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Posted: 11/20/2003 3:14:35 PM EDT
| What do you think of this fire arm? How well do the after market high cap mags fit? I was thinking of picking one up but it seams that it might not be worth the while. It would be used for plinking and paper shooting... Just wondering if its worth checking out or if i should just buy something else... |
| Go to www.perfectunion.com and look around. The folks around there say that much of the problem with the mini 14's accuracy is due to a lack of bedding. Most of them are bedding their 14's themselves, and putting on a muzzle break and getting 1 1/2 to 2 moa. The mini 14 is a great rifle except the lack of accuracy, so if this really works its a major improvement. In terms of mags, the current pro mag 10 rounders are supposed to be very reliable. Reliable hicaps are limited to scherer, PMI, Federal Ordanance, and masen 20 and 30 rounders which can sometimes be found for $25 to $30 but more often around $40. |
| I use mine kind of as an "on the farm" rifle. It's stainless with a coat of olive drap teflon moly on it. PMI mags feed very reliably. Will I purchase another? I would rather purchase accessories for my Bushmaster. My AR with a 20 inch barrel is much more accurrate. The mini does handle not being cleaned better than the AR does though. Accurracy is OK but it's not a tack driver. For taking out the occassional coyote it's fine for that. The AR can serve as a better platform for customizations and getting better accurracy. |
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The Mini responds very well to being placed in a tight-fitting synthetic stock. If you can, bed the action, as outlined in the M-14 bedding instructions available on the net. A John Masen "Black Warrior" muzzle brake is also a good move. The link to the PerfectUnion web site is spot on. IMHO, the only people who are still of the opinion that the Mini is inherently inferior to other firearms of the same barrel length are those individuals who are are either lazy or are ignorant. My very good friend's Mini will shoot into under 2 MOA all day and with less maintainenance than any AR. Not bad for that short of a barrel. It DOES pay to try a number of different ammo types. The real trick to Mini ownership is the accquisition of reliable magazines. 10-rounders abound, although artificially price inflated by the Ban. For those of you not fortunate enough to have accquired good 30-rd mags prior to the ban, write your Reps and Sens about letting the Ban go away! As some of you may have noticed, I am very high on the Mini; in a number of ways, it is superior to an AR of identical barrel length. |
| I have a Mini 14 with Ultimak scout rail and a Leupold 2.5x28 IER scope. PMI 40-rounders and Masen 30 rounders work flawlessly, with over 1,200 rounds of M193 and Olympic .223 through it. I have yet to have a single misfeed, FTE, or any other reliability problem. |
Get whatever the doctor will allow you to have Milsurp. |
| When I want to know the in's/out's of Mini-14's, I go Here. |
The Ultimak rail is awesome. In combination with the scope, I can get sub 2" groups at 100 yards, previously I was around 4-6 inch groups with the stock ranch rifle sights. Temperature does not seem to be much of an issue, as the scope does not get very hot. This was an original concern of mine, as my scope is mounted with the shortest "z-rings" that keep the scope close to the barrel. If you want to mount optics to your mini, I would highly reccomend the Ultimak mount. 
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| I recently sold a stainless Mini and I kind of miss it. It was a handy and fun rifle. They are low maintenance and robust tools that are nearly indestructable. If I got a new one it would be the Ranch Rifle (the one that comes with scope rings) and maybe a Mini 30. The 7.62x39 ammo is spectacularly cheep! and a bit better for a back up deer gun. Every body puts them (Ruger Minis) down in the accuracy department but honestly what is the difference between one minute or two at 100 yards or so? My buddy and I smack the $#!* out of railroad tie spike plates at 200yds with open sights off of a sand bag. At 100 they tore up the 8"x10" steal plates too bad. |
| I own an AR and a Mini30. I shoot quite a bit at 100 yds using clay pigeons painted international orange set out on the front edge of the range backstop. I hit as many with the mini30 as I do with the AR. I would venture to say that with the proper ammo, you'd have a primary deer rifle.Just my opinion. |
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I have nothing bad to say about my stainless mini-14. Eats every kind of ammo I feed without so much as a hiccup. I do use precision mags though. For plinking it's dead on. That said, at the next gun show I will attempt to sell it. Why?, I want one 5.56 platform for redundancy-sp? Joe |
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Accuracy and mags are the two biggest problems. The rear sight on the ranch rifle version is a POS. My Mini-14 RR has been sitting in the safe unfired for almost a year, while my ARs get all the attention. I would move up to a .308 autoloader instead of a Mini-14 if you are getting bored with ARs IMHO... |
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I do not like the Mini-14. I love the look of the rifle and the feel but I will not spend my money on one. My department issues the Mini-14 as our standard rifle. When the Range Masters went out to sight them in we found the accuracy LACKING in a big way. I have never seen a group open up so much with just 5 rounds fired through it. I'm talking 2-5 inches depending on the rifle. When I attended the Ruger Factory Mini-14 Armorers school I learned that it is not uncommon for the RECIEVER to crack at the web. California Department of Corrections Academy has a large transit chest made just to ship broken Mini-14's back to Ruger. Now Ruger replaces their Mini's for free and the instructor stated that Ruger will do the same for you and me for a small fee. The problem is, if the receiver cracks they throw it away and replace it with a new one WITH A NEW SERIAL NUMBER. So if your pre-ban Mini cracks they will not fix it. If you just want something that is politically correct to plink with then the Mini is a good choice. Just remember that this is a beautiful rifle poorly executed. |
Tell your armorers to go to this site:www.perfectunion.com/forums/index.php?s=d791e0835cf100266b3a6d6c3a4a8339&showforum=8 and check out how the Mini can easily be accurized without jeopardizing any factory warranty. If nothing else, your safety as an officer is riding on your rifle's accuracy. It's a problem easily and inexpensively solved.
This is a new one on me. Are the rifles subject to cracking semi-auto only, or select-fire versions? Where, exactly does the crack develop? Also, there are procedures in place, albeit with other manufacturers, to replace pre-ban receivers with new ones and still retain "Grandfathered" status. Not that this is an issue with the Mini, as in most situations it is not considered an AW, but the precedent exists. Not saying this to dispute what you've said. |
But where are the bayonet lugs? Our department has a couple of Mini-14GB Models. They're nice rifles. Last fall I put some Lake City ammo from a can that was date stamped in the late 60's and didn't have any problems. We're looking at possibly trading them in on a couple of AR's, which have better ergonomics. And we should be able to trade even up. I saw the original bill of sale a while ago, and I think they only paid about $350 for both rifles in the mid-80's. The dealer that looked at them said he'd probably give us around $1150-1200 on trade. Almost a better return than the stock market. |
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