Ruger Mini 14 accuracy

[Lodiman]

Whew, this site has been hot lately. With that being said, I looked at a Mini 14 Ruger today at Gander Mountain. It was about 700 bucks. Does anyone know how accurate these guns are out of the box and how hard it is to mount a scope on one? I was thinking of using it for a rifle to leave at my cabin for general purpose shooting and varmint shooting. I was told they are fun to plink with as well. They come in blued and stainless versions any difference in accuracy between these two?

[sw41mag]

You should be able to find one for less than that unless prices have gone up considerably over the past few months. Seems to me I just saw one the other day at Wal Mart for about $550. If you can find a used Police model you might get a good deal on it. I say that because one of the shops around here had 10 of them for $350ea.

Anyways, you won't see much of a difference in shooting between a blued, and stainless, mini 14. As a rule stainless steel is softer than high carbon blued steel and after a while of shooting you sometimes see the metal edges peening over a bit. The only real advantage of stainless is that it is more forgiving if you don't clean and lubricate your guns well. The mini is a fun gun to shoot with average accuracy of about 3 inches at 100 yds. With some practice I got to the point where I could pretty much hit a man sized target every time at 200 yds. It's not as accurate as an AR-15 but it's not too bad either. It's certainly not as bad as some of the AR guys would lead you to believe. But it won't get any better either. I have spoken to and read stories by guys that tried to accurize their Mini's. Some spent a lot of money on new barrels, trigger jobs, etc. It almost never seems to work. If tight accuracy is something that you really have to have, you're probably going to be happier getting an AR.

The mini can be scoped but because of the slide ejecting from the top you can't use regular mounts. The real weak point of the mini are the magazines. I never had any trouble with the factory 5 rounders but if you want 20 or 30 rd mags you are pretty much limited to after market. Sometimes you can find 20 rd Ruger Factory mags but they run about $40+ ea. After market mags are a gamble. Some work well, some are real crap. The gun should have been designed to use AR-15 mags, which are much cheaper, and much better.

Have fun.

[el matador]

Yeah, accuracy is questionable on them. I use mine for running rabbits, so a 3 or 4" group at 100 yards is ok for that. The new mini-14s are all "ranch rifles", meaning that they come with scope mounts already milled into the reciever. New ones should come with rings too.

As for the magazines, sw41mag is right. If you get aftermarket magazines, look for Pro Mag brand. I have tried several kinds, and the Pro Mags are great quality and won't jam. They also fit great. Ruger mags are good too, but twice the price.

[Beowulf]

Ruger mini 14 and accuracy is an Oxymoron. Both mine and my fathers wouldn't hold 3.5 inches consistantly and grew to as much as 5" at times. If you want accuracy and in an autofeed .223 then maybe a Bushmaster heavey barrel instead for a few hundred $ more. Now they shoot and mine shoots consistantly at 1/2 to 5/8". I have terrorized Prairie dog towns with mine and have shot thousands of rounds with it and it still shoots as well as most bolt rifles. I did ad a target bolt and trigger assembly and with good ammo and me doing my part it will shoot 3/8" on good days. So spend $ 600+ on a SS mini 14 or get a bushmaster SS target barrel for $800 + that you can hit something with.

P.S. the mini 14 will shoot that cheap Russian steel cased ammo fairly well and the bushmaster will gum up after a hundred rounds if you dont take it down and clean very well... But its really cheap to shoot at @ $180 per 1000

[Lodiman]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I should buy an AR. I was think 11/2 to 2 inch was min. for accuracy. We shoot varmints at 100 to 200 yards and the kill zone is about 4 inches or less at 200 yards.

[Peashooter]

The Ruger mini can and will shoot accurately if you treat it like any other rifle. All factory rifles need a little tweaking here and there to make them shoot their best. The Ruger mini is no different. As with most rifles the first step is to bed the action, this will eliminate those pesky fliers. Then install a shock buffer, adjust the gas block screws and fix that horrible trigger. Many mini owners install a muzzle brake for improved accuracy.

I did all of these thing to my mini-30 and it shoots pretty good now, just a hair over MOA. Go here to find out more about accurizing a mini for little or no cash.
http://www.perfectunion.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=86

[sw41mag]

The Ruger mini can and will shoot accurately if you treat it like any other rifle. All factory rifles need a little tweaking here and there to make them shoot their best. The Ruger mini is no different. As with most rifles the first step is to bed the action, this will eliminate those pesky fliers. Then install a shock buffer, adjust the gas block screws and fix that horrible trigger. Many mini owners install a muzzle brake for improved accuracy.

