Took the plunge on a mini-14

[Millerwb]

I took the plunge today and bought a Mini-14 (my first rifle that might be considered an "assault weapon". McBride's had it at a reasonable price (well below $600). Now what do I need to know about them? Any special tricks to cleaning, etc...

 

[jack7742]

Congratulations on your new mini 14. Yesterday afternoon I received a long awaited call from Sportsmans Warehouse, and went over and picked up a new mini 14, stainless. So grandson and I will have a Merry 223 Christmas. Like you, I would appreciate any pointers/tips on the care and use of the mini 14. While waiting for the mini 14 to arrive, I've procured through EBay a Weigand Weaver rail scope mount, and a Bushnell 1x32 RedDot scope. Lots of toys to play with. The next part is stocking up on 223 ammo.

 

[accordingtoome]

great short range rifle. lots of fun. easy to clean. I miss my mini. Please do not expect great groups past 100 yards.. if you keep that in mind you will love it!! atriot:

 

[jimmy-buffett]

Under $600 for an "assault rifle" isn't a deep plunge at all :-).

A few things to do for your Mini-14 in the short-term: buy a folding stock for it (I liked the Butler Creek one), and buy a few high capacity magazines for it. The factory ones are best, because the quality on the cheaper non-factory mags is hit or miss (you can usually make them work with some sanding or light reshaping).

There's nothing special to cleaning them, just clean the barrel and put some oil on the metal-to-metal parts of the action. It's as hard to make one of these guns unreliable as it is to make it shoot good groups at 200 yards :-) so get used to the idea of aiming in the general direction and pulling the trigger often. Most of the problems I ever had with mine were due to cheap magazines.

It's a great little gun if you like shooting a lot and don't expect too much accuracy out of it.

 

[jimmy-buffett]

I found some pics from my last range trip with my Mini-14, these were at 50 yards, 20 shots each using the peep sight that comes standard on it:

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/2889/me1ty9.jpg
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/3701/me2td1.jpg

If I remember right, in both cases 16 out of 20 shots fit in a 3-by-3 inch square.

 

[Gopher]

Just remember it is a minute of man gun at 100 yards and don't expexct much more from it. It will go bang on ammo that will choke an AR and with good mags ( a key here) will always go bang. I've seen reports on this Accu-strut for Mini-14 making a huge improvement in accuracy.

It is a good weapon that has limitations. Shoot it and learn it well and it will serve your needs. Just be ready for the abuse you are about to recieve from your AR and AK owning buddies.

 

[Millerwb]

I was not expecting 800+ yards out of it in the first place. I only wanted 100-200 yards as, at my age, that is all that I can see clearly enough to identify a target without help (i.e., scope). Besides, I am unwilling to pay Hysteria Prices on an AR right now. You know, take the MSRP and add 300-500+ just for fun. Not for me! My kids and wife like to eat. I looked at an AK type that shoots .223 (don't remember the name but it was made in Israel). It was several hundred more used. I might go for it later but have to have the wife warm up to it. I've been spending too much on guns lately.

 

[chevydeerhunter]

This site is a great site for anything and everything that is Mini-14.

Ruger Mini-14 Talk - PerfectUnion BBS

The Ruger website has some videos on how to field strip the Mini, cleaning and reassembly.

Ruger On-line Videos

Finally, I just got mine on Friday, but have yet to take it out. From what I've read, the older Minis have thin barrels and suffer from barrel whip when they get hot. The newer ones, 580 series, have heavier barrels so this is less likely to happen. The first thing I'll be buying for it is an Accu-Strut to help stiffen the barrel.

Magazines, magazines, MAGAZINES! Right now, there is a huge run on Mini-14 20, 30 and 40 round mags so buy them if you get the chance when they become available. Ruger factory 20-round magazines are the best mags to buy for the mini and Ruger has them for a limited time priced at $29.95 each.

http://shopruger.com/webapp/wcs/sto...d=-1&parent_category_rn=19056&lastCatId=19056

I just ordered two and it'll take several weeks to get them since there is such a backlog on mags. If the website says they're out, check back later since the site changes from minute to minute. The Pro Mag magazines are an ideal replacement. Cheaper Than Dirt has them for $17.97 each and they work quite well. From what I've been reading, Jim Masen Black Warrior mags are also good mags, but everything else is hit or miss with miss usually being the case. Stay away from bargain magazines since the Mini is very picky in what it likes. AR mags will not fit in the Mini.

 

[Millerwb]

chevydeerhunter,

thanks for the GREAT links!

