Mini/14 bucket list?

lauderdale wrote:
After 3+ years of loading for pistol its time to take on bottle neck.

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223 was my first bottleneck case to reload, too.

A Ruger Mini-14 was also my first 223 rifle. I'm excited just reading about it.

Since you already know the fundamentals from loading pistol there's not a lot to learn other than:

• You have to lubricate cases to resize them.
  
  • Don't forget to lubricate every few cases inside the neck as well. You can minimize this if you use a carbide sizer ball; available from Lyman or Forster (and maybe others); I think the Forster is the more robust one.
    
  • Some people like spray on-lubricants like Hornady One-Shot. Put the cases in a plastic bag, spray them with One Shot, shake the bag and let the One Shot have a chance to dry. You risk sticking cases if you rush it.
  • I use Hornady Unique (Imperial Sizing Wax is similar) and a little really does go a long way. Make sure you don't use too much or it will dent the neck of the case. If you start denting case necks, remove the expander assembly and clean out the die like you would clean the chamber of your rifle. All but most severely dented cases are safe to use, the dent is just additional cold working of the brass that will shorten the life of the case.
    
  • Also, there is a hole in the sizer die to let air escape. The lube will tend to plug it, so get a needle or small wire to periodically clean the hole out.
• Most lubes are easily removed with dry tumbling.
  
• Because of the shoulder, bottleneck cases will stretch on firing so you will need to stay alert for the need to trim them when they get too long.
• Also, as the cases grow watch out for signs that the case wall is thinning and the head is getting ready to separate. Consult your reloading manual for a discussion of head separation and what to look for.
  
• After trimming you need to deburr the inside and outside of the case mouth with an appropriate tool. I use the L.E. Wilson one sold by RCBS and it has lasted me 38 years so far.

That's about it. Everything else is pretty much like reloading a pistol cartridge.

Also, conventional wisdom is that you need a small base die to size the case down to SAAMI minimum dimensions to ensure reliability in semi-automatic rifles. In my case, the chambers on all of my Mini-14s and S&W M&P-15s function just fine with a standard sizing die. If you decide to go with a standard die to minimize the amount you cold work the cases realize you may have to go back and buy a small-base sizer die. You're gambling about $30 for slightly longer brass life.

Also, depends where in Tennessee you landed, but Chicago to the Volunteer State could be something of a culture shock.

hdwhit put up a great reply!

The only thing I can think of....

Do not get disappointed if you can't get the rifle to print Sub MOA Groups. (Or Sub Tennis Ball) LOL
It will most likely be the rifle and not your loads.
It would be sad knowing you pulled all of your hair out chasing the "impossible".

I have an old Mini 14. I love the silly thing, but mine and many others are only so accurate.

You will enjoy the Mini 14 and loading bottle necks.

Keep us posted.

Love my Mini 14, but don't be surprised if it throws the brass 15 or 20'. (or into the next county if you live in a small county)
I like to mark the base of my brass with a sharpie, that way I can ID it easy and know I have the primer pocket crimp removed.
(since they are in the next county you can't see where they are landing....start looking about 15' to the right and about 8 feet back)

MOP- minute of pie plate, they will start to wander as the barrel gets hot which it does fairly quickly. Still like it, loads of fun.
Good ammo does help a lot.

I bought a WFT (worlds finest trimmer) to trim my .223 brass ~$75 but money well spent if you are loading a lot of .223.
I don't even measure the brass now I just run it all thru the trimmer, if it needs it it gets trimmed. I would also recommend getting a case guage. I purchased the LE Wilson one but there are other out there.
.223 is not hard to load the two thing that eat up time in brass prep is trimming and removing primer crimps, something you usually don't have to deal with when loading pistol rounds. (I recycle any crimped pistol brass I run into).

H335, 8208XBR,BLC(2) and TAC have all worked well for me and meter decent thru a measure.
I would say I like TAC the best out of the 4. (BLC(2) second.

Rocky Mountain Reloading generally has good deals on .223 bullets and offer THR members a 5% discount. code thehighroad5 and your screen name.


Did I mention Mini 14s have nice positive ejection

Which one did you get?

I have a Ranch mini 14 that throws brass into the next county. A friend of mine has a regular mini 14 that with the exception of not having the scope mounts of the ranch I liked better.

Are you asking about the Rifle or about handloads for it??

Don't believe all the OLD reviews out there. I have the "tactical" version (IE it is the shorter 16" barrel and it is damn accurate.

Some of the old models with longer barrels did have accuracy issues but Ruger has made them better.

One of my favorite rifles.

No it's not a bench rest target rifle.

I found .223 to be a royal PITA and not worth the time and effort to reload, at least when ammo became available again. Next panic I'll start again I guess.

I had a Mini 14 with folding stock. I got tired of it & picked up a ranch rifle.
The cops called me one day"" bring your folding stock Mini 14 to the station--we need to measure it""
I gave them the dimensions but they don't believe citizens.
""BRING IT DOWN HERE""
i FAXED THEM THE SALE PAPERS--WOW TALK ABOUT
MAD AS HELL--LUCK i AM STILL HERE.

lauderdale said:

Thank you very much. This hits home. @ the lgs today we read threw all the posts and they hit home (few military ) as I may want to put the M14 on the back burner. Thank you fellas for all weighing in big time! Thank u for the time you have took for me! I will look to purchase(M14) as my friend receives new /used guns on a steady basis. However im thinking the radical RF-FR16-5.56 SOC that w/be another thread. Thank u guyz! John.

