Ruger Mini-14: what do you think?

[357wheelgunner]

I had a mini-14 a few years ago. It was my first centerfire rifle, and I bought it the day I turned 18. It was a used beater. It was not especially accurate, although more than enough for plinking and shooting racoons. It rarely jammed, when it did it was because of cheap preban aftermarket magazines.

I sold it when I had a Kaboom resulting from cheap reloaded brass splitting in two, leaving the front half of the casing in the chamber, and the next round firing out of battery (I didn't realize that the first round had ripped in half, or I would have stopped shooting). This caused me to lose faith in the mini-14. I was just not comfortable with it anymore...

Now I want another one. Specifically a new stainless steel one. What do you all think? If I do get one, how much should I spend? Should one bad experience (Kaboom!) change my attitude like this? Are mini-14s commonly problem-guns?

 

[RepublicanMan]

I think I'd rather have an AR, or failing that, an AK, FAL, HK, SKS or a bolt action Romainian .22lr trainer.

 

[MrMurphy]

Considering the inherent lack of accuracy, lack of magazines, etc..... I'd spend my $500 somewhere else. An AR, a Keltec SU-16 (folds in half!) which uses AR mags, an SKS, AK, FAL, etc..... even an M1 carbine would get the nod before an Mini for me. I'd only use a Mini if factory hicaps were available in large numbers and I had no other option (say, as an issue weapon as a Sheriff's deputy). It's a 100 yard gun, and that's it. Maybe 150. Considering 300+ meter shots with iron sighted ARs are easy, this is not exactly confidence inspiring.

A heavier-barreled-from-the-factory Mini, with an ample supply of 10 shot or better mags, for say $400 would be reasonable. But a 5-shot rifle with crappy accuracy for $500+? No way!

 

[Sven]

What caused your failure? Ammo? Were they reloads? I'd try to figure that out first.

-

I have a Stainless Mini-14, which will go off someday to ASI for accurizing and turning into a M4-lite. It has been very reliable, and offers decent "combat accuracy" (4 MOA). The Ranch iron sights are a joke - this rifle was designed for a scope. Mine features a Leopold bought from Briansammo here on the board with the stock Ruger rings.

That said.

Personally, I'd start my collection with a Kel-Tec SU-16. Two of my buddies have one that deliver 1.5-2.5 MOA accuracy out of the box. Mine was approaching that accuracy, but had failures to feed with some mags. Called Kel-Tec and they said "send it in for upgrades" - it was an early production number #81. Customer service has been top notch from what my friends have experienced and myself as well. I am a fan of their P32 pistol, and once I called them and they eagerly asked me how I liked the product - I could tell the guy there cared. Ruger to me doesn't have that same vibe.

SU-16 takes AR mags and can store a 30 rounder in their folding stock.

CA legal, about the same in cost....

..hell, get em both. AND an M1 Carbine.

 

[sendec]

Great Little Guns

Have owned several. Economical, reliable and fun. It is as accurate as I can shoot it. Highly recommended, assuming you have realistic expectation of a flyweight carbine with a mid-power cartridge. For plinking or defensive/utility use it'll do fine.

I have an AR, but tend to grab the Mini when I need a no-frills lightweight. The Keltecs look interesting.... Someday.....

 

[PJR]

There are two happy days in a Mini 14 owner's life. The day he buys the gun and the day he sells the gun. I've had my two. It was a ranch rifle that wouldn't group tighter than 8" even with a 2.5x scope on top.

I knew this rifle and I weren't long for each other when I shot a group half the size with an open sighted Swedish Mauser.

The Mini 14 is not a fit rifle for a rifleman.

 

[Art Eatman]

I've had four Minis, but they all were from the early production years. With a Weaver K4, I could readily get 2 MOA for three shots on the bench. My problem is that they've gotten way overpriced, even "good used".

Were I going to hunt for another one, I'd try to find an older, somewhat beat up version. As long as the rifling is clean, I don't care about the outside. That's fixable...

