Mini-14

[quilbilly]

I have been thinking about getting a stainless Mini-14 223 as a birthday present from me to me (nobody else gets me fun stuff). Anybody try cast in one? What was your experience? I already cast the 22 Bator for my Hornet.

[EDK]

I had a pair of Mini 14s back in the 1970s...strictly fed them J-words. The gas system is a modified GARAND/M14 type and not really intended for detail stripping to clean it IIRC. Magazine availability can be iffy and accessories limited. Not a bad gun, but some issues like accuracy and durability can be a PITA. I traded the last one and a Model 29 S&W for an M1A; then bought the Model 29 back two months later...still got the M1A and the Model 29.

I got SMOKIN' DEALS on ROCK RIVER LAR15s from my local gun shop over the past year. Magazines are cheap and plentiful; all kinds of accessories available; AND the direct impingement gas system is self cleaning...after it gets filthy! Do some serious reading on AR15s.

:cbpour::redneck::2gunsfiring_v1:

[Jailer]

The newer mini 14's are nice and very accurate compared to the older ones. They are easy to field strip and clean. The gas system is over gassed from the factory to ensure reliable functioning with a wide variety of ammo. The biggest problem I encounter with the older ones still in service is firing pins breaking but that shouldn't be a problem with a typical gun an average user has. Even if you have a problem Ruger will take care of it.

I say go for it if you want one. Having said that I own several AR 15's and not one mini 14. :bigsmyl2: I loves me AR's. :bigsmyl2:

[Sabaharr]

Like Jailer said I have had a fireing pin break in my SS Mini. I sent it back to Ruger with a cracked butt plate and beat up wood. It came back with the pin fixed, new wood, and a new butt plate. I have never cast for it due to the availability of cheap FMJ. It would almost be a waste of time because they would have to have a gas check to keep from melting before they got out of the barrel. This is one round that IMHO would not be cost effective to cast for. But if the day comes when components are scarce and you have the mold in hand it could be a blessing.

[JIMinPHX]

Mike Venturino did a write up in one of the gun magazines a while back on cast in the Mini. I think that it's posted on a thread here on the board somewhere. Also, there are several other threads on cast in the AR platform & the mini.

Try using the search function. There is a lot of info on this subject already posted.

One advantage with the mini, is that it is easy to change a gas tube bushing if you want to alter the amount of charge that you use to push a boolit & still have the action function normally.

[303Guy]

I had one and I loved it. Mine was the pre-ranch rifle model. I fitted a very reliable scope mount to it and with the right bullets it was pretty accurate. I used it as my 'varmint' gun. Cast boolits were a bit iffy. But then the castings were pooh. Those same castings shot no better in my otherwise quite accurate hornet. To me the problem is casting those tiny boolits. But the rifle is a honey. I polished the trigger on mine and had a lovely crisp let-off. Best safety system (if you are determined to keep one in the chamber, which I did). I traded mine for my hornet. An OK trade and I love the hornet but I still miss the mini.

[MikeS]

I too like the design of the Mini-14, but didn't like the cartridge it was chambered for. For me the fix was to get a Mini-30, same rifle, but in 7.62x39. I have the original stock on it, I figure I bought it because I like the look of a wood stock on the gun, if I wanted to get one of those folding stocks that offer dozens of places to mount lazers/lights/etc. I would have bought an AR.

[quilbilly]

Thanks much for the great input. At some point I will be trying my gas checked bator 54 gr boolits in it since I think I will get it this week. I have pushed them to 2450 fps in my single shot 222 with no problems or leading so they might work if that is fast enough to operate the action. I think I will try 3031 powder in the reloads since I have a lot of it extra after switching to 5744 in my 30/30 for cb's.

[wallenba]

Thanks much for the great input. At some point I will be trying my gas checked bator 54 gr boolits in it since I think I will get it this week. I have pushed them to 2450 fps in my single shot 222 with no problems or leading so they might work if that is fast enough to operate the action. I think I will try 3031 powder in the reloads since I have a lot of it extra after switching to 5744 in my 30/30 for cb's.

I have that mold from Midsouth. If yours is like mine, getting the gas checks to actually crimp and stay on will be a problem. Mine just will not. I got mine a couple of years ago. If that problem has been corrected I'd like another go at one. I messed mine up trying to fix the problem, thus not returnable.

[303Guy]

Operating the action may require a slower powder to keep velocity down. The Mini is not bad as a manual loader. At one time I closed off the gas port. Then i made a smaller aperture bush and that was brilliant because it dropped the cases in a neat pile next to me. Mine had the spring loaded ejector.

