Thread: 223 Howa 1500 vs Mini Action

Pros and cons in the 223 cal. Why would you buy one over the other? Less the obvious like shorter vs longer and more vs less weight.

Cheers

Im biased as have used mini mauser with regular twist for 24 years and love it to bits..... barrel is reasonably short from factory so suppressed it is about right.
PERSONALLY cant see reason to change,if I want heavier projectile will use another cartridge.
if I cant kill animal cleanly with 50-55grn projectile I will just have to get closer...... no big deal in that really. the penertration and expansion I get with 50 grn barnes is that good I cannot see why heavy projectile would kill better,its like a mild 270 cup n core 130 grn except damage is done in reverse order on animal.... terminally the effect is the same,or that darn close to it not to matter.

At mate has the mini Its awsome . Somebody somewhere pointed thendiffernce out as almost model7 vs 700

@stagstalker is the rifle for yourself, or for a wee one?
If it is for yourself, I would recommend the Howa Mini, as it has a few more stock options than it used to and most at reasonable prices.
- The standard stock is a bit chunky, and the mag release (marginally fixed).
- The EXCL really isn't that bad, lots of fore-end flex, but this is a non issue.
- Ken Henderson makes a gorgeous Carbon Fiber stock to suit, finish it off with a Jefferson's bottom metal and this rifle is a thing of beauty.
If it is for a youth, The Howa 1500 may not have as many stock options, but they do have a youth stock which offers a nice length of pull, top this off with a scope with forgiving eye relief, and its a great youth option.

@kiwi-adam for now it would be myself as my kids are a few years away yet. Some good info thanks

I've owned both and prefer the Short Action 1500.

The detachable magazine is the biggest con of the Mini. To make it comfortable to carry, you really need to get a Jefferson Outdoor hinged floor plate magazine, which costs $350. Chopping down the detachable magazine to near flush will improve it, but the balance point of the rifle is still at where the magazine release is. It digs into your hand and there is the risk of accidentally pressing it. I've already cut down the magazine release, but still managed to accidentally press it and drop out the mag on a few occasions.

With the Short Action 1500, for a slight increase in action length, you can save the $350 on other things such as better optics.

Of course if you don't plan to carry this rifle around a lot, then the Mini is just as good.

If the weight of the hogue stock puts you off, you can also try dropping a lightweight profile short action/barrel into an Alpine stock. It's lightweight but good quality and has a decent recoil pad.
See picture in the thread below:
https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....01/index2.html

I'm planning to build one myself, but probably in 308.

Originally Posted by Synthetic

If the weight of the hogue stock puts you off, you can also try dropping a lightweight profile short action/barrel into an Alpine stock. It's lightweight but good quality and has a decent recoil pad.
See picture in the thread below:
https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....01/index2.html

I'm planning to build one myself, but probably in 308.

Another benefit to the Short Action is that with a small amount of DIY you can lengthen the internal magazine box. Out of the box the rifle has a magazine block which is closer to SAAMI max length - maybe 2.300" from memory. There is also a long bolt stop fitted so you don't have to work the bolt all the way back as you would for a longer round.

I did a modification to to the mag box block and bolt stop to shift it back a bit - now I can fit rounds loaded to 2.470". Super handy if you want to shoot the longer 70+ grain pointy jobbies - it has the 8" twist so why not?!?

The rails need a tiny amount of work at the rear if you do this as they had only been milled for the standard length rounds sitting forwards in the shortened mag box. I did this job with a Dremel and a bit of patience. It's fair to say Howa would consider my warranty voided, but I'm okay with that.

One of the downsides to a 223 round in this 243/260/308 sized action is that it's not so easy to single feed rounds into the breech. Also the magazine box is narrower through the middle due to the smaller diameter round. When there are more than two rounds in the magazine it seems that the lower rounds aren't held snugly and can be heard moving at times. I'm not sure if this is just the follower needing a tiny bit of tweaking or a result of the modifications I made.

It seems like someone clever with a 3D printer might be able to print a revised box and lengthened follower to tidy up some of these things. Don't be put off, they're minor but I feel like I should let anyone know if they're going to attack their shiny new rifle with tools!

Gidday Guys - I've been a "mini action nut" for most of my 50+ years hunting/shooting life. and you know what, I don't possess a single one these days, nor do I miss them. The above couple of reasons are the best thought out responses to the "mini action" thing I think I've ever seen, and sum up my own un-articulated feelings nicely.

I have had both and I preferred the standard with the hogue stock. Some people don't like the hogue stocks but I am a fan. Also I found that two mini actions I had in stainless would rust when I looked at them. Like bad. I have Remington, Marlin and kimber stainless rifles all in the same safe and they are spotless so its definitely the steel in the howa not my damp storage conditions lol. The standard I had which was also stainless was much more rust resistant. However that could have been the older vintage as it would not make sense that they would be using different steels for the two different models currently. Maybe someone else could chime in with the "staining of the current standard 1500 stainless". As others have said the magazines on the mini are a pain in the ass, the standard comes with nice bottom metal. Yes the mini is a little more compact but overall I felt the standard handled better. I would handle both and see what you like personally. Both models shot very well.

Just to counter the above… I have both 1500 short action and mini action. The only mod I felt was necessary was to open the forend tip below the barrel (opened up to ensure any flex doesn’t touch the barrel).

Other than that the rifles go just fine as they are out of the box. I use a 1 inch leather sling to steady my aim when shooting offhand. Most of the time when I am walking the rifles are slung over my shoulder.

The Mini Action magazine doesn’t bother me in the slightest and I would not want to sacrifice the 10 shot capacity for carrying ergonomics. There’s been plenty of times when I’ve needed all of those when culling pest goats. I have a spare that I carry fully loaded and I want to be able to swap them out quickly if necessary.

I’m shooting either Belmont 62gr or an old school hand loaded 70gr softpoint and have no problems fitting them in the mag at SAAMI length. The ballistics have been tested out to 300m and I have no problems knocking over goats at that range. A traditional soft hunting softpoint is still effective… The advent of fancy bullets hasn’t changed anything there. If I want to shoot stuff further than that then I need a more powerful cartridge.

At the end of the day it’s a nice cheap rifle that does what it says on the box and I can’t really see the point in spending hundreds of dollars trying to improve it, for me it doesn’t need improving. If I wanted an “improved” rifle I would’ve bought something else. It’s hard wearing and sure gets a hard time on the front of the bike and by being used as a trekking pole in the steep wet hill country.

So for me it’s been an excellent purchase and no need to drastically modify it to use it the way I do.

we have a mini in 7.62x39 and have no complaints other than the mag release protruding and catching on clothing etc and releasing the mag unexpectedly . Sorted that using a VTP made plastic shroud that simply screws on and makes the mag lever flush - no more catching on anything but still easy as to release the magazine with a finger .
Well worth fitting to the mini for very little cost and an effective fix .

Just buy a Tikka ya tight arse

If you do go with a 223, I've got some dies here doing nothing.

Originally Posted by McNotty

Just buy a Tikka ya tight arse

Hahaha