Ruger Mini 14 and Mini 30 accuracy

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My Mini 30 Tactical was consistently good for 2 inches for 5 shots w/ brass case hand loads wearing a 4X Burris.

This one at 50 yards with irons:
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jmorris said:
The regular mini 14 doesn’t chunk the brass as far as the “Ranch” versions but don’t have the machined scope mounts.
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To my knowledge all Mini-14s of the past few years have had the Ranch Rifle type scope mounts. They basically consolidated the receiver design and only make one type now.
 
I have an early 80's Ranch Rifle that 4" group was all it was good for until I started loading down. I found a sweet spot at just under 2600 fps with Hornady 55spwc, 24.7gr W748 and R71/2 primer, it became a consistent 1moa rifle. Oddly decades later I was talking with another shooter about Ranch Rifles and it seems he had made that exact discovery with the same load. I would love it if somebody else would try and find out it's not just a fluke.
 
1KPerDay said:
To my knowledge all Mini-14s of the past few years have had the Ranch Rifle type scope mounts. They basically consolidated the receiver design and only make one type now.
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This may be, I don’t have any idea.

In the past the mini 14 had a spring ejector like an AR and didn’t chunk them into the next zip code like the mechanical ejector that the ranch uses.
 
Thomas Mayberry said:
I had an older 80's model that would give consistent 6" groups at 100 yards. I had a later 580 series that gave 2 1/2" groups at 100 yards, sometimes down to 2".
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A mini-30 that shoots 2"+ groups at 100 yards is a really fun rifle and will kill a lot of critters on a farm. We had an M-1 Carbine, when a teen, that was a blast to shoot!!! I never did shoot it at a target, except to sight-in. One day, when hunting with my brother, a grouse flushed about 10 feet ahead of me and instinctively, the gun came up and I blasted it! (Not enough of that one to take home.)
 
jmorris said:
This may be, I don’t have any idea.

In the past the mini 14 had a spring ejector like an AR and didn’t chunk them into the next zip code like the mechanical ejector that the ranch uses.
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Since the 581s at least all minis were/are ranch rifles, and carry the mechanical ejector.
One of the later mods i did was swapping to a smaller gas bushing that reduced force of ejection significantly. If i remember correctly it was the smallest offered by Accuracy Systems, and it would cycle everthing down to the AE 52gr hollow points i liked.
 
Revilo said:
Thanks so much for all the input. I will probably get one because there appears to be consensus that its a good choice for a ranch gun for the cab. Don’t want to worry about knocking off a scope. AR’s are too bulky for me. Hope to report back once I play with it and take a stab at custom loaded ammo.
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Good on ya..I'm going to order one with my trumpbux, as soon as the dust settles a bit..model 5816...
 
LoonWulf said:
One of the later mods i did was swapping to a smaller gas bushing that reduced force of ejection significantly.
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This! IMO, a required mod.

I bought a 181-(?) in, like, 1977 (gone by ~1980) and a s/s 184- in ~1986 that I still have. Neither a Ranch Rifle.

Both were/are 100yd sub~3" rifles which is fine for groundhog clearing operations. ;)

My only mods are a recoil buffer and the smaller gas bushing that I have installed in the 184- ... I like to minimize the action-abuse where possible. :)
 
Revilo said:
Thanks so much for all the input. I will probably get one because there appears to be consensus that its a good choice for a ranch gun for the cab. Don’t want to worry about knocking off a scope. AR’s are too bulky for me. Hope to report back once I play with it and take a stab at custom loaded ammo.
Click to expand...

Have you looked at an AR pistol in 300 Blackout? Very compact package with a 8-10" barrel and plenty accurate.

300bo.jpg

Here's mine. I have $350 in the build. I had the red dot already. Ignore my "helper".
 
I put together an AR a few years ago, not for me. Sold it and bought a stainless Mini-14, ranch version.

I wanted the least evil features, so I chose a wood stock. It’s the newer heavier tapered barrel, and it shoots fine for me. I changed to a smaller gas bushing, evened out the gas block, and installed buffers from Wilson Combat made for a .45acp.

It’s very reliable with the right magazines and accurate enough for my needs. The only thing I would like improved is the trigger, seems worse than the N.Y.++ in my Glock. lol
 
Even using the newer, tapered 16 inch barrel, a standard Mini will never be as accurate as a standard AR because of the operating rod moving back and forth. The Garand and M-14 have this same issue. Designs will less play in the moving parts are more accurate.
 
I have a AR and a 583 series Ranch Rifle. The AR is a more accurate firearm,but stays in the rack a lot more than the Ranch Rifle. There is something about the 583 that appeals to me and it has been 100% reliable for thousand of rounds.I use it around the ranch and find it accurate enough for that purpose. I found the most accurate round for mine is American Eagle .223 50gr HP. I would not sell this rifle.
 
Plenty accurate if you realize what they were designed to do. They weren’t designed to be 500yd precision rifles. They were designed to be ‘minute of torso’ (my words not theirs) inside of 300 yards. I had a one of the new 581 series rifles and it shot as well as I did. Was it sub MOA? Nope. Did I need it to be? Nope. I think a lot of people get hung up on ‘it’s not as accurate as....’ And not ‘is it accurate enough’. I compare it basically like an American made AK.

In states like NY it fills an important niche because it looks like a regular rifle and not like an AR. Thus it’s often left alone when legislation comes along. You don’t have to have funky ergos to make it legal and it also doesn’t freak people out at the range.
 
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daniel craig said:
Plenty accurate if you realize what they were designed to do. They weren’t designed to be 500yd precision rifles. They were designed to be ‘minute of torso’ (my words not theirs) inside of 300 yards. I had a one of the new 581 series rifles and it shot as well as I did. Was it sub MOA? Nope. Did I need it to be? Nope. I think a lot of people get hung up on ‘it’s not as accurate as....’ And not ‘is it accurate enough’. I compare it basically like an American made AK.

In states like NY it fills an important niche because it looks like a regular rifle and not like an AR. Thus it’s often left alone when legislation comes along. You don’t have to have funky ergos to make it legal and it also doesn’t freak people out at the range.
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Furthermore people often assume that their ARs or ARs in general are automatically MOA capable rifles. Even though they’ve never actually wrung them out. If they did they’d likely find their run of the mill AR isn’t much or if any more practically accurate than their Mini-14.
 
1KPerDay said:
Furthermore people often assume that their ARs or ARs in general are automatically MOA capable rifles. Even though they’ve never actually wrung them out. If they did they’d likely find their run of the mill AR isn’t much or if any more practically accurate than their Mini-14.
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And the thing that gets me the MOST is I've found that most people don't shoot well enough for it to even matter. Who cares if it's a 1moa gun if you can't even shoot that well to begin with.
 
daniel craig said:
And the thing that gets me the MOST is I've found that most people don't shoot well enough for it to even matter. Who cares if it's a 1moa gun if you can't even shoot that well to begin with.
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My only real complaint with the mini is how a scope sits in relation to the the stock. I must have a really low cheek weld or something but I couldn't use mine with an optic without a cheek riser.
 
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