Thanx Everyone Here!

[Bottomdweller]

Hey everbody. I just wanted to join this forum to thank all of the great posts that led me down this great rabbit hole grendel. Started 4 years ago when I bought a howa mini. Read some reveiws (not enough) about how great they were. So I went down to the gun shop in town and ordered one up. I must have gotten a lemon. One built on a friday night or a monday morning. Aside from being ugly, and clunky, it wouldn't shoot either. Mag fell out every time I looked at it. I bought the gun as a beater to shoot blacktail deer in southeast Alaska. No brownies but every ounce in awhile a black bear. I need to know that there are more rounds at the ready than just the one in the tube. This started the whole snowball. I read about Jeff at CDI. RIP. What an awesome guy! He hooked me up with new bottom metal that accected AICS 308 mags. He inletted the stock wonderfully. I went though 5 different mag manufacturers to try and get one to work. They all jammed. Finally got a single stack designed for 556 in AICS pattern. After some heavy modifications to the plastic inserts and feed lips, it feeds flawlessly no matter how fast you rack the action. So now that I had a 308 length magazine, I bought a reamer from Dave Manson and reamed the throat about .25 inch. Worked over the feed ramp, bedded the action, smoothed up the cocking ramp and safety, and then cut the spring down on the trigger. I hated the stock. The forend was warped and one side was touching the barrel. So I began hacking and whacking. I used a product called splash zone to build the palm swell and then a paint job. Then I went to work on load development. After several hundred rounds of 120 balistic tips I concluded the rifle didn't like them. 1.4 inch groups were the best. I switched to 125 partitions. Still wouldn't shoot. Then I read a post on here that I should crown it. Did the brass screw,valve grinding compound trick. After having read all these posts with pictures of all your rifles that shoot sub half minute groups I was about to call B.S.. And then after running a 400 yard ladder test and then figuring out the correct jump it now consistently shoots under .75 and sometimes .4. I have never done anything of this kind of thing to a rifle. I wouldn't have done any of it if it wasn't for this forum. Thanx again everyone.

[A5BLASTER]

Welcome to the horde sir.

[just_john]

Welcome to the clan, bd, from the great nation of Texas! Looks like you've had more fun than the average person even dreams of! But, success! Well done!

[VASCAR2]

Welcome to the forum Bottomdweller, great story, glad you got it shooting!

[Bottomdweller]

I have some great pics but I can't make it work. Keep working at it.

[Sinclair]

Bottomdweller, The reward is in the journey and you have had an outstandingly enviable journey. Welcome to the Horde and congratulations on your persistence and success.

I almost got to grow up in Alaska, but my father turned down the job at the last minute, dang the luck! He had been a combat engineer in WWII and the job was to build roads for the great State of Alaska. Ended up a farmer in the cesspool of the Midwest, dang my luck.

[PVBoom]

Welcome and congratulations on your tenacity with the Howa.

[FLshooter]

[Popeye212]

Welcome to the horde from the Republic of Texas!

[KZero]

Welcome aboard, thanks for sharing your adventure with us!