Mini 14 Magazines

[wesmonster]

I run a Mini in .300bo, besides Ruger factory magazines I also run Tapco 30 round gen 2 but it's out of production.
Whoever owns Tapco these days would be smart to bring em back, the gen 2s got all the bugs worked out.
Also got some Original Equipment branded mags from CDNN years ago, they're the only mags I's say are as good if not better than Ruger factory, OEs did have the older style followers, never caused a problem but cheap to swap out to the latest followers. CDNN was the onky source for OEs and they came in batches and sold out fast.

 

[westernrover]

I understand that at some point in the M4's history, the "anti-tilt" follower was introduced and it was claimed to have improved reliability. Nowadays, we expect to see something like the Magpul "Enhanced Self Leveling" follower with 4-way anti-tilt. When I stripped my magazines (I have two Rugers besides the Pro Mags), I looked at the follower designs and compared them. They're not the same, but neither look like a modern AR follower or especially anti-tilt.

 

[Riomouse911]

I understand that at some point in the M4's history, the "anti-tilt" follower was introduced and it was claimed to have improved reliability. Nowadays, we expect to see something like the Magpul "Enhanced Self Leveling" follower with 4-way anti-tilt. When I stripped my magazines (I have two Rugers besides the Pro Mags), I looked at the follower designs and compared them. They're not the same, but neither look like a modern AR follower or especially anti-tilt.

Yeah, there hasn’t been the improvements made to Mini magazines like there has been with the AR 5.56 magazines (and those adapted to other rounds.)

Maybe the R&D time and tooling costs aren’t worth the risk of losing money in a much more limited market? (Just a guess) I doubt that the factory achieved the pinnacle of performance from the get-go, as just about anything can be tweaked a bit to improve it, but the factory magazines do seem to work very well.

Stay safe.

 

[GEM]

Bought some ProMags. Jammed the gun solid as a rock the first time out. Went into the box of useless gun stuff. Ruger mags only.

 

[illinoisburt]

Whoever owns Tapco these days would be smart to bring em back

That would be no one. Tapco was part of the old Remington and got shut down before the last bankruptcy and liquidation. I'm pretty confident it's never returning other than maybe someone being nostalgic for the brand name (highly unlikely in my book).

 

[JO JO]

another vote for ruger factory mags

 

[ditmo]

My first mini I bought in 1991. Tried all kinds of cheap mags and they all sucked except PMI (which no longer exists). Stick with factory mags and you'll be golden.

Amazingly enough the pro-mag 10 rounders in 7.62x39 are better than the Ruger factory ones. I have a mini-30 and an american ranch. That's my only exception to the factory mag. Bought the 10 rounders for the bolt gun but they work in the mini-30 as well. My 20 rounders are all factory and they just work.

 

[westernrover]

Bought some ProMags. Jammed the gun solid as a rock the first time out. Went into the box of useless gun stuff. Ruger mags only.

When was that? In the last couple years or 10 years ago? 20?
Asking because I have a box of Pro Mags, most of which aren't tested yet. The first one has been flawless for about 100 rds.

 

[GEM]

About 2018

 

[Speedo66]

Also got some Original Equipment branded mags from CDNN years ago, they're the only mags I's say are as good if not better than Ruger factory, OEs did have the older style followers, never caused a problem but cheap to swap out to the latest followers. CDNN was the onky source for OEs and they came in batches and sold out fast.

I have one, 20 round.

Interesting because the magazine is not curved like a factory mag, straight sides, gives the a gun a M-14 look.

 

[ECVMatt]

Another vote for factory Ruger magazines. The only other brand that I have had good success with is Eagle International plastic magazines back in the 90's. They looked cheap, but always worked. As a bonus, I think they hold 35 rounds in the same size as a traditional 30 rounder. I still have a couple and they are still going strong.

I have had great luck with Mini's over the years and I hope you enjoy your new rifle!

 

[TexasPatriot.308]

Ruger is smart, their guns seem to work best if at all with their high dollar magazinnes.

 

[wesmonster]

That would be no one. Tapco was part of the old Remington and got shut down before the last bankruptcy and liquidation. I'm pretty confident it's never returning other than maybe someone being nostalgic for the brand name (highly unlikely in my book).

