KRG Bravo / Howa / MDT .223 Issues

[BillyNg]

Hello fine gents,

So the barreled action for my son's build came in tonight (the last piece of the puzzle). I wasted no time in putting her together and was dismayed to find out that the MDT 10-round .223 mags I purchased aren't remotely close to working. They are so far out (and identical to one another), that I wonder if there's something else amiss here.

The problem is that when the bolt is fully open, it doesn't come back far enough to come completely over the next round. It's sitting on top of the round (see picture). I've looked for obstructions inside the action, I've taken the chassis apart multiple times to see if I'm missing something. I've tried "adjusting" the chassis as per step 7 in the KRG instructions (there is little to no real adjustment possible though, surely not enough for this).

Any ideas?

 

[BillyNg]

Hopefully someone has an idea. If not, I just came up with one. This should be good too, I'm sure as people read this idea there's going to be a bunch of head-in-hands moments where people wonder how people who come up with ideas like this are allowed to procreate. My apologies to you in advance.

The bolt catch on this thing is an incredibly long flat piece of steel (17mm). If I take out a 3 to 4mm notch, that would allow the bolt to come rearward enough to come past the rim, solving my problems.

When you're done shaking your head in bewilderment

- pls remember to tell me what I'm missing.

 

[Jabot]

Don't no about the howa I filed the bolt stop on my savage works fine

 

[sam4886]

Isn't the 223 built on a mini action? I think those cause some issues with mags other than their factory mini mags. The minis are pretty limited in what stock and mags will work together.

Also, people have altered the bolt stop before. I haven't looked into it far enough to know exactly what it entails. You might want to look at that too.

 

[Chips26]

Are the Howa mags any different?

 

[BillyNg]

No, this is supposed to be a Howa short action. I don't know the dimensions of the mini or the short to verify, but the description of this rifle said short-action.

I don't have any Howa mags. The rifle this came out of had a hinged floor plate.

Edit: Just found a chart. The Howa 1500 mini-actions have a 6" bolt, the short-actions have a 6.9" bolt, and the long-actions have a 7.4" bolt. Mine is a 6.9" bolt, so I have a short-action.

 

[sam4886]

Well there goes that theory. I'd try a different mag before I went to grinding on the bolt stop or anything.

 

[Wannabustbunnies]

Howa .223 Bolt Stop Modification for the ORYX and MDT Chassis' AICS Style Magazine Intake. – MDT Help Center

 

[Wannabustbunnies]

You can either shorten your existing bolt stop or get one for a 308/243/6.5 etc and install that.
The bolt throw is shorter on the 223/204 because of the longer bolt stop and shorter cartridge. That's why there would have been a spacer in the hinged floor plate originally too.

 

[BillyNg]

Thank you Bunny Buster. That is exactly my problem and an easy fix.

 

[Wannabustbunnies]

No worries mate. My brother in law faced the same problem when he got an Oryx for his 223 and I had seen it on another couple of forums as well.

 

[BillyNg]

Done. Thank you Mr. Dremel for your wonderful invention. Now back to the build ....

 

[MDT_Josh]

Little late for me on this thread, but you guys nailed it Quick and easy modification and you should be ready to rock now!

Josh

 

[BillyNg]

Dremeled that off before work yesterday morning, finally got a chance to reassemble tonight. Works fatastically. Thank you all.

 

[Kickin45]

Glad I found this thread. Could’ve used it 3 months ago lol

 

[308pirate]

Isn't the 223 built on a mini action?

No

 

[308pirate]

Dremeled that off before work yesterday morning, finally got a chance to reassemble tonight. Works fatastically. Thank you all.

You nailed it. I also have a Howa 223 in a KRG 180 Xray and I had to trim back the bolt stop.

It's common and no big deal

 

[MDT_Josh]

No

There is a Howa 1500 SA variant in 223 and a Howa 1500 Mini variant too. It can be confusing at times because the actions look the same.

Josh