Ruger mini 14

[danderson]

I am looking into getting a Ruger mini 14, for varmit hunting or just somthing fun to shoot, I here walmart has um for around 700 and change, with a stainless steel barrell and composite stock, something that wont get all rusty if it gets left in the truck behind the seat, kind of a christmas present to myself, does anyone have one that they would like to sell or trade.

[Helix]

I had a G-model a few years back. Sold it to a buddy with some ammo for a little more than that.  The G (government) modle had a different barrell than you get on the ranch rifle with a flash hider and bayonet lug.  It was a good little gun.  It could almost hold close to MOA with some luck but no more.  Not what I would want for Prarrie dogs or rabits but would work on Yotes ok. 

The real beauty of the mini-14 is reliability.  They are extremely dependable with very few parts compared to other black rifles. The parts they do have are beefy and not prone to stoppages or failure.  Less parts in my mind equaling less chance to break down.  It's not quite AK dependable but you can hammer on them and they won't break.  The reciever, bolt, bolt handle and all the opperating parts are steel.  No weak spots that I can think of.  If you get one, make sure you get one drilled and tapped for a scope as the side mount they were originally designed with is garbage and will not hold a zero no matter what you do to it.  Do expect that as it heats up the shots will spread vertically.  It's just the way it goes.  Best of luck with the mini-14 they are a lot of fun.

[JohnVH]

Ive had a mini14 for at least 10years, awesome gun, I spent $50 and accurized it myself, shoots .5 moa, doesnt get hot, and its different. Agree'd, get a ranch rifle with the scope mounts, thats the best way if you want to scope it. My dad and brother have the side mounted, or rear sight mounted scope mounts, and they do work fine for them.

All you want to know about mini's here

http://www.perfectunion.com/vb/ruger-mini-14-mini-30/

[danderson]

Thanks for the info, thats what I wanted to here, light weight, accurate, durable, ammunition easy to come by, what more could you ask for in a firearm.

[JohnVH]

well, before the haters log in today, they are not all accurate, and have a somewhat bad rep, my mini is an older one and was shooting 3" groups, until I spent $50 in parts accurizing it, now it shoots 1/2" groups at 100 yards with my reloads.

[danderson]

Thanks John, I have already up my mind that im getting one, my nephews have zeroed in a few of them and have great groups at 100 yards, I dont know were all the negitivity is comming from on some of these threads, life is two short to get worked up over comments by our fellow sportsmen, or women. as for accuracy is this a design probem, or just that it needs a good scope installed.

[Huntbear]

Awesome weapons, are they tack drivers out of the box?  No way.  Fun to shoot and play with, hell ya.  I have had 7 or 8, get em so they shoot good, and liking how they look accessory wise, and a buddy always offers me more money than I can refuse...    So I sell them and start over. 

You will like it a lot, and you can bang em around in a truck and they still shoot.  There is a reason the ranch rifle was very poplular.   

[FC]

as for accuracy is this a design probem

It's a design flaw, read up on gas block issues. Typical accuracy you can expect is probably comparable to low end of typical for an AK (3"-5" at 100m)

John if you have a Mini 14 that shoots half inch groups at 100 yards you have about the best shooting mini 14 I have ever heard of for under about two grand. How long do you have to let it cool between shots to hold that kind of accuracy?

[JohnVH]

as for accuracy is this a design probem

It's a design flaw, read up on gas block issues. Typical accuracy you can expect is probably comparable to low end of typical for an AK (3"-5" at 100m)

John if you have a Mini 14 that shoots half inch groups at 100 yards you have about the best shooting mini 14 I have ever heard of for under about two grand. How long do you have to let it cool between shots to hold that kind of accuracy?

Gas block issue? Ill have to read up on that, its mainly the barrel whip, so with a strut, brake, and a smaller gas bushing and your done.

I waited about 5 seconds maybe between shots? Ill admit, that is the best group its ever done, typically its about 3/4"-1" max at 100yds.  With a strut, the barrel doesnt get hot anymore, after 5 shots the barrel isnt even warm yet.

[FC]

Here are some accurized mini 14's

http://www.accuracysystemsinc.com/index.php

I'm not trying to piss in anyone's oatmeal here but I would truly have to see a mini 14 that only had $50 worth of improvements done to it that would consistently shoot 3/4 of an inch at 100 yards without the need for frequent fiddling or other assorted magic tricks.

Are mini's fun? Yes! They are fun in much the same way as an AK is fun but without the benefit of a harder hitting cartridge when you actually hit something with one.

[Biggerhammer]

The only use I could find for a mini 14 is for a jack bar in my Hi-lifter jack and then maybe I might even feel bad about soiling my jack with it.

[jyerxa]

The only modification I put on my Ranch rifle was a Williams’s site. I had the toggle peep site.

http://www.williamsgunsight.com/gunsights/wgrs.htm

I have a couple targets from the last time I went and shot it. This first on is at 100 yards. There were 3 of us shooting my mini at three different targets. We were using the wolf ammo with steal casings because it is cheep for just plinking around.

After about 30 rounds that day my site worked itself loose. Probably 500 to 700 rounds since I put the Williams site on it. I didn’t site it back in but reduced the distance to 50 yards tightened up the site and we shot some more using Kentucky windage. And shot another 45 or so rounds. Then we got hungry and left.

So the barrel got hot. We were shooting with iron sites and shooting cheap ammo. And this is what I got that day. So if you shoot better than me and use better ammo you can do better than that. Let alone using a scope.

And one more thing. One day I was out at the range and a guy wanted to sell me some more steal cased ammo because he was having trouble shooting them in his AR and the gun smith told him to find someone with a mini because they will gobble up anything. Mine does anyway. Never an issue.


100 yards. Open sites, wolf ammo. Minus the three 25-06 rounds that missed due to a screwed up scope. Pointed out with green arrows.



50 yards after my site loosed up and I had to put it back on the mini and guestimated where.

[FC]

LOL! I like the second target but my gun patterns 3" 00 Buck better than that!

I'm not trying to be mean here but...congratulations on your best group being 9 at roughly EIGHT MOA! An AR that won't eat steel cased ammo is a pretty rare animal in my experience, I actually haven't run into one that didn't have some other problem.

[jyerxa]

Yeah, that was a bad day at the range. 

[JohnVH]

found a pic of my last outing with the mini14 with my accurizing, 100yds, the left target, two groups, 1" squares.