Mini14 advice

[78bagger]

Great truck gun. very handy. Maybe not MOA but makes for a very quick second shot. Solid feel, nearly indestructible. Right weight for a butt stroke. Been thinking about a mini 30. Yea or nay?

 

[ISCS Yoda]

I think you'll be very happy with the Mini-14. I had one, never shot it, sold it for serious money during a "ban" period and after I acquired an M1A, shot that once, sold it, and became an AR fan which I swore I would never do. So weird how tastes change....

Yes, get the Mini-14.

 

[Lonestar57]

Looks like Montague County.

That's nice property up there too but this is my rural Central Texas land; 50 miles west of Waco.

 

[kbm6893]

I had a newer stainless one with the synthetic stock. I liked it a lot. Shouldn’t have sold it. I remember stapling an empty 9MM ammo box to the target at 50 yards and firing as fast as I could at it from 50 yards. 20 rounds with iron sights. Shredded the box. Is the AR more accurate? Probably. But not enough to matter for what the gun is for. It threw brass into the next county but I know that’s fixable with adjusting the gas block.

I’d like to get another one. But the next one will be classic wood and a stainless barrel if I can get it. I have two M1 Garand rifles and love the classic look. The older I get the less tactical I get, and I’m not that old! The days of AR’s and 50 magazines for it are behind me. I can be quite content with a Mini and 7-10 good factory mags.

Put it this way, I’d sell my AR for a stupid profit if the political winds change and happily buy a Mini and pocket the difference. And I wouldn’t feel any less protected.

 

[rockquarry]

That's nice property up there too but this is my rural Central Texas land; 50 miles west of Waco.

Okay, it also looks like where I deer hunted for many years near Rumley in Lampasas County.

 

[Muss Muggins]

Pretty sure he/she was discussing not being able to find one for sale . . .

"Yes I looked not easy task to find anything currently."

Don't understand that, these things have been discussed approximately a zillion times.

Anyway, dependable; heck yes. Looove mine. Have an AR, like it, but it's the mini-14 loaded and ready in the closet.

 

[hittman77]

Yes I looked not easy task to find anything currently.

Around these parts you almost never see one for sale either new or used.

On Gun Broker it looks like many nice used ones bring in the $750-plus range. MSRP on Rugers site is $1000 and up.

I'd shy away from the early skinny barrel guns that many complain about for accuracy .... unless it was super cheap.

Nobody around here complains about the ones they own.

 

[BigBill]

I regret not buying one decades ago. But I was never interested in the 223 round and the expensive black rifle that shoots it. I figured I’d be tying up money for something I would rarely shoot. But when the first new Russian Izmash saiga were offered in 223 for $259 with two mags I couldn’t pass it up. My first Russian ak/akm. Wow what a piece of machinery. I still wish I purchased the mini.

 

[Eddietruett]

I've owned at least a dozen through the years. I have never owned one I would call not accurate. With factory magazines, I've never had a jam with all kinds of ammo even steel case. They can be ammo sensitive just like any other rifle or handgun. Most I've owned seem to like the heavier bullets. My normal procedure when I get one is to mount a red dot or scope and try different ammo until I find out what load and weight the gun likes the best. I only have one right now and it is blue with the wood stock. This piece of wood is actually quite attractive with some figuring and not plain like most I've seen through the years. While the side mounted rail is not for precision target shooting, it is stable enough to check different loads. I normally have mine with the iron sights unless I'm going hog hunting and then I'll slap on a red dot and do a quick zero. Right now I'm using a 62 or 63 grain SP pushed hard by CFE223. Don't have any in notes handy to see how many grains of powder I'm using. AT 50 yards, 1.5-2" groups are the norm and thats about as good as I can shoot with aging eyes and shaking hands. Out to 100 yards, its plenty accurate for hogs. I will never be without a Mini 14. Its the gun that is always right by my bed.

 

[crsides]

Just be sure you get the 58X series

 

[adwjc]

Mini 14

I too have one for about 30 years. Ultra reliable. Burns anything I feed it. Also accurate enough, I'm not shooting much over 100 yards.

The only thing is if you buy an older one, make sure you get the Ranch Rifle version, otherwise it is difficult to mount a scope or any other optic, since you will have to use a side plate mount.

 

[Charlie Foxtrott]

Some of the early ones got a bad rap on accuracy.

Not sure if that was deserved or not as I never shot one. But I always wanted one and bought a late model ranch rifle a few years ago and it is a great rifle. I would never sell it. Good luck finding one right now though.

