Howa 1500 mini action 6.5 Grendel

[223AI]

My mate has one and loves it, he's taken fallow and roe with it running 120 NBTs at 2700 fps which is just shy of what I run them at in my 6.5x55 (could push them up to 3k but deer wouldn't be any more dead and more damage would occur).

I was quite tempted by one but already have 2 x 6.5s and they aren't importing the CZ527 in Grendel which would be my choice over the howa, the sporter I have handled was just a bit 'too light' for my liking but I have a thing for heavy barrels.

My middle cartridge of choice instead will be the 25-45 sharps; once I've shot through my remaining .223 ammo the cz527 will be re-barrelled with a medium weight barrel in this calibre. This will give me an all deer legal cartridge If however I didn't have a howa varmint in 6.5 creedmoor then I definitely would have gone for a varmint 6.5 grendel.

PS if you reload and you want a decent fox / long range vermin bullet and you can find them the Sierra 85gr varminters are working very well for me out of the creed, you should get them up to circa 3000 fps out of the Grendel.

[neutron_bomb]

To be honest a slightly heavier barrel would be nice but I was intrigued by the fact that such a short cartridge could show the potential it does. The 6.5x55 is a superb deer rifle but the cartridge is much longer and needs a lot more powder, I like the very short action of the mini howa coupled with the light weight and the very light recoil. The creedmore is also interesting and very capable but the Grendel is just that bit different.
I am reloading for it and my first loads will use the lapua 123gn scenar heads, it was all I could find at short notice, I intend to try the 85gn and the 110gn when I have the chance.

[223AI]

To be honest a slightly heavier barrel would be nice but I was intrigued by the fact that such a short cartridge could show the potential it does. The 6.5x55 is a superb deer rifle but the cartridge is much longer and needs a lot more powder, I like the very short action of the mini howa coupled with the light weight and the very light recoil. The creedmore is also interesting and very capable but the Grendel is just that bit different.
I am reloading for it and my first loads will use the lapua 123gn scenar heads, it was all I could find at short notice, I intend to try the 85gn and the 110gn when I have the chance.

100 gr NBTs would be a good choice for deer out f this cartridge

[neutron_bomb]

I have finally managed to fire a few shots through this rifle and it is very smooth, the recoil is light and the factory two stage trigger is very crisp. I even like the stock Howa have used it is very comfortable and fits me well. All told this is an impressive gun shooting a surprisingly effective projectile with little muzzle blast or recoil. I was unable to shoot many rounds and need to do more using a good scope to assess its accuracy but first impressions are very good.

[neutron_bomb]

I have now replaced the trigger springs and the weight is down to about 1.5 lbs and very crisp, I have a boyd stock on order and a 6-24x50 scope and have started fire forming some cases, the gun shoots well and I will start to work up an accuracy load soon along with some chrono work. The gun is lovely to shoot with very little recoil.

[joe public]

I found by the time I added the better trigger , mag conversion & stock,et etc to the howa, I may has well just have put the money into a pedigree rifle & had done, the best grouping I could get with a howa 1500 in 6mm + cal was 3" at 100yds.. 7mm was diabolical..needless to say they went back !

[neutron_bomb]

I am astonished that you would not consider a Howa to be a high quality rifle, my 1500 in .243 will group less than 0.3 of an inch at 50 metres and my mini action 6.5 Grendel is now producing groups under 0.4 inch at 50 metres. They are two of the most accurate firearms I have owned

[223AI]

I found by the time I added the better trigger , mag conversion & stock,et etc to the howa, I may has well just have put the money into a pedigree rifle & had done, the best grouping I could get with a howa 1500 in 6mm + cal was 3" at 100yds.. 7mm was diabolical..needless to say they went back !

Both should have bettered that, every howa I've seen has been accurate to sub MOA or better, so yours probably would have been too, my guess is something else to blame!