Ready to Give Up on Ruger Mini 14 Target Rifle

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Luke Rutherford

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Have owned a Mini 14 Target Rifle for a few years. Bought it new. Was excited about getting it sighted in and, specifically, getting the barrel tuned. My goal was sub one inch groups at 100 yards. A reasonable expectation for the gun. So I mounted a nice Leupold scope and then went to work on the range. Mostly shooting brand name factory ammo. Occasionally some of my own reloads. Have moved the barrel tuner up and down the barrel, carefully torqued it, and fired several shot groups. Then moved the tuner a quarter turn and did the same thing up and down the barrel. A bunch of times. Have never been able to get better than a 3-4 inch group at 100 yards. Even tried a different Leupold scope. Carefully mounted, screws torqued, rings lapped, the whole bit. Interestingly I have even shot groups with the barrel tuner completely removed--it still shot 3-4 inch groups. I've taken the gun apart many times, cleaned and inspected everything. The barrel crown and everything else I can check seems okay. I've been shooting for a very long time and I have several bolt guns and a few semi-autos down to one inch or better. But the Mini 14 has me completely stumped. Any suggestions???
 
What weights of bullets have you tried? If it won't group with something between 55-68gr (flat base bullets usually work better at 100yds), something is amiss with the rifle. Lots of people will tell you to ditch it and get an AR, but you should be able to get near MOA accuracy from the target mini without too much hassle. Check the torque on the gas block first. Does the crown look ok? I would send it back to Ruger if everything seems normal.
 
Barrel quality on the older ones and resonance tuning on the newer ones are the major accuracy issues on the Mini-14.

I read that the problem (in part) with the older units was much-too-fast lathe contouring of the barrel, building unrelieved stress into the barrel. As they heated up with firing, the barrel would wander in quirky ways as the heat interacted with the embedded stress.

I sold my 183 series (early 198x production) Mini-14 many years ago because of accuracy issues as it warmed up. This was long before tuners and the like were being offered for the product.

The 58x series are the latest generation which are alleged to shoot more accurately.
 
Guys, your not getting it, this is the Target Mini, not a standard model, very different animal.

They are very accurate, heavy barreled target rifles, easily the equal to most any AR15 (or bolt guns for that matter). Mine was a half moa rifle with 50gr Federal HP's.

I must ask: Do you have equal/correct torque on the gas block screws?
 

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Yes. Equal torque on the gas block screws. On the gas block, I'm curious how often people do deep cleaning on it? I keep the bore super clean, remove any trace of copper, etc, after each range day. At the range I usually run a patch or two through the bore every few dozen rounds if I'm firing a lot. I'm not so quick to clean the gas block, though, after the range. When I do clean it, I don't see anything unusual in the amount of carbon as compared to say... when I clean my M1A, Sig551, etc. None of my other gas guns are hyper sensitive to normal amounts of carbon when it comes to accuracy. Of course when the get real dirty accuracy is an issue.
 
Stock bedding? Just saying, but maybe there is a tad too long fore end which is adversely applying pressure to the front ferrule?

Maybe glass bedding might help. At 4 inches at 100 yards I would suspect the mechanical fit of the parts, or shooting position or bipod, or these sorts of things which introduce gross amounts of shift to your system.
 
I've used different rests. No change. I suspect something mechanical is introducing inconsistency into the equation or it's possible that I have a bad barrel. Very rare but not unheard of. Took a quick look at the rifle last night. Is it possible for the guide rod at the receiver end to be upside down on the cross pin? Haven't checked but it looks like it could go on both ways at the receiver end. Not backwards, upside down. The angled end of the rod sitting above or below the cross pin? I will dissassemble the rifle this evening to see if that is even possible. Looks like it would change the position of the rod several degrees making it out of parallel with the barrel. Not sure it would even cycle that way. Will check it manually.
 
there is no reason why that gun should not shoot. send it back to ruger that is their top of the line mini. I bet they get it up and running for you for nothing
 
I would say you probably haven't found the right load for it yet. I know several guys who have the target model, and all of them were 1 moa or better.
 
Somehow, "Mini-14" and "Target Rifle" have always appeared to be an oxymoron to me.
 
