First Deer with 6ARC

[Rickhem]

Congratulations! What barrel length on the Howa?

Thank you for sharing.

Mine has the 20" one that they call the "heavy" barrel.  If you're familiar, it's not that heavy in relation to other manufacturer's varmint barrels.  It's a profile that I've seen called a "heavy sporter" profile in other places, and for a hunting rifle, it's a nice compromise.

I bought the barreled action from Brownell's, then got the VGM stock from Stocky's to put it in.  I swapped out the bottom metal and magazine with the Jefferson Outdoors blind mag bottom metal, and it wears a Vortex Diamondback 4-16 scope in Talley rings.  For an inexpensive barreled action, it ended up costing more than I thought it would to finish out, but those were my choices.

The rifle will hold three rounds in the blind mag without issue, and while I can get a fourth in there, the bolt won't close without stripping that top round and chambering it.  My practice is to load three in the mag, drop one into the chamber, then press down the rounds in the mag while closing the bolt over them.  That gives me four rounds in the rifle, plenty for deer hunting.