LE use of the Mini 14

[Professor Frink]

The earlier thread on LE Use of the M1/M2 carbine got me thinking. I think there were (maybe still are) some departments that used the Mini 14. I always like the idea of this rifle, I've probably more trigger time on the M1 Garand/M1A/M14 type rifles, but in all honesty, I feel the accuracy is pretty weak on the Mini 14.

How were they received by those who used them on the job? Please share your experience.

 

[ExRanger714]

A few guys I knew had them but as you pointed out accuracy was an issue.

One Sheriff I worked for had a AC556K (IIRC) stainless submachine gun but accuracy with it was dismal.

They French liked them so much they licensed the design and made them themselves as the "Mousqueton AMD" but I don't know if they are still in service.

 

[BAM-BAM]

The newer heavy barrels are better..... especially the 16.? NRA model

I like the 10rd factory mag in the gun for low profile PC look but still 10rds of soft point 5.56 backed up with a couple 20round mags..... add a 1-3x20 scope and the Mini is about as PC as you can get with a semi-carbine.

 

[derek45auto]

I remember in the early/mid 1980’s the Sheriffs dept outside Ft. Benning had them in there squad cars

 

[Farmer17]

After the "Darkest Day" of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol in the late 1970s when three troopers were killed by 2 escaped convicts with long guns the OHP started issuing and training troopers with Mini 14s. That was one of the first agencies in the U.S. to give rifles and training to every officer. In about 1983 I was in a car wreck and the state troopers who showed up had Stainless Mini-14s with 20 round mags and folding stocks carried upside down in "U" shaped brackets on the bottom of the drivers car door. Car doors were pretty big back then.

 

[Valmet]

French Police units have bought and used lots of them due to their more “traditional” appearance compared to that of a FAMAS, MP5, etc.

 

[BB57]

I carried a Mini 14 for awhile in SD for awhile but bought the Sheriff's match grade M1A when he retired. Greater range and solid 3/4 to 1 MOA accuracy was nice in a big flat state.

Ruger Mini 14s have been popular in law enforcement, partly because they are not a "military" looking as an AR-15, M16A1, A2 or M4:

Ruger is also very good about supporting law enforcement Mini 14s'. If a department wears one out in training, Ruger will rebuild it.

On the negative side is the problem with poor accuracy due to the excessively whippy lightweight barrel. Back in the day, about all you could do was shorten the barrel to 16". Now there are a few different barrel stabilizers out there that will significantly improve accuracy.

The downside is that a fixed stock Mini-14 isn't much shorter than an M16A1, especially with a flash hider installed, so you encounter the same problem fitting them in a weapon rack in a patrol car. Like a 20" AR-15 or M16A1, they end up in the trunk, where they can be slow to access when needed.

------

North Carolina recently surplussed some Mini 14s, but they came from their correctional system. The one I acquired was a 187 series Ranch Rifle with a 1-10" twist barrel.

It had a very heavy (7 oz) combination front sight, flash hider and bayonet mount on it in place of the standard front sight. On the plus side, it gave very nice 3/4" groups at 50 yards with Ruger's less than stunning rear sight. On the negative side, with the sight adjusted as high as it would go, the groups were still 8" low at 50 yards. It was pretty obvious NC was using them with a telescopic or dot sight.

The accuracy made some sense as Mini 14s in general have always shot better with some muzzle weight added in the form of a muzzle device. The choate front sight and flash hiders have always been a good choice.

I gave mine a make over, in large part because I wanted to be able to zero it from 50 to 350 yards with iron sights, and partly because the muzzle device was too heavy, too long, and too impractical.

Without the muzzle device it was a solid 4-5 MOA rifle with M193, which is fairly common for a stock skinny barrel Mini 14 or Ranch Rifle. I put an Accu Strut on it along with a Choate Browning style flash hider and front sight, a .045" gas port bushing, a shock buffer, a Tech Sights rear sight and a choate ventilated handguard. I donated the stock to another Mini 14 project and put a Revolution walnut stock on it. I also opted to put a 2-7x33 Leupold scope on it.

The end result is a better looking Ranch Rifle that produces 1.5 MOA 5 sot groups at 100 yards:

My other Mini 14 is a 184 series Mini 14 that I picked up used after someone had shortened the barrel to 16", which was commonly done as a means to improve accuracy. In this case it wasn't effective as it was still a 4-5 MOA rifle.

I gave it the same treatment as the rifle above and got the same results - 1.5 MOA 5 shot groups at 100 yards with M193.

Given the accuracy potential for an Accu Strut equipped Mini-14, or the current 58X series tapered barrel Mini 14s which shoot to a 2 MOA accuracy standard, I'd have no reservations about carrying one today.

 

[Univibe]

After 9-11 there were pictures of NYPD on the streets with Minis.

 

[ShivasIrons]

I always thought they were a solid choice. Reliable and accurate enough to do the job. Ruger provides great support.

I have always been a fan of a police force that does not look as if it is militarized. Mini 14 fits in nicely.

 

[BE Mike]

The A team fired a lot of rounds through them, but didn't hit anything they were shooting at. Pretty much mirrors the real thing!

 

[HardToHandle]

The unfortunate Christmas Party massacre in San Bernardino showed the local deputies with Mini 14 long guns.

