not make sense since it does not work with the plastic Howa magazines.
 
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