6.5 Grendel: Howa vs CZ and other questions

[SquarePizza]

I am looking to get my wife set up with a rifle before we start a family. That way if funds get tight, at least she has one general purpose rifle to target shoot and hunt with. I set up a howa mini for myself a couple years ago as an alternative to my precision rifle and she has taken an "Oh I can just use that" attitude towards it.

That's fine when we are just shooting in the backyard, but if we are hunting together and she takes my grendel than I am forced to carry the target rig, or go overbore with a 300 magnum. So I would like her to have her own grendel. It will shoot 100-600 yards on my land for fun, and be expected to hunt game from hogs to whitetail in the woods.

My main focus right now is should I go howa mini action or cz 527 micro mauser?

I already have the howa for myself and I like it, but its utilitarian and has been upgraded with DIP BM and boyds stock. After the cost of those items I am in the range of a CZ, which comes stock with some really nice wood and metal DBM.

I have never used a CZ, but from what I read their mags tend to run a little short on COAL. If the Howa and CZ have similar mag lengths then thats great, I can use the same loads for both, if they didn't that would annoy the piss out of me to make seperate loads for each gun.

The biggest annoyance with CZ for me is the scope mounting system, using 16mm mounts that ain't too cheap. However it is not hard to get a package deal with 1" inch rings included, and for what she will be using it for a 1" tube wouldn't be the end of the world.

Last question - anyone have suggestions for compact glass? I would be looking for something cheaper than the 2.5-10 PST that mine is running, but something along the same size with resettable target turrets.

 

[Anb618]

I’m just working on getting my CZ527 .223 finished up soon. I bought a .223 Varmint Kevlar model a few years back (came from factory with HS Precision stock) and am working on setting it up how I really want. I just took delivery of a Ken Farrell base and now I need to have the receiver drilled/tapped to fit. Some might say I’m doing unnecessary work, but the damn bolt handle is so tight to scopes while loading on these rifles you can’t mount some optics with larger ocular housings...it’s the only negative I’ve found thus far with the rifle.

Not sure if the mags are all the same length across cartridge models, but the inside dimension on my .223 Rem magazine is ~2.335”

Definitely would have been cheaper to build up a 700, but I love these little mini-actions and it’s a handy coyote rifle. Eventually I’d like to change out the factory barrel for an 18” .223AI Proof Carbon. It’s a very well made and accurate little rifle.

I’ll leave optic suggestions to someone more qualified. The only concern is the size of the ocular housing unless you spring for the Ken Farrell or much cheaper (and butt ugly) DIP pic base.

 

[BurnOut]

Full disclosure - I have no experience with the CZ Micro Mauser action.

That said, I have two Howa minis, and absolutely love them; one is wearing the factory 7.62x39 barrel, while the other has been fitted with a Heavy Palma barrel in .223 AI. Both of them are very smooth, and with modded factory triggers, an absolute pleasure to shoot. The only hitch, in my experience, is that with the abbreviated length of the action, it is easy to run out of space to push the optic forward if you choose one with long(-ish) eye relief.

 

[Anb618]

Wanted to add, I am in no way trying to talk you out of the Howa. I bought a 1500 6CM earlier this year that I think was one of the best firearm purchases I’ve ever made. Great guns for a great price.

I meant well, but I guess in the end I’m not much help with your decision. ?

 

[spife7980]

The cz does have a pretty cool set trigger. That said, if shes not familiar with really low pull weights it might not be a good choice for her, really depends on how much shooting she does and how comfortable she is with light light triggers.

 

[Mike Casselton]

I’m just working on getting my CZ527 .223 finished up soon. I bought a .223 Varmint Kevlar model a few years back (came from factory with HS Precision stock) and am working on setting it up how I really want. I just took delivery of a Ken Farrell base and now I need to have the receiver drilled/tapped to fit. Some might say I’m doing unnecessary work, but the damn bolt handle is so tight to scopes while loading on these rifles you can’t mount some optics with larger ocular housings...it’s the only negative I’ve found thus far with the rifle.