As noted, they seemed pretty popular in the 1980s with corrections as tower guns. I was running some training with our state corrections Teams in the early 2000s. The problem was about one in ten of the original Rugers were operating ten years after the purchase. There were not enough guns for two-three tower guns per institution, a few at the training academy and never ever enough to outfit their tactical units. Some of that was because of budget cuts, but also because they were mostly *** and the desire was to get a rifle that could last more than a few thousand rounds. 870s were certainly less suited to the task but lasted decades longer.

I have always loved the form factor, but not much performance.

 

[italiansport]

I have an older Mini-14 that came equipped with the original factory wood folding stock. Accuracy is ok and I look at it as a 100yd range weapon which certainly exceeds both pistols and shotguns. because of the compactness, I consider it a good home defense weapon. It will stay in this configuration since these bring the most money as an original factory folder.
Jim

 

[Farmer17]

I love how the Mini 14 in the above pictures with the Revolution stock and sight/flash hider looks like an M-14.

 

[bengal fan]

I’ve never shot mine for accuracy, besides who really cares about stuff like that as long as you look cool shooting it?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Trooper224]

My old agency issued the Mini-14 for decades. We were issuing patrol rifles as standard equipment long before most other agencies in the country. The positives are simple user interface and reliability. Define that as: it's a patrol rifle for dummies who don't take care of their stuff. Not a lot of buttons and widgets and it will ride in a cruiser for years and go bang when you need it to. The downsides are, not as modular as the AR15 nor nearly as accurate. We transitioned to the AR15 about ten years before I retired and I never missed the Ruger. The Colt was a ******* leap forward. That being said, the Ruger will serve in a pinch. Our guys badmouthed it for years, but I had to remind them it was that or nothing and besides, you can kill a man all day long at three hundred yards reliably enough and that was the whole idea.

 

[Muss Muggins]

A patrol rifle is not intended for 100 yard shots . . .

 

[Big Cholla]

I was the Armorer for an agency that had 4ea. AC556 for "special" officers. Other officers were authorized to purchase their own standard Mini 14 and carry it in the trunk of their patrol unit. After every range training/practice session I had to fix at least one of the four and often two or three of them. I thought that they were both unacceptably reliable and accurate for a LEO firearm. I never had much reliability problems with the Mini 14, but their accuracy was always suspect. Then the Mini 30 came out and the problem become the accidental switching of the trigger groups. Put a "30" in a "14" or vice versa and the rifle was good for one shot. I figured out what the problem was and etched the trigger groups with "M 30" and "M 14". I was thrilled to see the Colt AR 15 become the standard and the Rugers were phased out. ....

Ruger used as their design basis the M-1 Carbine of WW II fame. It was designed for the 30 Carbine cartridge which was essentially a pistol grade cartridge. Stepping up to more powerful cartridges without strengthening the original design did not give good results.

I learned years later that after the using public complained bitterly Ruger hired one or two independent gunsmith/engineers to make the Mini 14 more accurate. Their final efforts were deemed too heavy for commercial sales. ....

A superbly accurate rifle requires an action that has its 'mass' in the proper places along with a long stiff tendon. The Remington '700 is better in these features than the Winchester '70 and thus became the standard design of a long distance accurate rifle. The Mauser is good in 'mass' placement but lacking in a good solid tendon. You naysayers may now jump in with your testimonials. .....

 

[oink]

I carried two different Mini-14 that looked exactly like that. One while on the Marine Unit and one later as a road supervisor. I liked the folding stock on the Marine Unit as there was a spot on the boat that it stayed securely in yet was easily accessible. Later while on the road I switched the folding stock on that one for the standard stock off my personal Mini-14 as I didn't really like the folder for shooting and the little rifle is really pretty compact with the standard stock. The Dept. issued them to supervisors and guys on the Marine Unit. I never had any malfunctions that weren't related to some off brand mags they tried for a while. I also never had any trouble qualifying but we only shot to 100 yrds. I liked the guns except that the peep sight wasn't much good at night. The Dept. now issues ARs to all Road Patrol. Probably traded the Mini-14s in on them.

I still have one of those factory folding stocks in blue still NIB somewhere.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

I have owned 3 Mini-14's over the past 30 years or so. Every time I hoped for better than what I was able to accomplish with these rifles.

Eventually I accepted the fact that my 1943 vintage Inland M1 Carbine would do just as well, or better, for my purposes (which included uniformed and plain clothes law enforcement use).

Neither the Mini-14 nor the M1 Carbine is particularly accurate or spectacularly powerful in any way. Both are preferable to a handgun in some situations. Neither one can be considered as a precision shooting instrument.

 

[sigp220.45]

When I was the entire Twin Falls (ID) Resident Agency (RA) of the FBI from 2003 to 2008, the TFPD issued synthetic stocked Mini-14s. They had traded a bunch of Marlin Camp Carbines for them. I think by now they’ve probably traded the Rugers for some type of AR.

I have a fairly early Mini-14 that has never jammed, even when I’ve fired enough rounds to make it almost glow. I put a Williams peep sight on it, Loc-tited into place after I zeroed it at 50 yards with 55 grain ball. I have no idea how it shoots past that, and really don’t care.