the mini 14 opinions

[Lucas]

I have 2 10-22s and I love them.  Two of the best rifles I have ever owned.  Dont laugh.  Anyways I have been looking into a mini14 and have read mixed reviews.  Some swear by them while others can't stand them.  That is really all the info I have gathered.  If there are issues what are they and can they be resolved cost effectively?

[Bidah]

Well.. first I would say that you could spend the same amount of money and get a better rifle, but that is not what you asked.

I owned two of them, errr I had one and my wife had one.  We shot them extensively for a number of years, and did like them.  That being said, the biggest issue for any automatic feeding firearm, is magazines.  Back when we had them, you could not get a Ruger magazine, so aftermarket it was.  The best was PMI, which went under during the ban.  We had a bunch of them, and they held up flawlessly for thousands of rounds.  We also had trigger jobs done on ours from Connecticut Precision Chambering, and that helped a lot.  Accuracy can be an issue, hence all the stuff out there to make them more accurate.  I feel that ours were good enough, and decent.  I would have no problem shooting them decently out to 200 with the irons, but I also accepted a 3MOA group at that distance as well.   A scope would improve that some over using the irons.

One other problem is that it is difficult to get parts, or at least it was then.  I was never able to obtain spares for ours.

-Bidah

[CLP]

  I also have 2 10/22's, one stainless and one blue to match my 10/22 Mag.  Probably a top 10 rifle of all time.  I also have a mini-14 and like it as much as my AR's, Maybe more.  I think one of the issues with the mini is the magazines.  Tha aftermarket magazines can cause feeding problems but I have 2 20 and 1 30 Ruger factory mags that function perfect.
  Another fine Ruger you may like is the Deerfield (44mag).  I need to get one as my wife confiscated mine.
AS far as service all I ever did was call customer service with any problems and parts were sent within a week (along with a nice sticker).

[Mojave Desert]

Some years ago I was helping a friend sight in his new Mini-14.
The location of the bolt/slide lever are conventional and easier to use than a AR-15.  The "Garand-type safety" I thought took a little getting used to, and the safety/selector lever of the AR-15 is superior.  The mag release is easier to opereate on the AR than the mini.  The curved plastic butt plate?  Well if you really like the 10/22....naa, that's terrible too.  The biggest problem I had with it was the mediocre accuracy.  The Mini-14 is not inexpensive enough for such an accuracy compromise.  100 yard groups looked like shotgun patterns.  If all you are going to do is blast targets at pistol ranges its accurate enough.  I hear a lot is due to the fact that the barrel is turned really thin in front of the chamber to reduce weight.
The newer Mini-14's look promising, no more smooth curved plastic butt-plate, and the iron sights (with scope mount and rings included) are much improved over the older models.  Maybe someone has an opinion on the New Mini.

[Michael Bane]

Ruger redid their tooling for the Mini last year, and my reports are that the new Minis are a bit more accurate than some of their older models. I used an old 181 Series Mini to shoot 3-gun  back in the mid-80s (you can see it on the Intro to Aimpoint video)...it looks like hammered crap but it worked just fine with an old Aimpoint Mark III and a ridiculous Aimpoint mount. No, it wasn't a tackdriver, but it rang the gongs out to 300 yards when necessary. I don't think it ever malfunctioned to speak of.

Magazines are a problem, but Ruger has assured me that when they get caught up with the 2008 NRA Mini-14, which comes with the bulletproof Ruger 20-rounders, they'll be pumping the magazines into the commercial channels. Here's the link for the NRA Mini:

http://ruger.com/Firearms/FAProdView?model=5835&return=Y

I think they're better guns than they're given credit for...simple to operate, reliable as all get-out and as durable as a concrete block. Depends on what level of accuracy you need. I'm interested in shooting some of the new ones, which I have tentatively scheduled for late April down in Arizona.

BTW, I got a couple of the CJ 20-rounders from Brownell's, and they work fine in my old Mini.

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=22521&title=M14/M1A/MINI-14~%20MAGAZINES

I was lucky enough to hit on 5 LNIB factory 20-rounders at a great price late last summer, and I already have 3 of the factory mags, so I'm in good shape, Mini-wise. Cheaper Than Dirt still has factory mags at around 50 bucks:

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/MAG390-55303-1043.html

Michael B

[Sponsor]

[Grizzle_Bear]

How curious.....