Not sure if the mags are all the same length across cartridge models, but the inside dimension on my .223 Rem magazine is ~2.335”

Definitely would have been cheaper to build up a 700, but I love these little mini-actions and it’s a handy coyote rifle. Eventually I’d like to change out the factory barrel for an 18” .223AI Proof Carbon. It’s a very well made and accurate little rifle.

I’ll leave optic suggestions to someone more qualified. The only concern is the size of the ocular housing unless you spring for the Ken Farrell or much cheaper (and butt ugly) DIP pic base.

There are aftermarket bolt handles available that clear larger ocular bells.

Currently Unavailable | CZ-USA

shop.cz-usa.com

Takes about a minute total to swap the handle.

 

[Anb618]

There are aftermarket bolt handles available that clear larger ocular bells.

Currently Unavailable | CZ-USA

shop.cz-usa.com

Takes about a minute total to swap the handle.

Yeah, newer models have them, my rifle included. That being said, even the improved handle is pretty restrictive if you use lower rings trying to keep the scopes height over bore as low as possible.

 

[mcfred]

I like my 527s. No plastic anywhere. Short, lightweight action in proportion to the cartridge, in my examples .223 Remington. I'm not real fond of the 5-round mags though and they're not very cheap.

I haven't tried to mount my 5-25x56 NF ATACR on my 527 but this old 30mm tubed Vortex Viper sits low enough to the barrel I can't fit the factory lenscap on the objective. I threaded a couple handles and cut the thickness down on an old handle to match the "new" factory version.

Threaded factory on the left, cut and threaded on the right. Lots of clearance IMO and just enough length to aid in working the bolt.

 

[mcfred]

Mr Pizza, In terms of the metallic parts the Howa Mini is a work of art, afterall it is a Japaense-made close knock-off of the old Sako L461s that still command high prices despite having been out of producion for decades. Scope mounting options are a lot better. Warne and EGW (i think) make picatinny rails. The plastic stock, bottom "metal" and magazine leave a lot to be desired IMO. The DI Products sort of addresses the bottom metal and the poorly-placed mag release lever and there are some aftermarket stock options cominging along like the MDT, B&C and Macmillans, Boyds too if you don't mind heavy laminates. So if you don't mind building you can have a pretty damned nice gun... eventually.

Otherwise I also really like the CZ. The metallic parts can take some time to wear-in and the trigger feel can be pretty inconsistent from one "identical" rifle to another, but the set-trigger feature wil bypass that. The mount/ring options are limited but I've had decent success with Warne 30mm mediums. I think they were $50 a pair and look a hell of a lot better than the factory pieces. The wood stocks can be a bit generous in their inletting so if you get an example that's not shooting well, some bedding compound might help.

Mag lengths are a wash at least for the .223 versions, as noted above 2.335" is about right, for both CZ and the Mini.

I think the CZ would take less work to be a good, reliable accurate gun, but the Howa's metal parts really have me looking out for deals. I don't really think you can go wrong with either.

 

[Another Casual]

I have a 527 American that was a limited run with hand rubbed oil finish on the stock with rosewood grip caps. Mine is in 223 and I love it, just wish it had a 1-9 twist for more variety in bullets. It shoots well and just has this old world quality feel that really does it for me. The finish is nice and the hammer forged barrel seems to hold up very well and shoots great with 40 grainers. Part of me has always wanted one of the carbine models in 762x39, but I don't have a use for it and it seems the days of cheap 762x39 are gone.

That being said, the howa mini actions I've felt have been very smooth. I'm sure she would be well off with either. That mini mausr is so fun though and you already have a howa, so I vote CZ.

 

[Wannabustbunnies]

I have been looking at getting a 6.5 Grendel and was thinking of another Howa mini action.
I have one in 204 that I have put put into a B&C M40 stock and DIP bottom metal along with an MDT rail. I would probably want to do the same again or at least the bottom metal but those mods cost me more than the rifle itself.
I then discovered the Ruger Predator is available in 6.5 Grendel for similar $$$ to the Howa so have been looking at that as an option too. It comes with a rail already and the magazine's are alot less expensive than the Howa. I haven't handled one though but from what I have seen and read they are not too bad but are better with a little smoothing out.