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Ruger Mini 14 |
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SVT_Tactical
MODERATOR Chief Sackscratch Joined: December/17/2009 Location: NorthCackalacky Status: Offline Points: 31233 |
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Posted: October/01/2013 at 12:23 |
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Well I've picked up a Ruger Mini 14 thats been redone and now has a 6mm barrel on it chambered in 6x45. From all i know at this point the work was done years and years ago by the company that is now Accuracy Systems. I've only shot these over the years, never tried to clean or mess with one. Suppose to be a real shooter but I'm waiting to determine that.
What should I know about them prior to starting to tinker with it? |
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"Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be" - Abraham Lincoln
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cheaptrick
MODERATOR Joined: September/27/2004 Location: South Carolina Status: Offline Points: 20844 |
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Don't know, but I'm tagging along for responses.
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If at first you don't secede...try..try again.
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SVT_Tactical
MODERATOR Chief Sackscratch Joined: December/17/2009 Location: NorthCackalacky Status: Offline Points: 31233 |
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It is scheduled to arrive tomorrow at my FFL along with a CZ pistol already there for me to pick up
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"Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be" - Abraham Lincoln
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Alan Robertson
Optics Master Joined: October/31/2009 Location: Oklahoma Status: Offline Points: 1763 |
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"Garg'n uair dhuisgear"
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Peddler
Optics God Joined: July/04/2012 Location: Oswego,NY Status: Offline Points: 13526 |
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When you are dead, you don't know you are dead.It is difficult only for others.
It is the same when you are stupid. |
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SVT_Tactical
MODERATOR Chief Sackscratch Joined: December/17/2009 Location: NorthCackalacky Status: Offline Points: 31233 |
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lol I bet.
Previous owner said he got .5" groups with it back in the day when he shot it. Says its been sitting since the mid 90's in the safe unfired.
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"Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be" - Abraham Lincoln
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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The mechanics of the Mini-14 is essentially a scaled down clone of the classic M14. It has pretty much the same gas system/op rod/ rotating bolt design as the M14. They're pretty foolproof, though the out of the box, stock-standard Minis aren't known for their accuracy, and they have pretty poor triggers. Despite those shortcomings, they'll take a lot of abuse and neglect and keep running. Yours sounds like the exception to the rule, being a customized rifle with custom barrel.
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Ted
Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle. |
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HuntMaster
Optics Master Joined: March/19/2007 Location: St Stephens,Al. Status: Offline Points: 1053 |
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When cleaning/ disassembling, If you take the end of the gas block off, be careful not to lose the little orifice that fits in the gas hole. It looks like a tiny roll pin, and will sometimes come out easily. Most Mini's toss the brass a long distance from the shooter, and if you don't like that feature, you can change the orifice tube diameter to adjust the distance. This also eliminates some of the "slam" the bolts are known to do. |
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SVT_Tactical
MODERATOR Chief Sackscratch Joined: December/17/2009 Location: NorthCackalacky Status: Offline Points: 31233 |
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Well I picked it up yesterday and seems to be exactly as described. Shot very little and bounced around in the safe a bit. The trigger is actually pretty good. I dont' have a guage but I'd say it breaks around3.5# max and like a glass rod. The barrel isn't marked at all so I'm not sure on the maker. I've got to load up some rounds and I'll test it out this weekend if I can find a scope to try on it. I'm scope poor at the moment. Its a nice compact and quick to point. Its been bedded in and appears to be a really good job of it too. I think it will be handy to use walking around the woods. Guy sent me dies, 5 mags, brass catcher, and rings with it. I'm excited to test it out I think its size will make it quicker in the woods than a 16" AR. It points very natural for me.
On a side note. I also picked up a used CZ 75 P01 at the same time. Dang it was dirty! I took it complety apart, cleaned it and coated it up with some frog lube. It fits my hand so well. Compared it to the compact 75 that my dad got and its the same grip and all but in a decocker setup. It is also a NATO stamped gun so its a bit older. The trigger was not the best when I got it and I contributed it to the dirtyness. after the frog lube the trigger is super crisp but does have a bit of creep that I'd like to get rid of. They offer a hammer tune which is suppose to take care of that at the CZ custom shop but I'm going to shoot it a bit first and see if that helps any more.
