I love the look of the Mini above with the Accustrut and wood hanguard - I think I’ll do mine up the same way.
I can't quite decide between the wood handguard or a Choate handguard (painted brown like the M14).
I prefer the classic looks of the wood handguard, but the Choate ventilated handguard results in better accuracy in sustained fire as the barrel cools better.
Here's my 16" Mini 14 in the same walnut stock with wood an Choate hand guards and with leather and OD cotton slings:
Someone in the 181 series Mini 14's past shortened the barrel to 16" to improve accuracy. It apparently didn't work since he sold it, and it shot around 4 MOA when I bought it.
Both got the same treatment:
SOCOM style Accu-strut;
Tech Sights rear sight;
Choate Browning style combination front sight and flash hider;
.045" gas port bushing;
shock buffer; and
Choate ventilated hand guard.
As noted above, the Choate is probably a better choice if accuracy is paramount as it keeps the pencil barrel cooler and more stable. However to get good accuracy you'll need to hand fit the hand guard so that the rear doesn't touch the receiver when the barrel is cold. It it does, it'll press forward on the gas block and in turn the barrel and that pressure will change as the barrel warms. You do the same thing with match grade M1 and M1A/M14 rifles.
I used an end mill (just under the thread size) to mill divots in the gas block for the rear screws on the Accu Strut where it contacts the gas block. It creates a very solid fit.
The Choate muzzle devices improve the barrel harmonics and almost always improve accuracy. I stopped drilling and pinning muzzle devices (unless it has to be blind pinned to meet a 16" minimum barrel length), and instead use Loctite 620. It's designed for cylindrical fit applications with gaps up to .015" and is rated to 450F for 30 minutes and over 600F for brief exposures. You won't shoot it off, unless you're doing several continuous magazine dumps.
If you're a perfectionist, temporarily fit the muzzle device with masking tape over it and the barrel to hold it in place. Fire three shot groups and rotate the device (moving the front sight sight or left as need) until you are zeroed with the rear sight mechanically zeroed. Then index mark the tape, cut through the tape at the join, remove the device, apply the Loctite and install the device, aligning the index marks on the tape. Wipe off the excess that squeezes out and then after it sets in a couple minutes remove the tape. It will ensure the front sight is perfectly clocked for a mechanically centered rear sight.
With the above treatment, both my rifles (1-10" twist) shoot honest 1.5 MOA 5 shot groups with 55 gr FMJ.
