Ruger Mini 14 Ranch

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DD

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Hi Guys:

I'm thinking about buying a Ruger Mini 14 Ranch rifle (.223). I'm looking at the synthetic stocked stainless model for rough duty. Is there anything negative about this rifle that I should be aware of before I plunk down my hard earned donut/coffee money?

Appreciate your comments and help.

Dan
 
Great little brush gun, but you may find that the accuracy suffers after the barrel heats up. Sort of 'minute-of-pie-plate' at 100 yds. There are plenty of companies that specialize in accurizing the Mini. I'm sure there will be some more knowledgable THR members chiming in pretty quick.

If I'd thought to invest in some factory 30 rounders when they were available here in Cali, I'd have one of these right now.


Oh almost forgot: Welcome to The High Road!
 
DD

Dan, The Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle is a very reliable rifle but do not buy one expecting out of the box precision accuracy. The Mini-14's barrel is the culprit blamed most often as being too thin and" whippy". If you can live with 3"-6" groups at 100 yards then by all means buy it. There are stabilizers that have been added for $175-$275 that have been promoted as a help to decrease group size to 1.5-3". I've not tried one yet but understand they work well.
 
I've got a standard with wood stock and stainless barrel. Great little gun, although the skinny barrel does heat up fast. Shoots everytime I pull the trigger. I did have a scope attached to it via the side plate for a time, but I had difficulty retaining a zero with that so I just stuck to the irons with her. Works great for plinking.
 
Thanks Guys,

Just the answers I was looking for. I'm not too concerned about accuracy way out there, I have a 22-250 for that kind of work :) I'm more interested in a smallish, reliable rifle with some firepower for under 50 yards.

Sounds like the Ruger is it.

Again, thanks. I appreciate the comments.

Dan
 
As others have pointed out, the Mini-14 is not a 'tackdriver' from the factory, 3 to 6 inches is good estimate
However accuracy can be improved by a few simple things.
First off most people notice an improvement by adding a pin-on muzzlebreak or flash hider. Some feel this changes the barrel harmonics and other think it just adds weight to cut down on the 'whippiness'. Either way it works.
Another improvement is bedding the stock. Some send it to a 'smith others just order the parts from Brownells and do it themselves. Bedding reduces the 'flyers' in your groups.
Some people who want to stiffen the barrel will have it cut to 16 1/4 inches and recrowned. This will make the barrel more rigid but is a very permanent alteration.
Another aid to accuracy for the Mini is having the trigger smoothed out. There is a gentleman named Mike Knifong who does a very good trigger job. All you send him is your trigger group so shipping is easy.
If you get a Ranch Rifle the other thing to look at is changing the gas port bushing. By replacing the factory one which is designed for total reliability, in other words bigger than it needs to be, with a smaller one you will feel less battering of the rifle and your brass wont fly so far. Less battering also means less perceived recoil.
If you send your trigger group to Mr Knifong and order the bushing kit from him he gives a deal and sends it all back to you at once.

All of this sounds like alot of work and expense but its not.
Figure $20 for a muzzle break, tap out he front sight rollpin, slide on the break, replace the pin.
The bedding kit from Brownells is about $20 to $30 and will probably kill a Saturday afternoon.
I seem to recall that Mr Knifong charges around $50 for the trigger work and bushings but don't quote me on that. The bushing swap is 20 minutes and 4 allen screws.
So around a hundred bucks and a few hours work for mods that usually will bring it down from 3 to 6 inch groups to 1 to 2 inch groups at 100 yards with some people getting sub MOA. Of course all rifles are different so your milage may vary.
Youll note that veryfew mention reliabilty problems with the Mini-14, there is a reason. The things just run....and run.....and run.

I hope some of this helps.
 
**WARNING** Thread Vere Ahead

Kestryll-

You mentioned bedding. I've never bedded my own rifles but I know that it involves inletting the stock a bit to make room for the bedding compound. How is this done on a synthetic stock?


**WE NOW RETURN YOU TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED THREAD**
 
One more thing one accuracy. Adding the Ultimak rail reduced my group size. It must stiffen the barrel.

I can testify that cutting the barrel down to 16" works too. The biggest difference is that the POI does not change as the gun heats up.
 
The barrel do get hot on long strings :eek:

I just bought my first (used). Some joker left the trigger guard loose and I raised the rifle to shoot, pushed the safety forward, and the guts of the trigger mechanism fell on the ground. :what:

Picked it up, knocked the snow off, remembered reading about it, fit it back in. Commence firing.