[Recluse]

I've tried to like my Mini-14, I really have. But it is the single biggest *** in my gun safe. It's about as accurate as Obama is honest, no matter what you load, how you load it or how close or how far you shoot it.

I bought it new almost twenty years ago when the Clinton/Reno assault-weapons ban was about to go in effect. I wanted something in the .223 caliber (which I also dislike tremendously), but I did not want a black gun back then and still don't want one today.

At the same time I was buying the Mini-14, I also bought a few other semi-automatics that were going to be on the doomed list, including a genuine Chinese SKS, unfired. I got it for $50, and bought half-a-dozen of them to give out to my brother and some friends.

An SKS isn't exactly the picture of accuracy, but this one will outshoot this Mini-14 any day of the week.

I've heard the new Mini-14's are allegedly more accurate (how could they be LESS accurate than they already were?) these days. I've also been told that for around $1000 in gunsmithing and modifications, I too can have a Mini-14 that actually shoots MOA at 75'. :rolleyes:

As mentioned by someone above, I LOVE the design of the Mini-14 and I love the feel and balance of the rifle. It just doesn't shoot worth a stink.

:coffee:

[Jailer]

Trust me Recluse, the newer ones are much more accurate. I wouldn't own a pre 580 series mini 14.

4 MOA is the standard on the old rifles prior to the newer 580 series. 2 MOA is the standard on the new ones.

Pretty sad that shooting 4 MOA is acceptable for a rifle but that's the factory standard on the old ones.

[quilbilly]

I haven't had any problems with keeping the gas checks on my 22 bator. I am using the Hornady check if that matters. 2 moa is minute of tin can at 100 yards. It isn't my hornet (1 moa) or my 222 (3/4 moa that I think I can improve) both with CB's but minute of tin can sounds like fun and a long shot around here in the jungles (aka rainforest) is 50 yards anyway.

[fcvan]

I currently have an old 180 model that shoots cast quite well. At work we used 181 and above models, currently they are using the 580 model. I never failed to qualify with the rifle unless there was something actually wrong with the rifle. Yes, the factory guarantees 4 MOA, same as the specs on an AR. I also shot those at work when I was on our version of SWAT.

Are AR rifles more accurate? Sure, they can be tweeked to superb accuracy and so can the Mini 14. The factory says that 4 MOA is all they guarantee but that doesn't mean they aren't capable of more. I have done a bunch of reading out here on the web, as well as pick the brain of the armory staff. It seems that if the gas block on the Mini 14 isn't torqued right it won't shoot very well. I re-torqued mine and it shoots great.

The cast boolit I'm using is the Lyman 225-415 with 14 grains of IMR 4227, a load right out of the Lyman book. It cycles fine and is scooting at about 2250 fps. 55 gr FMJ tends to poke holes in a tin can but the little lead pill shreds them, even at the lower velocity. The slower rounds are about 23,000 CUP according to the book and the rifle is somewhat quiet as compared to full house jacketed loads.

Lately, I have been copper electroplating the little boolits and getting good results. I'm still working out the plating voltage and solution, and the amount of plating time to get a consistent thickness. I have done everything from a light copper wash to a jacket as thick as a gas check.

I think the next stage will be building a barrel electroplating setup so that I can do a little larger volume and ensure a nice even coating. when I get things dialed in I will post pictures of the good, the bad, and the ugly (some were atrocious!) Some of my prettiest boolits were electroplated using a solar panel as my power source. That's right, green boolits! Somehow, I don't think the enviro-nazis will see the humor in that but my brothers and sisters at Cast Boolits will. Frank

[brassrat]

My old mini-ranch shot these 2-3-4 groups at 50 yds with el cheapo red dot. I was shooting and moving the sight around after shooting groups of varying rounds. This is with a strut and it hasn't been as good since then. Will def. stay at least 1.5 moa at this distance for any # of rounds. They will shoot well with work.

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l542/g5uis23ft5h/005.jpg

[Shiloh]

I have owned two, and currently don't own any.
If you are looking for accuracy, keep looking.

For about the same or a little more, one can get something on the AR platform that ought to give you sub 3" out of the box. A little tweaking and that can be inproved. 4 inches was about the best I could do with match bullets and careful reloading practices. Off that shel bulk ammo, 5+ inches.

Shiloh

[Recluse]

Only reason I keep mine is that I have a number of Ruger hi-cap magazines, so I can use this gun to lay down cover or suppressing fire if/when the world blows up and I have to go on the run.

Then, I can simple throw the gun at the approaching enemies.

