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Posted: 10/23/2025 3:47:18 AM EDT
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From what I can tell factory Ruger mini 14 mags and good 556 AK mags cost the same please correct me if I'm wrong. I already own 556 AKs and I already have a couple dozen mags for it. Still though something about the mini-14 is calling out to me especially the ones with the laminate wood multi color stocks that are just so gorgeous and beautiful. I hear many 14s are horribly inaccurate I hear that they are decently accurate I hear that it depends upon which series you get or even which serial number prefix you get. The newer models started with the 580 series but if I get a 582 or higher model there is a cogburn arsenal micropism mount for it. And allegedly in the 584 or higher model which would also accept the micro prism they made some revisions to the barrel fitment that made them more accurate. Help me decide to drive into the mini, or not. I'm leaning towards no but my God I'm tempted by those gorgeous laminate wood multi color socks and the conventional grips. |
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Originally Posted By TSH77769: From what I can tell factory Ruger mini 14 mags and good 556 AK mags cost the same please correct me if I'm wrong. I already own 556 AKs and I already have a couple dozen mags for it. Still though something about the mini-14 is calling out to me especially the ones with the laminate wood multi color stocks that are just so gorgeous and beautiful. I hear many 14s are horribly inaccurate I hear that they are decently accurate I hear that it depends upon which series you get or even which serial number prefix you get. The newer models started with the 580 series but if I get a 582 or higher model there is a cogburn arsenal micropism mount for it. And allegedly in the 584 or higher model which would also accept the micro prism they made some revisions to the barrel fitment that made them more accurate. Help me decide to drive into the mini, or not. I'm leaning towards no but my God I'm tempted by those gorgeous laminate wood multi color socks and the conventional grips. The M1 Carbine has always been a darling for the WW 2 collector crowd; I consider the Mini-14 superior in every way to that rifle. That being said, Mini-14's are stupid expensive for what you get. You really need to buy an upper handguard rail if you want to mount a scope or RDS. ProMags are junk, which means you are going to spend close to $30 per magazine to get good ones made by Ruger. You spend that much money on an AR-15 and you will be way ahead of the game. I have owned two Mini-14's, neither one was very accurate, but that was 40 years ago. I still have the Ruger Mini-14 GB FS. It went from shooting 4" plus groups at 100 yards to 2" groups after running David Tubb's Final Finish bore polishing rounds through it. Not great, but a hell of a lot better than it was. An AK in .223 will probably shoot just as poorly, depending on ammo selection. I understand that the newer Ruger Mini-14's are more accurate than the older models, I don't know because I haven't shot one. |
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You're next to a ban state, OP, get a Mini as a travel gun, & get 1x 10 round mag & the stripper clip adapter. Get the polymer aftermarket stock if you want to LARP as a Bermudan trooper. 
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The only Mini which interests me anymore is my 16” SS A-team folder, with Ultimak mount:  Great travel gun. That being said, a PSA AK556 would get you much the same setup with more aftermarket support and more common mags, for a cheaper up front investment. I have thought long and hard about getting one even though I have my mini; the main reasons I don’t is because I like my PWS and Tavor, and the AK556 is sorta in between those but also overlaps with the Mini I already own, and not worth the additional expenditure to duplicate. (But the AK556 didn’t exist when I bought the Mini). Depending on your use case would determine the best call. Also, there are better Ruger sub forums than the M1 sub forum. |
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I use my Mini M14 as a lighter version that's much cheaper to shoot of my M1A, my favorite large caliber semi auto. The Mini can be easily tuned so that with quality handloads, it will produce 1 MOA accuracy. That's enough so that I use mine to shoot bowling pins at 200 yds and yes, that's with my custom 'NM like' irons.   |
