[WingZero]

What do you (guys and gals) think about the Ruger Mini 14?
Whether you own one, or not, let me know:
your opinions and/or experience(s).

[Baba Louie]

A fun little plinker, minute of coyote accurate. Ammo's cheap (relatively speaking).

A 600 yd shoot the nads off a charging mosquito firearm? Nope.

What Ruger thought a garand wannabe for civilians ought to be.

Fun.

Barrel heats up quickly. Accuracy suffers as a result.

Hi-cap mags? Why?

I've shot my Dad's regularly over the years. I bought a mini-30 as a result.

If .223 and accuracy are important to you think AR-15, not mini-14.

If making noise, smelling gunpowder and shooting groups (some call them patterns) within 150 yds is good enough, then so is the Ruger.

YMMV

Adios

[dakotasin]

i've got no use for one... the money spent on one is, in my estimation, money that could've gone towards a bolt gun, or better optics for an existing bolt gun.

of course, i'm just an accuracy freak and a hunter, so what do i know??

[JohnKSa]

I have owned one, but do not currently.

They are very reliable.

Generally speaking, they will shoot about 3MOA out of the box. For another $200, there are things that you can buy/have done that will get them down around 1MOA.

There are virtually no good quality high-caps available and the few out there are going to be painfully expensive.

Knowing what I know now, I'd probably buy a .223 Saiga instead. Performance is comparable, and price is better.

[P95Carry]

Mine is my second .... it's a 185-xxxx series ... 1:7 twist and .... i'd hate to part with it! It is not in MOA category but .. it functions well ... I have three hi-cap mags from different origins that, with tweaks, will do OK. It hates steel cased Russian ammo .... group goes to pieces but ..... feed it something like my homeloads, or American eagle etc ..... and it is very acceptable.

Don't expect a Mini to be other than a carbine with every fifth shot a flier! having said that .... it is IMO a great lil gun! :) Better for a scope too.

[AZTOY]

I like my ,Funny little gun ,very reliable. But good mag are hard to find and the barrel will wipe when it gets hot.


If you live FREE state not PPK. I would look at the AR-15. My next 223 will be a AR or Bullbarrel gun.

[firestar]

Do a search here, this question has come up at least twice recently and some people will not respond to your question because they just responded to one like it a few weeks ago.

I had one and it was one of my favorite rifles. I sold it because I couldn' t find factory hi-caps for a reasonable price. I thought the accuracy was good but I am not a bench rest master or anything. I could shoot it as well as my AR-15 from a standing position but from the bench, the AR-15 was much more accurate. It handels well and is quick to the shoulder. Never jammed even on Wolff ammo, niether of my AR-15s can say that!

[Dr.Rob]

As a 223 hunting rifle with 100-150 yard accuracy its great.

If you plan on burning magazine after magazine as fast as you can its less than great.

It will keep shooting it just won't have any accuracy.

If you keep your shots down to 3, and let the barrel cool off you can get down to 1.5 -2 inch groups at 100 yards.

Your groups will open up with any rifle with a hot barrel, the Ruger's is just really skinny. Luckily with the stainless models the cool off faster.

The older models have a 1-12 twist which makes accuracy better, but they also are not set up for scope mounting the way the "Ranch" models are.

Take down and cleaning are fairly easy, and while factory hi-caps are expensive, the 5 shot mags are very well made and should last a lifetime.

[Joe Demko]

Owned two. Now own none. Not interested in owning any more. Virtues do not outweigh faults.