Sportsman's Warehouse bought Tapco when Remington went on the auction block. No idea if they plan to re-make any of the old Tapco mags. Not heard a peep. But with factory Ruger 30 round mags at $45-$50 a pop there's a market for a good aftermarket alternative. I personally prefer 20s and that's what most of mine are.

The Mini may not sell in big numbers but there's a lot of em out there, and aftermarket mags have mostly sucked. The Tapco gen 2 (or at least mine) works without issues.

 

[gunmechanic]

I would recomend the OE ruger mags but there were a few aftermarket mags that worked just fine. I will dig through my stash and let you know what ones worked .

 

[drobs]

Another vote for OEM Ruger mags, and the Ruger 20rd mags over the Ruger 30rd mags.

Every so often they go on sale.

 

[wgp]

I've had after-market mags for a -14 but I'd go with Rugers when you can find them.

 

[Rebel Dave]

I prefer the Ruger 5 rd mags at the range when I use a rest. They don't hit the table. I do use others, when not bench resting. I only have up to 20 rd mags.

Dave

 

[Show Me]

Ruger is smart, their guns seem to work best if at all with their high dollar magazinnes.

Not expensive. Just not throw away dirt cheep

 

[benEzra]

Another vote for factory Ruger magazines. The only other brand that I have had good success with is Eagle International plastic magazines back in the 90's. They looked cheap, but always worked. As a bonus, I think they hold 35 rounds in the same size as a traditional 30 rounder. I still have a couple and they are still going strong.

I have had great luck with Mini's over the years and I hope you enjoy your new rifle!

Back in the early ‘90s through early ‘00s, I had a 188-series Ranch Rifle, and found that the Eagle mags worked well. My favorite at the time though were the Ram-Line translucent magazines, which worked 100%. After a decade or so of hard use, though, the plastic baseplates of the Ram-Lines started fatigue-cracking, unfortunately.

During the bad old days of the 1994 “AWB”, AR/AK/FAL mag prices and availability stayed pretty normal (after an initial price spike) because of the massive worldwide stockpiles that remained freely importable, but Mini-14 mag prices went through the roof (like pistol mags did) because the Mini mags are Ruger-proprietary rather than standardized. And because of that, quality control in the aftermarket Mini mags was just awful. I spent a lot of money during the ban buying various brands of metal Mini mags and throwing away the ones that didn’t work, but the polymer Eagles and Ram-Lines were consistently good quality. The Eagles didn’t like powder fouling, though; they had a roll spring in the follower that unrolled as it traveled down the mag body, and the follower had to be able to move freely without much friction because the roll spring couldn’t exert as much force as a traditional spring. That layout did give an extra 5 rounds in the same mag length, though.

 

[westernrover]

I've put 140 through one steel Pro Mag so far with no failures. Earlier this year, I was looking for advice on how to function check magazines. I found a tech note from Armalite advised testing 4 rounds 10 times. I've also tested with a full magazine several times. I'm just about at the point where I'm ready to say it's good to go. Then I'll be functioning checking the next one, and then the next one. I try to accomplish more than just magazine function checking, so it takes me a little while longer than just burning through a crate of ammo.

Here's a thread about magazine function checking: https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/how-to-function-check-5-56-magazines.916330/ Even if you take the sensible advice to stick with Ruger factory, there's no reason to take them for granted.

I will say that the one thing that doesn't seem to work especially well is the GGG spoons for stripper clips don't fit on the steel Pro Mag Mini-14 magazines very securely. I have some Ruger factory magazines and the fit is exactly the same as the Pro Mag. My stripper technique could use some practice, but it seems like the edges of the spoon could fit the grooves better.

 

[ilmonster]

I have a current serial # Mini, and the Ruger factory mags work flawlessly. I have the 5, 10 20 and 30 round magazines, and they all work the same. I probably use the 20 rounders the most. If you look around, all of those are available, and remember, the 300 Blk labeled Mini mags work with .223 rounds. Additionally, they are built like steel AK mags. Should last a long, long time.