You gotta love that kind of immediate action. :D
 
I know the rear sight is a folding leaf, but, the integral scope mount and included rings sounds like a deal. I prefer the more robust sights on the standard 14. Second, I understand that the "Ranch" version is supposed to eject brass at a flatter (lower) angle to clear a scope (at least according to the Ruger catalog) - is the ejection angle really different from the standard 14?
 
I have been shooting my Ranch Rifle for about 14 years now. I have an older Redfield Five Star 2x7 20mm scope on it. I was fortunate enough to load up on factory 20 round mags when I bought the rifle. I still have a dozen in blister packs, unused.

I have found that my rifle likes 45 grain Winchester ammo best. In my AR types, I get best accuracy with heavier bullets. Most of the time, If I do my part, I get around 2 inches, give or take, at 100 yards. I have never done anything to the rifle, other than tighten the gas block and stock screws.

If any thing 'serious' were to come up, I would probably grab my M1A or Bushmaster shorty, but if the Ruger Mini14 were all I had at hand, I would not feel undergunned.
 
You mentioned bedding. I've never bedded my own rifles but I know that it involves inletting the stock a bit to make room for the bedding compound. How is this done on a synthetic stock?
Click to expand...

Sorry I didn't answer sooner, I've been a bit busy at work and frankly hopeing that someone more familiar would answer.
Since no one did I did some looking around and some research and everything I've seen says a synthetic stock is bedded similiar to a wood one.
A few differences are that you use a dremel to remove any material you need to. Material removal is not always necessary since the idea is to get a snug fit between receiver and stock.
Also I've read that you need to clean the synthetic stocks with something to remove any leftover release agent from the molding process.
And the last thing I found different is the recommendation to rough up the synth stock to aid adhesion, some even drill shallow holes for the bedding compound to anchor to.

I've never done this myself but I needed to look into anyways as my Mini has a synth stock on it.
I hope this helps.
 
Kestryll
That is about the jist of it . If you already have the clearance just scuff the channel up with some 100 grit and degrease before you start bedding .
 
DD

My Mini-14 is about 4 years old. I don't know about the new Mini-14's but last time I removed the scope from mine I noticed little bright ding marks on the bottom of the scope. Next time I take it to the range I'll probably apply a self adhesive strip of black suede leather much like the Ruger Deerfield .44 Mag comes with a lace -on boot for the scope.
 
I'm not sure how much flatter the trajectory of the ejected brass is on a Ranch version. I have a friend with a Mini 14 Ranch and he's run into problems with the gun jamming because a spent cartridge got stuck between the scope and the ejection port. This seems to be a consequence inherent in using optics on an M14-style receiver. I think I'd be more inclined to go with the iron sight version of the Mini 14 than the Ranch version.
 
The Ranch Rifle has a different ejector than the Standard Mini-14 IIRC.
It is supposed to throw the casings at a lower angle to miss the scope.
Of coursethat is just the design theory, application doesn't ALWAYS match! ;)
 
Yeah, the scope I had on my Mini was covered in those little dings from the brass hitting it on it's way out. Of course it was the standard version, but no scope means no dings. Still a fun gun to shoot and accurate enough to plink :)
 
My Ranch Model was bought new about 2 years ago. It has a 2 1/2 power Weaver on it.Accuracy was about 3" or less at 100 yards with various rounds and reloads. I got a batch of LC 74 and that shoots about an inch at a 100. I have not done any rapid fire but no functioning problems. I do note that different brands and reloads will have groups with significantly points of impact.Mine is the wood stock. Byron
 
For what it's worth, I considered getting a mini-14 a little over a year ago. After carefully examining my options I decided on a nice little Romanian SKS. Nearly half the price of the mini 14 its accuracy, weight, and size were roughly comprable, it seemed more rugged, had a better front sight, and the ammo was cheap and plentiful, it had an internal magazine instead of Ruger's expensive detachable mag and it came with that great blade bayonet. :evil:

I've fired a Mini-14 and liked it. I just liked the SKS better.
 
I have owned a Mini-14 Ranch for about ten tears. I haven't done anything to it, but shoot and clean it. The Mini is a very reliable rifle. I do not remember any jams at all. I usually can shoot 4" groups at 100 yards. My son shoots 2 to 3. But then he out shoots me all of the time. :banghead:
 
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