I figure they'll pick it up, look at it, see it for what it is, and then they'll either be laughing so hard they won't be able to get a sight picture on me, or they'll take pity on me and retreat back to division HQ with my Mini-14 in tow and tell all the others about the idiot Texan that thought he could actually HIT something with a Mini-14.

In the meantime, it's a prime candidate for being smeared in cosmoline and buried in a tube somewhere.

You know? I honestly don't even know what model it is! Gonna run upstairs to the safe and check that out.

:coffee:

[Recluse]

OK, sitting upstairs looking at my Mini-14. Serial number starts with 188, so that tells me it is a pre-580 gun?

As far as 4 MOA, I'd be friggin' thrilled with 8 MOA, or even 12 MOA and I'm not kidding. This gun cannot shoot four inch groups locked in a vice at FIFTY yards, let alone one hundred.

Now surfing the internet for PVC tubes and cosmoline. . .

:coffee:

[BruceB]

For whatever it may be worth:

Back in 2010, NV Curmudgeon and I each bought new Mini-14 rifles (tapered barrel models). Leupold scopes were mounted on both, but no other mods were done, except for changing the flash-hider on my rifle. BOTH of these rifles will shoot groups close to the 1" mark or slightly better for five rounds at 100 yards using our handloads.

I find this performance satisfactory.

We put my daughter's straight-barrel Mini on trial with a variety of handloads in April, and its best groups were in the 2" range at 100. For HER purposes, that will do.

There is a clear improvement in the later Minis, as compared to earlier ones. I would not buy a straight-barrel Mini of any vintage if a tapered-barrel model was available.

[Ole]

I have a newer "target model" Mini 14 that is an honest 1.2 MOA gun @ 100 yards. I haven't done hardly any load development with it, but the first batch I took to the range all were between 1" and 1.5" 5 shot groups at 100 yards off the bench.

I fired some cast rounds that JimInPHX made for me out of my rifle and they worked, but wouldn't run the gas system. I think they were around 8 grains of Unique, so that's no big surprise.

What with decent .22 Jwords being available around .07-.08 each in bulk, I've never seen the need to cast for .22's. Who needs the hassle? Heck gas checks are close to .03 each. I'll find better ways to spend my time than casting for my center fire .22's. :Fire:

[BruceB]

Ole;

I agree with you. Just too much hassle.

Bought an RCBS 22-55 mould at a gunshow last year "just because", but have not yet cast anything with it. I buy a box or two of Hornady 55s whenever the opportunity arises, and my supply is "comfy".

I sure don't get them for 8 cents each, though!

BTW, my daughter's rifle is a 580-series and has a nice 2-7X "Shotgun and Muzzle-loader" scope mounted. Works great.

[Ole]

Bruce:

Montana Gold has cases of 3500 55gr FMJ's for $280.

You have to buy A LOT of them, but they are good bullets. :)

[303Guy]

How are you BruceB? Well I hope. Good to have you back. I have one of those RCBS 22-55 FN double cavity molds and it drives me scatty! It just won't release the castings. I read this morning of a trick to use a casting and some polishing compound to smooth the cavities. I'll try that next. But I never had success with fillout with this mold. I'd like to reduce the GG depth but would have to be careful to get both cavities the same. Best to leave then alone.

[Recluse]

For whatever it may be worth:

Back in 2010, NV Curmudgeon and I each bought new Mini-14 rifles (tapered barrel models). Leupold scopes were mounted on both, but no other mods were done, except for changing the flash-hider on my rifle. BOTH of these rifles will shoot groups close to the 1" mark or slightly better for five rounds at 100 yards using our handloads.

I find this performance satisfactory.

We put my daughter's straight-barrel Mini on trial with a variety of handloads in April, and its best groups were in the 2" range at 100. For HER purposes, that will do.

There is a clear improvement in the later Minis, as compared to earlier ones. I would not buy a straight-barrel Mini of any vintage if a tapered-barrel model was available.

Bruce,

First off, you made my day/week and month just seeing you post here. Very glad to see you back and at it. Sent a lot of prayers your way.

As far as one or two-inch groups at 100 yards, I'd be satisfied with that at 25 yards. I mean, this gun is worthless for anything over twenty-five meters other than rapid-fire spraying.

When I originally bought the gun, I didn't even fire it for I don't know how many years. As I've said before, I'm simply not a fan of .223/5.56mm, so I had zero urgency to go out and shoot the gun. I had ordered a bunch of magazines for it, and just tossed rifle and mags in the safe.

Six/seven years ago when I finally decided to start loading for it and seeing how it would shoot, I thought I'd gotten a lemon. The old SAS guy who runs the range I was firing at told me that instead of a lemon, I had gotten a typical Ruger rifle product of that particular era.

