Howa/Oryx combo knowhow

[Die Judicii]

Despite supposedly being made to fit,,,, the combo of Howa into Oryx chassis does not compute.
To be specific,,, Howa Mod 1500 .223 VT action dropped into Oryx Chassis appears to fit well,,,,,,, but,,,,, the bolt does not come rearward enough
to clear/pick up or feed rounds from the magazine.
When measured, the bolt needs to come back 12mm further than it does,,,, to enable it to pickup and feed the rounds.

When speaking to two different firearms/accessories stores about this, they both say that to rectify,,,, it's necessary to remove between 10 to 12mm
of material from the rear end of the bolt retaining lug.

After measuring,,,, if I were to do that I would only have barely 2mm of bolt retaining lug left.

Seems to me to be a real "butchers" fix,,,,,, and one that I'm simply not prepared to do on a relatively new rifle.

How can the manufacturers of the Oryx Chassis dare to say that they are made to fit the Howa action,,,,, when that supposed "remedy" applies ?

Does anyone know of some other trick/modification/fitment,,, that does NOT involve such drastic butchery to make the pairing work ?

[bladeracer]

Despite supposedly being made to fit,,,, the combo of Howa into Oryx chassis does not compute.
To be specific,,, Howa Mod 1500 .223 VT action dropped into Oryx Chassis appears to fit well,,,,,,, but,,,,, the bolt does not come rearward enough
to clear/pick up or feed rounds from the magazine.
When measured, the bolt needs to come back 12mm further than it does,,,, to enable it to pickup and feed the rounds.

When speaking to two different firearms/accessories stores about this, they both say that to rectify,,,, it's necessary to remove between 10 to 12mm
of material from the rear end of the bolt retaining lug.

After measuring,,,, if I were to do that I would only have barely 2mm of bolt retaining lug left.

Seems to me to be a real "butchers" fix,,,,,, and one that I'm simply not prepared to do on a relatively new rifle.

How can the manufacturers of the Oryx Chassis dare to say that they are made to fit the Howa action,,,,, when that supposed "remedy" applies ?

Does anyone know of some other trick/modification/fitment,,, that does NOT involve such drastic butchery to make the pairing work ?

Is it supposed to have a blocked magazine perhaps, to keep the .223 rounds to the front?

[Die Judicii]

Hi Blade,
The rounds (in the mag I just returned because of other non fitment issues) could not go any further forward.

Cheers

[Oldbloke]

Not fit for purpose. Return for refund.

[straightshooter]

Bladeracer hit the nail on the head.
Reassemble the barreled action magazine box and floor plate and see exactly at what point the bolt head starts to pick up a cartridge out of the original magazine.
Now put the action into the chassis and compare.
If it is significantly different and you are using the correct aics magazine then it might be worth sending an email to MDT.
American companies usually stand by their products and claims, Australian importers and gunshops not so much.

[Wapiti]

Great advice, hopefully it is only a magazine compatibility issue. MDT stuff almost certainly well tested.

Last MDT stock I tried for a Howa said on the box - "only for use with MDT polymer 308 magazines ".
I hate those mags, so...
I only noticed that when I was packing it up to post it to someone else.

[Die Judicii]

First up fellas,,, I did NOT say it was an MDT chassis,,, It is an Oryx, and the Magazine in question was NOT an MDT, it was a metal "Accurate-Mag"

So,,,, starting again, upon further investigation I've found that Oryx actually say that the chassis will only work with an MDT Poly mag.

That being said,,,,,,, the issue of the bolt not coming back far enough will ,,,, I think,,,, still persist,,,,,,,,,, Unless an MDT mag is vastly different than the metal
Accurate-Mag that I was sold.
To work at all, the rounds would have to be held 12mm further forward than they are in the Accurate-Mag.

At the moment I don't have an MDT mag to verify what to me seems to necessary.

[Wapiti]

For one, my mistake at assuming

[bladeracer]

First up fellas,,, I did NOT say it was an MDT chassis,,, It is an Oryx,

The Oryx is made by MDT.

