Ruger Mini 14 accuracy questions

[HeavyMetal]

Not in this particular forum that much but I do have few questions on the mini 14 .223 chambering.

Nephew has a 184 prefix Mini and he'd like me to do a few things to it to get it to shoot better.

After checking out a few web site I've settled on Accuracy systems scope mount, the one that mounts in the rear sight slot and has a couple screws mounting it to the front of the reciever.

This looks like a good soild mount, unlike the one screw wonders I've seen advertised for cheap, and I figure a good steel tubed Weaver K-6 should perform well.

Unless I hear different, with good reasons, I'll do this as planned.

Next question: Bedding the MIni 14 seen several styles of bedding systems but think plain old glass bedding of the action area
with no contact along barrel / gas tube area should provide a stable remountable platform.

Need to hear from anyone that has bedded a Mini, I think the stock on this is Plastic but won't have the rifle in hand until late March, with success.

Next question: I have had some experience with auto loading rifles, the M 1 rifle as an example, I realize that most auto loading rifles need to operate within a speific pressure / power ban to keep from doing the dum stuff I watched my buddy do with his M 1 while we learned why he was bending Operating rods.

So anyone have a good basic accurate load for the 223 mini 14? Prefer ball powders but may have IMR or Alliant that will fill the bill. Advise a load, I'll check it in my manuals and use it if it has good numbers / referals.

That should cover it but please fel free to add those little things that made a difference in group size I may not have thought about. the Mini is new to me but I don't see it being a major problem to get shooting.

HM

[silverjay]

I sent mine to Accuracy system for the same mount, pillar bedding and trigger work. Shot better. I got rid of it a few years ago because while it did shoot better it still didn't hang with my ar.

[300savage]

go to perfect union you will find what you are asking and more.
i believe that great west gunsmithing has a video on his site that will show you how.
also some buffers, a reduced gas bushing and perhaps an accustrut may all help.

[ElDorado]

So anyone have a good basic accurate load for the 223 mini 14? Prefer ball powders but may have IMR or Alliant that will fill the bill. Advise a load, I'll check it in my manuals and use it if it has good numbers / referals.


HM

For 55 / 62 gr FMJ I use 25 gr of Win 748, which is a ball powder and meters nicely. It seems like 27 grs was a little more accurate in my 183 prefix Mini 14, but 25 gr was more accurate in my AR, and I didn't want to keep two loads. 27 grs is getting close to max, but 25 gr is a nice, sane loading. I may revisit that loading in the future, but it's held up whenever I tested it. I don't shoot cast in 223, so I don't have a load for that.

Hodgdon BL-C(2) and Varget are other popular powders, though I haven't tried them.

I usually use the Mini 14 as a plinker/fun gun. It doesn't have a reputation as an accurate rifle, but I understand the desire to hit what you're shooting at.

Here's a little info from Ed Harris. You may have already seen this.

http://www.grantcunningham.com/blog_...0d80e-977.html

Let me add a warning about grinding the slide as mentioned in the Harris article. I read on another forum about someone who was trying that and ruined the slide very quickly. I'd hate to see that happen.

Good luck!

[oldred]

During the 80's I had three Mini 14s and after the third one I said to myself "enough of this"! Nothing I could do to these things would produce anything better than what I would refer to as mediocre accuracy and in stock form accuracy was dismal at best. I have heard that Ruger has addressed some of the problems in the newer versions and maybe I just had three "lemons" but those three were enough for me, it's a shame too because they are such good looking rifles. Hope you have better luck than I did!

[Outpost75]

Ruger described it himself as "the world's most expensive plinker"

When Bill Ruger, Sr. was asked by Ed Harris why the company should not under take a program to improve accuracy of the Mini 14, he was told:

"It doesn't need to be any better than that, for farm boys who are going to shoot at cans!"

I rest my case.

[Petrol & Powder]

I don't wish to be totally negative, but I've never seen a Mini-14 that would shoot well. I had one and shot others and was never impressed. If I had to guess, I would say the large mass of the operating rod causes havoc with the barrel harmonics. They function well but I've never seen one that was particularly accurate.

[300savage]

the newer tapered barreled models shoot decent. and i know of a stainless 580 series that will shoot its first two shots often in a half inch but within an inch always.
after that it starts climbing until it starts grouping again at two inches high where it again becomes a one inch gun.

it shoots just good enough to be interesting and worth keeping around to see if its issues can be fixed. bedding it removed most all lateral dispersion in the groups, but did not do much to stop the vertical stringing.
a strut actually makes it shoot worse..

