New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

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New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by eddahenry » 15 Dec 2018, 7:33 pm

So picked up my New Howa last week took it for a little range time
Very fun little rifle to shoot ,, low recoil super short action
They action is so sort that you cannot short stroke it even a little bit or you wont pick up a round
Is in A boyds thumbhole stock
with a 1-4 FFP 300BLK bushnell optic
Howamini762.jpg
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the boyds was sitting hard left so i decided just to pillar bed it so made some pillars out of brass on the lathe and mixed up some 10110 devcon for the bedding
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howa pillars.jpg
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Come up quite nice
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howabed.jpg
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howabed1.jpg
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will take it to the range and do some testing and let you know how it gos
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by pomemax » 15 Dec 2018, 7:49 pm

i bought the same last month hard to get used to the stroke
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by Cooper » 15 Dec 2018, 7:54 pm

I’ve put two mini actions in Boyd’s stock now. The 223 wouldn’t even pick up a round and the 6.5 Grendel which I’ve put in Boyd’s At-one won’t pick the last round from the magazine unless I push the magazine up with my hand.
I’ve fixed the 223 now.

I didn’t experience the same problems in the factory Houge stocks.
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by AZZA'S HJ47 » 15 Dec 2018, 7:58 pm

Did the same thing to my 308 in a houge stock i was gob smacked with how much better it made the rifle
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by SCJ429 » 15 Dec 2018, 8:31 pm

Does it use 308 projectiles or 312? And what twist rate do they come with?
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by eddahenry » 15 Dec 2018, 8:43 pm

its a 312 bore 1 in 9.45 twist
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by eddahenry » 15 Dec 2018, 8:45 pm

Cooper wrote:I’ve put two mini actions in Boyd’s stock now. The 223 wouldn’t even pick up a round and the 6.5 Grendel which I’ve put in Boyd’s At-one won’t pick the last round from the magazine unless I push the magazine up with my hand.
I’ve fixed the 223 now.

I didn’t experience the same problems in the factory Houge stocks.

yeh the bottom inletting can suck
im lucky i have a mill and a lathe so can sort them out pretty easy
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by bigfellascott » 15 Dec 2018, 10:04 pm

Nice job mate, looks like a great setup now. :thumbsup:
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by SCJ429 » 15 Dec 2018, 10:29 pm

I thought they might run a slower twist like a 1:15 and use 110 to 125 grain pills. What are you going to shoot in it.
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by eddahenry » 15 Dec 2018, 10:48 pm

trying ,, 123 sst ,, 125 pro hunter ,, 150 pro hunter and trail boss 160 lead cast
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by eddahenry » 23 Dec 2018, 4:41 pm

shot it some today
Shot well with anything really but the 123 SST Z-Max (same thing) come up nice at full charge
prob go up buy .2 grains to see if i can tighten up the SDs
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by SCJ429 » 23 Dec 2018, 9:53 pm

The chrono results aren't too bad. Are you sure the SST is the same bullet as the ZMax. The ZMax shoot great but the SST are a pain to get to shoot anywhere near half decent. I thought the ZMax was a Vmax with a different colour tip.
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by brett1868 » 23 Dec 2018, 10:01 pm

I've bene toying with buying one of these but how does the 7.62x39 compare to the 300 Blackout? Might take the advice I generally give and just get both....:)
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by eddahenry » 23 Dec 2018, 10:37 pm

SCJ429 wrote:The chrono results aren't too bad. Are you sure the SST is the same bullet as the ZMax. The ZMax shoot great but the SST are a pain to get to shoot anywhere near half decent. I thought the ZMax was a Vmax with a different colour tip.

in most cases yes
they have never Made a Vmax in .310
i have measured every part of them ,, weighed them , cut them in half they are the same thing
the biggest giveaway is the CANNELURE ,, No VMAX has a CANNELURE only SST and AMAX
Only in the 123gr Zmax SST
all group sizes where similar through the powder range for both SSt and Zmax , best group was both the Zmax 27 Grs and the SSt 27 grains (pictured above) most groups where around the inch ,, biggest being 1.5 inchs
all loads where 40tho off the lands
i did this test buy loading 5 shot groups of
ZMAX 123 Gr 25Gr 2207 AVG FPS 2331
SSt 123 Gr 25gr 2207 AVG FPS 2324
ZMAX 123 Gr 25.5Gr 2207 AVG FPS 2372
SSt 123 Gr 25.5gr 2207 AVG FPS 2379
ZMAX 123 Gr 26Gr 2207 AVG FPS 2399
SSt 123 Gr 26gr 2207 AVG FPS 2423
ZMAX 123 Gr 26.5Gr 2207 AVG FPS 2478
SSt 123 Gr 26.5gr 2207 AVG FPS 2482
ZMAX 123 Gr 27Gr 2207 AVG FPS 2507
SSt 123 Gr 27gr 2207 AVG FPS 2503
Last edited by eddahenry on 23 Dec 2018, 10:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by eddahenry » 23 Dec 2018, 10:39 pm