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Originally Posted By TSH77769: From what I can tell factory Ruger mini 14 mags and good 556 AK mags cost the same please correct me if I'm wrong. I already own 556 AKs and I already have a couple dozen mags for it. You already have a 5.56 AK. Seems like you should branch out and get the Mini. FWIW, I had a Mini-14 Ranch, back in the ban years. It cost around $450 new, while my first AR15 a couple years later was $700-ish. We had to settle for USA Mags for the Mini, as factory mags were just about unobtainable. I guess I got a good one, as that Mini would shoot honest 1.5” to 2” groups at 100 yds. I have a Norinco 84-S underfolder that will shoot 3” groups with the open sights. Mags for that rifle are $100+ when you can find them. So the factory Mini mags at $30 seem like a good deal. I’ll second that the A-Team setup is the way to go. |
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I have a 1984 vintage mini14 my dad bought me brand new. It's the worst gun I own and based on my experience would never recommend to anyone. I have a Romanian sar3 that I bought late 90s for around $300. It's been great. In today's market I would be looking at psa AK. |
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Originally Posted By cb69: I have a 1984 vintage mini14 my dad bought me brand new. It's the worst gun I own and based on my experience would never recommend to anyone. I have a Romanian sar3 that I bought late 90s for around $300. It's been great. In today's market I would be looking at psa AK. My suggestions, particularly since it was a gift from your Da: 1) Add an adjustable gas block; 2) Add the two clamp (not single) barrel strut that locks into the adjustable gas block, you'll want to buy them as a pair; 3) Add a Sampson or Ultimak rail clamped to the barrel; 4) Add a red dot or LER optic like coldblue has above. I haven't done all the above yet, but I intend to for my 182 series, but the adjustable gas will make your gun more pleasant to shoot, and by many reports the two clamp barrel struts measurably improve the early Mini's accuracy. The forward handguard rails make a handy place for a red dot or LER scope, & also act as a radiator, wicking heat from the thin barrel. I'm also going to add the stripper clip guide to mine to feed the 10 round mag, as then I have an easy way to carry a standard load in the communist held states. |
I sell firearms produced by the finest child labor in the world, be it Filipino, Muslim, Mormon, Arizonan, or Texan.
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Originally Posted By backbencher: The forward handguard rails make a handy place for a red dot or LER scope, & also act as a radiator, wicking heat from the thin barrel. Originally Posted By backbencher: The forward handguard rails make a handy place for a red dot or LER scope, & also act as a radiator, wicking heat from the thin barrel. If it acts like a radiator, how does it not burn the piss out of your hand? Originally Posted By backbencher: I'm also going to add the stripper clip guide to mine to feed the 10 round mag, as then I have an easy way to carry a standard load in the communist held states. I guess that works. But how many 10-round restricted states allow machine guns? And at 10 rounds, what’s the point? |
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Originally Posted By GarrettJ: If it acts like a radiator, how does it not burn the piss out of your hand? I guess that works. But how many 10-round restricted states allow machine guns? And at 10 rounds, what’s the point? Originally Posted By GarrettJ: Originally Posted By backbencher: The forward handguard rails make a handy place for a red dot or LER scope, & also act as a radiator, wicking heat from the thin barrel. If it acts like a radiator, how does it not burn the piss out of your hand? Originally Posted By backbencher: I'm also going to add the stripper clip guide to mine to feed the 10 round mag, as then I have an easy way to carry a standard load in the communist held states. I guess that works. But how many 10-round restricted states allow machine guns? And at 10 rounds, what’s the point? I presume it would burn the piss out of your hand, and cooking optics/lithium batteries might become an issue. Since you can't have a bayonet lug in the communist held states, then there's no real need for an upper handguard anyway, it's only there to protect your hand when using the bayonet. The Mini-14 isn't a machine gun. It's a semi-auto rifle still legal in all 50 states, AFAIK. |
I sell firearms produced by the finest child labor in the world, be it Filipino, Muslim, Mormon, Arizonan, or Texan.
