Just got one of these, I like it so far.  My question is can they run as dirty as I get my AR's?  like thousands before cleaning dirty?  Run them wet or dry or either?

Its a Garand style action so my assumption is it can go awhile but I like to hear experienced owners suggestions.

I had a Mini 14 and sold it.  Best thing I.....

That are actually a good Guns
Most don’t understand the utility of a mini 14
Newer ones are fairly accurate
I spray a little ballistol around bolt  and a very light Slip grease on guide rod
Brush out chamber periodically
With some hoppes
Take to the range and have fun
Very easy to take down
And Feild strip
Removing bolt and replacing a little tricky but after 2-3 times very easy

This remindes me I still have one new in the box from the Walmart selloff.

I also have a stainless. They are fun little guns and will do 90% of what anyone here would need. I never noticed anything particular about the maintenance. I've ran mine dirty and it worked fine.

Durango, nice that you browse the Ruger rifles section just so you can look for the opportunity to bash the Mini. You must have a lot of spare time on your hands.
Mini's have always been very reliable (being overgassed helps) but you have to know to run good magazines, there were a lot of crappy aftermarket ones.
Mini's have always had the potential for good accuracy, but it helps to know a few simple mods to bring out that accuracy.
Ruger dropped the ball by making the older Mini-14's with the skinny "pencil" barrel. Newer Mini's are how they should have all been made, and even the pencil barrel ones are much improved by the addition of an Accustrut. If you want to gain the knowledge to make any Mini run great, you need to go to the Mini section of perfectunion forum.

The Mini runs very clean and can run a long, long time without cleaning or oiling. I know of a few guys that have put 10's of thousands of rounds through a Mini and say they've never cleaned it,
You'll never see any fouling in the action or on the bolt, it all stays at the front of the op-rod and on the gas pipe.
Like a Garand, M-14 or M1 Carbine, you should put some grease in the receiver slots the bolt and op-rod ride in, but if you don't, it will still function fine.

I used to clean the Mini every time I went out and shot 100-200 rounds, just like my AR's. As time went on, I realized I didn't need to do that. Now I clean them 2-3 times a year after 600-800 rounds, but even that is more than really needed.

Thanks for the input guys. also thanks for the perfect union tip.....that mini forum is awesome!

Yeah the mini has its quirks, but so does an AK and yes an AR as well....there is no perfect system.

I have gone over 1000 rounds between cleaning.  Mine is stainless steel.  Unless I'm doing something that requires me to take mine apart, I only really clean mine once a year.  I just drop in some oil when parts look dry.

kwg

Use a brass rod tip, muzzle guide, and a rotating, coated rod to clean the Mini.  Install the rod guide, insert the rod, then run it down to the chamber, where the brush or tip will be installed. Holding the rod guide in place, PULL the rod out of the barrel.  Clean in the same direction as bullet travel.  Bore-snakes are OK, as long as the weighted tip is brass, or some other metal softer than steel.

Use light oil for rotating surfaces; grease for sliding surfaces.  Synthetic CV joint grease is ideal.  Less is more.  Same basic lube points/requirements as an M1A/M1.

The M1 Garand Bolt Tool can be adapted, through the use of an appropriate-length 1/4 " socket, to dismantle/assemble the Mini bolt, same as an M1/M1A bolt.  

The Mini-14 is severely over gassed by design.

I have a few and use factory and reloads in them while just a basic cleaning every 300 rounds or so.

Bore clean and gas piston is all I do and I don't leave it soaking wet.

After getting tired of searching two countys over for spent brass I made a gas port reduced bushing, and now the rifles drop the brass within 10 feet and cycle everything I put in it.

You can buy a assortment of bushings online if you want to try.

IIRC, the Mini-14 uses the same ID gas orifice as the Mini-30, which goes far to explain the violence of the action when ejecting ctgs.  Reducing the amount of gas being used to cycle the action (whether by means of replacing the OEM gas orifice or by means of an adjustable gas block) has been suggested as one means of reducing barrel whip, and possibly enhancing accuracy.  The added propellant gas behind the bullet may raise bullet velocity, and some users will need to re-zero their Minis.

