Anyone have any accuracy mod tips for a mini short of bedding? any different stocks,bushings,cushions, that have worked for you?
Have a 181 stainless model and havent shot it for years,just sets in safe looking buisnesslike.
Thnx for any answers
__________________ In order for us to see and know evil, we must first see and know GOD...
This pic has been refusing to post kind of like the mini 14 refusing to be accurate.
Not sure what your 181 model is but yaaa I like the way mine looks too but limit it to heavy brush coyote/fox out to 75 yds.
I tried about 12 different factory/reloads and mine did show a preference for the Winchester/Olin 5.56 military stuff.
There are outfits that will give you a diff barrel and stock for $500.00 and promise the magic inch.
Sorry...never tried any of the cheaper fixes other than like I say ran a dozen different rnds thru it.
Thanks killer, I think 500.00 would get me a new gun, just like the cheap plinking 14 has to offer. 181 is begining model # or prefix. Your 14 looks good!
__________________ In order for us to see and know evil, we must first see and know GOD...
I'm going to keep experimenting with different rounds because it has taken me years with some rifles to find the sweet spot.
I have a Ruger .22 magnum that had acceptable accuracy after trying a dozen different ammo brands. I was getting 1" grps at 50 yds with it and felt "Well that aint bad" One day I ran across a box of Win Supreme (blk box) 34 grain? and tried them. That gun has now moved to the front of the safe for serious 75 yard head shots on squirrels.
The mini above has a 20 rnd clip which I feel looks better than the 30 rnd clips on it.
My historical knowledge of the mini 14 was Bill Ruger wanted to make a tribute rifle to the M1 Garand , sort of a mini Garand if you will. I own several stainless steel Ruger firearms and they are beat around guns to be used in crappy conditions.
The day the pic was taken above we were traveling about on snow shoes in some pretty deep stuff. We were attempting to locate a pack of wolves that had been working a loggers clearing all winter harrassing wintering deer there.
The mini 14 fits nice and tight to the body with a short sling and I like it's compact size in heavy brush. I do have some issues with the clip release, you have to watch where you put your hand. I have a couple of times accidently released the clip.
I did look back on a couple of post and see remchuck got a little better accuracy with a hogue overmolded stock.
Anyone have any accuracy mod tips for a mini short of bedding? any different stocks,bushings,cushions, that have worked for you?
Have a 181 stainless model and havent shot it for years,just sets in safe looking buisnesslike.
Thnx for any answers
Buy a new one.
I was just reading about the new mini-14 ranch rifle, and supposedly Ruger has tweaked them until they're noticeably more accurate than the older ones.
My nephew was banging his head on the wall and mumbling, "I KNEW I should've waited a few more years..." Here's a pic from a couple of weeks ago, when he decided to seriously see what his was capable of. His verdict: it probably wasn't ever going to do much better than 3" groups at 100 yards.
I can understand his frustration too troy2000 esp after he puts such a nice scope on it.
That's why I've left my 1x4 shotgun scope on mine. No extra magnification going to help it, plus it sort of guarantees limiting my shots to short range esp at 1X.
Close quarters SHTF a mini 14 will do fine I would think.
I don't know the answer to the Original question. I do know from 1000's of rounds out of a Mini 14 I had, The hotter the barrel got, the worse I shot. I sold the gun years ago, and have been faithfully addicted to a DPMS Panther ever since. The accuracy is awesome, and unforgiveable.
Not putting down the 223 Ruger. Fine gun, always seem to have accuracy problem with them after 5 shots. My gun always walked left the hotter it got. Now I did buy a savage 110 when they were hot, and now there is a hog leg of steel that puts them in as well as my buddys Rem 700. Just doesn't bang out the brass like the Mini 14.
I own two mini14,s.One will hang in at under an inch,the other at about 1 1/2" but I fire a shot and let it cool.It is my personal opinion that heat in a mini is detremenral to accuracy.One I bought new and has never been fired rapidly.I bought a m77mk2 and had the same problem,fire 5 shots and it was all over the place.I rebarreled it with a Douglas supreme .223 1in12 26" stainless varmint class barrel and can shoot all day on a warm day with consistant accuracy using up to 55gr flat base bullets.It loves 27gr acc.2230 behind a 40gr vmax.I have never had any luck buying a mini used because they all seem to have been fired rapid fire.This is my experience. samuel.