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Originally Posted By backbencher: The Mini-14 isn't a machine gun. It's a semi-auto rifle still legal in all 50 states, AFAIK. you are correct. I had been discussing the AC556 elsewhere and I apparently still had that one on my brain. |
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Originally Posted By GarrettJ: you are correct. I had been discussing the AC556 elsewhere and I apparently still had that one on my brain. Originally Posted By GarrettJ: Originally Posted By backbencher: The Mini-14 isn't a machine gun. It's a semi-auto rifle still legal in all 50 states, AFAIK. you are correct. I had been discussing the AC556 elsewhere and I apparently still had that one on my brain. I was like, where the hell is this coming from? Damn thing isn't legal in Canada. The SKS is, but banned in Washington state. Need Shuff to build me an 18" .308 Tanker, but no hurry. |
I sell firearms produced by the finest child labor in the world, be it Filipino, Muslim, Mormon, Arizonan, or Texan.
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Originally Posted By backbencher: Need Shuff to build me an 18" .308 Tanker, but no hurry. I don’t know how old Shuff is, but if he walks outside and gets hit by a bus, it’s my understanding that that’s it, no more Mini-Gs. Or does he have a shop full of people doing the conversions for him? |
<**Me:**> I just spent 95% of my paycheck on LaRue stuff, within 30 minutes of getting paid. < **mfingar:**> For what it's worth, Dillo Dust is great on Ramen. </**mfingar:**></**me:**>
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Comments and observations based on my direct experience. 1) The original 180 series - 1974-1977 The original 180 series Mini -14 was very well received by Jeff Cooper due to excellent handling reliability and good accuracy for the type. Those original 180 series Mini 14s were capable of consistent 2 MOA accuracy with M193 ball ammo - comparable to the average Colt SP1 AR-15 (20" standard weight barrel). They were lighter and significantly thinner in the fore end due to having a thinner, lighter slide and commensurately thinner gas block and stock. They also had an .052" gas port. Between the fairly small gas port and less reciprocating weight they had a lot less vibration than what came next. 2) The 181 series through mid 184 series - 1978-1896 Where Ruger went off track with the Mini 14 was in the development of their select fire AC-556. The AC 556 was beefed up for full auto fire and that included increasing the slide weight and slightly increasing the size of the bolt. That meant a larger gas block and thicker stock. They also increased the size of the gas port bushing to .080" which resulted in it being over gassed, which was another reason the increased the mass of the slide. It was still reliable and still handled very well, but the increased reciprocating mass didn't do wonders for the barrel harmonics and accuracy, while still ok for a military service rifle at 3-4 MOA was less accurate than was the case with the 180 series Mini 14. Unfortunately, Ruger redesigned the Mini 14 to incorporate the AC-556 slide, stock, gas block and gas port. As a consequence it's accuracy decreased to 3-4 MOA for the subsequent series. 3) Mid 184 through mid 186 series - 1986-1997 (187- mid 195 series for the Mini 14 Ranch Rifle) Ruger got on the misguided 1-7 barrel twist band wagon in 1986 and went from the original 1-10" barrel twist to 1-7" barrel twist. To recap, for the then new M855 62 gr FMJ round, 1-9" was optimum, but the US Army adopted the 1-7" twist to accommodate the much longer M856 tracer round. The problem with that is the excessively fast twist imposes excessive spin rate on shorter projectiles and it was and continues to be common for Mini 14 shooters to shoot 55 gr FMJ bullets. It doesn't make a huge difference with high quality bullets but bulk bullets and pull down bullets usually have some variation in the center of gravity versus center of form. Bullets rotate around their center of form in the barrel but upon leaving the barrel begin rotating around their center of gravity. That transition causes precession which causes the bullet to travel in a bit of a spiral before settling down. The greater the rotation the greater the precession, the larger the spiral and the greater the effect on accuracy. That faster barrel twist turned those 3-4 MOA rifles into 5-6 MOA rifles with most 55 gr FMJs. 4) Mid 186 through 197 series - 1997-2004 (Mid 195 series -197 series for the Ranch Rifle) Ruger, like pretty much everyone else figured out 1-7 twist had more cons than pros for anything other than very long bullets and went to the more or less industry standard 1-9" twist. Unfortunately this didn't really improve accuracy as by 1997, the tooling was getting worn and the tolerances on the Mini 14 were overly loose. 