, Art

 

[dave3006]

Cut the barrel to 16". You will get a 2-3 MOA gun with no POI impact as it heats up.

If I didn't live in Kali, I would get an AR or AK first. Ultimately, I would still buy the Mini. But, not first.

 

[ny32182]

If you can get an AR, why mess with the mini?

The few that I have experience with run fine with the small mags, but not with the full size ones.

With an AR, you get: 1) 30rd mags are everywhere. 2) Reliability with 30 rd mags. 3) MUCH better accuracy/range. 4) MUCH better ergonomics. 5) better modularity/adaptability to difference uses.

By the time you've spent the money to get a mini almost up to par with a stock AR, you've spent more than you would have on said stock AR. So whats the point?

If I lived in Kali, I would have one though. No doubt about it.

 

[mini14jac]

Are mini-14s commonly problem-guns?

With factory mags, or carefully selected after-market mags, the answer is "no".
It is an incredibly reliable design.

I like them.
I've owned two that I traded.
With my current one, it's a keeper.
I've had the barrel cut to 16.5", trigger job, smaller gas port, and bedded the action.

By the time you've spent the money to get a mini almost up to par with a stock AR, you've spent more than you would have on said stock AR.

Not hardly.
With all of the above mods, I've spent around $675. Around here, the cheapest you'll walk out the door (tax and bg check) with an AR is $800.
- And, I don't know many people that leave their AR stock. (I didn't.)
So the price starts to climb again.

You could get the most accuracy out of a Mini 14 with a $20 bedding kit, and a $20 muzzle brake.
On my gun, that would have you at ~$540.

 

[ny32182]

Well, by "up to par", I was also thinking of including a pistol gripped stock and some factory 30 rounders with the mini, to go along with whatever accuracy mods are done.

Correct me if I'm wrong... I've HEARD that Ruger factory 30 rounders are reliable, but quite rare and expensive.

You can also bring down the cost of an AR by buying a stripped lower, lower parts kit, and complete upper. Putting this together is easy, and you should end up with a rifle that is as good as factory, but avoid the tax.

 

[greyeyezz]

By the time you've spent the money to get a mini almost up to par with a stock AR, you've spent more than you would have on said stock AR. So whats the point?

I'll take a Mini's reliability over an Ar's anyday.

 

[dave3006]

The Mini-14 is the most reliable gun I have ever owned 5000+ rounds of Wolf ammo with NO MALFUNCTIONS.

Can't say that about the ARs, Fals, Garands, SKS, Lever Actions, Pump shotguns, or anything else I have owned.

 

[AZ Jeff]

Mini-14's have their place. The problem is that MANY people try to place it on the same plane as an AR-15, and it's not.

A Mini-14 is generally a decent 4MOA rifle, as produced by Ruger. With some tuning, it can be better than 4MOA.

The real question is: DOES IT NEED TO BE ANY BETTER?

For shooting varmints, general plinking, personal defense inside 200 yards, etc, it does JUST FINE. It does have one MAJOR advantage over the AR-15, in that it's easier to keep running under bad conditions.

I have had a couple of stainless Mini's over the years, and the one I have now is about 20 years old, and I can hit 6" steel plates at 100 yds consistently with my reload simulations of M193 ball ammo. That rifle has NEVER had a malfunction.

By the way, for aftermarket magazines, the MOST RELIABLE ones are the TEN ROUND size, NOT the 20 rounders. (I have a bunch of Ruger factory 20 round mags, and they are a bit clunky for a truck gun.)

 

[BamBam-31]

I cut the barrel on my Ranch down to 16.5", recrowned. It still shifts POI. At 100 yds., if I shoot 20 shots straight, it'll make an oval-shaped group about 3" wide and 6" long. It's going to ASI for a heavy barrel for sure.

Why? Because it's never had a failure, either. Very reliable rifle. And I've got several PMI mags for it.

In the end, it'll cost around $1200 for everything, but I'm a post-ban Kali gunowner. Them's the breaks. At least I'll have an accurate, reliable rifle.