[deye243]

Ok I'll let the cat out of the bag it is very very well known in the industry that you either cut x amount off your bolt stop or install one that is in the 308 or the 243 I'm actually surprised they didn't try and sell you that at the same time it is a very simple job should not take any more than 10 minutes to swap them over the next problem you are going to have is bent cleaning rods because the top of the butt is well above center line of the bore cut a groove in through there so there is no upward pressure on your cleaning rod and all will be good.

Cheers

PS and the bolt stop mod will work with every ACIS magazine which will allow you to seat all longer projectiles a lot further out like every other 223 magazine should be

[Die Judicii]

First up fellas,,, I did NOT say it was an MDT chassis,,, It is an Oryx,

The Oryx is made by MDT.

Well there ya go,, i thought they were two separate companies, and probably opposing each other. Thanks heaps for that Blade.

[Die Judicii]

Thanks for the info Deye,
As u mentioned about bent cleaning rods, i had noticed that anomaly sub consciously,, but the penny hadn’t yet dropped regarding bent rods. Also, as i’m not all that conversant about the “bolts”,,, Are you saying a Howa 1500 bolt out of a 308 model can replace the one from the 223 ?
And solve the issue of the 223 bolt not coming back far enough ?

[MontyShooter]

American companies usually stand by their products and claims, Australian importers and gunshops not so much.

MDT is not American.
I have however had very impressive direct dealings with MDT when I had an issue some years ago.

[Wapiti]

Isn't Canada on the same continent?

[deye243]

Thanks for the info Deye,
As u mentioned about bent cleaning rods, i had noticed that anomaly sub consciously,, but the penny hadn’t yet dropped regarding bent rods. Also, as i’m not all that conversant about the “bolts”,,, Are you saying a Howa 1500 bolt out of a 308 model can replace the one from the 223 ?
And solve the issue of the 223 bolt not coming back far enough ?

No I'm saying bolt stop just not get a simple pin swap them over 10 minutes work I am posting a pick of both the two two three and the 3081 as you can see the one for the 308 is a lot shorter allowing the bolt to go further to the rear of the action

https://www.rebelgunworks.com.au/produc ... e-ho15308b

Screenshot_20250216_214312_Chrome.jpg (409.79 KiB) Viewed 1070 times

[Die Judicii]

Ok, thanks Deye. That seems like a far better solution than putting it in a milling machine. Cheers

[Uyenner]

I've heard of Oryx chassis having fitment issues with certain actions before. Grinding down the bolt retaining lug sounds like a dodgy fix, alright. Have you tried contacting either Howa or Oryx directly?

[deye243]

I've heard of Oryx chassis having fitment issues with certain actions before. Grinding down the bolt retaining lug sounds like a dodgy fix, alright. Have you tried contacting either Howa or Oryx directly?

Where do you think my information came from and as i said it's very well known in the industry.

[Wapiti]

I at first thought there MUST be another way to sort out this issue. It just sums up why manufacturers should make actions suitable for cartridge length, like Sako does for example.
Like maybe MDT making a magazine to suit an Oryx stock that's blocked at the rear, so you don't have to grind material off a firearm part to fit an accessory that you mightn't want to use later. As in, permanently change the rifle. But maybe not.

Deadeye is just trying to reinforce this issue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR3aNUSqQrw

[deye243]

I at first thought there MUST be another way to sort out this issue. It just sums up why manufacturers should make actions suitable for cartridge length, like Sako does for example.
Like maybe MDT making a magazine to suit an Oryx stock that's blocked at the rear, so you don't have to grind material off a firearm part to fit an accessory that you mightn't want to use later. As in, permanently change the rifle. But maybe not.

Deadeye is just trying to reinforce this issue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR3aNUSqQrw

Then don't grind it just purchase the 308-243 bolt stop and put it back if you want it's what I've done I don't know what the issue is and you should be thanking them for making the magazine the way it is at least then you can seat a 75 plus grain projectile at the right length and it fits in the magazine with a lot of room to spare you can even have your chamber throated to suit the long projectiles it's time all manufacturers did this especially on the 223s with a 1:8 twist

[Wapiti]

Do they actually feed properly inn the 308 length mag?
Can't confirm myself but a user I spoke to said that if you close the bolt very slowly, like when you're trying to be super quiet, the cartridge jumps out of the open port. Because it's not controlled by the feed lips just before it enters the chamber?
Sounds very compromising. True or not?