Accu-strut on mini 14 - an improvement?

[mattd]

I love my mini. One of the original 180 series. Haven't done a lot of load development, but here is a pre strut group with 25g of varget under a 55g fmj on the right, 26 on left (with some sight adjustment mid group), at 50 yards. Call the 25g group just over an inch by 2 inches w 10 shots, can't remember when that 11th to the right came in. Not bad considering the minis rep, and w factory peep.



Couples days ago I got the accustrut, which claims 50-75% improvement in groups. Below is same everything, 25g varget on right , 26 on left.

First couple of 25g shots and im under an inch! cant believe it! best i've ever shot. 6 shots at under an inch total. But those darn fliers. And minis are known for fliers. That said I wouldn't put it past me to pull a few.




So would you call that an improvement? A consistent 1x2 group vs a super tight group with a bunch of fliers? Certainly I need to work with both scenarios more, but in general can tweaking the load eliminate fliers?

[MtGun44]

HMM? How is " a tight group with a bunch of fliers" actually a "tight group"?

Bill

[427smith]

I made my own version of a accu-strut. my mini originally shot 7 inch 100 yard groups. after I installed the strut it shot 10 shots in 2 1/2 inch. with 5 or 6 in 1 inch. still with those darn flyers. mini 14s are still fun.

[mattd]

I tried making my own too. The problem was the clamps attaching to the barrel. Couldn't find anything that would hold it close enuf to the barrel to look decent.

[HeavyMetal]

Have you done anything with the gas port on your Mini?

These are over gassed and actual shake the action in the gun so bad you get the "flyers" .

Some, such as myself, go for the adjustable gas block others buy the kit with three or four "jets" in them and reduce as needed to get the gun to settle down, plan to glass bed parts of my action as well when it returns from being D&T'd for a scope mount.

In either case gas port adjustment is your next go to point.

[mattd]

Well IIRC $20ish for the kit is certainly doable. And that makes a lot of sense.

Part of my restoration of this gun was getting a wood stock, bought it with synthetic. Had to inlet to get everything to sit right, and ended up with a slight gap between top metal and wood. So I have metal to metal connection. Have considered bedding, but holding off for now.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I gotta say, while I absolutely love the M1 carbine and love the appearance of a Mini 14, I've always hated that rifle's problems with accuracy. I've always wrestled with buying one and tuning it up, but I just can't past the fact I can buy an AR15 off the shelf and fresh out of the box that will outshoot the tuned Mini14, no matter how much money I put into the Mini. Same with a Ruger 10/22. Looked at those, even owned one, but got rid of it and bought a CZ .22 for myself and my wife. Her "youth" version, with it's beech stock, will outshoot any tuned Ruger 10/22 I've seen and a give an Anshutz a run for their money. Mine is good, but hers, one of CZ's lower end bolts, is ridiculously accurate without doing a darn thing to it.

I love Ruger and want to buy those guns, but the money pit thing tuning them has always stopped me.

[mattd]

i get that, but a mini was one of those must haves for me, plus i like project guns. and i like wood and blue steel, so ARs dont have an appeal. i got a smoking deal a few months ago on gunbroker for it, $430 with shipping and FFL fees. $65 for wood stock, $100 for accustrut. if i get the gas block kit, AND it solves the flier problem, that'll be another $20ish. so around $600 for something that is a 1" gun at 50y, which is better then i thought i would be able to shoot

[Tazman1602]

I have two older Mini's. One a Ranch Rifle and one just a Mini. They were safe queens for almost ten years until my wife took to shooting .223's/5.56mm due to the light recoil. She had tried my brother in laws AR and just loved the fact it had almost no recoil.

She then asked if we had any .223 rifles and I told her about the Mini's. She asked why I never shot them and I responded; "Only accurate rifles are interesting". She then proceeded to ask me wasn't I a gunsmith (although I do NOT work on others rifles anymore due to liability.....) and if so why couldn't I fix it? Oh boy, here we go. Those things wouldn't shoot a 5" group at 100 yards if you had a lb of C4 planted under your butt.

SOOO I started off with the research on WHY it wouldn't shoot groups. I found a bulletin board, Perfect Union, which is a huge Mini-14 site. First thing I did was add the goodies she wanted along with an Accu-Strut. Looked like a sham to me but what they hey, we'll give it a shot.

I could_not_believe the difference the Accu-Strut made on both rifles! Group size shrunk dramatically and with the help of John "Gundoc" Baker we figured out the right size barrel bushing and trigger mods so they both had 3-4lb triggers and didn't throw/dent brass 35 feet away.

These are now a couple of our favorite rifles. From what I understand with conversations with Ruger, the Mini-14 line was shut down for about two years while Ruger figured out what they had to do in order to correct all the accuracy issues, and from what I understand the "New" Mini-14's are extremely accurate -- but the price and availability reflect that now also.

Accu-Strut is also a great company to deal with, great service! I actually look for guys who have older Mini's that hate them and say they're junk because they are not accurate enough and my first response it; "Gosh, are you interested in selling that for $350? I'd love to play around with one"

..............Yes, I know, I'm rotten.

Art

PS -- Mattd, if you don't want to replace the whole gas block, Gundoc will sell you a set of bushings for $35. I would buy a set of gas block screws from Brownells also just in case one strips on you and if you have issues with an allen wrench to get the old gas block off give me a 'holler. I welded a long allen wrench that I cut off to an old 1/4" socket and it works just dandy for these. You can get ahold of Gundoc here:

http://www.greatwestgunsmithing.com/mini14.htm

[Hardcast416taylor]

Taz is right! He has helped guide me onto the straight and narrow path of a much better operating Mini.Robert

[mattd]

Well what are the groups now Taz? And what about fliers?

Like I said I love this thing. And it dosent really have a problem. Here's the gun in question.



It's a 180 series, so the first model. It has a roller bearing connecting the bolt to the op rod, which makes it super smooth. And a factory threaded on flash suppressed which blends perfectly. I got it with a syn stock. Got this wood one, and refinished it, sand and gel stain. It's birch and staining wasn't easy. Also sanded down the barrel and reblued. Got rid of the matte finish and now it's a deep gloss blue. Last piece I probably will have to make is a wood hand guard. And find a metal butt plate I guess. The trigger on it is great and needs no work.

Went to the farm the other day and shot my bator bullets out of it. 8.5g of unique was the ticket, but didnt fully work the action. Only put a few informally on paper, but 3 were about 1.5" at 55y. The rest were shooting at reactive targets and I could hit the 4" round ball and the swinging woodchuck everytime. And you could see a vapor trail all the way to the target. Anyway, I love it even more now. And that kind of shooting with your buddies is more fun then paper punching for me.

But that brings me back to the gas block. If the action getting slammed is the cause of the fliers (I have the heavy spring and 1911 buffers) then maybe cast bullets will solve that problem. Little more unique and I'll probably be back in semi auto. Once I go cast with a gun I've never gone back, but maybe I would with this caliber, which would require different gas block settings. So then maybe the adjustable gas block is the answer.

[Tazman1602]

Man I thought I had lost the targets, it's been a couple of years. Here's my wifes Mini BEFORE the Accu Strut:

Attachment 101944

and here's the AFTER Accu Strut target and YES, ammo was the same, all that changed was the strut:

Attachment 101945

The circled group came from the Mini with the Accu Strut..............I was running out of targets at the time.........

The groups stayed tight also. Did I mention these are at 100yds with a Leupold 2.75X scout scope on it?

Art