5) 580 series and later 58x series (2005) Ruger retooled production for the 580 series and about a year into 580 series production added the heavier tapered barrel to finally address the barrel harmonics issues. All Mini 14s after that barrel change are expected to leave the factory as 2 MOA capable rifles, and that's consistently been the case for the 5.56 Mini 14s. ----- Obviously there was a long period of time where Mini 14 accuracy was sub optimal and over the years several methods were used to improve accuracy. - Choate flash hider/front sights were known to add mass to the end of the barrel and improve accuracy. Plus the front sight blade was much better than the stock ruger sight blade. - To a lesser extent adding a slip on flash hider also added weight and improved accuracy. In the extreme however it could lower the point of impact more than the rear sight could correct. Ok on a scoped Ranch Rifle, not so ok on an iron sighted Mini 14. - Gas port bushings were used to reduce the gas port size from .080 to anywhere from .040" to .055", depending on the user's ammo preferences. In my experience .045" works well for pretty much anything. This improves accuracy by reducing slide velocity and the amplitude of the vibration of the barrel. - Shock buffers were also used to reduce vibration. - Barrel stabilizers like the Accu-Strut proved to be very effective at managing barrel vibration. - Improved rear sights like the Tech Sights RR200 for the pre 580 series Mini-14s and the Mini200R sight for the pre-580 series ranch rifles provide a better sight picture with better adjustability and consistency. ----- If you put them all together you can normally get a pre-580 series mini 14 to shoot consistent 1.5 MOA with decent M193 ball ammo and you can get to or very near 1 MOA accuracy with hand loads using higher quality bullets. In the center is an original 180 series Mini 14 and it's a 2 MOA shooter. All it received was a Choate Browning style flash hider and a tech Sights RR200 rear sight. I do thin the front blade slightly to give the same sight picture as National Match sights on my M1A match. At the bottom is a 187 series Ranch Rifle and at the top is a 184 series Mini 14 and both received the full accuracy treatment and a tech sights rear sights as described above. The 184 Minin 14 had it's barrel bobbed to 16" before I bought it in an apparent attempt to improve it's accuracy. It was unsuccessful as it shot 5" patterns. It's now a solid 1.5 MOA shooter with Hornady 55 gr FMJs at M193 velocities. The 16" barrel also was a plus for the folding stock.  They both hold their own with my Colt SP1 and Colt made M16A1 upper in terms of accuracy, but without the dirt and dust sensitivity of the AR-15 rifles.   |
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Mini 14 all the way. Attached File Have you seen my videos?  Ruger Mini14 3-gun rifle match run and gun |
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Originally Posted By TSH77769: I hear many 14s are horribly inaccurate... Common excuse for those people who aren't accurate with any rifle anyway. At the plinking range, accuracy is the same between mini-14 and AR. Looking for a "fun", don't have to look much further than the Mini-14. |
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Re: the mini Don't waste money on a barrel strut, they will always shoot loose over time and their actual function is pretty dubious. Also avoid the adjustable gas block, all of them are aluminum and will cause gas leaks due to the differing thermal expansion properties against a steel barrel. Rather, I would just buy the correct smallest bushing that will allow your gun to cycle the weakest ammo. I own 2 guns and I found that the absolutel best way to improve accuracy was to cut down the barrels. Both of mine improved significantly after being cut down to 14.5 |
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apples and oranges ,depends on what you are looking for , i have both and enjoy them both equally , its also important to know what .223 AK you are talking , Chicom 84S mags are specific to that rifle because technically it is a type 56 that Norinco adapted to 5.56/.223 because they had a falling out with Russia and were not provided the prints for the AKM , AKM Mags are different , they have a lower feed edge , the 84s the feed edge helps orientate the round for feeding , so a AKM mag the cartridge will feed lower and not chamber look at the feed edge of the loaded AKM mag , how its notched down compared to the 84S mag next to it    |
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