I'm not bashing Ruger. I've got a 10/22 I adore, a MarkII with a ten-inch barrel I love, a Blackhawk and a few others. But to be honest, other than the 10/22, I've had miserable luck with their long guns in both finish and accuracy. Have not bought a new Ruger rifle in over twenty years, though. Last good Ruger rifle I had was a 25-06 with a very good Leupold scope and it was extremely accurate.

I figure this particular Mini-14 I have will end up in a PVC tube smeared with cosmoline.

In a real life situation, it would be more useful as firewood than as a firearm.

Again, huge shame. I love the look, the feel, the design, the weight and balance, the ruggedness. . . everything about the gun except it just don't shoot worth a stink.

:coffee:

[Ole]

News flash guys:

Mini 14's aren't all the same.

[BruceB]

Recluse, many thanks for those kind words.

Yep, I'm still kicking, except that I'm now down to one foot! Should be getting together with a prosthesis manufacturer soon as the stump is healing-up. Once that's done, I expect to have a rather traumatic training period as I learn to walk again.

Confined to a wheelchair, I'm unable to get to my loading shed, or the range or......etc etc. It'll be nice to have some mobility again!

So, in the meantime, I get a lot of vicarious entertainment here and on my other regular Internet stops. Keep it up gents.,

[JIMinPHX]

I have that mold from Midsouth. If yours is like mine, getting the gas checks to actually crimp and stay on will be a problem. Mine just will not. I got mine a couple of years ago. If that problem has been corrected I'd like another go at one. I messed mine up trying to fix the problem, thus not returnable.

If you are looking to find a new home for your messed up Bator, please drop me a PM & let me know how much you want for it.

Thanks,
Jim

[JIMinPHX]

I have pushed them to 2450 fps in my single shot 222 with no problems or leading so they might work if that is fast enough to operate the action.

If they don't work the action, it is pretty easy to swap out the powder bushing on that gun to make the action work normally with a different powder charge.

[Max Brand]

http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL1992/10790285/21671495/400728179.jpg
http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL1992/10790285/21671495/403354765.jpg

I liked my first mini so much I bought another one to go with it. The top photo clearly illustrates the difference between the original barrel and the new tactical barrel. The older model above with the Mo-Rod stabilizer is a 3-4 inch @ 100 yard gun while the tactical model below it will shoot 1-2 inch groups all day as long as I do my part. Jeff Cooper wrote highly of them and coined the "Ranch Rifle" phrase many years ago.

[DrNick]

Huh.

Ive got one. Target rifle? Not! Reliable? Hell ya!

I was at a three gun match a few years back. I was stupified at how many malfunctions the AR crowd was having.... To my memory, I have NEVER had a malfunction with the Mini-14 (or Mini-30 for that matter)

One other thing to recommned the Mini platform up here in Canuckistan: It is classed as non-restricted whereas the AR is restricted (can only be fired at an approved range)

Doc

[bruce drake]

http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL1992/10790285/21671495/400728179.jpg
http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL1992/10790285/21671495/403354765.jpg

I liked my first mini so much I bought another one to go with it. The top photo clearly illustrates the difference between the original barrel and the new tactical barrel. The older model above with the Mo-Rod stabilizer is a 3-4 inch @ 100 yard gun while the tactical model below it will shoot 1-2 inch groups all day as long as I do my part. Jeff Cooper wrote highly of them and coined the "Ranch Rifle" phrase many years ago.

What did your original mini-14 group before the Mo-Rod installation? I've got a series 181 model that could potentially benefit from this attachment.

Bruce

[Max Brand]

What did your original mini-14 group before the Mo-Rod installation? I've got a series 181 model that could potentially benefit from this attachment.

Bruce


Bruce it was pretty much minute of 10" pie plate maybe 8" on a good day but never better than an 8" group and I think that was just plain old luck.

[Shiloh]

Best groups in mine were with 52 gr Sierra's with Win 748. 5 shot groups. when it got warm, everything opened up. Bulk Winchester 55 gr. FMJ's didn't do as well. My Mini's , 182 series are long gone.
Saw the first one in years at the range last Sunday. An older stainless version.

My scope mount had a drilled and tapped piece of steel that fit in the cover plate and an anchoring bolt fit into it.

SHiloh

[hiram1]

"target model" Mini 14.I love mine it will hunt.

[quilbilly]

Welcome back Bruce!!!! Recently I chatted with a guy at a garage sale who had a similar problem to yours ago two years ago. He said the only thing he couldn't do was climb ladders and he has been on day hikes in the Olympic Mtns. You will be off that chair in no time. I went and did it. I picked up that stainless Mini-14 for a pretty good price. It is the tapered barrel variety. Now with salmon fishing seasons on and selling the gear, I probably won't have time to shoot it till September. This will be a fun project.