I have had a Mini-14 for a long time, it is my primary SHTF rifle.  Have a bunch of the "gunshow mags" for it, and have never had a problem with any of them.  The only Ruger mag I have is the silly little 5-rounder that came with the thing.

Now, if you drop one, and bend the lips, you have to straighten them out.  But otherwise, no problem.

Grizzle Bear

[Pathfinder]

I have 2 10-22s and I love them.  Two of the best rifles I have ever owned.  Dont laugh.  Anyways I have been looking into a mini14 and have read mixed reviews.  Some swear by them while others can't stand them.  That is really all the info I have gathered.  If there are issues what are they and can they be resolved cost effectively?

OK, so I went and did it. I was in a local pawnshop today looking at bikes, and they had a Ruger 10/22 on the shelf. I checked it over, worked the mechanism, and bought it - all because of you guys. Never owned one before, although I do enjoy the mini-14 that I still have yet to turn into the bullpup configuration. Looking at a FAL kit first.

Anyhow, the 10/22 came with two magazines, clean bore, good mechanism, 30 day guarantee and only $160. They're well over $200 for new, like about $270?

Anyhow, going to find a cold, windy place to shoot it this weekend and try it out. Got lots of .22 ammo.

[pioneer]

I bought a Mini-14 round about 1995 or so, during the Clinton administration's campaign against "assault weapons."  I wanted an inexpensive, rugged, relilable, magazine fed rifle that could be used for self defense, that was of a military grade.  Ruger has a reputation for rugged reliable firearms, and the Mini was much more affordable for me at the time.  I bought mine, a stainless, off the shelf at a local gun shop, no frills. 

Over the years, I've replaced the original wood stock with a synthetic one, and again with a folding stock.  The only other modification I've made is to add a muzzle compensator. 

During the months leading up to Y-2-K, I stocked up on hollow point and soft point .223 ammo, as well as a good supply of ball ammo.  Well, the rioting horde from Portland never came to my house to steal my food, so I have plenty of ammo left over.  (Plus a slightly used generator.)  I also took that opportunity to stock up on quality 20 & 30 round magazines.  I have a couple of Ruger factory 20 rounders, a few unknown brand and some polymer mags by RamLine and Thermold.  I mistakenly bought some really cheap mags at a gun show once, but again learned the hard way, "you get what you pay for."

Aside from some plinking and a bit of off-hand target shooting in the woods, my Mini was pretty much a safe queen.  I began considering buying an AR, for improved accuracy and to look "cool."  When I took my Mini to the range, I suffered the arrogant, condesending looks and snide remarks from the AR shooters, so didn't take it too often.  Finding myself alone at the range one day a couple of months ago, I decided to bench it, to see what it would really do.  Much to my glee, I found that it would hold MOA groups at 75 & 100 yards.  I've decided to keep my Mini-14.    

[tombogan03884]

Pioneer, Use it to shoot the centers out of the AR shooters groups. Let them condescend THAT 

[gunman42782]

Pioneer, Use it to shoot the centers out of the AR shooters groups. Let them condescend THAT 

I would love to see that.  However, I have yet to see anything even close to that.  I have owned 4 Mini 14s over the years (yeah, I learn the hard way!)  They were all minute of pie plate at 100 yards.  My last Mini was one of the supposed more accurate 580 series, and it was no better.  I spent a lot of dough trying to make it better too, with little success.  I had the gun doc at GreatWestGunsmithing.com do a trigger job and glass bed it.  I tried muzzle breaks, Amega Ranges rail, etc.   My main complaint with the Mini was not the 3 to 5 inch groups so much as the point of impact shift as the gun heats up.  And heat up it will, and fast.  Like after about 10 rounds, not even fired real fast, the point of impact will keep dropping and dropping until it is in the dirt.  I have never had a AR that did that.  I could have lived with the minute of pie plate accuracy, but not with a weapon that would not even hold anything resembling a zero.  And hell, guys, I am a Ruger fanatic.  But no fan of the Mini 14 anymore.  All I can say is if you got a Mini that does not do as I describe, hang on to it, for it is a rare bird.