Mini-14: your experience?

[teflonbilly0]

I have my eyes on a mini for about 375, but I wanted to know what your experience with them was.
Think its worth it?

 

[W.E.G.]

That sounds like a fantastic price.

Mini's are not especially accurate,... but minute of man at 100 yards any day of the week.

Avoid optics on Mini's.

Hope you have a good source for factory mags.

 

[garyhan]

Not very accurate. Not very reliable. Save for an AR.

gary

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I had one several years ago, sold to settle a debt. It was accurate enough to easily keep all shots in a four-inch circle at 100 or so yards with the open (aperture rear) sights. It was 100% reliable with factory magazines, which at the time were only five-round. Aftermarket, higher capacity magazines were and are caveat emptor.

 

[Rugerlvr]

That's a good price. It's a fun gun to shoot, and I've found Promags work good with mine. The design is bullet-proof, but yeah, they're not real accurate.

 

[Snapping Twig]

Excellent firearms, totally dependable.

Check here for low cost accurizing and general information.

http://www.perfectunion.com

 

[no_problem]

Not accurate, but reliable. Leands itself to customization.

The barrel harmonics are the cause of accuracy woes. When you shoot the gun, the shot creates vibrations that can adversely impact accuracy, this can be mitigated with a barrel harmonic balancer, a rubber boot you slip over the barrel that changes the barrel harmonics when you shoot.

375 is a pretty good price.

 

[pgeleven]

+1 on good price

+1 on not using optics

if i were you, which im not, but if i was, i would do it

 

[J Star]

Hehe, everyone has opposite opinions.

My personal experience with a Mini-14 Ranch Rifle purchased in January 08: Fairly accurate. Mounted a pic rail and a scope, used iron sights as well.

Reliable? Not really. The bolt kept getting stuck shut. I'd have to brace the butt on the ground and yank the handle hard to break it free. This happened sometimes even without firing. A week in the safe and then it was jammed when I took it to the range. (Yes, it was clean and oiled.)

Factory 5 mag and aftermarket 10 and 20 round mags all messed up repeatedly. Gun would fire a few rounds, then the bolt locked open like the mag was empty, and a round would just be sitting on top of the mag.

This gun is now at my dealer on consignment. I'm going to be purchasing an AR instead.

 

[Gunsby_Blazen]

hey!!!!
I got optics on mine, its a Leupold vx-iii with 14 power. And man, I am really impressed with that scope.

(i pulled it off the Ruger website because I still for the life of me cant figure out how to post pictures off my computer!!!)
Its fairly accurate, my best group so far was 1 1/4 inch at 100 yards benchrest of course. I haven't shot it in a while but i think i am going to take it back to the range here shortly to see what I can do.
Personally, I LOVE IT. It is a really fun gun to shoot, and that is why I buy my guns. Its just to have fun. I say, if you like the style of the gun, go for it.
I was skeptical at first about buying a mini. I wish I could give you some input on the standard model. I know they are not all that accurate but I bet you any buck it will still be fun to shoot. I just like the way they operate.

 

[BigNYMini]

Rugged
Dead Reliable
Accurate enough for field work (100-150yds)
Can be modded / tweaked

 

[Rubber_Duck]

Not very reliable. Save for an AR.

I think you are mistaken. The Mini-14 is VERY reliable. Besides, an AR can't be had for $375. But out-of-the-box accuracy DOES leave something to be desired.



If you are serious about the Mini-14, check out the following link.

http://www.accuracysystemsinc.com/index.php

For $2k these guys will build you a hell of a varmint rifle.

 

[dogmush]

I have a Mini-14 Ranch. It's been reliabale and accurate enough. 4" at 150 yds or so from the prone. That'll close up to 2" from a rest. Have to buy the good mags. I have some polymer 30 rds that work well and had some cheap 20rds from a gun show that didn't. I have a Leopuld 3-9 on it, and the optics are a little overkill, but it does work well. It's a very fun rifle to shoot, and lots of aftermarket for it. For $375 I'd say go for it The A-Team can't be wrong.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

At $350-375, the Mini-14 is a good value. Part of the problem with the Mini-14 isn't that it isn't a good rifle - it is that it is a good rifle selling for twice what comparable good rifles sell for.

 

[blacksmithsc]

My Son and I had one. It cycled great and didn't mind what kind of ammo you fed it. The barrel was the problem. The first 3-4 shots were right on the money, after that, the barrel would start getting hot, and the shots would walk to the right like you wouldn't believe. By the time you got to the tenth shot, it was hitting 6" to the right. If there was a heavy drop in barrel, this would be a great gun. As someone else said earlier, save up for an AR.

 

[garyhan]

Let me qualify that my statement that the Mini 14 is not very reliable is based solely on my personal experience--which was that I could not count on my mini to fire 20 rounds without a jam. The poster did request personal experience. Your results may vary.

gary

 

[Dave Markowitz]

I've owned two Minis, a blued 181-series and a stainless 196-series GB. The 181 is as reliable as the day is long. It runs on pretty much anything. The GB, OTH, was unreliable. I couldn't get through a full magazine without at least one jam. This was with Ruger factory 20 rounders. Also, the windage adjustment on the original rear sight was more or less stuck so I replaced it.

I still have the 181 but dumped the GB as not worth my time.

 

[streakr]

I had a Mini 30 in 7.62x39. It was brutal to shoot, recoil was terrific with virtually any ammo I used. Accuracy was modest, to say the least.

Bought it from shooter who didn't like it either. I kept the Vari-X II scope and sold it for what I paid.

streakr

 

[TheGrimReaper]

I had one. Kept it for about a year. Was not pleased or impresed with it. Not accurate at all or reliable. Sold it and never regreted it.

 

[Robert]

I have an older 80's or 90's model that was my dads and its a fun little rifle. Yeah its not the most accurate rifle out there but then again that could very well be me and not the rifle. It does get hot but if you don't try and run it like a belt fed you'll be fine. My father nor I have had any issues with the rifle save not shooting up all the ammo.

 

[Art Eatman]

For a hunter, a Mini-14 does just fine. Reliably puts the first shot today in the same place as it did last week. As said above, the first three to five shots group okay and then begin to open up. That shouldn't be of any importance to a hunter.

I've had four Minis over some twenty years and a couple of thousand rounds of shooting. There is certainly no reliability problem.

I always used a Weaver K4 on my Minis. I mostly got 1.5 MOA for three-shot groups. Plenty good for coyotes and jackrabbits.

 

[rbernie]

$375 is a good price for a Mini14. For parts interchange purposes, make sure that the S/N doesn't start with 180- but is a 181- model or later.

I have two; a 181- and a 186-. They are not as accurate as my ARs but they are light, handy, reliable, and fun. I'm not willing to pay $700 for a new one, but a used one for under $400 is well worth the investment.

 

[wcwhitey]

For $375 they are great little rifles, some limitations, accuracy, $45 factory magazines. But I would buy another one for $375. For $600 there is better options. Grab it!

 

[Mikee Loxxer]

A buddy of mine picked up Ranch Rifle in the last six months or so. I wasn't impressed. The trigger was terrible. We were getting about 6MOA with re-manufactured ammo (HSM). It was a bit better with Hornady factory loads.

Personally I'd save up for an AR if I wanted a .223 autoloader.

 

[yesit'sloaded]

The old minis were great guns with mediocre accuracy. The new ones are built on all new tooling and the new target version will shoot MOA. Downside is that it is running $1000MSRP give or take.