Howa Project - Bummed with the Bottom Plastic

[Frontier Gear]

I couldn't decide on a Boyds AT-One stock or a chassis, so I purchased a Howa with the factory stock (not a barreled action). I figured that I would play with it this way for a while while deciding on the stock. I have to say that the stock isn't all that bad. In fact, I'd leave it this way if it wasn't for the bottom plastic. Mine wasn't split from the screw torque, but the holes were already deformed and "squished" out of flat.

I mounted a cheek riser and opened up the fore end some to keep the barrel from contacting the sides. It was my intention to fill the fore end with epoxy to stiffen it, but it doesn't need it. Maybe as a bench gun, but for hunting it is fine. Better than the Ruger American.

The scope rings are bases are Warne and made from steel. They are solid and not too expensive. The scope is a Redfield (made by Leopold in the Oregon Leopold factory). Again, solid quality and good price/warranty/customer service.

A few extras were thrown in to complete it. Butler Creek sling and scope covers combined with Uncle Mike's sling swivels made for a nice budget friendly rifle.

Overall, I really like it and I'd stop right here if it wasn't for that pesky bottom plastic. So my options are to:

• Buy a chassis and be done with the plastic. So much for the budget though. We are talking well over $400 more by the time that thing is done.
• Buy a Boyd's stock and have it inlet for a CDI bottom metal. Again, hundreds of dollars more. About $150 or more for the Boyd's with bedding and shipping. Then over $200 for the bottom metal

There has got to be an alternative that offers a good quality solution without doubling the cost of the rifle.

[ricsmall]

Someone one here bored the holes out on the bottom plastic and installed some aluminum bushings to stop the squish. May be worth a try. If only I had a CNC mill and someone to run it we’d be in business.

[Frontier Gear]

Yep, I'm actually working on that right now. The front one is done, but the back one is still curing. The problem is getting an epoxy that will stick to both the metal and the plastic. It's a goofy type of plastic. It is really soft and epoxy doesn't like it. I even "flamed" it to help with adhesion. The first batch of epoxy "West System" stuck to the plastic but not well enough to the aluminum. With a little stress applied, they separated. So then I tried JB Weld. It actually worked better. The front one adhered very well. The back one was so-so. After it cured for two days, I installed it and torqued everything down. After letting it sit for about a week, I removed and inspected everything. There was a slight separation between the metal and the plastic on the back hole so I removed the back one and am doing it again. Sorry for the cruddy picture, but here is the front one that is done.

I'm still not very happy with it. This may work but it is kind of a goofy thing to go through. Howa could probably make this out of metal for $50-$100 and I would have gladly paid the extra for it.

Bottom Plastic.jpg

[biodsl]

If you haven't seen it already, you might check out this thread. The good stuff starts at post #4

http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthread.php?15570-Fitting-Howa-Mini-1500-barreled-actions-into-after-market-stocks&highlight=howa+%2Bbushing

Edit: Found the thread with the stepped inserts.

http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthread.php?15342-Reworking-my-Howa-HB&highlight=howa+%2Bbase

[Lone Hunter]

There was a guy on here that had an aluminum bottom metal made for his Howa mini. The guy said the maker was Harless Precision out of Colorado Springs. Don't know what the price was. Might want to google him. Maybe it will help you some.

[Lone Hunter]

Just looked and here is the web address in case you are interested.

http://www.hpgunsmithing.com/

[splashy]

I know an engineering shop that does bottom metals that is working on one at the moment. I will contact them and see how they are going. Will put up a post when/if they are commercially available.

[Sticks]

Tagged for followup.

[Frontier Gear]

If you haven't seen it already, you might check out this thread. The good stuff starts at post #4

http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthread.php?15570-Fitting-Howa-Mini-1500-barreled-actions-into-after-market-stocks&highlight=howa+%2Bbushing

Edit: Found the thread with the stepped inserts.

http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showt...t=howa+%2Bbase

Ya I saw those. The second one is basically the same idea of what I'm doing on mine. I'd like to know what epoxy he used though. A good bump to the trigger guard or magazine and the entire bottom plastic will fall out if the epoxy lets loose.

The first one is pretty cool. It's a lot of work though. Drilling and tapping the hardware store bolts isn't too bad. It's the stock work that needs to be done in order to accommodate the recessed bolt heads that can be a problem.

I'll call Harless Precision today and see what they say. I can't imagine that a one-off custom bottom metal is going to be very "budget friendly", but it's worth finding out about. It would be great if Howa or someone offered a "production" metal replacement part that was made in some quantity to keep the cost down a bit.

One of the super friendly members of this forum is donating his spare bottom plastic to me, which I really appreciate since mine was deformed from the factory.

[Frontier Gear]

Just looked and here is the web address in case you are interested.

http://www.hpgunsmithing.com/

I called hpgunsmithing and talked with a couple of the guys there. They do not offer bottom metals for the Howa 1500 mini. They said to contact CDI or Pacific Tool and Gauge.

I called PTG and they do not have one for the mini action.

I also called CDI. Theirs only works with the metal AI mags (more expensive than the plastic mags). They said that they have to bend the feed lips to get them to feed correctly. Also, I think that I would have to replace the stock to work with the CDI bottom.

So no progress yet.

[Kswhitetails]

Where is Howa on this issue? Honestly, I’m not interested until the change is made. I’d pay a little more, and be happy with the fixes. Honestly, I can’t imagine why the bottom metal hasn’t been drawn out and made. The negative review of the weakness is now more common than the positive of the a Grendel bolt. What’s the stat? One negative costs you 40 positive?

[grayfox]

Didn't Matt say something about working on a bottom metal in another thread... Maybe he will chime in here too b/c IIRC it was still somewhere in the future...
Sure would be NICE IF THE FUTURE WAS NOW!!!!!!! just sayin'...

[Lone Hunter]

I called hpgunsmithing and talked with a couple of the guys there. They do not offer bottom metals for the Howa 1500 mini. They said to contact CDI or Pacific Tool and Gauge.

I called PTG and they do not have one for the mini action.

I also called CDI. Theirs only works with the metal AI mags (more expensive than the plastic mags). They said that they have to bend the feed lips to get them to feed correctly. Also, I think that I would have to replace the stock to work with the CDI bottom.

So no progress yet.

I will keep looking. This guy that was on here is where I got my info from said that is where he got the bottom metal from. He also said it was $85 . He must have had an in there for that price. I hate the bottom plastic on the Howas. Keep us updated please. I believe many are looking for aluminum or steel bottom metal. Sorry I was of no help.

[hill37]

Try thishttp://www.diproductsinc.com/Howa_it...aspx?CAT=12462

[paulw]

Nice!
I have a DIP aluminum trigger/bottom metal on a Marlin 795... Perfect drop in replacement for the "Howaesque" plastic that came with it.