Howa 20" mini action first impressions

[EvoTac]

I picked up my new 20" heavy barrel mini action a couple weeks back. I think I've had enough trigger time to give an honest evaluation at this point so here goes.
My first good impression through this whole process was with the people at LSI. Every person I dealt with went out of their way to get me what I wanted, when they promised it, and at the price they quoted. Those 3 things seem to elude a lot of firearm companies these days.
I threw a Nikon M-223 4-16 on it with some Talley rings and off to the range we went.
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Barrel break in went very well. I was impressed at how fast it leveled out. Even after 100 rounds I'm surprised at how easily this barrel cleans up. Factory trigger is just ok. On it's lowest setting it breaks at 3 lbs 4 oz with a little creep. The plastic DBM and trigger guard seem a little flimsy to me, but it fed every round without issue. The camo finish on the stock has a few flaws but nothing crazy. The metal fit and finish is excellent. Overall well worth the price tag.
With 5 boxes of Hornady 123 grain SST ammo I started accuracy testing. Accuracy was so so to start, hovering in the 2" range at 100 yards during break in. It settled a little bit after the first box of ammo and was hovering around 1.5". I suspected some barrel contact with the stock , so I checked it with the ole trusty dollar bill. Sure enough the stock was making contact in several spots.
After some work at the shop the barrel was free floated and we went back to the range. There was definitely an improvement. Groups are averaging in the .75 to 1" area and holding MOA ish at 200 yards. On a side note I'm not normally a factory ammo kind of guy but this Hornady stuff is impressive. I'm getting an average of 2465 with the 20" barrel and an SD of 5.2 Not bad for $20 a box. It's actually cheaper to buy this ammo and reload than it is to buy the brass and load, go figure.
All things considered I'm pretty happy with the money spent. I'm excited enough about the cartridge to probably build one on a custom action in the near future. Then again maybe I'll bed this one and save some money

[Boondoggle]

Thanks for a great write up. I have a Howa HB in .308 with the Hogue stock. It shot well also right out of the box but I dropped the action in a Bell and Carlson Vanguard style stock and groups really tightened up. Easy sub-MOA out to 500 yds so far with Berger 185gr Juggernauts.

[LRRPF52]

Something weird I've noticed is that all these 20" and longer bolt action Howa's are getting really slow velocities for that length.

I mean, 2460fps is what I get with 123gr AMAX from my 16" AA Grendel barrel, and I have tested it many times over the years with Hornady AMAX, SST, AA 123gr Scenar, and PF 123gr Scenar.

Some of those loads have even been in the low 2500fps region, factory, not my hand loads, which I keep at a consistent mid-2400fps speed.

Can you measure your lands and grooves at the muzzle?

[EvoTac]

Hornady claims 2590 out of a 24". 2465 with the 20" seemed a little low to me too. I'm curious if it will speed up with more rounds down the pipe.

I won't be back in the shop until Saturday. I'll see if I can get an accurate measurement on the lands then.

[LRRPF52]

Most 20" Grendel AR15s are in the 2500-2590fps range with a 123gr factory load. There are some 18" guns that will do 2500-2520fps with 123gr.

24" guns are usually in the 2600-2675fps range with 123gr factory ammo.

This isn't the first time I've seen this either. I noticed every writer who chrono'd saw some low speeds for a 20", some even in the mid 2300fps range, which is 12.5" barrel territory.

I'm wondering if the lands and grooves aren't providing the same kind of seal we're used to seeing with all the other barrels.

[Kilco]

Funny you say that, I was thinking the same thing. I still want to pick one up, but from everything I've seen the howa barrels are running approx 100 fps slower than other barrels of equal length.. interesting

[Stevil]

unless your running the Howa mini against an AR with the same batch ammo on the same day its all just speculation, with just a starting load and 100gr Amax's mine Mini was throwing them down the 22inch tube at 3030fps, now that doesnt seem slow to me lol !

My mate Adam is doing some load development over the weekend so we should have a little more data shortly.

[LRRPF52]

unless you running the Howa mini against an AR with the same batch ammo on the same day its all just speculation, with just a starting load and 100gr Amax's mine Mini was throwing them down the 22inch tube at 3030fps, now that doesnt seem slow to me lol !

My mate Adam is doing some load development over the weekend so we should have a little more data shortly.

Yeah, with handloads, you should be able to exceed factory ammo speeds easily, especially if the bore is on the loose side.

I've seen and chronographed enough different barrel lengths with 6.5 Grendel to have a good handle on what to expect from 20-22" barrels, and to have a 20" gun even shooting a factory Hornady 123gr in the 2350-2450fps region seems 100fps slower than average across a wide range of AR15s, with different rifling types, twist rates, and barrel origins that drive those differences.

[James Gray]

Ego nice looking rifle I've been wanting a bolt action grendel for awhile now and the Howa might just be it even though I'm a huge 700 fan and have one in a 22.250

[Kilco]

Ego nice looking rifle I've been wanting a bolt action grendel for awhile now and the Howa might just be it even though I'm a huge 700 fan and have one in a 22.250

There is a gentleman on here who recently did a post featuring his R700 chambered in 6.5 Grendel, and the accuracy and velocity he was obtaining was VERY impressive.

[adamjp]

My Grendel with a 20in 1:10 twist Lilja 3 groove delivers 2980fps with 31.5gn of 8208 under a 100gn NBT in Lapua brass.

The Howa Grendel with a 22in 1:8 twist 6 groove gave 2940fps with 31.1gn of 8208 with a 100gn NBT and 2950fps with a 100gn AMAX in Hornady brass.

The extra 2in won't give much additional velocity so the Howa looks pretty much lineball with my established loads.

[Sauer 150]

We have only tested one of the new mini actions,
With a very mild load of 26grs N530 behind 123 Scenar average V0 was 2540F/s. At least this barrel gave above average velocities

[jason miller]

I just shot my new Howa 20" Grendel for the first time. Hornady factory 123 amax stuff went 2420 fps at 30 degrees Fahrenheit. I was slightly disappointed.

[Kilco]

I just shot my new Howa 20" Grendel for the first time. Hornady factory 123 amax stuff went 2420 fps at 30 degrees Fahrenheit. I was slightly disappointed.

Not sure how temp sensative the factory hornady ammo is, but you very well could see another 50-80 fps just by shooting at normal summer temps.

[jason miller]

I thought of that. It was 30 degrees. I pulled one bullet to peek inside, and it had a ball powder like I expected. Ball powders do tend to be more temp-sensitive. A gain of 1 fps per 1 degree is pretty normal, which would result in 2480 or so in prime summer conditions. Figure 25 fps per inch of barrel dropping from 24" to 20", and maybe 2420 is right where it was supposed to be.

I bought the ammo to get the brass, since loaded ammo was pretty much the same price. I'm looking forward to load development this spring/summer.