...Now I did buy a savage 110 when they were hot, and now there is a hog leg of steel that puts them in as well as my buddys Rem 700. Just doesn't bang out the brass like the Mini 14.
Spend the extra 250.00 bucks and try a panther
I don't think ANYTHING bangs out the brass like a mini-14.
I shot a coyote at 75 yards out south of Flagstaff when I first got mine, and I remember jumping out of the truck, laying the rifle across the hood, Whistling to get the coyote to stop, and then bammmm.
Spent the next hour trying to find rubbing compound to take that huge black scorch mark off my white pickup hood.
I bought my mini 14 when I first moved to Arizona about 18 years ago, and loved the gun. Light weight, and the copied design is flawless. I used mine for prairie dogs, and just general burning up the cheapest rounds I could find.
Those days, 223 was available for $2.00 a box of 20, so you see how a guy could punish himself, and the rifle with a couple thirty round clips for a couple of hours. J&G guns is just down in Prescott, so we would go buy cases of the rounds.
But, getting older, the ar15 with a buffer spring doesn't kick like that mini 14 did. I don't enjoy the recoils like when I was 30. I still shoot the large calibers, but even with my 45-110 C-sharps ten rounds, and I am ready for the 223.
I shoot 4-6 rounds of trap a week over in prescott, but the recoil out of a 7-1/2 load 12 ga, is a walk in the park.
I still see the used stainless mini's over in prescott used for $450.00, and the thought has crossed my mind quite a few times.
I read once that a contributing factor to the poor accuracy of the mini 14 is that the front sight is pressed on. The guy said he had worked for ruger for years who posted it. I am not sure if it will work as before I read it I had a new barel put on mine. I make no gaurentees or take any responsability, but if you want to try it you can take it to a gun smith and they can do it for you so it looks like a factory end rather than a farmer who stuck his barrel in the mud and blew it off and had to cut it in the barn.
i've put scopes on mine by bushnell and pentax and the mini turned them both to junk.has this happened to anyone else?the accuracy on my mini was improved by changeing to a hogue stock.still its no tack driver but it can consistently knock off beer cans at 100 yards.
The Mini-14 will really shoot if you do all the normal stuff that RUGER doesn't. As the rifle is a M-14 copy it WILL ONLY do better if properly bedded, I milled and glassed the fit and the results are outstanding. A lot of Mini's have a lousy fit where the op-rod and the wood interfere. I have a Mini-30 and a Mini-14 that will shoot 2" groups at 100yds. I'm presently working on getting Saiga rifle to shoot accurately @ 100 yds....
The Mini-14 will really shoot if you do all the normal stuff that RUGER doesn't. As the rifle is a M-14 copy it WILL ONLY do better if properly bedded, I milled and glassed the fit and the results are outstanding. A lot of Mini's have a lousy fit where the op-rod and the wood interfere. I have a Mini-30 and a Mini-14 that will shoot 2" groups at 100yds. I'm presently working on getting Saiga rifle to shoot accurately @ 100 yds....
Can you, or someone, please give me some more detail on how to mill and bed the mini-14, and other accurizing tips? I love the gun, have 3 versions (all from the mid 80's), but they all shoot lousy. I've gotten rid of a lot of guns that shoot lousy, but can't part with my mini's. I've read of guys with their mini-14's doing 3-4" groups at 100 yds and I'd be happy with that. I've tried all kinds of scopes and mounts, and the M-14 type iron sights, including my Leupold elk hunting scope that I can make regular 1" groups with on my .300 Winchester Mag and stays zeroed year to year. But all 3 of my mini's can't do better than an 8-10" group at 100 yds on a sandbag from day to day (occasionally I get a 4" group but most of the time I get at least one flier 6-8 inches out on a 3-shot group). I have spent a wad of money and time trying to find a bullet/load that shoots in them, put them away in disgust, and have long come to the conclusion that something else is wrong with them. However, I am again interested in trying to use them to shoot coyotes that have gotten out of hand around here. Your milling and bedding makes sense. Any other tips? Thanks--Larry