Agreed. Oxymoronic for gun speak. I was well aware of mini 14 accuracy issues and would never have bought the "target" gun if the supposed accuracy hadn't been pushed by some legit rifle guys. I'm going to give it one more try with different ammo and see what happens. Maybe a heavier bullet. Been shooting mostly 55gr ammo. Interestingly, many of the groups so far have been strings: left to right, or right to left, at angles. I've been quiet surprised to see how far apart groups are after just a quarter turn on the tuner. That slight adjustment moves the group form, say, five inches out at 4 o'clock to seven inches out 8 o'clock. This is the first rifle I've had with a "tuner" so so don't have much to compare it to.
 
Seriously, a sub MOA Mini 14? Now that's funny................. Mini 14's are useful, and a hoot to play with, but I have never seen a stock one that was better than 2MOA.
 
I have seen guys shoot MOA with those rifles. I would contact Ruger and pick their brains.
I have 2 183 series Mini. The scoped rifle will easily shoot 2" and the unscoped rifle is shooting about 4" with the standard sights. Both are stainless models
 
I didn't read all of the response. Last month I took my CZ 527 Varmint .223 Rem home to the farm and everyone brought out guns to shoot. My Uncle brought out his Mini-14 target.

I don't remember which scope he had, I think a Bushnell.

It was shooting 2" groups with various ammo. I gave him some 35 gr, and 68 gr and both stabilized. We did not adjust the "do-hicky" on the barrel at all.

p.s. I believe you when you say you are experienced, so, this is just preaching to the choir I know, but make sure you lay it on the sand bags or whatever you are using the same way each time, make sure your non-trigger hand does the same thing each time, don't pull on a sling, etc, etc...

p.s.s. I have a Mini-14 as well, not a target model, the tactical with the black synthetic stock and the flash hider. No scope, at 60 yards free standing I put 10 rounds in less than three inches no problem, the group was consistent and leads me to believe that it should do well if it were rested at 100 yards.
 
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Mini 14 and Target don't belong in the same sentence. They are what they are, good solid rifles, but they are not target rifles, and never will be.
 
No this discussion is about a standard mini with a faux heavy barrel (just forward of the gas block) and a snake oil "barrel tuner"
Click to expand...
Mini 14 and Target don't belong in the same sentence. They are what they are, good solid rifles, but they are not target rifles, and never will be.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but these are both just plain ignorant statements and are not offering anything credible to this conversation. :banghead:

The Mini Target has a crisper/lighter 2 stage trigger, the entire barrel is heavier front to back, the bedding is tighter/more supportive and the tuner does actually affect POI and group size (watch a video of a rifle barrel flexing).

If half MOA groups doesnt make a target rifle, then what exactly does?:confused:
 
I fail to see your point, one is a factory heavy barrel and the other an aftermarket bull barrel. So what? Thats like comparing an HBAR to a .920 bull barrel. SO, if dime size 5 shot groups at 100 yards doesnt make it a target rifle, then what does? Please enlighten me.:rolleyes: My old sporterized Mossberg 44m .22lr will do 5 shot, one hole groups at 50 yards, but since it has a sporter barrel, it isnt capable of being a target rifle either?;)

By the way, I said it was a half moa rifle, I never said "occasionally". It has shot smaller and larger groups, its accuracy seems dependent on me and the ammo I feed it. Feel free to try and pick apart my words, if you dont like the truth then look elsewhere.

Anyway, it appears the OP's rifle has a mechanical issue causing his problems. I would call Ruger and see what they will do to help, they are pretty standup folks and will likely take good care of you.
 
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I made a custom barrel stabilizer for a customer in Tenn., for his target model, and he claims a great improvement.
Yes, as the pics above show clearly, the barrel heat up issue lies behind the gas block.
I use extrusion for stabilizer clamps and the wall thickness is only about .034 on the barrel side, but it did the trick.
Ruger knows of the problem, but they sell enough of these fine guns as is.
I don't think they want to spend the money to retool everything for a heavier receiver, barrel and gas block.
You wouldn't either if you had sold millions of them.
 
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