I'll get photos and targets from the mini up when I have time and get a chance to fire.
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"Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be" - Abraham Lincoln
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trigger29
Optics Master Extraordinaire X = 180 Y = 90 (X+Pyro)+(Y-Pyro) = ? Joined: September/29/2007 Location: South Dakota Status: Offline Points: 4353 |
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What should you know??? Don't get into a prairie dog town and rip on the trigger until the whole thing is smoking hot. Watched my cousin ruin a mini 14 that way. Shot good before that....... Couldn't hit the broad side of a barn after that day.
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"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." |
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SVT_Tactical
MODERATOR Chief Sackscratch Joined: December/17/2009 Location: NorthCackalacky Status: Offline Points: 31233 |
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Got a few minutes this past sunday to fire some rounds off with the mini. Paperwork i got with it shows the conversion done in 87' all the literature and reciepts were with the gun. Gave a trim lenght and a few loads. I did the trim they recommended but tossed together a load of varget and 70 gr Nosler BT's. I got a 5 shot group of less than .8" at 100yds with an old bushnell 2-8 scopecheif on it. Being it was the first time I'd shot it with a sub par scope and the first load I tried.... I think it shows some promise!
No pictures, it was raining some and I didn't want the camera to get wet.
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"Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be" - Abraham Lincoln
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Urimaginaryfrnd
MODERATOR Resident Redneck Joined: June/20/2005 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 14964 |
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Ive had two of the mini 14 and two of the mini 30 s over the years the ones from years ago did not shoot well unless they were worked on but they are a very reliable design and not a look that makes the anit s squalk even though they do pretty much the same job as the AR. I am told that they will take tremendous abuse and run dirty reliably but I dont run guns dirty. I didnt scope the one that I have left it will reliably hit a man size target at 100 yds or closer and for law enforcement use that about covers it. We hunt deer with bows shotguns and muskets so need and use is limited. I can still remember one of the troopers I trained with in 78 carried a mini 14 in the squad car.
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"Always do the right thing, just because it is the right thing to do". Bobby Paul Doherty Texas Ranger |
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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Sounds like you have a nice rifle, G. As you've seen, with a good aftermarket barrel and some trigger work, they can be made to shoot very well.
I have a bone stock, early mfg Mini-14 when Ruger used a wood handguard over the barrel (vs. the current vented polymer or fiberglass guard they now use). Mine isn't what I'd call "accurate" compared to most other rifles chambered in .223 and the trigger is atrocious. Mine is probably a 2-3 MOA gun, though I've never worked up special loads for it or really tried to tweak it to see what it's really capable of. I never cared about that, as I've never scoped it or plan to. Despite all that, I enjoy shooting it, and I plan to keep it. I enjoy using the peep sights, and it shoots good enough for open sights at moderate distance. It's a fun plinker for me, and I like the nostalgic "M14" look. In that regard, I prefer the look of the wood handguard to the newer models, though rumor has it that the newer Minis shoot better on average than the early production Minis. It's never had the slightest failure to feed or fire, and I've probably put 2000 - 2500 rounds through it. When the AR craze heated up, the Mini-14 was largely trashed on internet forums because in stock form, it's never been capable of shooting as well as the average AR, and it's far less customizable. Despite that, it's much less dependent on cleaning and lubrication than an AR to keep it running. Reliability, durability, and "handiness" are the Mini-14's strengths. Edited by RifleDude - October/09/2013 at 10:05 |
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Ted
Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle. |
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JD548
Optics Apprentice Joined: June/29/2013 Status: Offline Points: 147 |
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had 5 minis over the years.