I did all of these thing to my mini-30 and it shoots pretty good now, just a hair over MOA. Go here to find out more about accurizing a mini for little or no cash.
http://www.perfectunion.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=86


As you say, almost any rifle can benefit from getting worked on. But does he WANT to do a bedding job? A Trigger job? I did a glass bedding job with the help of a retired, expert gunsmith and wouldn't want to do it again without his help. I also did 2 trigger jobs with his help and guidance but wouldn't want to do one tomorrow without him there to help. Not all of us want to be junior gunsmiths and often the pictures and written guides are confusing. I don't doubt that what you have done helped your rifle. But I have also spoken with people who did all of those things and beyond and didn't get good results. Shilen barrels and Timney triggers, etc and after hundreds of dollars the Mini still doesn't shoot well for them. Sounds like a bit of a crap shoot to me. Hey, I like the gun and my personal experiences with them have been good. I just don't expect too much from it. Semi auto and accuracy, I think he'd be better off from the start with an AR. Plus you can trick it out 6 ways to Sunday if that's your thing.

[Peashooter]

. Sounds like a bit of a crap shoot to me. Hey, I like the gun and my personal experiences with them have been good. I just don't expect too much from it. Semi auto and accuracy, I think he'd be better off from the start with an AR. Plus you can trick it out 6 ways to Sunday if that's your thing.

A crap shoot for sure. So is an accurate Ruger in a bolt gun. Rugers are the most inaccurate rifles I have ever had the displeasure to own. IMHO there are a lot more Ruger 77 owners that swear at them than by them. The sad thing is my Mini-30 shoots much better than all of the Ruger bolts guns I have owned. So, you are correct it's a crap shoot. Not because it is a Mini, but because it is a Ruger.

I stand corrected.

[Lodiman]

Thanks again for the tips guys.

[sweetwater]

P.S. the mini 14 will shoot that cheap Russian steel cased ammo fairly well and the bushmaster will gum up after a hundred rounds if you dont take it down and clean very well... But its really cheap to shoot at @ $180 per 1000


I have a Bushmaster AR 15 Carbine and made the mistake of buying a case of the cheap silver (aluminum maybe?) cased russian ammo. My AR would jam every two or three rounds with that stuff. It wasn't dirt, but the case of the ammo was so weak that my ejector would tear through it leaving the case stuck in the barrel/reciever. I carried what was left of the case to the HAZ MAT turn in day at the local gun shop. I'm done with the cheap stuff, but sadly it also means I'm done with random plinking with my .223 also.. Can't afford to go out and burn 150+ rounds of the mid-grade stuff.

Any one else have the same issue? Any reccomendations on suitbale ammo for it?

[HOGWILD]

Whew, this site has been hot lately. With that being said, I looked at a Mini 14 Ruger today at Gander Mountain. It was about 700 bucks. Does anyone know how accurate these guns are out of the box and how hard it is to mount a scope on one? I was thinking of using it for a rifle to leave at my cabin for general purpose shooting and varmint shooting. I was told they are fun to plink with as well. They come in blued and stainless versions any difference in accuracy between these two?
They are introducing a new Target model if not allready and i am sure it has much better accuracy than the standard mini14. 700.00 bucks is way too much unless it was the stainless/synthetic target model!!

[Beowulf]

I recently found a good source of cheap 223 imported ammo that shoots well in both my AR and the Raunch mini14. Midway has Fiocchi 55 gr FMJ for just under $300 per 1000 good shooting and cheap. Give it a try.

[ssghelmick]

The new Mini 14 Ranch Rifle has been reblueprinted and the tolerances have been cleaned up and are now a cosistant 3 MOA rifle which is what a standard AR service rifle is. However if you find the right ammo combination you could get it down to 1 1/2 to 2 or close to it I'm sure. Just make sure there is "580" ahead of the serial number to be sure your buying the new improved one and not the previous version. Good luck hope that helps.

[rodo4223]

this is off the subject...but the quote about all Rugers being inacurate is not entirely true. I heard there was re-tooling at the factory a couple of years ago, and it improved them tremendously. I have a m77 300WM that I can hold 1/2" groups @ 200 yds all day long (with a "little gunsmithing").

