Ruger Mini 14 accuracy?

[mbogo]

Art,

If you have a (non-accurized) Mini-14 .223 (I don't know how the Mini-30s shoot), can you honestly say that your first shot from a cold barrel is within 2" of your next two shots? If so, then yours is a rare specimen.

I have fired six different Mini-14s and all have been dreadfully inaccurate and imprecise.

mbogo

 

[wow6599]

I have had only one Mini, and I still have it. A 2008 NRA edition Mini w/16" barrel. I have a cheap Nikon ProStaff scope on it and with Federal 100 rd boxes ($39.99 at WM) it will give me MOA from the 1st shot to the 50th shot. It may be that having a short barrel and being the new tapered kind, it doesn't open up as it gets hot.....I don't know.
So, my Mini-14, IMHO, looks better than an AR, shoots just as well and is more reliable (flame suit on!) than an AR.
YMMV

 

[husker]

PEEP'S
They are not a target rifle. & the best shot will always be the first shot out of a cold barrel.
Now for $40.00 you can have the barrel Cryogenicly Frozen & it will change the molecule of the barrel. This will make a HUGE!! difference when it comes to follow up shots. Then you can put an Accu Strut on it as well= helps take the WHIP out of the barrel . & if you cant shoot 1 to 2 inch or better after doing these 2 things. ITS YOU & NOT THE Mini 14
& the best part? you can be just like me= you will own an over priced money pit.
Ps i do not apply any of this to the new 580 series. Im talking about the older Mini's
I now live in big 10 country

 

[Waywatcher]

There are a lot of variables I didn't see listed.

How old is your Mini 14? Is it a 580 with the heavier barrel?

What load? How many different loads have you tried? What brands? What grain weights? What powders? You might just be shooting "cheap" ammo that is loaded to be cheap, instead of accurate.

Is the scope known to be good? Are the rings snug?

I shoot 10 round 3" groups with iron sights at 75 yards with 5.56 Federal and I am satisfied. Not impressed, but satisfied.

My point is, if you are unsatisfied with the performance, try changing something.

 

[rduckwor]

Not so Happy now....
I had heard that the earlier Mini 14's were not too accurate. It kind of stayed in my mind until I found a used one and bought it.
Now after reading these posts, I'm leary that I may have made a mistake.
I wondered about the skinny barrel when I looked at it.
The stock had been changed from wood to black fiber and seemed to be very tightly bedded. (I have the wood one)
Havent shot it yet, waiting for the southern heat to let up a little.
I hope I haven't made a mistake.
I guess range time will tell the tale.

Well, it won't be a bench rest rifle or an "F" class rifle, but I predict that you will enjoy shooting it immensely. They are nice rifles and great fun as a plinker or a truck gun.

You can do simple, relatively inexpensive things to tighten the groups up a bit.

See perfectunion.com for info. All the MINI crazies hang out there.

RMD

 

[jeepguy]

you can learn alot from post the perfect union mini 14 forum referenced whith a link in post 11. there is alot of mods you can make fairly inexpensively. or you can get the target mini 14. i would just start with the barrel strut three companys make them, trigger job, & look at glass bedding the stock. the barrel strut works great for the older mini 14's. i would start with a visit to the perfect union forum first. i have a 580 series with the tapered barrel & love mine. but it was not designed to shoot sub moa groups.

 

[dogsoldier0513]

My Ranch Rifle, ca. 1986, would group its favorite load into 1.5-inches @ 100 yards. My first AR, a Colt Gov't Model Carbine, would group its favorite load into 1/4th-inch @ 100 yards.

 

[BattleBorn]

Thanks for the post.I've been wondering about the accuracy of the mini. Guess I'll have to get that m4.

 

[herkyguy]

just give it to george clooney for a few days. it'll be accurate as all hell. i know so because I saw it in a movie.... which by the way, kind of sucked.

 

[Art Eatman]

Mbogo, my various Minis didn't seem to care what I fed them. USGI, gunshow reloads, PMC, whatever. The first three shots were always plenty good for hits on coyotes and jackrabbits. With a K4 on top, I could fairly reliably figure on a three-shot group of around 1.5 to 2 MOA.

I don't think I ever bothered to shoot on paper more than once or twice for five-shot groups. Mostly, just the occasional critter, and the shots hurt them worse than they did me.

Damfino. Minis are as good as I've ever needed for low-key hunting. No problem with reliability, so they're as good as anything for home defense. Plenty good for a truck gun; mine accompanied me on many a 4WD mile of bad jeep trail in the back country.

