Mini-14 Accuracy?

[Mossyrock]

OK, I know it is not a match rifle, but what kind of accuracy are you getting from your Mini-14? Due to a divorce, I had to sell my AR and am looking at a Mini-14 as a stop-gap replacement until I get my feet back on the ground. Besides, I have never owned a Mini-14 and this is a good excuse to try something new.

 

[SodaPop]

1MOA @ 100yds but only with 69gr HPBT reloads.

M855 (62gr SCBT) reloads 8"@ 500yds.

 

[Badger Arms]

I can get about 1.5" 5-shot groups at 100 yards with one of my guns. The other can get down to about 2.5" with a different load, 3" with the load I used to get the above groups. That's with 55gr bullets. Might try to work up a heavier load. What's the twist rate on the mini-14 anyhow?

 

[mini14jac]

Just took a new one out Saturday to see what it would do.

Shooting Fed. XM193, 55gr,
<1" at 25yds
Let my daughters do some "rock'n roll" with a few mags, then tried it at 100yds.
Probably a 5" group.
(This was with open sights. I like a carbine to be clean looking.)
I tried it at 25yds again, smaller group, all holes touching, but it was about 3" lower than the cold group.

I intend to get the barrel cut to 16.5".
That should stop the vertical stringing that occurs when it heats up.
If you want to get the same result, for about $20, you can add a muzzle break.
I also plan to bed the stock myself, or have it pin bedded.
That should shrink the groups.

On my older gun, after I bedded the stock, I was shooting under 2" at 100yds with open sights.
With my eyes, that's great.
I hadn't cut the barrel or added a break yet either.

So, for ~$150 I can get the barrel cut, and get it pin bedded, and still have less invested than a AR.
Or, for less than $40, I could bed it myself, and add a muzzle break.
Either way, you get an accurate gun, that still has the "M1 Carbine" looks.

ARs are awesome guns,
I'm just a sucker for the looks of the Ruger.

 

[lawcox]

I can vouch for Mini14jac's <1" at 25 yards. I took my new Mini 14 ranch ss out Sunday and did this group with iron sights at 30 yards.

 

[benEzra]

My stainless Ranch with at least 2000 rounds through it (rough guess) averages 5.5" at 100 yards from a bench with the iron sights and Wal-Mart white box ammo. Accuracy was worse with an inexpensive Simmon 3-9x scope (often 8" or more at 100 yd), presumably due to zero shift from shot to shot; minis are notoriously hard on cheap scopes due to the heavy op rod cycling, and I'm sure the occasional case zinging off the bottom of the scope's windage adjustment turret cover didn't help. (Mini's are also notorious for zinging their brass out with lots of oomph.)

If you scope it and can't afford a really nice scope, get a fixed power; it will probably hold zero better.

I tried some Federal Premium 69-gr match rounds once, but due to the scope issues I couldn't do any better than with the bargain ammo.

BTW, if you miss the AR's pistol-grip stock, Choate makes a nice, rugged, and inexpensive pistol-grip stock for the mini.

 

[natedog]

To leave the factory, the Mini has to shoot 2" at 50 yards. Most will do about 3" at 100yds, average. Some lemons have been reported, with groups like 5-8" at 100yds. Often these groups come from lighter bullets, and a call to Ruger should be made if heavier bullets don't solve the problem.

 

[Art Eatman]

From four years at TFL and the year here, I'd say the general deal with the Mini is that it's roughly a two MOA critter, figuring groups of no more than four or five shots.

My own experience with two blued models and two stainless is that the first shot from a cold barrel pretty uniformly goes within an inch or less of the previous cold-barrel shot. Just fine for the occasional jackrabbit or coyote. I nearly always got 1.5 to 2 MOA with a Weaver K4 on top, for three-shot groups.

That thin barrel just ain't meant for tight groups with extend strings of fire.

, Art

 

[ShaiVong]

AWESOME thread about fixing a mini:

http://www.perfectunion.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1818

 

[DeadCalm]

The stainless Mini that I purchased in 1999 will shoot well under 2" from a rest. It seemed at first that this was one of the good ones, and maybe it is. However, every group after that first volley would open up one inch for each five shots fired. And the barrel gets REALLY hot after a 20-30 round mag. Still, it's a beautiful piece and would be a nice poor man's AR in the right urban setting. By the way, it ejects emtpies to a truly remarkable distance. From the bench we fans always shoot from the far right end of the line. Otherwise brass is sprayed a good 4-6 benches down the line. (Most brass also ejects rearward, but it doesn't always work like that.)
Ross