Finally got out to shoot the Howa Mini

[FloorPoor]

I mounted a Leupold VX-2 3-9 on some Talley lightweight rings and went shooting. With a less than ideal rest, every group I shot (100yards) had two shots in the same hole, and the third was a flier out 1"+

I was shooting Hornady factory SST. This brief session tells me the rifle has great potential to be a really good shooter. I suspect that with a properly bedded action, free floated barrel, and a tuned handload, this will be a very accurate rifle.

Also, the factory magazine is absolute garbage. Feeding issues and unintentional drops..... WTF was Howa thinking when they designed that trash?

I ordered the hinged box mag from Jefferson Outdoors. I can live with the factory stock for now, but the factory magazine has to go. Looking forward to installing it and getting some more trigger time.

[tdbru]

FloorPoor,
i am very please with my JO flush bottom metal. i think you will be also. when you get that installed, then you can try a bit firmer torque settings on the action screws without worrying about cracking the plastic and see if that helps settle down the POI repeatability. i never had any feeding issues with my 6.5 Grendel mini howa factory mag setup, but hated the constantly functioning self ejecting magazine. i dared not take it into the field. now..no worries. and the JO feeds SMOOTHLY. and with no magazine projecting below the stock, it makes it much easier to carry too. you might try bedding the barreled action into the factory stock. it might help. i am waiting until i can get out to a range again, due to C19. bummer.
-tdbru

[FloorPoor]

[QUOTE=tdbru;256497]FloorPoor,
i am very please with my JO flush bottom metal. i think you will be also. when you get that installed, then you can try a bit firmer torque settings on the action screws without worrying about cracking the plastic and see if that helps settle down the POI repeatability. i never had any feeding issues with my 6.5 Grendel mini howa factory mag setup, but hated the constantly functioning self ejecting magazine. i dared not take it into the field. now..no worries. and the JO feeds SMOOTHLY. and with no magazine projecting below the stock, it makes it much easier to carry too. you might try bedding the barreled action into the factory stock. it might help. i am waiting until i can get out to a range again, due to C19. bummer.
-tdbru[/QUOTE

Thanks for the reply. I plan on shortening the LOP on the factory stock just a bit, and bedding the action after I get the new bottom metal installed.

Since recoil is a non issue with the Grendel, do you know of any manufacturer who makes a thin recoil pad? I would like to lose 1/2"-3/4" of stock. My son might hunt deer with it this fall, and I also prefer a shorter LOP on a hunting rifle.

Installing a thinner pad would require less time than modifying the stock itself.

[tdbru]

FloorPoor,
check out brownells.com look for recoil pads. they carry a bunch of them. do you care what brand of pad it is? i think i have a boyd's thin pad somewhere i took off of one of their stocks and put a Pachmayr decelerator on instead. shoot me a PM and if i can find the thin pad i can get it on the way to you. also if you have a disc sander or belt sander, and some actual aluminum duct tape, you can sand the pad down to fit to the stock.
-tdbru