Howa/ruger/CZ pros and cons

[kmon]

A build on one of the mini-Mauser actions is cool for a control round feed guy. I thought about going that route for my one boltaction Grendel before anyone was manufacturing them but went with CZ 527 in 7.62X39 rebarreled with an Obermeyer 22 inch barrel, if I ever replace that barrel it will be with 18 or 20 inch tube.

Of the current basically 2 choices I would am not sure as I like some things about the Ruger and Howa but have some dislikes as well and doubt either would see much use without modifications.

Something on a Kimber 84 with the action shortened by about .4 inch and throated like Mr. Smith said would be sweet.

At one time it was common for gunsmiths to take 2 rifles and make a longer action from 2 Mausers or 03s when they were cheap for longer cartridges and were left with short pieces of 2 actions. I have one made from part Mauser and part 03 sized perfectly to work with Remington 788 Mags for the 44 Mag. Neat light weight little rifle for short range hunting. These days I see "custom" rifles that are more or less high end action from a manufacture that makes them with a high end barrel in an ordered stock and call that custom which I have been looked at strange for calling them kit guns.

[Sammy]

Few things to consider:

* Make it lightweight!
* 3+ lugs to enable shorter throws. 90-degree throws are old news.
* Control round feed
* integrated tang
* compatible with Remington 700 triggers.
* Accept STANAG mags. In other words: no proprietary magazines, pleeease!
* Howa Mini(or something else that's popular) dimensions so we can use existing stocks!
* no integrated piccatini but with the ability to mount scope rings or piccatini rails as needed.
* replaceable bolt face
* offer barrel length choices(16,18,20,24, and 26) and calibers(5.56, 6.5 Grendel, 6 ARC, and 6 Dasher)

If they did that, I'd buy at least three of them! 6.5 Grendel in 20" for hunting, 6 Dasher in 26" for competition, and 5.56 in 16 for truck/plinking gun.

[SDguy]

Ok Recently purchased my first Howa mini, happens to be chambered in 6mm ARC. Now I was a lot biased going in to this as I have favored the CZ 527 for a lot of years now. Suppose due to lack of a CZ527 on the market & just wanted to be able to compare with first hand knowledge. So How do I like the Howa?

While I'm of the opinion this is currently the best mini action bolt rifle currently on the US market offered as a new rifle. My experience with the Howa is mixed. Went in to this expecting issues with the Mag & that was easier to swallow when it happened as it was expected. What surprised me was the lac of focus on deburing the bolt face in the extractor groove location.I have contacted howa with no response as of yet. the way this bolt was shaving the brass was disgraceful IMHO. I have little doubt that I can fix the issue. Though I am very disappointed in how the ball was dropped on this one.

Early experience with the factory barrel is favorable. Seems to have real potential in terms of accuracy & the bore seems very consistent &easy to clean for a factory barrel.

[Stinky Coyote]

if Canadian market is fully considered, then proprietary magazines are good, like howa, even though I hate their magazine due to cheap and oversized plus had reliability issues for me, but for us if it's a magazine that is designed for and used in semi-auto anything then it's likely to already be banned or on the list to be, so hinged floor plate options and detach mag options proprietary like a lot of regular hunting rifles already do...

watch that action length regarding scope spacing, not hard to get too short and have scopes turrets bumping up against the front ring, and if chassis build also make sure the trigger reach is proper, ie; howa in a chassis your finger wraps half way around trigger...can only do howa with really long front to back AR grip (ergo slim with thumb tang is what I had to use), so get all the standard fits and measures and placements correct to most successful rifles