[jmort]

I would not get one for accuracy, but for rock solid reliability and ergonomics. That is a gun that will run. Very handy and useful. For .223 I like RL 15

[Hardcast416taylor]

To solve the case flinging problem of the mini and to tone down the bolt slam issue you should look into changing out the gas port orfice. Brownell`s has a 3 port kit that is fairly inexpensive. There are 3 sizes of orfices in the kit from very small to large - but still smaller than the full blown size in the rifle. It takes less than 30 minutes to change out your orfice for a newer smaller size model. I installed a buffer at the same time to lessen the "clang" when the bolt operated. Cases will be easier to find with the smaller port and lessen wear on the op rod and action that also can lead to better accuracy.Robert

[fryboy]

from my understanding the newer ones use the old style ranch rifle mounts ( milled into the receiver top ) ,the older ranch rifles really kicked the brass ( to clear a low mounted scope ) the older mini 14's didnt kick the brass so hard , the new ones may kick it just as hard as the old ranch rifle did , everyone i have shot had accuracy comparable to a ak or m1 carbine

[plainsman456]

Get a adjustable gas block.

They work wonders for these as well as the mini 30.

[45 2.1]

The original 180 series shot reloads VERY well....... then Ruger changed the gas system (181 series and up) and with it a deeper forend..... that resulted in VERY poor accuracy with the same loads the 180's shot well with.

[fouronesix]

After watching others and shooting a few in the past, I wasn't bitten by the Mini 14 bug. Never felt the need to buy one then spend time and money trying to get one to "maybe" shoot. They do serve a somewhat interesting purpose though- there must be a bunch of them in the Hollywood prop house supply caches.

[Outpost75]

And if I recall in the series "the A Team" they never hit anything either!

[Petrol & Powder]

And if I recall in the series "the A Team" they never hit anything either!

[ShooterAZ]

I sold mine off too, after I got my AR's. No comparison in accuracy. It was a fun plinker though, and I did enjoy owning it.

[Hardcast416taylor]

from my understanding the newer ones use the old style ranch rifle mounts ( milled into the receiver top ) ,the older ranch rifles really kicked the brass ( to clear a low mounted scope ) the older mini 14's didnt kick the brass so hard , the new ones may kick it just as hard as the old ranch rifle did , everyone i have shot had accuracy comparable to a ak or m1 carbine

I beg to differ with you on how hard the mini 180 series throws brass. Until I changed the gas orfice mine would throw the cases at the least 12` and farther from the rifle. Actually employed a metal detector to search for cases in ankle high grass on my range.Robert

[uscra112]

I fixed the brass throwing in mine by adding buffers to the ends of the slide travel. Supposedly buffers for the 1911 will fit, but I just cut some out of leather.

Mine was never accurate. It went down the road during the panic, for $400 more than I paid for it.

Varget is a great choice for .223 - I use it my Stevens 200 bolter for HV loads. About 25-26 grains with a 55 grain j-wart. A slightly compressed load.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I frequent the Perfect Union site as well, and have posted extensively about these guns. There is lots to know about them and Accuracy Systems is the place to go.

The Mini 14's suffer from one single really bad point and that is the over active gas system. The guns are so over gassed that when fired the large chunk of steel on the op rod hits the front of the receiver so hard that it repositions the action in the stock on Every Shot! My 580 series Mini14 (2005) would throw Wolf Steel cases 40 feet to the right and accuracy was non existent.

There are two ways to deal with this problem, change the orifice size on the bushing between the barrel and gas block or get an adjustable gas block from AS. The second way is the best. my gun became a 2" at 100 yard gun with this simple mod.

Next don't expect tack driver accuracy from these guns. They are 300 yard guns and 6" at 300 yards is not bad for a Carbine. IE this is acceptable accuracy for the intended uses of the gun.

Next try a Red Dot mounted above or directly in front of the receiver. I can hit a 8x10" steel target at 200 yards every single time off a rest with the Red Dot, and target acquisition is so much faster than a crosshair it is pathetic!. I can also hit a man sized target every time at 300 yards off a rest. You don't need a big hairy scope hanging off these guns. I am 64 and wear glasses so please don't cry about aging eyes, I've got them too. If you can see the target at 200 yards with your glasses on you can hit it. EASILY! The Red Dot sight (Bushnell TRS-25 <$90) replaced a 1-4X Scope that was simply too big and made the gun handle poorly. Lighter is better.

Once you shoot the gun and learn to use what you've got, you'll fully understand what I am talking about. The beauty of these guns is the tank like reliability, "acceptable accuracy" and the ability to beat the Krap out of someone with the gun and still have it work when done. IE "Mini" 14 "Just like big brother!"

Now if you do want sub MOA accuracy then once again Accuracy Systems is your goto source, and you can easily spend $1200 making one into a real shooter. Then I will ask you, "What are you going to do with it?"

My standard Load for this gun and all of my other .223/5.56 carbines is 25 gr of BLC2/W748 with a 55gr FMJBT "recycled" bullet. It is reliable in all guns, and accurate enough for the intended purposes of Carbines, the bench mark of which, is hitting a man sized target out to 300 yards.

These guns are what they are, and they are pretty damned good at it. However you will be disappointed if you expect minute of bottle cap accuracy from them. It simply ain't there.

I recently saw a high speed clip showing a Mini14 firing and the barrel, and the op rod were going in two different directions and were all over the place. It was almost scary, but mine works pretty well for 3 gun comps and shooting rifle classes at Front Sight. My gun has about 2000 rounds thru it and gets better all the time.

It is an excellent firearm, and I would not feel handicapped with one in any situation an AR would see.

Randy