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Radical makes a decent rifle for the price. Throw away the cheap mil spec butt stock and put a better one on.

I bought one for a "beater" when they where on sale at AIM surplus,

This thread needs a picture. This was my favorite rifle that I bought in the 70's. Christmas present to my son two years ago....sigh...now it's his favorite rifle .....still miss it. Obviously, I like my son......otherwise....I'd have to be buried with it.

Ammo loaded with my Lee .223 dies works fine in my Mini and AR, so I don't need a small base sizer. YMMV

Nice Mini GW.

My 583 series is a tack driver! Sub MOA at 100 on anything in the 60-65g bullet size. It likes several powders equally but seems to slightly prefer CFE223 and H335.

A good story from last weekend's trip to the range with the Mini; There are three guys shooting to my left, two were members, one a guest. The one guy is bragging about his AR that cost a small fortune with expensive optics. Says he can hit anything with it.

I'm doing a load work up on my Mini with 60g VMax not really paying any attention to this bragger.

So he starts shooting at the gong at 250yrds, misses 5 in a row. I ask, which one are you shooting at? He says "the 250". So, my "can't hit the broad side of a barn" Mini with open sights rings the 250, 5 in a row.

It was really quiet the rest of my range session

Enjoy your Mini, I love mine, and the feel of wood compared to those spendy and spindly AR's, is worth every penny!

My Mini is bone stock except the reduced gas bushing and 1911 buffers. Shoots like a dream, cycles like a Singer.

I did send my trigger group to Brimstone Gunsmithing for a trigger job.

It is kinda scary light now.

GW Staar said:

... This was my favorite rifle that I bought in the 70's. ...

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Nice!

I bought my 1st one in ~1978. I was not aware (until now) that they were offered in stainless that early.

Congratulations on your Mini-14. For detailed information about this rifle and reloading for it, consult the Perfect Union Min-14 website which has a lot of knowledgeable participants.

http://www.perfectunion.com/vb/ruger-mini-14-mini-30/

Two common modifications are a barrel stabilizer and a smaller bushing for the gas block or an adjustable gas block. Two common barrel stabilzers are the Mo-Rod and the Accu-Strut, both of which will dampen barrel harmonics and improve accuracy somewhat, especially in older "pencil barrel" models. The consensus is that stock Min-14s are over-gassed, resulting in somewhat violent ejection of brass and the operating rod banging into the receiver, possibly damaging scopes and degrading accuracy. I chose an adjustable gas block from Accuracy Systems which allows me to tune the ejection based on the loads I'm using. Accuracy Systems also recently introduced a combination barrel strut and adjustable gas block.

http://www.accuracystore.com/index.php#!/Adjustable/c/19853210/offset=0&sort=nameAsc

Case preparation for the .223 is much more elaborate than for pistol cartridges. The first thing to remember is that proper case resizing is vital to ensure that the shoulder of the cartridge is pushed back far enough so that the completed round will chamber. This means that the base of the resizing die should touch the shell plate when the ram is fully raised. Fully resize both new and used brass. You might want to consider getting a "small-base" resizing die to help chamgering in semi-automatic rifles.

Don't trust the case gauge to determine whether the brass has been properly resized. Make a few dummy rounds and see if they will chamber freely. Depending on the type of bullet you use, you may have to shorten the OAL somewhat from the 2.250" to 2.260" OAL seen in many reloading manuals. Shortening the OAL will require you to reduce powder charges. Start at or very near minimum charges and work up from there.

If you work with military brass, you will need to remove the primer crimp. I bought the Dillon crimp remover - a bit expensive but works great and can be used on any cartridge that has a crimped primer.

https://www.dillonprecision.com/super-swage-600_8_8_25263.html

55 gr. and 62 gr. military bullets are not considered to be the most accurate projectiles for the .223. Since you will put so much effort into preparing your brass, you might want to spend a few cents more per bullet and get try some Sierra Match Kings, (52 gr. and 69 gr.), Hornaday A-Max, or Nosler Ballistic Tips or Varmageddons (55 gr. and 60 gr.)

SARuger said:

..........reduced gas bushing and 1911 buffers........

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And you are going to tell us more about those two titillating items, right? I'd never heard of either so I'm intrigued to say the least.

I have one more carbine I love.......not going to part with it, though....its a low tech bolt gun.....Remington 600 Mowhawk in .243. I won't ruin this Mini 14 thread any more than to say, it has shot one holers at 100 yds. with the right reloads and is...........almost as purty.

OK, twisted my arm.... Not as sexy as the Ruger, but what a deer rifle in rough country! Short and sweet! The first one holer I shot was using a Sierra 100gr over Win.760, loaded with a Lee Target loader....(my first reloading experience)...uh, about 1975. Lent it to my 16 year old Grandson 2 years ago and he got his first buck on his first hunt.....with Remington Core-loks ... so it still works ... not bad for a $105 rifle bought new.
Lee Target Loader below