No Ban Mini-14 Magazines

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OrvilleYertleson

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Are there any quality No Ban mini-14 magazines out there yet?

Ar-15 magazines seem to be popping up left and right, and are cheap. What's the deal with the Mini-14?

There doesn't seem to be much discussion about the Mini's, and the online stores are useless for determining quality.
 
I know a couple of folks looking for these.

As far as I know Ruger has no plans to offer them to the public.

I had heard at one point that a company called "PMI" made good magazines but I have never seen any.
 
Ruger never made their own 20-30 round magazines and they were contracted out. To whom they never said. However, a side by side comparison between PMI and Ruger convinced many of us to buy PMI (when Ruger was not available).
 
I was at a gunshow in Smyrna,TN about a month ago and picked up 3 Ruger 20 rounders new in the box. The dealer had plenty. Byron
 
I was able to score four formerly LEO-only Ruger 20 rounders at a local shop. Probably the only way we'll see Ruger mags is in the form of police trade-ins.

PMI mags are visibly different from Rugers, but IME they are just as good. I have 4 30 round PMIs and 5 20 round PMIs. They are well made and reliable. Note that Fed Ord Mini-14 mags were actually made by PMI; the mags are identical but the packaging is different.

Unfortunately, PMI went out of business, and if somebody bought the tooling they haven't started producing new mags again.

ProMag currently lists 20 and 30 round mags for the Mini-14 in both steel and polymer flavors, although I can't say if they are any good or not.
 
What I am really looking for are 20 rounders. On a semi automatic weapon I think the larger magazines are more of a liability than a help. They stick out too far, get in the way, and are easily damaged.
 
I called Ruger a month ago and asked about mags for the Mini 14. I was told Ruger has no plans now or in the near future to sell > 5rnd mags to the general public. I heard some law enforcement supply companys were selling them but Ruger has asked them not to. I had two Mini 14s and the only mags that worked 100% were three used factory 20 rnd that I happened by over a few years. All others were hit and miss with none running 100%. I ended up trading the Minis for a Bushmaster AR15 and I haven't looked back. :)

Mr. B
 
I have used John Masen 10-rouind mags and they have worked fine. They do not hold the bolt open after the last round, but you should be able to take the Ruger follower out of a factory mag and swap it into the Masen (or any other) mag. The tab on the Masen follower is not as tall as the Ruger follower.

I don't use the really large mags becasue, as mentioned, they stick down too far where you can risk damaging them and if you shoot a lot of rounds quickly in the Mini, the barrel heats up rapidly and your groups will open up. The 10 round mags also seem to have the right proportions for the size of the rifle.

There was some discussion on the Perfect Union Forum about the Ruger LEO 20 round mags and some shops did sell the "LEO only" Ruger mags but it appears that the supply has dried up and they were pretty expensive anyway with some going for over $50-75 each :what:
 
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