none of them were accurate compared to the AR-15s. they all had stock ruger barrels. i think the best one was an old 180 series blued. i was in the service when the DOD tested some short barreled minis in an effort to replace the old XM-177E1 carbines. one of them literally came apart in a test firing in front of a bunch of brass hats. the bolt flew out of it and landed at the feet of some of the big-wigs. and this is after we had ran them some and sort of went through them. one of the AC-556s i was shooting the gas block backed off and it split the op-rod where it meets the bolt. seems like there was a lot of wear esp in the full-auto parts, the bolts and so on, like the metal was too soft. and there was the cooking off problems-- of course the full-auto problems the mini had have nothing to do with a semi mini. of the mini 14s i had aside from spotty accuracy there was a lot of mag issues. lancer mags seemed to solve the issues. provided you could find good mags and keep it clean it would run pretty good. being that your mini has a 6mm barrel you should be able to find out how well it will do accuracy wise. as far as tremendous abuse goes -- as far as i know none of the minis supplied to the DOD passed the live fire tests. i think none of them made it to the 10k mark. i think the mark on the wear was 10k rounds back then. had i kept any of mine i would have swapped to a heavy barrel. one thing you can do with a stock ruger barrel is cut it back to 16" thread it to 1"-28 and put on a heavy flash hider . that seems to cut down the fliers with a stock barrel. the stainless ones shot better cold while the blue ones did better as they warmed up. it is a challenging platform to work with , barrel set up is a PITA too. Edited by JD548 - October/09/2013 at 19:35 |
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supertool73
Optics God Superstool Joined: January/03/2008 Status: Offline Points: 11814 |
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Has anyone had a new mini made in the last year or 2? Claims are they are much more accurate these days.
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Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.
"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don't own." |
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HuntMaster
Optics Master Joined: March/19/2007 Location: St Stephens,Al. Status: Offline Points: 1053 |
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Mine is made in '82, it is a Gov't/LEO model. But to answer your question, my co-worker whom I share an office with bought one of the newer mini's about 3 yrs ago. It is much more accurate than mine, it shoots 1" - 1-1/2" groups vs mine at 1-1/2 - 2- 1/2" @ 100 yds.
Only difference I can see on the newer models is the barrel taper/profile aside from the polymer stocks, which I don't care much for. As someone noted above, I like the look of the wood models. Moreso, I like the look of the Gov't/LEO model like mine with the bayo lug, and flash hider, but it's not a deal breaker.
I am on the lookout for a mini 30 at present. I've got a lot of old 7.62x39 ammo sittin around that needs a host.
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hatton mann
Optics Apprentice Joined: March/02/2011 Location: ne Status: Offline Points: 179 |
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Too bad. It was a good idea; a fairly light weight, compact, walkin' around, mag fed .223 semi.
I had a 182 series. I bought it used, never gave me any problems, but I never pushed it or abused it either. The trigger ws decent. I put mis-surp & reloads through it. Accuracy was 'not acceptable'. I would like to try a 'newer' one, just out of curiosity.
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Urimaginaryfrnd
MODERATOR Resident Redneck Joined: June/20/2005 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 14964 |
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Yes one 5.56 on 7..62x39 ---- they are much more accurate than the 1980s versions they are still not AR accurate but they are reliable and take a beating.
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"Always do the right thing, just because it is the right thing to do". Bobby Paul Doherty Texas Ranger |
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Kickboxer
MODERATOR Moderator Joined: February/13/2008 Status: Offline Points: 23679 |
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I've always liked the Mini-14s. My next door neighbor and I bought one in 1981 and an Aimpoint... we used to pop the heads off turtles at 200 yards with that setup. Never have understood the accuracy issues with that rifle. Though I don't have one... left it with Steve... I like 'em...
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Opinion,untempered by fact,is ignorance.
There are some who do not fear death... for they are more afraid of not really living |
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JD548
Optics Apprentice Joined: June/29/2013 Status: Offline Points: 147 |
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the big hang up with the mini- is the lack of parts --every issue it had was fixable.
had they been like the ar where all the parts are for sale via several suppliers i think the mini would have caught on. as a general rule i don't like any firearm i can't get ALL the parts for. even if it is good. if it is marginal to start with --? LOL! and this is why the AR-15 and the 1911 have such a strong following. this was true for the AK and the FN-FAL and various HK/cetme types till the parts supplies started to dry up. i haven't been too fond of ruger since they jumped into bed with bill clinton during the AW ban of the 90s either. many folks own rugers and are happy with them. i however have a long long memory. |
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