Mini-14 accuracy

[fatelk]

A lot has been said about the Mini-14, pro and con. One of the chief complaints seems to be lousy accuracy.

I dug out the old Mini14 yesterday, a stainless 182 series totally stock. I haven't shot it from the bench in years. I remember it being fairly accurate for what it is. It would always stay under 2 1/2 moa with good ammo. I decided to see if it was as I remembered.

It was late when I got to the range and I only shot two five-shot groups; one with cheap 55gr fmj and one group with 52gr Sierra match. The FMJs measured 3.5" @100 yards, and the match group measured 2.2", with three of the five nearly touching. The match group was shot after the FMJs also, the barrel was starting to warm up good for the second string. I did say fairly accurate (the match ammo shoots sub-MOA in my AR), but I read people complaining about minute-of-dinner plate.

This rifle has also functioned flawlessly with factory magazines, even dirty. Are these rifles not as bad as some say or did I just get a good one?

 

[M2 Carbine]

I liked everything about my Mini 14 except the poor accuracy. It wouldn't keep a 20 round mag inside 6 inches at 100 yards.

I tried everything I could think of to get reasonable accuracy with the rifle.
Cold, hot, clean, dirty, blasting ammo or match, it just wouldn't put two shots in the same neighborhood.

I finally swapped it in on a Colt AR.

If my Mini 14 shot close to 2 inches at 100 yards I'd still have it.

 

[M110]

I have a ranch mini 14 that shoots minute of grapefruit consistently, evan with a hot barrel.

Its right on par with my slr 101, and my sks. They all shoot minute of grapefruit from a standing position at 75 to 100 yards depending on ammo.

And before all the "you could have bought a AR for that kinda money" crowd gets here, I only paid $150 for it a couple years ago.

For what it is, the mini suits me fine.

 

[martinc64]

Mine is the ranch rifle serial 196.... vintage 1999.

Accuracy is marginal but not as horrid as so many people say.

There are two problems with the mini14 IMO.

The first problem is that good factory mags are expensive and the mini's best atttribute (reliability) goes out the window with non-factory magazines.

The second problem is that a little knockaround rifle should not cost so damn much.

 

[CTPistol]

I loved mine but it was impossible to make reasonably accurate....it eventually went for an AR and I am very happy. No more frustration.

New minis are very expensive also.

 

[ratseal]

CA folks have basis for investing in a Mini to get it to shoot straight (2MOA). With a Level 1 package from GWS, or equivalent from Clark's (or other), you will spend about $250. You can get a used Mini for starvation cheap - anywhere from $200-400.

A warmed up Mini that shoots within these limits beat a 10 round, breech loaded AR any day.

Of course, you could just move out of CA.

 

[yongxingfreesty]

my mini14 has never jammed *knock on wood*

shoots groups the size of tennis balls at 100yds, I love it.
paid $400 for mine (serial 188). the promag 20rnders also work well for me.

 

[blancoman]

For Mini 14 accuracy check out Accustrut.com. I bought a coupla these for my minis. If you visit the forums over at Perfect Union you can read about the strut. Advertised to cut group size in half. It did better than that for me. about an inch and a half from a 184 series mini and 2 inches from a 181. I don't know what the cost is now but it was around 75 dollars for the strut. Acts as a stabilizer and barrel stiffener.

 

[JESmith]

I cut my barrel down to 16 inches, recrowned, and added a muzzle brake. That and a trigger job got my old 181 series down from 6" groups to less than 3" at 100yds. Cost me $75.

 

[eldomatic]

I also have a series 182 (1978) Mini14.
Bedding or shimming the action tight in the stock does wonders for the Mini by eliminating flyers.

If I do my part she'll shoot sub-2" groups at 100 yards, bench rested over sandbags.

Here's an 1-3/8" group 5-shot warm barrel 100 yard group.

 

[Big Daddy K]

Man If I could find one for about $250.00 I'd be on it.

 

[benEzra]

Most of the people I've ever seen with decently accurate mini's had older ones, like yours.

My 188-series Ranch Rifle shot a best group EVER of 5.5" at 100 yards, from a rest and rear bag.

I've heard the recently revised new-production ones are somewhat better, though.

 

[nemoaz]

You can buy a Mini 14 or accuracy... but not both.

 

[Neo-Luddite]

Not to get off suject, but has anyone compared accuracy in the mini with 55 grain fmj vs. Nato ss109's? I've never really used the thing except as a backyard plinker-just curious.