Brian

 

[chevydeerhunter]

No problem, Brian. I'm taking mine out to the country today to try her out. It won't be anything very scientific per se. I'm just looking to see how she handles and how accurate she is on soda cans out to 50 yards.

I sent a letter to Ruger's records department to find out the specifics about my Mini so I can start 'accurizing' it a bit. I'm interested in doing some performance upgrades but nothing serious. I can't imagine dropping $500-$700 on a gun then spending another $500-$700 to get it to shoot like a match gun!

 

[onac255]

Did you buy that new for under 600? Because those are around 850 here.

 

[Millerwb]

Mine was used (181 series, manufactured in 1978). It looks new but I will have to wait until I shoot it to know for sure. I am guessing that the Gunsmith in the store went over it as well knowing the rep of the store that it was bought from. New ones around here in B/CS are about $689.

 

[chevydeerhunter]

I got mine brand new for $675.

I just got back from trying her out and I must say, she's a really nice handling gun. I put 40 rounds down the pipe just to test function, handling and the Pro Mag 20 rounders. They performed flawlessly and even held the bolt open after the last round was ejected. Speaking of ejection, the Mini throws spent casings anywhere from 8-10 ft. away.

I loaded the factory 5 round mag, shot those and everything went as I would suspect. Soda cans didn't have a chance at 50 yards and every round hit exactly where I was aiming. Then I loaded each 20 rounder with 10 rounds each and shot. Both mags were solidly lock into the well with no movement and each held the bolt open after the last round was ejected. With the remaining 15 rounds, I loaded each mag with 5 rounds and proceded to fire approximately 1 round a second. The barrel did get quite hot to the touch so it's going to be interesting to see how this heating effects the shot groups in a future trip to the range.

If you find any Pro Mag magazines, I highly recommend scooping them up as they are high quality replacements to the factory Ruger mags and they're cheaper at the moment.

Here's a couple of pics.

 

[Hoji]

Custom Ruger Mini 14 30 Rifles Accuracy Systems Gunsmith

If you have a bunch of $$$.

If not, go to a good gunsmith and have 2 inches cut off the barrel{ this will reduce a lot of the "barrel harmonics"} and recrown. This will give the gun the ability to reliable hit 2.5-3 inch groups at 100 yards.

 

[chevydeerhunter]

Custom Ruger Mini 14 30 Rifles Accuracy Systems Gunsmith

If you have a bunch of $$$.

If not, go to a good gunsmith and have 2 inches cut off the barrel{ this will reduce a lot of the "barrel harmonics"} and recrown. This will give the gun the ability to reliable hit 2.5-3 inch groups at 100 yards.

Or you could go with an Accu-Strut for about $120.

Accu-strut for Mini-14

 

[cpf3]

Now you need one of these...

 

[Millerwb]

Now you need one of these...

So where does one find one of those? Do they shoot 22LR or 22Mag?

 

[cpf3]

.22LR only. As for where, that's a good question. A Google search ("hohrein .22 conversion") found this:

http://www.22lrconversions.com/mini-pg.htm

Chuck

 

[wmailhos]

I got mine brand new for $675.

I just got back from trying her out and I must say, she's a really nice handling gun. I put 40 rounds down the pipe just to test function, handling and the Pro Mag 20 rounders. They performed flawlessly and even held the bolt open after the last round was ejected. Speaking of ejection, the Mini throws spent casings anywhere from 8-10 ft. away.

I loaded the factory 5 round mag, shot those and everything went as I would suspect. Soda cans didn't have a chance at 50 yards and every round hit exactly where I was aiming. Then I loaded each 20 rounder with 10 rounds each and shot. Both mags were solidly lock into the well with no movement and each held the bolt open after the last round was ejected. With the remaining 15 rounds, I loaded each mag with 5 rounds and proceded to fire approximately 1 round a second. The barrel did get quite hot to the touch so it's going to be interesting to see how this heating effects the shot groups in a future trip to the range.

If you find any Pro Mag magazines, I highly recommend scooping them up as they are high quality replacements to the factory Ruger mags and they're cheaper at the moment.

Here's a couple of pics.

That's exactly what I am looking for in a Mini but I can't find one.

Went to the gun show in Dallas today and the line was at least an hour just to get in the door. I didn't need anything that bad. I turned around and drove another 40 miles home.....

 

[Gopher]

The show wasn't that bad today as far as the crowd goes. Ruger factory 20 rounds mags.......$50. Also saw a new in box factory folder Mini with all kind of rails on it for $1300! Bushmaster AR's running 1600 to 1800 and 2000+ far anything with a prancing pony on it. Pistol prices were almost as bad.