new Mini-14 Ranch

[George Mabry]

I recently bought one of the new Ruger Mini-14 Ranch rifles. When I tried to install the synthetic folding stock from my old Mini-14 onto this new one, it didn't fit. Neither did the flash suppressor off the old rifle.

As I understand it, Ruger made some major improvements in the Mini-14 starting around 2005 which I guess accounts for the design changes. Has anyone bought any accessories for these newer model Mini 14s. If so, where?

I surfed around the internet and found several sites advertising folding stocks but there is no mentioning of stocks designed for the "new model" or "old model" in the write ups.

George

 

[husker]

I think any stock that says mini 14 or mini 30 will be for the newer rifles.

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ItemListing.aspx?catid=1009&pagenumber=2

 

[George Mabry]

you might be right Husker but the way I see it is that the market for the older models is probably larger than the one for the newer models so retailers should be directing most of their marketing toward them. I sure there is plenty of stock on hand for the old style.

Some of the ads I've found are dated. One stated that their stock "fits 181 series and above". I've got a 186 series rifle and the stock from it won't fit the newer 582 series. No way of telling how long that ad has been up there.

Your post gave me a good idea though. I sent an email to customer service at Cheaper Than Dirt and ask them how to determine which of their stocks fit which model. We'll see what they have to say.

thanks for the reply, George

 

[husker]

I see your dilemma. I sat here for 2 hours while the storms cruised threw last night, looking at stocks. I couldn't find a 1 that told you for sure it was for the new tapered, or the old pencil barrel. I wouldn't buy either without contacting the maker.

 

[LoonWulf]

My 581 droped right into the hogue stock, fit was a tad tighter then the factory synthetic. I ended up putting it back in the factory stock, linda like it better.

Choate has a birdcage hider specifically for the taperbarrels, which i have and rather lkke, but im unsure if there are others.

 

[George Mabry]

Chris Jones, a product tech at Cheaper Than Dirt answered my email and stated that all their after market stocks will fit the newer series Rugers. I'm at a loss of where to go from here. I skimmed through some of the customer reviews of the various folding stocks sold at Cheaper than Dirt and easily found a couple of complaints about the stocks not fitting the 581 series rifles so I'm not the only one having a problem.

Wonder if Cheaper Than Dirt would pitch a fit if I took my Mini-14 with me and ask to "try one on for size."

George

 

[courtgreene]

Ask them that. Maybe they will encourage you to do so, so that they will be able to answer questions for others. Or, maybe, they will see how serious you are and work harder to answer your questions.

 

[George Mabry]

Boys, I'm going to have to eat crow on this one. I got that folding stock to fit. I talked to another retailer today and he told me the same thing Cheaper Than Dirt said so I decided to work with it some more. After about 10-15 minutes of fooling with that thing, I was just about to give it up and learn to love that wooden stock when I decided to try it in reverse the order. I put the trigger assembly into the stock first and surprisingly it fit. Then I put the barrel on. It took a minute or so of jiggling things around but it eventually all fell into place. It doesn't seem like it is as good a fit as the wooden factory stock but the action all seems to work fine.

Thanks to everyone for your help. Sorry to have wasted your time.

George

 

[dprice3844444]

it looks like ruger made some dimensional changes to stiffen the receiver/barrel assembly up on the newer rifles.this may limit some of the older stuff from being used,which forces new stuff being produced to fit the newer receivers.anybody ordering should specify which receiver setup they are using just in case.cover your butt.