Threading Mini 14 for Flash Hider

[Shimitup]

Just wondering if anyone here has put a flash hider on their old skinny barrel Mini14. I know the reputation they have for lack of accuracy, mine suffers from that very issue, grouped about 4" with factory loads, that said as a handloader I solved the problem decades ago backing off the load by around 200fps. It's pretty much a 1 moa gun right now with its pet load. Has anyone got experience with the mass of the flash hider changing harmonics to help or hinder the accuracy.

Thanks.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Just adding a flash hider won't likely help. Shortening the barrel to 14.6" and welding a FH to bring it to 16", OTOH, helped my 196 series tremendously, cut groups in half (was still 1.5-2 MOA, of course).

 

[Shimitup]

Thanks MachIV, I guess I should clarify my purpose. I'm putting on the hider to deal with the fireball, just wondering if I can expect a change in the grouping. I'm Kind of looking at the A2 bird cage, cheap, small, simple and pretty effective. In my shopping I've noticed that most flash hiders seem to be 1/2 28 thread, since there's not much more meat than that it doesn't leave much shoulder to seat it on . I'd love to find one with an integrated M1 style sight in stainless.

 

[BBBBill]

I realize you asked about a flash hider, but the Accu-Strut helps the accuracy of a lot of Minis
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ruger-Mini...-6-USA-/371488906230?var=&hash=item9522cfbf2d

 

[Shimitup]

I realize you asked about a flash hider, but the Accu-Strut helps the accuracy of a lot of Minis
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ruger-Mini...-6-USA-/371488906230?var=&hash=item9522cfbf2d

Thanks BBBBill, I've seen the positive reviews on those, however I just hate to add weight and to me it just looks a little fussy.

 

[dfariswheel]

For years the "default" flash hider for the Mini-14 was a M14 rifle type hider. This has the M14 type long slots and an M14 type front sight.
There are others more like an AR-15 hider also with an M14 type front sight.

These are made by Choate and are mounted by precision drilling a hole through the hider which forms a groove in the barrel and locks it on firmly.
There's a pilot "dimple" in the hider body where the hole is drilled but this requires some care and skill to get it right.
One part time gunsmith I knew used Loctite Blue to attach the hider temporarily so he could insure alignment.
Once the rifle was on target he could drill the hole without the hider turning.

Another man drilled and tapped a hole in the bottom of the hider body an put in a set screw. He shot the rifle to get the alignment right, then drilled the hole for the pin. With the set screw he could loosen it and turn the hider to get on target with the rear sight centered.

http://www.riflestock.com/store/do/category/RCC

Most people never noticed any change in accuracy, since many of the Mini-14 rifles are not known for great accuracy.

 

[Shimitup]

For years the "default" flash hider for the Mini-14 was a M14 rifle type hider. This has the M14 type long slots and an M14 type front sight.
There are others more like an AR-15 hider also with an M14 type front sight.

/QUOTE]

That's pretty much what I'm after, beats unscrewing the barrel and chucking it up for threading.

Thanks.

 

[MachIVshooter]

That's pretty much what I'm after, beats unscrewing the barrel and chucking it up for threading.

Thanks.

If you're just doing a flash hider, you could get away with die threading. Just remember you did that if you ever consider trying to suppress it!

There's also the slip on & set HK style flash hider w/sight:



That's what I welded to mine when I cut it to 14.6"

 

[Shimitup]

That HK style is really sweet, I've got the Butler Creek stock for mine too. Dfariswheel reminded me of the Choat slip on and pin ones and I really like the retro look of the M14 sight. Were I to thread for one I would single point on my lathe, I find it very satisfying to feel a really close tolerance thread when I'm screwing something together. But alas I took the easy way out and ordered the Choate from Midway this evening.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Were I to thread for one I would single point on my lathe, I find it very satisfying to feel a really close tolerance thread when I'm screwing something together.

You just need to make yourself a ridiculous cat's head like this for those stubborn to remove barrels:



I can stick an entire barreled action inside that thing. I also use it for boring & threading shotgun barrels to thread for chokes, since most of them have protrusions that won't fit through many lathe spindles.

