I was not looking for a mini 14 but I had one fall in my lap a few days ago. Except for 2 very small marks it could pass as new.  I bought it with the intent to put on gunbroker, but growing up watching the A-team along with shooting a 13" AC556 many years ago sort of makes me want to keep it.  




The only marks on the gun

That thing's in great shape. Shoot and enjoy!

In before the Mini-14 hate, I had one, sold it, wish I didn't.  Fun little rifle.

Sweet.

Some guns need to be kept just for the coolness, etc.

A Mini14, Marlin Camp 9, PSL, Ruger Deerslayer, Garand, M1 Carbine, or even an old SP1 may not be then;steer, greatest, most ergonomic, easiest to set up, or tricked out rifles, but the work, can do a job, and are enjoyable.

That gun is super cool.
I would have snagged it in a heartbeat as well.

Unless you are totally broke and absolutely need the money - do not get rid of that mini 14!

I love my mini, one of my favorite guns. I'd suggest putting in an extended mag release and polishing the trigger.

If you're worried about accuracy there's a couple mods you can do that won't cost much. There's other barrel shrouds that firmly hold the barrel in place better and forward mounted stabilizers. I have both, but it was more accurate than me to begin with so ymmv

As for mags, Ruger are deff the best. But, I've had a lot of luck taking shitty cheap mags and replacing all of the internals with Ruger parts.

Either way, before I could afford an AR I used mine in all of my training classes and never had a problem. Have fun!

I would 110% keep it. You have no idea how many times I went to Gunbroker with the intention of buying one like that one - then it was too expensive or there wasn't any model I liked in a particular given moment in time

That's 100% shit hot

Use this chart to determine the Rate-of-Twist of your Mini-s barrel, and try to use the optimal ammo:  https://sunflowerammo.blogspot.com/2012/11/ruger-mini-1430-barrel-twist-rates.html

Check it, manually, to be certain.  1-10" ROT should favor lighter weight bullets such as M193, but try a wide variety, as every rifle 'likes' different ammo, sometimes.

Go to https://www.perfectunion.com/vb/ruger-mini-14-mini-30/ for more detailed advice and tips.   Many reversible, and many simple, cheap tweaks available, should you wish.

Thanks raf for posting those links!  Very good and interesting info there.

I’ve had two of the GB folders that I wish I had back.

Keeper!

Damn that’s nice!

Would you mind if I asked how much it set ya back?

I'd keep at least ONE original Ruger "Factory Folder" Mini-14 in my collection...  I have a Series 184 S/S folder like yours that I bought used, but not in a nice of a condition as yours...  Trust me, if you liked the 1980s, when cool military/police styled guns were not evil, you'll hate yourself if you sold it... Even at the current market prices.

RAF knows what he's talking about on Mini's; much of his advice will help dispel the "Mini's aren't accurate" bit.

Plenty of the easily reversed changes are things I've done here.  I have GI Tech Sights on the rear (front is newer generation, so it's different anyway), I have an Accu Strut (mine was chosen for aesthetics on my taper barrel, a double strut would work exceedingly well on your old pencil barrel model), and Ultimak rail (stronger/railed heat sink and optic mount, also a good time to equalize torque on gas block screws).

My rifle started as a 16" SS/syn, and I dropped it in the Samson folder.  How you see it is how I wanted it from the beginning, for my own reasons, that work well with my later generation taper barrel.

With your older pencil barrel, The twist rate and torquing of screws should help, maybe a different front sight/muzzle device to reduce whip, and I could have sworn that I read somewhere where some of the older rear sights were 1.5 MOA per click.  If want yours to be accurate/fix the accuracy issues that may present with the older gun, listen to RAF.

Got my stainless Mini14 in the early 80's.  Got a hell of a deal on it.  Ain't had more than a couple boxes of ammo through it over the years.

Barrel twist rate was 1 turn in 9".  Had accuracy issues (compared to the only other .223 I owned, a M700 Varmint Special) but functioned fine.  Tried putting a scope on it once.  Didn't help.

It is stainless, it's light, it's "handy" to carry (truth is, my ARs are more accurate and easy to get parts for if I ever needed repairs).

If you think the barrel twist may be different than 1 turn in 9" you can check your rifle pretty easy.

Empty rifle.

Cleaning rod with a patch/brush tight enough to insure the rod turns as you pull it from the chamber to the muzzle.

Sharpie to mark the cleaning rod with.

Insert the cleaning rod into the barrel from the muzzle to the bore.

Attach the brush/patch to the cleaning rod.

Pull till it gets tight at the end of the chamber.

Mark the cleaning rod at the muzzle with the sharpie right in front of the front sight on top.

Slowly pull the rod towards the muzzle till the mark comes back to the top.

Measure the distance between the two marks.  That's your barrel twist.  If it's a little more, or less, than an even inch number the patch/brush may have slipped instead of rotating evenly.

I love my old Mini-14 stainless with wood stock. One day, I will get the Samson reproduction folder and I think I am going to buy another mini-14 (16" tactical) for the folder.

Time-tested method for determining Rate-of-Twist.

From Seven-Shooter: "I could have sworn that I read somewhere where some of the older rear sights were 1.5 MOA per click."

This is true, for Standard Model Mini-14s, such as my 186 series; Ranch models had different rear sights.  The OEM sight adjustment "wheels" have 4 slots, both windage and elevation, which works out to 1.5 MOA adjustment increments.  No doubt this has led to a lot of frustration amongst owners who assumed the adjustment increments to be 1 MOA.

The fix for this is to order new sight adjustment "wheels" from a vendor, and to use a Dremel tool, with cutting wheel, to carefully cut intermediate notches into the elevation and windage wheels.  You will need some "Jeweler's" files to complete the job, and some "try-and-fit" will likely be required.  Although the specific Ruger rear sight tool will not work quite as intended, since there are more notches, it will still work, but with a little repositioning.  Far better than a bullet tip, which buggers-up the bullet tip, causing flyers  Strongly suggest obtaining correct rear sight tool for Minis that require it.

Not as slick as the replacement rear sights for early-model Minis, but a lot less expensive.  In practice, and given the type of rifle that the Mini was intended to be, I have found my modified rear sights to be entirely adequate.  For the most part, factory Mini rear sights are "Set-and-Forget" units, and intended for Field use, not the target range.

My main sighting system is based on an Ultimak scout rail, and some sort of optic, be it Scout Scope or Reflex/RDS.  Many experienced users of the Mini-14/-30 have gravitated towards this set-up, and I have followed their good example.  YMMV.