Buy-in a mini 14 what can I expect?

[jeeptim]

Buddy has fallen on hard times and selling a me a mid 80s stainless in wood very lightly used mini $650.00
Understand some are not so accurate. What will I need to tighten that up? And is the price fair.
Is it a shooter or a safe queen?

 

[GBExpat]

Peruse this recent thread:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=775446

 

[jmr40]

I'd say it is a very fair price for him. About $200 less is a fair price for both of you. It is a shooter. As long as Ruger magazines are used they are quite reliable. Accuracy with those can vary quite a bit. With a scope expect 2MOA if it happen to be a good one. Closer to 4 MOA if it isn't.

 

[MIL-DOT]

Buying a mini 14 what can I expect??

To have your balls mercilessly broken by the AR fanboys !!!!

But seriously, the older minis are notoriously inaccurate, and that's kind of a steep price, IMO. I recenty sold my ( more accurate) newer 581-series stainless mini, with a bunch of Ruger factory 20 and 5 rd. mags, and a couple aftermarket 30 rounders, for the same price, and it still took several weeks to get a bite. But, if it's a buddy on hard times, I understand and respect your reluctance to press for a better price. It's not exactly a terrible price, it just ain't a good one.
These have no vintage value, its no safe-queen, so shoot away.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

The saving grace of the .223 is its accuracy -- you want to be able to hit ground squirrels at 300 yards. A .223 that won't do that is just a plinker.

 

[carbine85]

The older stainless Mini is more accurate then the blued. The are very durable rifles. The price is high. A used older Mini around here is $500 - $550. I have a scoped stainless 183 series that still shoots 2"-3" groups after 30 years and thousands of rounds.

 

[SpentCasing]

No freakin way Id pay $650 for a mini. And, yes Ive spent most my life in SoCal so I understand the market and complications there.


Bottom line- if he's a good friend and buying this will help your bud out of a serious jam. Id do it, but only cause it'd be a solid for a close friend. But if he's an acquaintance, and you dont really want/need the mini, Id pass. All depends on your relationship with the seller, OP.

 

[jeeptim]

That's what I thought... I could loan him the $$ but that has its issues and he's a friend in need and I am kinda in a position that do this. Somebody's son maybe getting a mini for Christmas m

 

[Vern Humphrey]

That sounds like a good solution. And you will be repaid -- bread cast upon the waters comes back a hundredfold.

 

[HammsBeer]

Mini's are fun rifles and reliable IF you use genuine Ruger magazines. Accuracy from the older skinny barrels are so-so, 4"+ groups at 100 yards is typical. Don't spend any money trying to tighten up the groups or the rifle will cost you twice as much in the end.

It's a bit steep for an 80's skinny barrel mini, when brand new thicker barrel stainless mini's are $750. You want to help a friend, but you don't want to overspend on an "eh" gun either. Fair market price from a random seller would be about $500, so decide how good of a friend he is, maybe compromise and offer him $600?

 

[TexasPatriot.308]

I love mini 14s, have owned them for years, currently own a 180 series and a new 581 tactical....the newer one shoots 1" groups with a scope, the 180 aint bad either....people cuss the mini 14s all the time but amazing at the price they maintain, people are still hungry to buy them....you either like them or hate them...I own a few AR15s, mainly an AR10 person but I still love my mini 14s. Guess the Garand action does it for me as I own a few M1As too. just a neat gun

 

[ridgerunner1965]

price is high.it better have a scope and a nice sling etc for that money. and then id only offer 500.

i love minis have had a bunch of them and still have 2.. accuracy is a crap shoot.one will shoot 6 inches at 100 yards and the next will shoot 2 inches.handloads can easily shrink your groups but good luk finding you brass.

however functioning is out of this world.every mini ive ever had would run round for round with a ak47.regardless of what ammo

ergos are better than a ak or sks.
just being blunt, in a 0 to 100 yard fire fight, the mini would be my choice every time. better sights and better ergos.

 

[danez71]

Make sure you follow the new CA rifle laws.

Price is like already said.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

I've been in that situation. Friend needed cash so I bought his .300 H&H. Sold it back to him 6 months later same price. Basically a secured loan but that's never spoken.

 

[BruceB]

Not much mention of this:

A Mini-14 of any vintage is a WICKEDLY EFFECTIVE defensive tool.

House gun? Truck rifle? So, it "only" groups four inches at 100 yards? (My daughter's older Mini does a lot better than that.... down around 2" for five rounds at 100 with handloaded VMax loads).

We do not need "varmint accuracy" for many uses. Even so, for "around-the-yard" varmints, even a stock older Mini will suffice, because there are very few calls for 100-yard shots in a lot of locales.

When the design first hit the market, Bill Ruger himself called it "the world's most-expensive plinker." many of us have found it to be much more than that.

For what I would call a "service carbine", i find it eminently practical. For a realistic comparison to a real SERVICE rifle, put it alongside an M1 Carbine. It makes an interesting contrast..

 

[50 Shooter]

I wouldn't buy a mini for any price, what a POS!

I have personally seen two blow up, one was my brothers and the other was a friend's. Loan your friend the money and buy a rifle that isn't a minute of mountain POS that might kill you!

 

[kwg020]

It's been several years but the last one I bought was for $320. That is fair for an older Mini in my opinion. You have to spend $700 to put a good barrel on it to make it a shooter. kwg

 

[Ash]

As a Mini owner, Bruce is spot-on. Mine is accurate, a 1990's AWB version (state trooper version with the quaint "not for you civies" marking on it), and is utterly reliable. Saying a Mini-14 fails because it isn't a squirrel gun damns the AK as a deer rifle in exactly the same way. I save my 22 for squirrels and in the woods of Mississippi, 300 meter distances for shooting tiny critters doesn't happen. But shooting a beaver, coyote, rabid racoon, or hog at the ranges we face is easily in the realm of the Mini-14. $700 to make it a good shooter? I must have been lucky, mine already is.

Rifle shooters can be like urbanites when it comes to guns: they insist that guns have value only if they are suitable for their own locale - what's best for the prairie must by definition be best for woodlands. To some, a rifle that doesn't fit the desert 500 yard range cannot possibly be effective the the woods. Cities ban firearms because of the urban mentality, then take that mentality and force it on rural folk. I will never be on a prairie dog hunt. My firearms are intended for use in the wooded southeast. It is a carbine that can be shot by my son and has the same manual-of-arms as my LRB M14 (or Garand or M1 Carbine). As a result, the Mini-14 is imminently suited to the task. They are also popular in other places such as Alaska for their reliability in cold climates.

As to exploding POS, I've seen AR's go boom.

 

[joem1945]

The older one may have a 1/7 twist barrel. Wither shoot heavier bullets (69 gr up) or have a 1/9 barrel installed.

 

[Catpop]

I think Jim in Anchorage said it right. Buy the gun from your friend for what he is asking. Then if later he is able, sell it back to him for same price.
You have helped your friend in time of need, you have not made him feel belittled by charity of a gift, you have secured your loan and most of all you have not lost a friend later by the fact he may never be able to repay you and then avoid you because of that.
Good advice jim.
Catpop

 

[Sheepdog1968]

I think Jim in Anchorage said it right. Buy the gun from your friend for what he is asking. Then if later he is able, sell it back to him for same price.
You have helped your friend in time of need, you have not made him feel belittled by charity of a gift, you have secured your loan and most of all you have not lost a friend later by the fact he may never be able to repay you and then avoid you because of that.
Good advice jim.
Catpop

My thoughts as well.