Thread: .223 Options....

The skinny barrelled lightweight howa mini 223s are right up there with the ultralights
Mines in a xcel lite chassis but even in the factory plastic stock they are light wee things
Carbon fibre stock from hi tec would be great with a steel bottom metal but that's adding another $1400 to the rifle cost

Originally Posted by Bill999

The skinny barrelled lightweight howa mini 223s are right up there with the ultralights
Mines in a xcel lite chassis but even in the factory plastic stock they are light wee things

In stock factory form they aren’t that light when setup to actually walk out the door and go shoot something.

I bought a .223 Howa Mini on Friday and all up - scoped, a 2 baffle DPT, 10 rounds in the mag, 1” leather sling, it weighs 3.6kg, so 8lbs exactly. I think a lot of the time rifles get weighed without an accessory or two and without a full magazine, so we see some very light numbers from time to time that might not be entirely accurate.

But here’s the thing - with the 20 inch barrel and the shortened suppressor, and the bog standard HTI stock, it’s a very well-balanced hunting rifle and feels perfect in the hand. Using the 1” wide sling in the correct manner for offhand shooting, it is rock solid on the point of aim, and I am very confident it will make an excellent offhand shooter. It comes to the shoulder easily and quickly, the eye relief is good, target acquired quickly on 4x mag. For $700, what’s not to like? Whilst maybe the rifle could lose half a pound, I’m really not convinced that I want it any lighter, and that’s where personal preference comes into it.

Originally Posted by Flyblown

In stock factory form they aren’t that light when setup to actually walk out the door and go shoot something.

I bought a .223 Howa Mini on Friday and all up - scoped, a 2 baffle DPT, 10 rounds in the mag, 1” leather sling, it weighs 3.6kg, so 8lbs exactly. I think a lot of the time rifles get weighed without an accessory or two and without a full magazine, so we see some very light numbers from time to time that might not be entirely accurate.

But here’s the thing - with the 20 inch barrel and the shortened suppressor, and the bog standard HTI stock, it’s a very well-balanced hunting rifle and feels perfect in the hand. Using the 1” wide sling in the correct manner for offhand shooting, it is rock solid on the point of aim, and I am very confident it will make an excellent offhand shooter. It comes to the shoulder easily and quickly, the eye relief is good, target acquired quickly on 4x mag. For $700, what’s not to like? Whilst maybe the rifle could lose half a pound, I’m really not convinced that I want it any lighter, and that’s where personal preference comes into it.

what scope you choose and how you mount it can make or break a rig
mine has a OD Ti alpine hunter can and 3-9x40 vx freedom AR scope
I havent weighed it but its 345g for the scope and 190g for the OD can