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William Suter

Well-known member
I sold my AR in 6 ARC and planned on buying a bolt action in 6 ARC. I had my eye on a Savage Axis but it sold before I got the chance to buy it. The shop had a Ruger American, actually two of them, but I just wasn't very interest in the Rugers. Another shop had a Howa Mini with a carbon barrel and I ended up buying it. A lot more than I planned on spending but so I hope the added expense pays off. I got it home and for the first couple of days it just sat. My game plan was don't rush. I wasn't crazy about the plastic stock but it's comparable to what comes on a Tikka T3, but its still plastic and i am not a fan of plastic so I started looking at replacements. Not much out there. MDT has the Oryx, nope, been there and that stock just doesn't fit me. Boyd's, nope, to heavy. Bell and Carlson has two, one is $360 and the other $500. So, I decided to bed the stock that I have and go from there. The first couple of days working on and off prepping the stock. Here again I kept telling myself not to rush through this and I think I actually got my bedding to stick to this stock. (Lots of holes drilled and sanding and using a dremel.) I did add a Warne base and put a 3-10Leupold on it, lightened the trigger as much as I thought I could. Only thing left is a trip to the range. It is light in the factory stock and should be pleasant to carry. Just hope my efforts pay off at the range.

Sorry for being so long winded. Bill
 
A friend of mine bought a Howa Mini in 6 arc. It was a little frustrating at first, because we couldn't find any factory ammo that it liked and would shoot well. However, as soon as we started testing some reloads, it didn't take long to find something that worked well. On the other hand, I went with a Ruger American. I was actually looking for one in 22ARC, but my local gun shop called me when the 6 came in (they must know I'm an easy sale). I put about 150 rounds through it the first weekend I had it out, and it shoots lights out with 108 grain factory Hornady ammo. It might actually be one of the roughest cycling bolt action rifles I've ever shot, but it is insanely accurate.
 
I have a mini with the 20'' barrel and haven't had any accuracy issues. IMO the stock is fine. It's a lot better than factory stocks on AXIS's, RA's, etc. Howa's are known for "non free floating" barrels, yet still accurate.
 
I've yet to shoot mine but I did bed the action and floated the barrel. I've got a box of 103 grain and a box of 80 grain factory stuff. Then loaded some 70 grain V-Max to try out as well. I agree the stock is quite a bit better than most plastic stocks. I did adjust the trigger with the adjustment screw. It may get replaced later down the road.
 
I've read/heard good things about the carbon barrel model. I adjusted the trigger as low as it will go. I didn't measure it or anything, but it's not bad. It's no where near a Tikka factory trigger, but I like it better than the bladed Savage and Ruger triggers. If you read the manual, Howa actually considers the trigger a two stage. Post up some pictures when you get to shooting.
 
There are spring kits to improve the already nice Mini trigger, I like mine as is. I put an after market Boyd stock on it and went back to the original.
 
My trigger isn't bad. I did some adjusting on it. I may take it apart and trim the spring. I loaned my pull gauge to a friend so I'd just be guessing but it is crisp.
 
Got to shoot the Howa today. I had some factory Hornady 103's and some factory 80 grain and 4 different charges of H335 and 70 grain BlitzKings. Nothing really impressed me but the BlitzKings shot the best but they still need work. I only shot 35 rounds today but I mainly wanted to get on paper and see what I had to work with.
 
The trigger is a little heavy for my taste so I'm thinking about replacing it with a Jard. I'm trying to like the factory stock because it's light weight....but it's plastic and I've never cared much for plastic stocks. I'm going to try to live with it for now but I'm guessing it will be upgraded at a later time. The 6 ARC is pretty new to me so working up a load will be trial and error until I find something it likes. I don't want to shoot the heavy weight bullets unless that's what the little rifle prefers.
 
William Suter said:
The trigger is a little heavy for my taste so I'm thinking about replacing it with a Jard. I'm trying to like the factory stock because it's light weight....but it's plastic and I've never cared much for plastic stocks. I'm going to try to live with it for now but I'm guessing it will be upgraded at a later time. The 6 ARC is pretty new to me so working up a load will be trial and error until I find something it likes. I don't want to shoot the heavy weight bullets unless that's what the little rifle prefers.
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I get what you are saying and you will probably find a load to your liking. With that said, the 6mm arc was kinda designed to shoot the newer, longer (heavier) high BC bullets.
 
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