Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Mini-14 Accuracy?

Instead of calling it a laughably incorrect statement, I'd call it very good advice. I owned two mini's years ago, loved the reliablity and look but hated the accuracy. Considered sending them off for the accurazing treatments but decided instead just to sell them and get an AR. Very good decision!

+1. Check this site out. Lots of interesting things here such as tweaking the 4 gas block screws and watching for group size to improve/fall off.

I had a stainless ranch Mini 14 that I bought in '96. It was one of the mythical accurate ones. Well, sometimes. I noticed that putting a Harris bi-pod on it using the Harris gas block adapter did some crazy things to group size.

Like I said, mine had potential. I once shot 2, 3 shot groups at 100m, with 2 different loads. One load was Federal Gold Medal Match with a 69gr hpbt. The other was a handload with Win brass, 40gr V-max and 27grs Win 748 powder. These 2 loads each produced one honest 1/2" group on the same day, same target, but POI for these 2 loads was about 14" apart. 2, 1/2" groups! If I'm lyin' I'm dyin' as the saying goes. Never managed to do it again though.

Check out perfectunion.com. Lots of ideas, thoughts and interesting Mini stuff.

I work for the largest police force in the nation. We use Mini-14's and they are not accurate nor are they completely reliable. People love them for their ergonomics. And, they are accurate enough for riot control, our primary use.

We use them because they don't offend jurors as much as AR's. I pray for the day we switch them out for Kel-Tecs. I think AR's are too awkward as far as the controls for a big agency to train with.

I owned a Liberty Model for some time. I never bench tested it, but it was good on jack rabbit out to 75 yards or so. It never failed to feed, and I put about 3000 rounds through it. I still have the dealer poster for it: "The World's Most Expensive Plinker", and that about sums up its real niche.

But, when I was offered 50% more for it than new ones cost, I sold it and it is not missed.

We use them because they're accurate enough. Our guys can hold them to a K-5 area on a silhoutte target easily at 75 yards with the peep sights that come on them. That's about 16" or so, I guess.

They're also about 1/3 the price of an AR (or were when we bought them.) I can't image their use for riot control, unless you've got one hellavu innsurection. We've had them since before 9/11 2001, actually were qualifying with them on that day. Ours are the basic unit, can't mount a scope on one and don't really need one for a patrol rifle, IMO.

Getting spare magazines is an issue. Ruger holds on to them as if they were made of gold. Given my druthers and if cost wasn't an object, the AR is far more desirable, more reliable, and has more affordable and useful optioins. Ammo can be an issue. Wolf ammo, being dirty and somewhat hypersolic, would rust the piston, or what passes for a piston, to the operating rod, and you MUST put a drop of oil on the inside of the piston after each range use, especially with Wolf ammo. I've seen them freeze so hard you have to kick open the charging handle.

Try one of these:
http://www.kel-tec-cnc.com/su16b.htm

Mine is accurate as all get out.

I've got an old, original (180 prefix) Mini-14. It shoots 2 or 3 MOA, usually. It'a always been dead-nuts reliable with any kind of ammo.

As others have advised, go to perfect union, there are a lot of guys into Mini-14's there. Be advised, however, that the Mini-14 accuracy and customization crowd share a lot of traits with the UFO and paranormal crowds...

I have owned 3 Mini 14's so far. This one is my last and it is for sale. As much as I like Ruger firearms, the Mini is absolutly the worst shooting gun I have EVER had. I kept on hoping I had just bought a "lemon" but 3 lemons in a row ?, doubtful.
The Mini 14 is absolutly dependable, I never ever had a problem with dependability, I had a problem getting groups under 3 inches at 100 yards. For a gun that retails "MSRP" of almost $900 the accuracy is inexcusable. I have cheap 22 rimfires that will group far better than any of my Mini's. Ruger should be ashamed of themselves for ever putting it on the market knowing its accuracy is barely lousy at best.

We use them in California Prisons to quell riots on a regular basis. Just because the riots don't make the news doesn't make them less real.

Hows the trigger on it?

+1

On a good day I get 2 MOA with most commercial ammo. Mine is an older SS Ranch Rifle with a Bushnell Banner 3-9. I use it as a 'yote rifle out here at my farm, and I seldom shoot over 200-250 yards.

I had one that would do an inch with handloads. It had been worked over, and had a decent trigger. I was moving to CA, thought it was illegal here (they never were) and so sold it. Dumb move, it was plenty accurate enough for yotes. The one I have now is a 180 series, and it's hard to find stocks to fit it. IIRC it did about 3-4 inches at 100 yards with 55 Win white box ammo. I haven't tried handloads yet.

edit to add, the accurate one I had, was in slow fire only, letting the barrel cool between shots. I never tried either one with a hot barrel. Given how skinny the barrels are, I doubt they'd be terribly accurate.

One thing I have noticed about any of the Rugers with the slick plastic buttplates - they all seem to slip around on your shoulder during recoil, with the old .44 carbine being the worst. Hard to have any kind of accuracy in that situation. I think a few folks sell replacement steel buttplates - I'm tempted to get one myself and glue some rubber to it, to make the gun sit tighter on the shoulder.

I bought one about 8 years ago. Grouped about 4 to 6 moa, and couldn't get it any better. Then I found the perfectunion.com website. A trigger job, bedding the action, chopping the barrel a bit, and a gas block torque job, and it now shoots right at moa or a touch over with Winchester white box 45 gr. jhp's.

No, it's not AR15 accuracy. It is also not AR15 price. Hell of a lot of fun to shoot, and coyotes don't dare come closer than 300 yards to the call. All that have, have suffered an unfortunate fate. Jacks out to 200 yards? Same fate. I've made some amazing shots with that rifle that had my buddy picking his bottom jaw up off the ground. Nah, won't be picking prairie dogs off at 300 yards, but wasn't what I bought the rifle for anyway.