Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Ruger Mini 14

The challenge with the Mini is getting a better fit without affecting the ease of takedown. AS drills holes in the stock and if I understand it correctly, fits pins to the action that mate with metal sockets in those holes. A roll of Gorilla tape might work just as well, if not as elegantly; just strap that sucker in!

Been looking a bit at piston ARs, mostly the Adams Arms P2, or rather the upper since I now have a lower. They run cleaner and cooler than the DI ones, except for your hand holding onto the forend which can get pretty smoked up. Better than the face I guess.

I doubt Gorilla tape will anchor the action in the stock as rigidly as those three screws. AS will epoxy threaded inserts in the stock to receive Allen head machine screws.

I took the factory stock, cut the top quarter off on a table saw, glued a piece of wood, sculpted the now higher comb for better cheek weld. I then painted the stock with crinkle rattle can black paint.

It’s held up pretty well.

DF

Hell yes it does!!!



I've never seen a mini shoot that well. Post them up, if you have them.

Probably not many quarter MOA mini’s. Mine as posted is approx a half MOA gun. And that’s after a bunch of expensive Accuracy Systems work.

Quarter MOA is not easy to achieve, even with a well tuned bolt gun.

I’ve posted that an AR out of the box will most likely out shoot a Mini out of the box. Their Target Mini with some load development can be pretty interesting.

But if you’re comparing tuned up Mini with tuned up AR, AR likely to win again.

DF

Unfortunately the target model was .223 only. Not an issue for some, but I’d rather be able to run 5.56 in a mini. There is also a big difference between putting up a single fluke 1/2” 3-shot group and being able to repeatedly shoot repeated 5-shot groups of a specific size.

Bought this one from a Texas State Trooper going to Louisiana to work Katrina. I've got $500 in it, plus mags I've bought for it. Shoots minute of bad guy, eats anything I put through it, and goes bang every single time. I've been meaning to send it to AS to have them work their magic on it, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. Other stuff keeps getting prioritized ahead of it. Great ally gun for family, friend or drop over the fence to a neighbor to help them keep their place safe.

AR every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Accuracy, price, CHEAP priced mags of top quality and accessories beyond your imagination. Mini 14? Still a dog turd by.any stretch of the imagination. You asked..mb

Mini 14 is the biggest POS Ruger ever made. Most AR15's will shoot circles around a mini.

That was a joke, of sorts. Mine is fine as it is for its purpose. The adjustable gas block may or may not tighten groups up, but groups aren’t the goal.

I’m wondering if shutting the gas off completely will affect POI, maybe make every shot a first-round flyer? For certain, no having to chase brass would be a bonus.

I understand that in the UK you can have a Mini but it can't shoot semi auto. They plug up the gas bushing and now it's a bolt action with a straight pull bolt. This supposedly makes for an accurate Mini. I never could get better than 1 1/2" inches with a skinny barrel Mini and that was with a lot of load development.

Getting the right load helps a Mini shoot less than 2" especially in the new barrels. (580 series with the .625 barrels) I think the key is getting the case sized right and a faster burning powder. RL10 or AA2015. I have tried heavier bullets than the 55 grain but I can't seem to find the right one. I've also had good groups with IMR 3031, H335 and AA2230. I've had no luck with any powder slower than AA2460. Winchester 748. Forget about it. IMR 4895 No way.

The advantage of the faster burning powder is the cases don't fly so far. The fix for that is a new gas bushing or an adjustable gas block if you want to spend the money. It seems if you have a well broken in Mini that misfeeds or rips the heads off of cases it's because the bolt is moving too fast and the magazine can't get a new cartridge up fast enough to catch the bolt going forward.

Slow down the bolt speed
resize your cartridge case to fill the chamber
find the right powder and the right load
trigger job.

You can bed around the action in a wood stock in a traditional manner or in the case of the plastic stocks we use a small piece of old credit card to hold the actions a bit tighter in the stock.

That's the key to a more accurate Mini 14 but they will never be a prairie dog shooter. The skinny barrels require a "strut" if none of the above work.

kwg

I see by several of the comments many people are still years behind when it comes to the mini-14...

Unlike a cheap ass AK or a decent AR, Minis don't have chrome lined barrel, chambers or even gas systems. The gas system is, contrary to popular belief, based on the M1 Carbine, not the M-14. The heavy slide banging against the gas block all but guarantees less than stellar accuracy.
They are always overgassed and beat the [bleep] out of brass, the worst part being the rim lifts.

I think of them as a powerful 10/22 - useful at about the same ranges, but with more power.

By all means show us some updated results. I'd pick one up again if they were still light, handy, affordable and now accurate. I have to say the first mini-14 I had had the wooden op rod cover but it shot well enough with the peep sight, that a couple of my friends wound up buying one. Then the Ranch Rifle came out and we just had to have them with scopes on them and found out how unaccurate they were.

Best one I had would put 4 in 1.5" which would've been great but the first shot was always 3-4" away from the rest.
AR's are half the price, almost half the weight, twice as accurate and more reliable.

Well, weight depends on the AR. but the other points do have some merit.

DF

Don't mess with it. Those have some serious demand. The front sight in the middle of the barrel stops some of the harmonic vibration and they typically give better accuracy than a standard skinny barrel Mini.

kwg

kwg, it has shot well since I got it. I have not messed with it. It is minute of bad guy at 100. That's all I need it to do. It does not jam. It does not Short Stroke. Feed it quality 55 grain ammo and it just runs. And you are right. It is not the skinny barrel. Nowadays, its role is more of an ally gun. Something to hand family or friends, or I can hand it over the fence to a neighbor who needs to protect their Homestead, too. For $500 and some mags (all Ruger factory), I figure I'm good. It is mechanically and cosmetically pristine. I also have an Inland 1944 M1 carbine that suits a similar role. Even in the hands of a small female or a 15-16 year-old youngster, they and these rifles are quite capable.

for the price I'd still stick with an AR. but I do have a Mini -14 bought in 1982.

Mine is SS, and the barrel hammer-forged, so chrome isn’t missed. A gas port kit from AS is $35, buffers $15. They also have a stronger guide spring for $18; might get one of those, but the buffers work well.

That TFB video shows Lawyer James engaging targets out to IIRC, 400 yards with his, which isn’t modified AFIK. The vintage of the Minis definitely matters, and it’s not just about the barrel weight. They spent a lot of time and effort improving them. I wouldn’t bother with an older one myself as there’s just too much to deal with. I spent $150 on mine, trigger job, buffers, and gas port kit. It’s accurate enough for hunting, and social work, and totally reliable. I took it down for cleaning once, but there wasn’t enough there to bother. I put a drop or so of oil here and there once in awhile, but the manual warns against overdoing it because it holds dirt. I think it would run just fine totally dry.

The OP asked about it as a SHTF piece. I think it’s about perfect, although I’m also thinking my Bear Creek .22 mag fills the bill too, and the ammo is much lighter, so a feller could carry a bunch.

Going to have to check out James' video.

I have been shooting a 188 series Ranch Rifle for over 20 years now. It has had a trigger job and a few other things done to it. It's a solid 2 inch at 100 yards rifle. Most of the time I shoot milsurp M193 in it, but it handles my handloaded 64 grain Winchester soft points well. Like virtually all Mini 14s, it is totally reliable, no matter what some folks think.
I was given an elderly, and broken AimPoint 5000. The factory did a complete refurbishing job on it, and it's like new now. The sight and the rifle are much the same age and go well together.