With some aftermarket parts and a few tweaks, the finished product is a handy and attractive rifle ideal for chasing predators. (Photo courtesy of Keith Wood)
May 01, 2025
By Keith Wood
In the most recent issue of Hunting, I reviewed the new Howa Mini Action Yote .22 ARC for the Guns & Loads column. It was a slick little rifle right out of the box, but I don’t do a good job of leaving things alone. I’m always looking for ways to improve the performance of my gear and that inspired me to make some simple tweaks to maximize the capabilities of this rifle.
Since the Yote makes for an ideal lightweight predator rifle, I decided to maximize its utility for that purpose. Here’s what I did.
Build Inspiration The Howa Mini Yote is a slick little rifle out of the box but it also makes a great platform for a DIY-custom rifle. (Photo courtesy of Keith Wood) The Howa Mini action is a wonderful thing. It’s correctly scaled to its family of cartridges, which is somewhat of a rarity in the bolt-action world. It is a simple and safe two-lug design with a one-piece bolt, an M16 extractor, and a detachable box magazine. These actions are well-made and relatively inexpensive.
MSRP for the Yote rifle is only $539 and Brownells lists barreled actions from $449. Upgraded parts and accessories for these rifles are available from a growing number of sources. To me, the Howa is the perfect starting point for a budget-minded DIY custom rifle .
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The factory trigger’s adjustment range was limited so a drop-in Timney trigger was used to lighten the pull down to a clean 2 pound break. (Photo courtesy of Keith Wood) One of the first things that I do to upgrade a rifle is to tune or replace the trigger. Few things make a rifle more shootable in the real world than a good trigger pull. The Howa two-stage factory trigger is adjustable to a certain extent but without cutting or replacing springs, I was only able to adjust mine down to 4.2 pounds.
The easy answer is to replace the trigger with an aftermarket unit. I ordered a Howa 1500 trigger from Timney Triggers . This single-stage trigger is adjustable for pull weight, overtravel and sear engagement. Pull weights can adjust from 1.5-4 pounds. For me, 2 pounds is just right for a rifle in this niche. Though this is a self-contained drop-in part, installing it on a Mini action did require that I shorten the mounting bolt. This can be done on a lathe, grinder or even with a file. Easy does it.
Aftermarket Stock Aftermarket parts compatible with Howa bolt-action rifles are widely available and usually modestly priced. (Photo courtesy of Keith Wood) These days, the weak link of many factory rifles are the flimsy synthetic stocks. Their lack of rigidity can make shot-to-shot repeatability a challenge. The Yote’s injection-molded stock could be beefed-up internally with epoxy to add rigidity but I decided to replace it instead. I picked up a NextGen Ultra Carbon Hunter Composite Accublock stock from Stocky’s Stocks .
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This carbon lay-up stock is plenty rigid for hard use but weighs only 18 ounces. This saved me a full pound over the factory weight and in a far more stable package. The trim lines of the stock complement the slick action and barrel, maintaining the portability and balance of the rifle.
The author used a milling machine to remove a small amount of material inside the stock that was interfering with the safety. (Photo courtesy of Keith Wood) How did it fit? Well, this is where the marketability of “drop-in” stocks crashes into the reef of reality. Most “drop-in” stock, well, aren’t. First, I had to mill a small clearance for the safety inside the stock. It was quick and easy—that same task could have been accomplished with a Dremel or file. The next problem was more involved. This stock uses an aluminum Accublock to securely hold the action and recoil lug into the stock. When I torqued the barreled action into the stock, the rifle would not stay cocked as I cycled the bolt. I determined that the recoil lug was binding in the Accublock, per the design, but the rear tang of the action was not contacting the pillar. Tightening the rear guard screw would flex the action to the point that the sear would lose engagement with the cocking piece on the bolt.
A quick fix was to apply some epoxy to support the tang from flexing when tightened. When time allows, I will mill out a clearance for the recoil lug and bed the entire action with Marine-Tex epoxy. This isn’t a dig on this particular product, just part of the reality of assembling a rifle from parts made on different continents by different manufacturers—not everything is going to fit perfectly all of the time.
Spotting Impacts The drop-in stock was not a perfect fit so the author used epoxy to support the tang so that I would not flex when the action screws were properly torqued. (Photo courtesy of Keith Wood) I use suppressors as much as possible, both to preserve my hearing and to spot impacts on the target. The Howa Mini’s barrel came threaded ½x28 so adding a suppressor was relatively straightforward. Most of my centerfire rifle cans are threaded 5/8x24 so I used a simple thread adapter to mount a Thunder Beast Arms Corporation Ultra-5 Gen 2 suppressor. This small, 7.8-ounce suppressor is ideal for the light contour barrel used on the Yote.
Optics are less of an upgrade and more of a necessity. I wanted the ability to both dial and use a reticle for elevation and wind holds and an illuminated reticle was a must for low-light predator hunting . I also wanted something relatively compact so as not to ruin the handling capabilities of this setup. I landed on the Trijicon Credo 2-10x36mm. This scope weighs 23 ounces, has bright, clear glass with great light transmission and, most importantly, tracks and holds zero reliably. With 90 MOA of elevation adjustment, I can dial far further than I’ll ever shoot.
The Howa Mini is drilled and tapped for scope mounting and is compatible with most mount solutions intended for the Remington 700. I used a set of Burris XTR bases with Seekins Precision rings which are machined from billets of 7075 aluminum. The .82” Low rings positioned the scope perfectly with the stock’s comb and provided minimal but adequate clearance over the barrel.
Thanks to the stock saving us so much weight, this rifle weighs 7 pounds on the nose with the scope and mounts installed but without the suppressor. Total weight suppressed is 7.5 pounds. To me, this is a great compromise between portability and shootability. With both the Hornady Superformance 70gr. CX and the V-Match 62gr. ELD-VT factory loads, accuracy improved slightly over the factory format. The real advantage came from my ability to shoot the rifle with better precision in practical conditions thanks to the stock ergonomics, improved trigger, upgraded optic and suppressor. Once I bed the stock, I expect accuracy to be even better.
DIY Encouragement The replacement stock from Stocky’s is built around an aluminum bedding system. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a perfect drop-in fit in this case. (Photo courtesy of Keith Wood) I’m fortunate enough to have a fully equipped shop for building custom rifles but, for today’s hobbyist, that isn’t necessary. With the quality components on the market and a reasonable level of skill and patience, factory rifles can be upgraded to improve their performance. Your options are only limited by your imagination and your budget. For DIY projects, the Howa rifles are tough to beat.
