New Howa Mini - Which Stock?

[stonehog]

I'm picking up a new Howa 1500 Mini Grendel this week and have been looking at stock/chassis options. I'm getting the 22" sporter version. I think this will be a range/bench gun primarily, and I don't have any long range facilities in my area, so 100-200 yds max. As for hunting, I already have a 12" and 18" option that I would likely use. For those of you who have gone through a couple stock options with the Howa - what have been your observations? I've looked online at the Stocky's stuff, MDT Oryx, Jtac Elf Owl, and Boyds.

[Stinky Coyote]

stocks allow you to ditch the magazine and bottom plastic, the chassis forces you to use their magazines...I like chassis but for these howa's I hate their magazines enough that I choose stock

[VAN77]

I modified the factory stock on my mini action with the #6 contour, it isn't overly heavy and I satisfied with it. I did, however get new bottom metal for it. I bought a barreled action with sporter barrel in .308 and got one of the factory second carbon fiber stocks from stockys. If I had it to do over again, I would not have bought the carbon fiber stock, or at least not the factory seconds. The grip area was devoid of any of the foam filling as well as feeling incredibly weak and there was loose carbon fiber material rattling around in it. There was also many spots that required me to recoat them with epoxy as the carbon fiber was lifting up. I had to take out all the foam in the butt area so that I could remove the loose fiber material and then filled the void in the grip area with two part epoxy to strengthen it. When I did, the epoxy ran out of an unseen crack in the grip! I then had to refill the butt area with expanding foam. Whether the factory second stock was so poorly made versus the full priced carbon fiber stock being better made, I could not say. I just wouldn't chance it again with the work it has required to make the stock usable.

[Stinky Coyote]

I got a new version of the stocky's and yeah, I would have guessed it was a factory second so I guess that solves that, save your money on the stocky's as even the 'new' one is a project if you want it to come finished as you'd expect for the money. Get the Pendleton stock instead so at least you have the options for a quality lightweight stock.

[stonehog]

I haven't looked at the Pendleton option - do you have a link? BTW - thanks for the input on the Stocky's carbon fiber - that was on top of my list, but no longer.

[garyrapp55]

I don't recommend a Boyd's. If I replace mine it will be a Pendelton or Bell and Carlson.

[Old Bob]

I have a Pendleton stock on my Howa mini. It's a nice, super-light stock but the barrel channel needed to be expanded to fit the 20" heavy barrel on my action. After sanding out the channel 'til my action barrel was free-floating, the filling material in the stock was exposed. I used regular ol' super glue to reseal the channel. I poured it in the channel & spread it around with a small paint brush. It dried in five minutes. It looked like the stock was made for the 22" standard profile barrel.

Oregunsmithing has them: http://www.oregunsmithingllc.com/ The blue high-lighted information tells you what you need to do to order one if you want one.

Another option is Bell & Carlson. They have Howa mini stock that weighs about 2lbs: https://www.bellandcarlson.com/index...tegory_ID=1139

[grayfox]

I've said before on other threads, but for me, I'm more of a chassis guy. I have several mdt's, lss, lss-xl, and an oryx. Yes the mdt's use the howa mags, but they have been no problem for me. I don't intend to "take this gun to war..." so to speak and don't treat my rifles roughly, so the howa mags have done just fine. Also I got a few "shortened" ones, although I mostly do the 5-round original style.
The mag release, howa has improved it on their factory stocks from what it was a few yrs ago, but I still do the mdt route. Mag release on them is short enough, and tight enough, that you won't accidentally drop your mag unless you're in really rough brush or something like that.
Now the B&C is also a good stock, I have used a few of those too, mostly other calibers. I just prefer the chassis with its downward grip, it allows my hand to be a lot steadier than the underside of the stock grips.

I have seen a lot of guys praise the oregunsmith and hokeypokey bottom metals/ internalized mags etc, so if you like the standard style stock version might talk to them on what they have, also the DIP Inc, I have used that one also and it does the trick fine... but at the end of the day I'm still a chassis guy mostly.

One other thing I would recommend on the howa is to get the bolt-knob extender, it makes a world of difference in cycling the action. Some guys again might not want that but I like the extra leverage, plus it's not hard to put on there.

[kiwi shooter]

9952C75D-73DD-46CF-A7E2-267934E828D2.jpeg

[VASCAR2]

[Remington Jim]

I have the STOCKYS Carbon Fibre stock and I like it . [ATTACH=CONFIG]19632[/ATTACHD0D618C6-15AE-44CF-9D79-4EF88C30E626.jpeg

[Stinky Coyote]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]19631[/ATTACH]

Well played, that'd be the only way to do Boyd's and a good smith to pillar bed. That's a beauty.

[Sammy]

I run Boyd's. It's made from wood and is light. Don't bother with any of the adjustable options though. Adjustability features use plastic parts and those look very cheap. In this day and age, a good quality sub-$200 stock is an absolute bargain.
When buying the best bargain in the barrelled actions market(the Howa Mini), it's only prudent to buy a bargain stock. IMHO, rifles with mismatching price points look odd. It's like putting a BigHorn TL action with Proof barrel into a Magpul Hunter stock.

[Moguns]

[Stump Buster]

stonehog,

I have both the Oregon Gunsmithing carbon fiber and a Boyd's Classic stocks...


I currently have the Jefferson Outdoor fixed flush bottom metal in the OG stock and an OG BDL style bottom metal installed on the Boyd's.



The current weight of the OG stocked Howa (with 5rnds of ammo on board) is 5.9375lbs. My scale maxes out at 6.25lbs, so I don't know the actual weight of the Boyd's stocked rifle, but it feels at least 2lbs heavier (not bad, just not the feather the OG stocked rifle is). I got my Boyd's stock secong hand and it was already bedded, and my action fit perfectly and the barrel was evenly spaced in the barrel channel. I like them both, but the OG stocked rifle is an absolute jot to pack (it's 2 for 2 on 1st morning deer).

Red circle shows where deer #1 was standing at the edge of the brush line (about 110yds).

If you want carbon fiber, get the OG, if you don't mind a little weight, I'm pleased with the Boyd's I picked up from a fellow forum member (Thanks Yendor6.5 !!!) and McMillan makes stocks that fit the mini (I've seen one in a Game Scout stock that looked pretty slick), but I'm not sure how much heavier they are compared to the OG carbon fiber stocks. If the stainless Mini's ever get released over here, I may be in the same boat you are again, trying to decide which direction I'll go with that one.

Hope this helps and good luck with your search.

Mike