 

[ny32182]

All I can say is that in my experience, the AR is much more reliable than the mini with anything more than the small mags. The ONLY malfunction I've ever had with my ARs was a failure to feed from a bent magazine. Just this past weekend I was shooting in a flash downpour in the woods in hot and sunny SC... the humidity was so thick you could taste it. Never a hiccup.

I've seen at least a half dozen mini-14s choke; all were using protruding mags at the time.

Thats all I can tell you, that for me, the AR's reliability is superior without a doubt. Maybe for you it isn't. Combined with all the other advantages, it's a no-brainer decision for me.

 

[Hkmp5sd]

I love it.

I have a Mini-14, AR-15 and M16A1 and still enjoy shooting the Mini as any of the others.

 

[AZ Jeff]

ttbadboy said:

"I've seen at least a half dozen mini-14s choke; all were using protruding mags at the time."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
OK, I gotta ask---WHAT BRAND of magazines were these "protruding" types?

A lot of people use "brand X" junk magazines in their Mini (due to the problem with finding good ones), and blame the rifle for being a POS. That's backwards thinking.

 

[ny32182]

They were aftermarket 20 and/or 30rd mags of some sort.

Like I said, I've heard that the factory hi-caps are reliable. However. If you can't get them, they don't do you much good.

Hk, thats a nice looking mini.

 

[AZ Jeff]

There are also good aftermarket magazines for the Mini. It's just that not ALL the aftermarket stuff is good--you do have to pick and choose a bit. I guess I have been lucky. I have several 10 rd mags made by USA that seemed to work just fine, along with my factory 20's and 5's.

 

[No Trespassing]

I must be one lucky guy.

My stainless ranch has no problem getting 2" groups at 100yrds with Wolf ammo. That's with a $40.00 Busnell 4X and steadied on my truck hood. I'm not exactly Mr. Steadyhand.

I figure that's good enough to destroy cantalopes and other assorted fruit.
I'm pretty sure I could hit a person at 200yrds if I had to and that's what I need. I don't NEED sub MOA groups out of my unmodded rifle for self defense and plinking. It's got over 10K rounds and nary a problem either.
That's with non-factory 10-20rnd mags too.

My brother in law has a Colt AR from the pre-ban days. It's unmodified too and shoots the exact same groups as my Mini-14.

Since we're in Kali, I have no other choice anyway.

 

[rde]

I agree in terms of dollar spent balanced against performance the Mini should provide better accuracy..and factory 10 round mags. Especially considering other options available to most (but not all) in the US.

BUT...and importantly...I also agree that the Mini is very reliable, factory mags are good as well as the ProMag 10 rounders, they seem to average 4" at 100 yards which would be about the same for the average AK, and I just think they look nice. So...though you can do better (given the dollar spent)...you can definately do far worse. I'd go with the standard version with the better stock sights and not bother trying to scope it as with the ranch version.

 

[Sven]

..ASI... heavy, short match barrel... must resist....

 

[mini14jac]

Factory mags were going for ridiculous prices, but it doesn't look like they are selling very well anymore.

30rd mags from Federal Ordnance, PMI, and Masen are flawless.
20rd PMI are good also.
Any of these mags are as good as factory.

Many people like Promag 10rd mags but they wouldn't work for me.
John Masen 10rd work fine.
With either of these 10rd mags you can install Ruger bottoms, and you have the ever elusive factory 10rd mag.

It is much easier to buy junk mags for a Mini 14 than it is for an AR.
The only mag that failed in my AR was a USA mag. (Big surprise!)

I've probably tried a dozen different mags by Triple K, Promag, USA, and others that didn't work in my Mini over the years.

I don't get it really.
It's a metal box.
It's not rocket science.

I like the M1 Carbine/ M14 looks of the Mini 14.
Every one I've had shot Wolf as well as brass ammo.
And they are quite adequate for plinking and varmints out to 100 yards.
(Both the 2 legged and 4 legged kind.)

 

[halvey]

My friend has one and likes it, but it doesn't feel right to me.