I can also thread mill on the lathe using a brushless motor powered ER-20 collet tool post attachment I made that allows me to manually rotate the chuck and thread super thin tubing that would be easily crushed by the chuck for normal threading operations or damaged by the pressure of a static cutter. Interrupted threads are also a snap, and I can get right up to a shoulder. Makes other milling operations possible, too:





I can also cut metric threads with it by setting the compound at 90° and calculating the difference in pitch from the nearest Imperial equivalent and advancing the compound by that increment every quarter or half revolution of the chuck. Painstakingly slow to do, but capability nonetheless!

However, I do most barrel threading on my Hardinge HCT with the auto threading unit. I can cut threads at 1,000+ RPM with that. But some won't fit through the 1.44" spindle bore of the Hardinge, so I use the big 17x60 for them.

 

[Shimitup]

OOO, can I come play at your house? That's a really nice rig, is the big one an old Southbend? My own is a little 13" Chinese one, does fine for my little hobby projects. Most of my lathe work is not gun related. Outside of personal hobby work I do a little contract work on motor and pump repair, custom pipe couplings and bushings etc. I put Price Pfister stem assemblies in my American Standard fixtures, I'd love to see the look on a plumbers face trying to figure that one out.

I love seeing your work post some more.

 

[MachIVshooter]

OOO, can I come play at your house? That's a really nice rig, is the big one an old Southbend? My own is a little 13" Chinese one, does fine for my little hobby projects. Most of my lathe work is not gun related. Outside of personal hobby work I do a little contract work on motor and pump repair, custom pipe couplings and bushings etc. I put Price Pfister stem assemblies in my American Standard fixtures, I'd love to see the look on a plumbers face trying to figure that one out.

I love seeing your work post some more.

No, it's a Rahn-Larmon, 1920s vintage. Big sucker, about 4,000 lbs. I got it for $1,000, spent a lot of time reconditioning, and made a lot of custom tooling. That steady rest? Yeah, carved from 2.5" thick 7075 aluminum. The carriage stop also scratch built. Had to set up the one shot oiling system, as this thing started going through oil pretty quickly when I swapped out the 2 HP 3 ph 1,750 RPM motor for a single phase 3 HP 3,500 RPM unit, which gives me a spindle speed range of 32 to 1,020 RPM. I also made an electronic power feed unit that not only provides far superior surface finishes, but is just easier in general. I've got the 10" 3 jaw it came with, got a 13" 4 jaw, 5" rotating tailstock chuck, multiple live centers & drill chucks. X & Z axis DRO, as well as tailstock DRO. It's pretty well tooled now, other than no taper attachment. Even snaked the twin cutting head from an AMMCO 7500 so I can turn rotors!











This is the Hardinge I use for threading barrels most of the time:





Gotta love 26" barrels! Long enough that the receiver can stay attached!





I also have a Southbend Heavy 10L, an Atlas 618, an 1880s Barnes #5 and an 1896 Seneca falls that still has the treadles & wheel. Yes, I havea lathe addiction problem

 

[Shimitup]

Thanks for posting the pics, I love old American iron! Nice shop.

 

[MachIVshooter]

I love old American iron! Nice shop.

Me too! All of my lathes are, although none of the 3 mills are domestic. Lagun FTV-2 9x48 3HP (Spain), Pedersen VPU-21 11x55 9.1 HP (Denmark) and Proxxon MF70 CNC micro mill (Germany).

The Pedersen universal mill I'm not currently using; it's a fairly recent acquisition, and I need to spend a little time on it (and buy a much bigger phase converter). It'll be used for the heavy hogging to save wear and tear on my Lagun. At nearly double the weight, 3 times the horsepower and using a 40 taper spindle, it's definitely more of a bull work machine. Really no application in gunsmithing, although it'll be handy for reducing larger chunks for my scratch builds. I might use it for fluting barrels, though, as the horizontal arrangement will be superior for that; no cutter deflection and less possibility of chatter.







The little Proxxon is primarily for engraving, and does a fine job. This is .075" tall font in carbon steel, .010" deep with a .020" 2 flute carbide cutter:

 

[Shimitup]

The Pederson no application to gunsmithing? Maybe you could contract with the army surely they could find something.