06-14-2023, 03:06 PM
Two inches seems to make a lot of difference in velocity with factory ammo. My Howa has a 20" barrel and shows almost 50 FPS less velocity with the 108 Match. The 103 grain ELDX shows about 2630 to 2650 fps.
I strive for over 2900 fps with 85 grain handloads using LVR powder and .70" accuracy, but CFE223 gets better accuracy and 2770s with the same bullets .2" to .3". Going to up my CFE load by 1/2 grain and see what happens with groups. Would settle for low to mid 2800s if accuracy doesn't suffer to much.
The bolt faces on the CZ are polished much smoother than the Howa, I think that's the reason the Howa shaves more brass off the head of the case. Sounds like you have a good Howa Mini though. Don't know what it would do to head space if you polished the Howa bolt face but might stop shaving brass if you did.
I strive for over 2900 fps with 85 grain handloads using LVR powder and .70" accuracy, but CFE223 gets better accuracy and 2770s with the same bullets .2" to .3". Going to up my CFE load by 1/2 grain and see what happens with groups. Would settle for low to mid 2800s if accuracy doesn't suffer to much.
The bolt faces on the CZ are polished much smoother than the Howa, I think that's the reason the Howa shaves more brass off the head of the case. Sounds like you have a good Howa Mini though. Don't know what it would do to head space if you polished the Howa bolt face but might stop shaving brass if you did.