Howa Mini Action, slabbed/fluted, the Ultralight Project resumes

[Redleg11B]

Still a sharp looking rifle. I also didn't want to drop the coin on a different stock without spending some time with the OEM. I need something light, but don't need something that light. Seven pounds for a scoped and loaded rifle is light enough for me. I'll have to weigh it once I get the bottom metal.

[tdbru]

SC,
the slow progression from what I bought 4 or so years ago, to what I ended up with was indeed a wallet emptying exercise, but not all at once, which makes it a wee bit more palatable. Also, like you, I thoroughly enjoy tinkering and improving my rifle, making it be what "it should have been". It is always more fun hunting with a rifle you've improved, at least to me it is. Have fun hunting with your ultralight mini. I hope it cements many fond hunting memory in the time to come.
best to you,
-tdbru

[Stinky Coyote]

When I started working with the Finnish Sniping community, one of the guys developed a decal for scope turrets that does a similar thing, using the Mil formula for shoulder width of a man.

You just dial to your "read Mils" and you’re on target, no need for breaking out a homework assignment in the field.

Because I deal with pretty drastic changes in elevation, temperature, and barometric pressure at most of the shooting locations I frequent, I have to do the homework, but it can be simplified into Density Altitude cards and scope cap disks.

600yds is pretty close range for me as well, even with the 12” Grendel shooting steel targets.

400yds is kinda boring, except for the reward of the audible impacts sounding like a .308 hitting steel.

I also like the GRSC reticle system, which is very intuitive because it has graduated size 10” circles corresponding to the range stadia.

We have come up with some excellent ways to skin the cat, generally a matter of picking your horse and then becoming 'at one' with it. They will all work with a practiced nut behind the wheel. Those 10" circles wouldn't take long to learn against the critters to use as range finding.

I only care to hunt, coyotes up to big game. So my range time is limited only to set up, but I take it serious, have my own gongs, collect proper drop data and atmospherics, chronograph etc. and the rifle set up itself is focused on hunting only and it will either be a speed dial turret for elevation correction or a simple multi-aimpoint reticle like an lr-duplex or simple mil-dot. And I lean into the wind in inches, I've tried reticle references but find it too slow and goes against the brains natural wiring visually/spatially so it's generally only good for the first shot and when things go sideways you revert to on target reference based visual/spatial corrections so may as well start with that.

I live in a world of metric and imperial so speak fluently in both for the most part but the things I'm most fluent in for distance I use (yards), wind speed in kmh lol but wind hold in inches. It is the most boiled down way to land in a kill zone to 600 and most long range hunting is defined as mpbr to about 600 anyway, even the guys who have the 1000 yard rigs still only a tiny percentage of well set up hunters can consistently kill past 600. Most consistency drops off after about 450 then a moderate amount are pretty solid from 450-600.

I learned all this on my own but it's been corroborated over and over by others even though they don't want to admit that is the definition of long range hunting, anything beyond that is a new level...elrh (extended long range hunting) call it but it's not long range hunting. The factors at play are often not considered properly. 1st one being practical field accuracy, most can't shoot well enough even with a 1/4 minute gun in field conditions on game so that's a natural limit in itself keeping majority to 600 or less. 2nd, time of flight, live animals, 0.5 to 0.75 seconds...another natural limit, that coincidentally is the same with the archery tackle and bowhunters (50-70 yards). And 3rd...environmental conditions limits, mostly wind, most of us practiced have a natural limit of about 20" of wind hold max (many measure in mils/moa and do reticle holds but boil it to inches and you'll see a pattern emerge), that would be pretty calm for a 600 yard shot, every now and then guys will get an 8-900 yard kill on a no wind shot and felt ok to do so, but usually wind in that 20" window will keep you to 600 or less. You take all three of these things and you see why that long range hunting a mpbr to 600 game. I build my rigs with no fat, to land within that, and now I've set my big game limits even more realistically to ~400 but I still want to be able to deal with hung up coyotes at 5-600 so I develop my rifles out to about that. Easy to see why I like the Grendel knowing all that.

When it's 'go time' hunting all I need is a range, quick dial turret or magnification ring, and I quick math the wind hold and lay down and shoot very quickly, wind I pay attention to all day. I haven't come up with a faster system for pure instinct takes...which is hunting situations. Everything works at the range, totally different kind of pressure.

[Stinky Coyote]

SC,
the slow progression from what I bought 4 or so years ago, to what I ended up with was indeed a wallet emptying exercise, but not all at once, which makes it a wee bit more palatable. Also, like you, I thoroughly enjoy tinkering and improving my rifle, making it be what "it should have been". It is always more fun hunting with a rifle you've improved, at least to me it is. Have fun hunting with your ultralight mini. I hope it cements many fond hunting memory in the time to come.
best to you,
-tdbru

We shall see, if it shoots I'll field it for a season or two and hope it grows on me. I'm at least somewhat excited about handling what it should/could have been from the get go. It's hard to look at the ruger in my safe that needed nothing extra for the same initial price and not be pissed off at the howa in just about every way possible.

[rcook10]

Man if howa would just get its shit together and offer these with a blind mag or bdl in stainless I would be so happy. Also that ZL turret on the 6x is HOT.

[Stinky Coyote]

Man if howa would just get its shit together and offer these with a blind mag or bdl in stainless I would be so happy. Also that ZL turret on the 6x is HOT.

Thanks, and agree!

[Stinky Coyote]

The finale finale lol.

Hokey's hinged bottom kit showed up, very nice! Feeds excellent. And shaves a 1/4 lb from the CZ bottom end if guy can live without a quality detach mag option. This is how the rifles should come.

She's 5 lb 6.0 oz bare scoped rifle with hinged bottom end. I will run a 9 round butt stock shell holder 1.0 oz and Alumina flip cap for the 36mm objective end of scope 0.5 oz so it's exactly 5 lb 7.5 oz with the accessories (a smidge under 5 1/2 lbs), it shows 5 lb 8.0 oz in the one pic but had healthy roll of tape on barrel and muzzle taped, took it off to see and it was 5 lb 7.5 oz lol, amazing how little it takes to bump things a 1/2 oz, granted that's how that scale works, it rounds to the nearest half ounce.

Balance point is on the front action screw.

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[HokeyPokeyKid]

I think those carbon stocks look great with the flush bottom metal.