[303Guy]

I probably won't have time to shoot it till September.Noooo! Now I'll have to wait! Oh well, something to look forward to.:drinks:

[MikeS]

One other thing to recommned the Mini platform up here in Canuckistan: It is classed as non-restricted whereas the AR is restricted (can only be fired at an approved range)

Doc

Just another example of a gun being classified based on it's looks, not it's function! I mean what is the difference in function between a mini14 and an ar15 assuming both are fitted with 20 round magazines? One looks more sportsman like (the Mini14 - assuming it's got the wooden stock on it, or the plastic one that's the same shape), and the other looks more military (the AR15). Oh well, there's no need to point this out to the authorities, as they'll just restrict the Mini, rather than unrestrict the AR!

[fcvan]

Canuckistan, that's a good one. I lived in Commiefornia for 50 years. My 180 model Mini started out life as a SWAT entry weapon in the 70s in SoCal. It is parkerized and has a short barrel so they had to pin and weld a muzzle brake front sight assembly to bring it back to 16". If it were a flash suppressor it would have been classified an assault weapon.

I bought and modified a folding stock to fit the rifle. The next year they classified folders or pistol grip stocks with detachable magazines as assault weapons. I had to put the wood stock back on for the past 18 years. All I had was high capacity magazines as that's what we used at work so I had to buy 5 and ten round mags.

I could own and shoot this rifle with high cap mags as I was law enforcement but you can only shoot assault weapons at designated ranges. The county I lived in didn't have any designated ranges for civilians. What a P.I.T.A

Moved to Colorado, put my folder back on, slapped in a 30 round mag, enjoyed my rifle for the first time in almost 2 decades. Next up, build an AR platform rifle without a dad burned bullet button mag release. Frank

[pdawg_shooter]

I've tried to like my Mini-14, I really have. But it is the single biggest *** in my gun safe. It's about as accurate as Obama is honest, no matter what you load, how you load it or how close or how far you shoot it.

I bought it new almost twenty years ago when the Clinton/Reno assault-weapons ban was about to go in effect. I wanted something in the .223 caliber (which I also dislike tremendously), but I did not want a black gun back then and still don't want one today.

At the same time I was buying the Mini-14, I also bought a few other semi-automatics that were going to be on the doomed list, including a genuine Chinese SKS, unfired. I got it for $50, and bought half-a-dozen of them to give out to my brother and some friends.

An SKS isn't exactly the picture of accuracy, but this one will outshoot this Mini-14 any day of the week.

I've heard the new Mini-14's are allegedly more accurate (how could they be LESS accurate than they already were?) these days. I've also been told that for around $1000 in gunsmithing and modifications, I too can have a Mini-14 that actually shoots MOA at 75'. :rolleyes:

As mentioned by someone above, I LOVE the design of the Mini-14 and I love the feel and balance of the rifle. It just doesn't shoot worth a stink.

:coffee:

My experience exactly. When I was a dealer I sold a couple dozen Minis and the best of the lot would hold around 3/3.5" at 100yds. The average was around 5 or 6 inches. No thanks.

[Linstrum]

I know this thread is three months old, but I have 2¢ I can throw into the pot. Last year I bought a 581 series Ruger Mini-14. I just got done doing some shooting at a 1/4 mile with it, and it is accurate enough so that I would not want to be on the receiving end at 440 yards. Using 62 grain boat tails and Reloader 15, I get around 1 inch at 100 yards, or 1 moa. With 55 grain ammo I get around 4" at 100 yards.

I had a Mini-14 back in about 1986 and I had to send it back to the factory to get it on a 9" paper plate at 100 yards, and they got it down to about 4" at 100 yards. I traded it along with $200 for a Browning .338 Win Mag autoloader in 1992 when Californistan threatened to confiscate all "assault weapons" without compensation.

The Browning BAR hunting rifle is an autoloader worth owning, mine is a sub-minute of angle shooter with 225 grain boat tails. But it is not a .223 that I can get super cheap ammo for.

rl 1,145

[ronbo40s&w]

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af360/ronbos12/camomini.jpg

With my old bifocal eyes and iron sights, this rifle shoots just OVER 2 moa. With a scope, it is just UNDER 2 moa....both at 100 yards. Plenty good for my semiauto needs.

My main love for the gun is stone cold reliability. It feeds everything , every time. I apologize for having no experience with cast boolits for it, but maybe this helps. I suspect the story on reliability will be the same with cast.

God Bless!

Ron