I've been messing with the thing lately and put it into a choate stock I've had since I bought the rifle new in 1990--fits nice and tight w/ a bit more eye relief--just so *&^%$ expensive to shoot .223/5.56 anymore.

 

[AZ Jeff]

Not to get off suject, but has anyone compared accuracy in the mini with 55 grain fmj vs. Nato ss109's?

I think the answer depends on the age of the Mini-14 in question, as Ruger has changed the twist rate on the barrels over the years.

I know my 1983 vintage Mini does not deal well with anything over about 60 grains, due to it's one in 12 twist barrel.

 

[fatelk]

Eldomatic, impressive group for a mini14!

I messed around with mine again yesterday (always wondered it's vintage, also a 182 series). I shot a five round, 100yd group with the 52gr match loads. Four holes measure just over an inch with a flyer that takes the group out to just over 3". This seems to be the norm with this rifle; nice accuracy but lots of flyers. Maybe I should read up on accurizing.

I also did something that some might find interesting, some will call it stupid, others may be horrified.
I picked up a few handfuls of brass that had laid out in the weather, stomped in the mud forward of the firing line at the range for obviously quite some time, intending to throw them in the recycle bucket. This was nasty, tarnished, filthy junk that I could tell was brass only by the absence of rust. I rinsed the dirt off of it and got a crazy idea. I wondered if I were desperate for brass if it would be useable (don't think I would ever be that desparate). I tossed any with massive dents, torn rims, obvious damage, then tumbled, sized, trimmed, and loaded 20 rounds.

It was a complete mix of brands both commercial and military, loaded with a rather mild load and a mix of a couple different brands of 55gr fmj. I fired them all at 100 yards off the bench fairly quickly. The resulting group measured 5.5". Throwing out three flyers brings it down to 3.4". Rifle function was perfect. Two pieces of brass had very small neck splits, but the other 18 look good to be loaded again. Actually they will now go in the scrap bucket, I just wanted to see what would happen.

For the record- I don't condone unsafe reloading practices or the use of substandard components. I was careful in what I did and took safety precautions. I don't want anyone digging corroded 30-06 brass out of the landfill, loading it with salvaged shotgun powder and rusty old 8mm bullets and thinking it's OK because they read about some fool on the internet using tarnished, weathered brass.

Have a great day.

 

[benEzra]

My 188-series shot equally badly with 55-gr WWB, 55-gr milsurp, 62gr Israeli M855, Winchester 55gr softpoint hunting rounds, and Winchester Premium 69gr HPBT Match. ~6" at 100 yards regardless of ammo or bullet weight. I did notice that 40-gr loads tended to strike a few inches low compared to the 55-69 grain loads (presumably due to less recoil, and less bullet dwell time in the barrel during muzzle climb).

 

[eldomatic]

I think the factors in having a more accurate Mini 14 are: have one of the early Mini's (late 70's to early 80's) or one of the new 580 series Mini's when the Ruger machine tooling was/is new, add a $20 muzzle brake or flash hider to dampen barrel whip, evenly torque the gas block screws to put equal pressure on the barrel, shoot ammo to match the particular twist rate of your Mini, float the gas block to ensure the stock isn't pushing on it, and bed or shim the action tightly in the stock. Evenly tweaking the gas block screws and floating the gas block will lessen stringing. Bedding/shimming the stock will eliminate fliers. Stick with Ruger 20 round mags for absolute reliability.

Perform any two of the above accuracy mods and even a mediocre Mini will shoot within 4MOA with economy ammo.
That's minute of zombie noggin at 150 yards.

Add a scope so that you can actually see a one inch target at 100 yards. Do all of the above and you'll have a Mini that will shoot 2MOA. Buy or load your own match ammo for even better results.

Best part is, even a casual shade tree home gunsmith can make the mods for pocket change. Do all of the above on an early model or new 580 model Mini, add a trigger job, and you'll have a handy, easy to clean, 1-1/2 to 2 MOA high rate of fire SHTF "trunk rifle" that'll go bang every time even when dirty.

There are those who'll say why not just buy an AR and get accuracy right out of the box?
Well, I enjoy tinkering, so I bought this used 1978 Mini three years ago for only $450 including scope...

...and turned it into an AR-accessorized sub-2MOA shooter for less than $200 worth of goodies including new Butler Creek folding stock and improved B-Square scope mount.

Another benefit is when the gun grabbers come looking for EBR's, I can put the wood furniture back on and I'll still have a wolf in sheep's clothing.