 

[Gene L]

When I came to the SO as Chief Deputy, one of my ambitions was to get our deputies patrol rifles. Even more so than shotguns because we're an rural jurisdiction and I don't like shotguns very much. (We got them later.) We bought 30 Minis for patrol rifles back in 2001 before 9-11. I believe we were the first agency in GA to arm deputies with patrol rifles. We bought what we could afford, black composite stocks, no scope mounts. They were fine for that, minimally trained deputies could get COM hits at 75 yards, which is pretty well what a patrol rifle should do. In fact, our first training with them was 9-11. We paid $300 each for them, and when we switched to ARs (more accurate) the Sheriff elected to sell the Minis to deputies and retired deputies (me) for what we paid for them, so I got one in very good shape.

They're not a long range P-Dog gun, they're patrol rifles. Morale boosters. In 2001, the only magazines that worked were factory magazines and Ruger held onto them for a long time. The reason I heard was Bill Ruger didn't want his guns being involved in mass shootings. We only got one mag IIRC and couldn't buy any more for a while.

The first time we shot them, on 9-11, we used cheap ammo, I believe it was Wolf against recommendations of a range officer. He was right, they rusted the gas piston shut and had to be taken down and cleaned. Some of them you had to kick the bolt open with your foot. This was done by me and the Sheriff; we didn't have training time to teach individual cleaning then, but we did later. It was 9-12, after all, and we were highly aware of timing and very concerned about needing the fire power.

They're robust and accurate enough for Law Enforcement patrol rifles, reliable with clean ammo. I love mine. you got to keep them clean and oiled.

 

[Univibe]

1. Magazines are more expensive.

2. The 20 round factory ones are the only reliable ones. Even factory 30s are hit or miss.

3. Less customizable than AR.

4. Less accurate than AR.

5. Not field repairable. She breaks, send her back to Ruger.

6. Not as tacticool as AR


I had one for years. I never shot it for fun. It was a utility truck gun. I sold it 2 years ago to fund a 6920 and don't miss it a bit.

 

[kbm6893]

1. Magazines are more expensive.

2. The 20 round factory ones are the only reliable ones. Even factory 30s are hit or miss.

3. Less customizable than AR.

4. Less accurate than AR.

5. Not field repairable. She breaks, send her back to Ruger.

6. Not as tacticool as AR


I had one for years. I never shot it for fun. It was a utility truck gun. I sold it 2 years ago to fund a 6920 and don't miss it a bit.

Mags are more expensive. Not an issue for me. I used to have milk crates full of AR mags. Can only use one at a time. 95% of them never had one round loaded into them.

Factory 30 and 40 round mags never gave me a problem in my Mini. But I agree the 20 round mags are the way to go. Just balanced better.

Less customizable. Not really. You can make a Mini look like a ray gun. But most who buy a Mini don’t want to customize it. They like the classic, non threatening look. I know I do.

Less accurate. Maybe. Not enough to matter. A 3 inch target at 50 yards didn’t stand a chance with my Mjni ripping them off as fast as I could. Good enough for me.

Field repairable? How many here needed to repair an AR “in the field”. This isn’t “Red Dawn”.

Tacticool. A word for tacit-cool wanna-be’s and never-will-be’s. The Mini launches a .223 bullet at high velocity towards its target. Don’t care what it looks like.

 

[linde]

. . . One key point here is that all of my Mini 14s have 1-10 twist barrels, rather than the 1-7 twist that Ruger switched to before moving back to a 1-9 twist.

The 1-7 twist aggravates any issues with less than perfect bullets and is less than ideal for 55 gr bullets in general. The mismatch of ammo to barrel twist is one of the reasons shooters often report poor accuracy . . .

A very key point . . . match bullet weight to barrel twist!

My 196 series has 1 in 9" twist and I've found 68gr Hornady or 69gr Sierra bullets are much more accurate than any 55gr bullet I've tried.

Russ

 

[steelslaver]

You don't need to repair something that never breaks.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

What twist does my 195 series have. It is MO-pieplate at 100 yards with open sights-I might get around to putting an accu-strut on it one day.....

 

[Telecaster]

What twist does my 195 series have. It is MO-pieplate at 100 yards with open sights-I might get around to putting an accu-strut on it one day.....

Meh, pie plates are bigger today than in 1974 when the Mini was designed. You'll be fine.

 

[steelslaver]

My mini 14's accuracy if fine for what it is. I can keep all my shots inside a 3" circle at 100 yds. Mine is an older gun, but I cut off the front sight, Threaded the end of the barrel, made a short flash suppressor to thread on it. But, I also made a short sleeve that goes over the barrel and one end goes against the muzzle end of gas block assy and the flash suppressor tightens against the other, which puts the end of the barrel under tension. Whole thing sets in one of those deadly nylon stocks with a even more deadly pistol grip. Between it's high capacity magazines, flash suppressor and pistol grip, I have to keep it locked in chains to keep it from causing complete and total mayhem

If I want real accuracy, my mini 14 and AR 15 stay home. My 2 bolt action 223s will out shoot any of them.