They're not target rifles, but I fingered that out way long ago.

 

[merlinfire]

from what i've read, simple things like bedding the stock will have a huge improvement on the accuracy, and that the shorter barrels tend to be more accurate (less barrel whip).

doing these things should get even the older models within 2.5" moa

 

[Average Joe]

The Mini 14 is a reliable fun gun, not for accuracy, but you can normally get a 5 inch group at 100 yards.

 

[JNewell]

Well, fwiw, I have owned three or four of the original version - sold each one because they were, uhhhhhm, indifferent as far as accuracy was concerned. I bought one of the new Ranch Rifles to give the series (which I like) a final try - early results are much, much better, so the webhype about the new ones seems to be, pardon the pun, accurate.

 

[Silent Sam]

I don't think these discussions will ever end. It is what it is, not what anyone imagines it "should be". Kind of like finding out you shouldn't have expected your doctor to be your trial lawyer and then complaining that he isn't a "professional" or medical school sucks because they produce terrible lawyers. I don't know how many million? mini's have been sold, despite the near continuous bashing since the internet has existed. A lot of people must be finding something they like about these rifles. Proud owner of an NRA Mini that is totally reliable, hits what I shoot at and is invariably fun to use.

 

[BillCh]

My Mini's accuracy solution was pretty simple.
With factory ammo, Remington and Winchester, my 100 yard groups were around 6". The Remington 55gr. HP was the worst.
My hand loaded plinking ammo easily shoots 2". This is not tailored ammo either. I just pump it out on a Dillon press.
I must be doing something right.

B

 

[JNewell]

Sam, I agree and usually don't bother to read or post in these threads. I do think it's nice, in our "they don't make 'em like they used to" world, to find a product that at least as far as my experience is concerned, is genuinely improved.

 

[jordan1948]

Get an accu-strut from accu-strut.com , pin-on compensator/muzzlebreak, glassbed the stock, trigger job to reduce the weight. After all that try different types of ammo (brands and bullet weights) and figure out what it likes best. If you reload then work out a load that it likes. After all that you'll be running with SOME ARs but not all and it'll cost you about 750-850 depending on how much you paid for your Mini and how much of all that you can do on your own.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

Get an accu-strut from accu-strut.com , pin-on compensator/muzzlebreak, glassbed the stock, trigger job to reduce the weight.

I didn't find any of that necessary for either of my Minis. I did install a pin-on muzzle brake for looks. Mine were very accurate for a hunting/plinker out of the box,a 188 Mini-14 and a 189 Mini-30.

 

[jordan1948]

I can't remember what series mine is off the top of my head but I know it's one of the much older ones. Right now I just need a trigger job and if that doesn't help as much as I would like the the stock is getting glass bedded.

 

[hey_poolboy]

I don't recall what series it was, but I owned my first/last Mini 14 in 2000. Sold it w/i a year. I was hoping to use it as a coyote gun, but I can't handle not being able to shoot half dollar groups off of shooting sticks at 200yds. It was certainly a fun gun to shoot, but even with handloads I couldn't do much better than 5" at 100yds, and that was with a scope.

Traded it in and never looked back. Come to think of it that was the only gun I have ever traded.

 

[conhntr]

It doesnt matter if its a plinker or whatever. Its 2010 there is no execuse for anyone to be making a gun that wont shoot 2moa with choice ammo. And anyone would defend a company that did so is puzzling.

 

[CSA 357]

no sir they wont shoot, loadem all up and send them to me please send factory mags with them

 

[jimmyraythomason]

And anyone would defend a company that did so is puzzling.

You certainly have a right to your own opinion. My Minis WERE capable of 2 moa with SURPLUS ammo and in my personal experience Ruger does not deserve such critisism. YOUR mileage may vary but mine suited me.

 

[CSA 357]

well i love my gb and i know its not a bench rest rifle but it was never intended for that!

 

[point452]

Mini-14s are fun, inexpensive rifles. A few months back, I bought a 580 series mini (made in 2005) for $450. Before I put a home made barrel strut on it, it shot 3"-6" groups; the first round from a cold barrel was at the zero, but as the .56" barrel warmed, the groups opened.

After spending about $25 on a barrel strut, my mini will now consistently shoot 1.5" groups.

504968[/ATTACH]"]

68 gr Ultramax HP


64 gr BVAC bonded SP


50 gr Fiocchi V-Max