 

[JAV8000]

My new 581 series tactical (synthetic "non AR" stock) with accustrut 2 and Leupold VXIII 1.5x5 shoots five shot 1.5" at 100 yds with anything but M855 ball. This is effectively a $1K rifle with accustrut and scope included. It has yet to jam in five hundred rounds and shoots very well with most cheap-moderate priced ammo. My mini really likes the Remington UMC 50 gr. JHP. Oh ya, I only clean the barrel on the regular as the action just doesn't need it, Ill probobly take it down after a thousand rounds. There you go, Minis can shoot, and the new ones can shoot well without much effort.

Now, I am an active duty infantryman in the US Army. I've only been in six months, I finished infantrly OSUT three months ago, but I've had enough experiance with the AR15 platform (we trained with M4s equiped with Aimpoints M4s, or M68s as we call them) to have come to some conclusions. The platform is highly accurate and ergonomic, the outer surfaces are very resistant to the environment and lack of maintanance. The operating system (specifically the bolt and bolt carrier) is vunerable to any kind of foreign particlulate, and requires more than a minimal amount of oil. Sadly, the Gas system pumps the bolt, bolt carrier, and chamber full of expended cartridge gasses. In my experiance, the weapon requires full dissesembly multiple times a day in field conditions to clean environmental particualtes from the action. Ok, now, all that BS was basicaly to show the differences between the AR platform and the Mini platform. As a weapon in war, I prefer the AR because of its ergonomics and incredibly quick mag changes and ease of mounting optics, night vishion, paq4, etc. Sure it requires frequent maintanance, but I'm not a peasent soldier, I'm a proffesional. I was taught by proffesionals and was observed doing this In Infantry training. Now, for a civillian 5.56mm go anywhere do whatever weapon, the Mini 14, specificaly the newer ones, are extremely hard to beat in my opinion. They are as accurate as anyone should need for their designed purpose, dead reliable with factory mags, require very little maintanace (think AK for reliability and maintanance), and are completely ambidextrous from the factory. These things will take a serious beating without stoping.

I love my Mini 14 and feel lucky to have gotten ahold of what I would call the "holy grail" of Mini 14s. I have had no complaints, and HAVE had a lot of fun with this rifle. Uncle Sam pays for me to shoot and keep AR15s in top operating condition. I'm glad I personaly have a rifle that I don't need to polish the action on to keep running well. As I said before, the AR15 is my pick for a combat rifle. It requires alot of maintanance, but makes up for it in multi-mission capability and accesorisation capacity. Things I dont need personly that Uncle Sam can pay for!

 

[FlyinBryan]

mine was terrible. made an ak seem accurate, lol.

in fairness it was a very old one, early 80's.

on its best day it would group (and i use the term carefully) 8-10" @ 100yds.

that rifle is the sole reason i bought my first ar15 (colt match target rifle) and ive never owned another mini.

 

[niteowl]

Now, I am an active duty infantryman in the US Army. I've only been in six months, I finished infantrly OSUT three months ago, but I've had enough experiance with the AR15 platform (we trained with M4s equiped with Aimpoints M4s, or M68s as we call them) to have come to some conclusions. The platform is highly accurate and ergonomic, the outer surfaces are very resistant to the environment and lack of maintanance. The operating system (specifically the bolt and bolt carrier) is vunerable to any kind of foreign particlulate, and requires more than a minimal amount of oil. Sadly, the Gas system pumps the bolt, bolt carrier, and chamber full of expended cartridge gasses. In my experiance, the weapon requires full dissesembly multiple times a day in field conditions to clean environmental particualtes from the action. Ok, now, all that BS was basicaly to show the differences between the AR platform and the Mini platform. As a weapon in war, I prefer the AR because of its ergonomics and incredibly quick mag changes and ease of mounting optics, night vishion, paq4, etc. Sure it requires frequent maintanance, but I'm not a peasent soldier, I'm a proffesional. I was taught by proffesionals and was observed doing this In Infantry training. Now, for a civillian 5.56mm go anywhere do whatever weapon, the Mini 14, specificaly the newer ones, are extremely hard to beat in my opinion. They are as accurate as anyone should need for their designed purpose, dead reliable with factory mags, require very little maintanace (think AK for reliability and maintanance), and are completely ambidextrous from the factory. These things will take a serious beating without stoping.

That is one of the best interpretations of the AR15 vs. Mini 14 argument I have ever read.