Sourced some scope bases for a Rem 700 that worked adiquitly for the Howa mini today. Opted to break in the barrel with some inexpensive all copper 85 grain pulled bullets sourced from American reloading & a mild load. So today was about mounting the scope & breaking in the barrel as much as anything.
Barrel clean up was rather quick with the factory Howa barrel. I cleaned the barrel b4 firing, after the 1st round, then 2 rounds & clean up through the 11th round. & roughly every 5 rounds after that. Put a total 39 rounds down this tube today.
Can't help but compare this 22" rifle to my 22" CZ527 with the lapped barrel. Accuracy with the pulled bullets was acceptable.
The Howa barrel seems as consistent & smooth as any factory barrel I have worked with thus far. To my feel Id guesstimate the bore may be on the bigger side. This is based on the resistance of the cleaning patches & velocity achieved with the factory ammo.
Now the wind was likely over 20 MPH today so my accuracy expectations was not the greatest. Still this 22" light sporter barrel seems to have real potential. Took a stab at testing accuracy with factory 108 grain & while I was not that steady with the wind & getting used to the new trigger & rest, MOA w factory ammo looks likely quite possible.
Velocity experienced With the 22" Howa vs the CZ w the 22" Pacnor was a bit of an eye opener.
So I picked up 1 box of factory 108 grain ELDM with a suggested velocity of 2750 from a 24" barrel for todays testing. Three shots measured with the 22" Howa read as follows when measured with the magneto speed. Factory ammo was the last 4 rounds fired today. I missed the velocity on the 1st round due to operator error.
2653
2659
2640
Well I had the CZ 527 along w the 22" Pacnor barrel. May as well measure velocity with that barrel as well, Right? Well I did & velocity was as follows, Mind you this is the same box of factory ammo.
2689
2744
2751
While the factory ammo showed real accuracy potential in the Howa, The same was not true for my CZ527.
More interesting stuff, the brass left on the face of the bolt of the Howa was quite note worthy. Brass left on the face of the CZ, not so much. I ask is the brass on the face of the bolt on the Howa, more a feature of pressure or does the ejector play a considerable roll here.
Barrel clean up was rather quick with the factory Howa barrel. I cleaned the barrel b4 firing, after the 1st round, then 2 rounds & clean up through the 11th round. & roughly every 5 rounds after that. Put a total 39 rounds down this tube today.
Can't help but compare this 22" rifle to my 22" CZ527 with the lapped barrel. Accuracy with the pulled bullets was acceptable.
The Howa barrel seems as consistent & smooth as any factory barrel I have worked with thus far. To my feel Id guesstimate the bore may be on the bigger side. This is based on the resistance of the cleaning patches & velocity achieved with the factory ammo.
Now the wind was likely over 20 MPH today so my accuracy expectations was not the greatest. Still this 22" light sporter barrel seems to have real potential. Took a stab at testing accuracy with factory 108 grain & while I was not that steady with the wind & getting used to the new trigger & rest, MOA w factory ammo looks likely quite possible.
Velocity experienced With the 22" Howa vs the CZ w the 22" Pacnor was a bit of an eye opener.
So I picked up 1 box of factory 108 grain ELDM with a suggested velocity of 2750 from a 24" barrel for todays testing. Three shots measured with the 22" Howa read as follows when measured with the magneto speed. Factory ammo was the last 4 rounds fired today. I missed the velocity on the 1st round due to operator error.
2653
2659
2640
Well I had the CZ 527 along w the 22" Pacnor barrel. May as well measure velocity with that barrel as well, Right? Well I did & velocity was as follows, Mind you this is the same box of factory ammo.
2689
2744
2751
While the factory ammo showed real accuracy potential in the Howa, The same was not true for my CZ527.
More interesting stuff, the brass left on the face of the bolt of the Howa was quite note worthy. Brass left on the face of the CZ, not so much. I ask is the brass on the face of the bolt on the Howa, more a feature of pressure or does the ejector play a considerable roll here.