brett1868 wrote:I've bene toying with buying one of these but how does the 7.62x39 compare to the 300 Blackout? Might take the advice I generally give and just get both....:)

both very close
but you get alot of bullet choices with the BLKout as its .308
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by pomemax » 23 Dec 2018, 11:30 pm

aaa
Last edited by pomemax on 23 Dec 2018, 11:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by pomemax » 23 Dec 2018, 11:33 pm

brett1868 wrote:I've bene toying with buying one of these but how does the 7.62x39 compare to the 300 Blackout? Might take the advice I generally give and just get both....:)

grrrrrr I can see a 300 on the horizonmight have too get rid of some i don,t shoot to much ( what sell the kids ) can not speak for the 300 yet Brett but the howa 7.62x39 10 shots in a 10 c size target @ 50m on Saturday
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by SCJ429 » 24 Dec 2018, 7:14 am

Very interesting to see your data. I know nothing of this case but it is similar to the 30 BR. With that case you can stuff 34 grains into it and get velocities around 3,000 fps with a 125 grain projectile. Are you able to get much more powder into your cases?

I see what you are saying about the .310 bullet from Hornady. The ZMax is half the price of the SST so I wonder where they save the money. In a .224 the 50 grain ZMax has a cannulur but the Vmax does not, not sure what Hornady was achieving putting it there.
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by eddahenry » 24 Dec 2018, 8:36 am

SCJ429 wrote:Very interesting to see your data. I know nothing of this case but it is similar to the 30 BR. With that case you can stuff 34 grains into it and get velocities around 3,000 fps with a 125 grain projectile. Are you able to get much more powder into your cases?

I see what you are saying about the .310 bullet from Hornady. The ZMax is half the price of the SST so I wonder where they save the money. In a .224 the 50 grain ZMax has a cannulur but the Vmax does not, not sure what Hornady was achieving putting it there.


Not with 2207 ,, i am not showing Pressure but there isnt the case cap left to get to 34 , i dont think 2207 is the powder to push it with.
Buy all the data flowing around CFEBLK is the powder to try , its a ball powder so will stack nice , and makes the best on paper velocities the big problem is there isnt any in WA
but just resizing some cases than ill trim than get a average Water capacity for the cases (starline) than i can get some data flowing in Quickload
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by SCJ429 » 24 Dec 2018, 2:33 pm

Please keep us posted, it is a very interesting case. All the bench rest shooters use stick powders, usually with a burn rate equivalent to 2207 for their 30 BR. Are you anywhere near a compressed load with 25 grains?
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by in2anity » 24 Dec 2018, 5:32 pm

How’s the ffp scope - you use it over dialing in?
At what point does lack of maintenance become patina?
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by eddahenry » 25 Dec 2018, 8:57 am

in2anity wrote:How’s the ffp scope - you use it over dialing in?

yeh its s hunting gun so sight in at 100 and just use the holdovers on the recital ,, as they are consistence in a FFP scope
and the nice this with the 1-4 power is at 1 power it is just like a red dot so quick shots up to 100 are easy as
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by solarpak » 27 Dec 2018, 6:00 pm

eddahenry wrote:shot it some today
Shot well with anything really but the 123 SST Z-Max (same thing) come up nice at full charge
prob go up buy .2 grains to see if i can tighten up the SDs
7.62group.jpg

7.62.PNG


Edda,
nice work there... a pal and myself are in the process of loading up some 7.62x39 hunting loads using the Z Max Zombie projies. Initially we will be pulling FMJ bullets from steel cased norinco loads and seating the z-max's in these - and seat them at an appropriate depth. We have a good supply of the norinco loads and these loads with the replaced projectile should do the job.
But good to know what powder and charge weight you used.

Cheers
CK
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Re: New Howa Mini Action in 7.2x39

Post by eddahenry » 31 Dec 2018, 3:22 pm

So decided to give myself 100% certainty that he .310 123Gr Z-Max are in fact .310 123 Gr SSTs not Vmax as everyone says
Here it is
they are indeed the same bullet
123 SST Left
Woodleigh 160gr rn.centre left
140SSt centre right
123 Zmax right
SSt123WL160SST140Zmax123.png
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great news because i can use the cheap Zmaxs until they run dry than just switch to the SSts
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