Dave Markowitz
Member
Today was the first day of my mini Summer vacation, and as planned I went to the range. I brought my Mini-14, AK, and Makarov.
First up was the Mini-14. Since the last time I shot it, I had replaced the factory ramp front sight with the HK-style protected post/flash hider combo made by Eagle. Since it had a new front sight the gun needed to be rezeroed. I did this at 25 yards, which gives a useful battle sight zero out to 300 yards with a .223.
With the Eagle unit the rifle shot low, even after I cranked the rear sight way up. Luckily, I saw a post on the Perfect Union BBS Mini-14 forum recently by somebody who ran into the same problem -- so I had a set of needle files with me. I filed a little bit off the front sight to raise the point of impact such that I could lower the rear sight down a few clicks.
I'm quite pleased with the Eagle unit. The sight picture is much, much better than it was with the factory front sight, and the flash hider works well. When shooting the Mini-14 before I noticed a substantial fireball, even in broad daylight. No such flash was visible today.
Aside from the new front sight, I needed to function test the 5 PMI 20 round mags I got from CDNN. They worked without a hitch. Aside from these, I have four known good 30 round PMI mags, plus four as yet untested no name aftermarket 20 rounders.
I shot a few different kinds of .223 through the Mini-14, including 60 rounds of Federal XM-193 Ball, 50 rounds of Winchester 55 gain FMJ "Value Pack" (probably the same as Q3131 ammo), and 60 rounds of Wolf Ball. There were no malfunctions of any kind with the Mini-14 today. As far as I'm concerned, the Mini is now my go-to gun if I ever need something more than a pistol. Time to do a bulk order of Winchester Q3131A from Ammoman.com.
Things did not go so well with my AK. This is a Saiga Sporter in 7.62x39 converted by Hesse into AK-103 configuration. Before today I had put about 120 rounds through the gun without any problems. After shooting one 30 rounder today, though, I started having difficulties getting the hammer to drop when I pulled the trigger. I.e., I'd pull the trigger, but *nothing* happened, not even a click. So, I packed up the AK early. Hesse's customer support is infamously bad, so my plan with the gun now is to yank the trigger, sear, and hammer -- all 922(r) compliance parts made in the US -- and replace them with parts from either Gordon Tech or Red Star Arms. I am annoyed.
Finally, the Makarov. I brought 200 rounds of Barnaul 9x18 Ball from the case I bought along with the gun. As always, the Mighty Mak ran perfectly. I practiced double taps, Mozambique drills, and a few zipper drills on an IPSC target. This now makes 600 rounds through the gun with no failures, except *one* failure of the slide to lock back after the last shot in a mag (and that was some time ago). It has never jammed, failed to feed, or failed to extract.
First up was the Mini-14. Since the last time I shot it, I had replaced the factory ramp front sight with the HK-style protected post/flash hider combo made by Eagle. Since it had a new front sight the gun needed to be rezeroed. I did this at 25 yards, which gives a useful battle sight zero out to 300 yards with a .223.
With the Eagle unit the rifle shot low, even after I cranked the rear sight way up. Luckily, I saw a post on the Perfect Union BBS Mini-14 forum recently by somebody who ran into the same problem -- so I had a set of needle files with me. I filed a little bit off the front sight to raise the point of impact such that I could lower the rear sight down a few clicks.
I'm quite pleased with the Eagle unit. The sight picture is much, much better than it was with the factory front sight, and the flash hider works well. When shooting the Mini-14 before I noticed a substantial fireball, even in broad daylight. No such flash was visible today.
Aside from the new front sight, I needed to function test the 5 PMI 20 round mags I got from CDNN. They worked without a hitch. Aside from these, I have four known good 30 round PMI mags, plus four as yet untested no name aftermarket 20 rounders.
I shot a few different kinds of .223 through the Mini-14, including 60 rounds of Federal XM-193 Ball, 50 rounds of Winchester 55 gain FMJ "Value Pack" (probably the same as Q3131 ammo), and 60 rounds of Wolf Ball. There were no malfunctions of any kind with the Mini-14 today. As far as I'm concerned, the Mini is now my go-to gun if I ever need something more than a pistol. Time to do a bulk order of Winchester Q3131A from Ammoman.com.
Things did not go so well with my AK. This is a Saiga Sporter in 7.62x39 converted by Hesse into AK-103 configuration. Before today I had put about 120 rounds through the gun without any problems. After shooting one 30 rounder today, though, I started having difficulties getting the hammer to drop when I pulled the trigger. I.e., I'd pull the trigger, but *nothing* happened, not even a click. So, I packed up the AK early. Hesse's customer support is infamously bad, so my plan with the gun now is to yank the trigger, sear, and hammer -- all 922(r) compliance parts made in the US -- and replace them with parts from either Gordon Tech or Red Star Arms. I am annoyed.
Finally, the Makarov. I brought 200 rounds of Barnaul 9x18 Ball from the case I bought along with the gun. As always, the Mighty Mak ran perfectly. I practiced double taps, Mozambique drills, and a few zipper drills on an IPSC target. This now makes 600 rounds through the gun with no failures, except *one* failure of the slide to lock back after the last shot in a mag (and that was some time ago). It has never jammed, failed to feed, or failed to extract.
Lucky you! 
