[Blackhawk]

A friend has 2 Mini-14s and an assortment of magazines.

He says that 5.56mm NATO rounds are just a tad too long to feed properly in either rifle.

Anybody know anything about this?

Are specific brand mags needed?

[Sactown]

I have shot both commercial .223 and surplus 5.56 out of my Mini-14 without any problems. I am using PMI 30rnd mags, pro-mag 10rnders, and the factory mag. I did have problems with John Masen mags and dumped them.

[Dave Markowitz]

Federal XM-193 5.56 NATO ammo fed just fine in my Mini-14, using PMI 30 round magazines. Maybe his mags are defective?

[Blackhawk]

Thanks, Sactown. I'll find out what mag brands he has.

[Blackhawk]

Thanks, Dave.

So that's

PMI 30 round: work
Pro-Mag 10 round: work
factory: work
John Masen: problems

Any more?

[SodaPop]

I must be the only person that ever ran across a bad batch of SA ammo.


I picked up 300rds of SA and tried to feed it threw my Ranch model. I couldn't go more than a couple rounds without primers popping out cases. I since picked up 1200rds and ran it threw my AR, and two Mini 14s and they all function flawlessly. I pretty much just shoot reloads out of my .223 guns, but when I shot factory ammo (American Eagle, Winchester and South African) it all worked. My Mini 14 out feeds my AR hands down.

[Blackhawk]

What brand mags for your Mini-14, SodaPop?

[SodaPop]

I over-hauled 4 USA mags with new followers and they work flawlessly. I absolutely have never had a malfunction in thousands of rounds with these. I also have several PMI. I learned my lesson about buying third rate mags.

[bad_dad_brad]

No problems here with 5 and 10 round factory mags. Mostly shoot Win M193 (Q3131) Nato mil-spec.

[SodaPop]

The reason I say my Mini out feeds my AR is, I had 2000rds of .223 reloads in stock and NONE of them would feed in my AR. I had to pretty much shoot it all up in my Mini 14 just so I could resize all the cases to work in my AR. I still have 400rds I gotta shoot up just so I can start all over.

[CZ 75 BD]

with either .223 or 5.56 feeding or firing in my Ranch Rifle. However, I read the other day that 5.56 is loaded to higher pressure and should not be used in weapons chambered for .223. What do y'all say? Because of a severe case of CRS, I cannot say where I read this. I was last week. As you see on the home page, I now have 49 years behind me, so there's a lot of stuff in the head competing for the few brain cells left!

[Topgun]

I got a deal (steal) on some ammo about 7 years ago and haven't yet shot it all up.
PART of the deal was 4-5000 rds of mil 5.56 in Colt 20 rd M16 mags.
So many rounds that I went out and BOUGHT a mini-14 just to shoot em.

No problems at all. Barrel gets HOT after running 20 rounds thru FAST, but who wouldn't?

[mini14jac]

I would suggest buying a couple different boxes of ammo.
If the other ammo shoots ok, his mags are good.
If the new ammo that he buys won't shoot either, it's probably the mags.

As far as mags, you've got the right list.
1. Factory - best
2. PMI or Federal Ordinance - basically as good as factory.
3. New Promag 10 round - a lot of good reports. I have two I haven't shot yet. Great difficulty loading the #10 round, and if you do load it, the mag won't lock into the gun.
4. Any other brand - hit or miss. I had a stainless USA that wouldnt' feed at all. (When USA was still in business) I sent it back to the factory. When it came back, the top of the mag, and the lips had obviously been ground on. From that day on, it worked like a factory mag.
I have purchased Western Metal Mini14 mags that wouldn't even fit in the magwell. It was almost like they were made for a different gun.

[Gary G23]

Since the Mini-14 is chambered in .223 and NOT 5.56 nato I use American Eagle .223 in the Ruger and save the Win Q3131A for the Bushmaster. I have had good luck with PMI and Federal Ordnance 30 rounders.

[Gary A]

My owner's manual states that "Ruger Mini-14 rifles are chambered for the .223 Remington (5.56mm) cartridge. The Mini-14 is designed to use either standardized U.S. Military, or factory loaded sporting .223 (5.56mm) cartridges manufactured in accordance with U.S. industry practice." (Emphasis added).

[ahadams]

okay, I've never owned a mini-14 but something occurred to me and if this sounds stupid then, well, just ignore it, but nobody mentioned being sure that all the rounds were seated to the rear of the mag before inserting the mag in the weapon. Only reason I mention this is because we had this drilled into our heads in basic many moons ago with the M-16...failure to feed WOULD occur if all of the rounds were not seated to the rear of the mag first. We learned to accomplish this by tapping the rear of the mag against our helmets. I have since entertained friends on a couple of occaisions when firing my MAK at the range and tapping a 30 round mag against my baseball cap! no of course that didn't really hurt...much!:rolleyes:

anyway, just thought I'd mention it...

[Blackhawk]

True, but not applicable here. This guy spent a year in Vietnam as a LRRP squad leader....

[Gundolero]

I have a mini 14 and had experienced nothing but problems with USA and some other "cheapie" magazines. On most occassions the bolt would fail to go all the way forward when chambering a round after a shot was fired. Other times an unspent round would pop out of the weapon at the same time the spent shell was being ejected. :banghead:

It was not worth my time to attempt to tinker with the cheap magazines in the hopes that they would operate correctly.

I now have 2 Pro Mag 10 rounders and two Thermold 30 rounders; purchased at a gun show, which all work flawlessly.:D

[Blackhawk]

Thanks to all. I've passed on the information to him.

[SodaPop]

I have a mini 14 and had experienced nothing but problems with USA and some other "cheapie" magazines. On most occassions the bolt would fail to go all the way forward when chambering a round after a shot was fired. Other times an unspent round would pop out of the weapon at the same time the spent shell was being ejected.


That is exactly what happened with ALL 4 of the USA mags I had.

[benEzra]

Gary A -- ditto. You beat me to it!

Regarding feeding 5.56mm rounds, my mini-14 ranch has never misfed anything, milsurp or not, as far as I can recall. It really seems to like M855 accuracy-wise, but eats anything. I've used a Ram-Line Combo mag, a USA (I think) 20-rounder, and even one of those Eagle brand 35's with the coil springs, and all worked.

I do have a couple of junky no-name nickel-plated magazines in which the magazine catch block was welded on too low, causing the mag to sit so high in the well that the bolt could not move forward at all. (Talk about poor QC.) Dremeled 2mm off the bottom of the magazine catch block, and now they fit. (Haven't tried them at the range, though.)

bE

[greyeyezz]

In the mid 90's i picked up ten usa 30's, a little filing and grinding here and there and thousands of rounds, they all work flawlessly now. If you can find Thermolds jump on them.