When replacing the orifice with a smaller one, the user should do a test of all ammo which will be used in the rifle, and take particular pains to test the ammo when both the ammo and the rifle are freezing cold.  This is because ammo propellant loses energy in colder temps, and if the gas orifice is too small, short-stroking can result in extremely cold temps, with some ammo. The extremely over-sized OEM orifice did not suffer from this possible problem, needless to say.  


I bought a kit, and installed the next-up from the smallest bushing in the kit.  I've had no problems so far, other than having to adjust elevation zero, if one can call that a problem.  The brass now remains in the same gun range, instead of being ejected into orbit.  YMMV.

A cheap pull through cleaning idea is to use 3 feet of heavy fishing line. Tie a loop knot in one end and use the loop to pull patches through.

A pull-through is always an alternative.  Just buy/make a high-strength unit, and don't try to get the last bit out of it; Replace when it shows signs of wear.

Removing a pull-through/brush/patch holder stuck in one's barrel out without damaging the bore can be tricky.

If you don't mind my asking, how much did you pay for you Walmart sell off? Also, do you remember about how long ago it was?

Great little gun, is a bit more like an M1 Carbine

Search for PerfectUnion.com
It’s a mini 14 forum, tons of info

I clean mine regularly, personally, I like cleaning hubs
But, yes, a Mini 14 can go 500-600 easily with minimal maintenance

Attached File


Mine is reliable when dirty with brass. It does not like to extract steel cased ammo.

Mine will chew through any kind of ammo. The only cleaning it gets is taking the stock off then wiping everything down with an oily rag now and then. It rides in or under the back seat of my truck where it lives year round. So far the hogs haven’t noticed that it’s not an AR. As far as I’m concerned it’s the ultimate in reliability.

Mine was the typical way over gassed. There is or used to be a cottage industry that made gas bushings of various sizes. I tried several sizes and settled on about 0.045". It seemed to eject the Russian stuff ok, and didn't send good brass into the next county. It also reduced the bending load on the barrel due to the gas piston.

AFAIK, the Mini-14 uses the same OEM gas orifice as does the Mini-30, which orifice is huge, and needlessly subjects the Mini-14 action to undue gas-induced violence.  Whether the Mini-30 is also over-gassed is a subject beyond my knowledge, but IIRC, there are reduced-size gas orifices, and adjustable gas blocks for the Mini-30 as well.

The fact is that Ruger has used a very wide, some would say, unnecessarily wide, ID gas orifice on both rifles.  The chosen ID is so large that it guarantees the action working properly with all but squib loads, and in even the coldest temps, where typical ctg propellant loses some energy.  Unfortunately, this also ejects the spent case into orbit, and induces some violence into the barreled action.  This over-gassing seems, by all accounts, to be detrimental to accuracy, to say nothing about un-necessary pounding of the action, and felt recoil impulse.  Remember the old Mini-14 plastic buffers?  Still sold.  Wonder why...

The user has alternatives, either an adjustable gas block, or an Orifice kit.  I bought the kit, and installed the .040" orifice.  So far, no problems.  I did make a point of testing my GI-equivalent reloads in below freezing temps, and I had no issues.  Other folks, shooting less energetic ammo, might do well to test such ammo in extremely cold temps before settling on a particular gas orifice.  Less-than-energetic Milspec rounds might well require a different ID orifice than is suitable for Mil-spec rounds.  Do your research!

Site where Orifice kit (directly linked), or adjustable gas block may be obtained: https://www.ruger-mini-14-firearms.com/Gas-Reduction-Bushing-Kit.php

These people seem to have some sort of "association" with Ruger, and having bought some of their products, I am quite satisfied with their quality.  YMMV

Disclaimer: no financial interest