[ssghelmick]

I disagree with this M77 statement also. I own two of them and both will shoot sub-minute however they are MK II's. I do also own one M77 and it will hold 1 MOA. When Ruger first started out they were buying barrels rather than making them and at that time it was a crap shoot as to weather or not you would get a rifle that shot or not. But they have been making their own for a long time now and the quality has come a very long way. The only complaint I have about the MK II's are the triggers they are poor at best but a gunsmith with a stone can usually fix that and if not there are pleanty of replacement triggers on the market.

As for the retooling they just did that for the Mini 14 Ranch rifle in 2006. And from everything I've read on it they made them alot tighter which improved the accuracy quite a bit.

[rodo4223]

Mine is also the m77 mark II. I did have my gunsmith file down my trigger to 2.5 lbs from almost 5lb.

[HOGWILD]

Read on a forum today that fellow just picked up his mini14T and was getting 1" groups at 100 yds with cheap scope and varmint rounds, said gun was 800.00$ somewhere at Gander Mountain in North Carolina i think is where he picked it up!

[BigTex94]

I shot my mini 14 (580 series) with cheap Brown Bear ammo and was getting 1 inch groups at 100 yards, with a scope.

The ammo was Brown Bear 62 grain hollow points

The scope was a Bushnell Sportsman 3x9x40

[Mark]

Fellows, I've read through this entire thread and it seems to me only one person has good accuracy with the mini-14.

He doesn't mention what ammo, or if anything has been done to the rifle, he does mention he has a scope, but not what brand. The other comments sound like repeated advertising, not real world experience.

I'm not experienced with the "new improved" model, with the "tighter tolerances", whatever that means, but I know all about the previous models, and I don't think much can be done with them. It's a very rare mini-14 that will put 5 shots into 1 1/2 inches center to center, at 100 yards.

The mini-14 is a 3 inch plus grouping rifle at 100 yards. These rifles don't respond to conventional glass bedding techniques where tension is put on the barrel, like the M1 Garand/M1A. I won't comment on the barrels, because I haven't seen enough of them. I've seen two with a borescope, and they all can't look that bad. It's too bad. I'm not a Ruger basher either. I've owned a 77 in 30-06, and it was more than acceptable for accuracy and function.

If 3 to 5+ MOA is acceptable, the mini-14 is a good rifle. It is dependable, with good magazines. It is a bullet hose.
Mark

[Lodiman]

As I always said, if you sprayenough lead, it'll still be dead(LOL). They sound like they are good for plinking and an occasional varmint at close range.

[tddeangelo]

If you want accuracy and in an autofeed .223 then maybe a Bushmaster heavey barrel instead for a few hundred $ more. Now they shoot and mine shoots consistantly at 1/2 to 5/8".

Yer killin' me here....

I had a line on a Bushmaster XM-15 rifle in A3 configuration for $675 and had to pass because my wife's car took a crap and we bought her the minivan I've said we'd get her "when she needed another car". Heck, that Bushmaster is probably still on the rack where I saw it, but I can't drop the coin now.

Ugh......

[maximini14]

Me and a buddy both bought mini14 a while back. accurracy was terrible, 3 to 5 inch groups at 100 yds. Tried about 8 different types of ammo, no imptovement. I called the factory and was told this is within spec-unacceptable for me.

So I began the search for accurracy with the net result of having a Shilen match barrel installed, an Accurracy Arms match trigger and blueprint the action. Things drasticly improved, but still only getting 1 12/ " groups with all kinds of factory ammo.

Began to handload and after much effort found the magic recipe with a 55 gr Nosler ballistic tip at 3100 fps which yielded 1/4 groups as a best with most groups in the 5/8" range. That was what i was looking for, but it came in at about $950 for the gun and new barrel etc and lots of work.

A buddy bought a DPMS for under $600, and he gets 3/4" groups with factory ammo- go figure!

Maximini14

[Yooper]

I have shot the new target model and found it to be quite accurate with 40-grain V-Max loads from Hornady. It was an MOA rifle at 100 yards and we were hitting very well out to 200 on steel flip targets.

By comparison, the target model AR we had along shot very similar if maybe a bit better, but also had a price tag a good $600 higher.

Don't dog the target Minis if you've not shot one.

[Mark]

Yooper, What has been done to the 580 plus serial number, new-improved, tighter tolerance, miracle mini to make this a MOA rifle?

And - And, did you guys shoot one 3 shot group at 1 MOA, excepting called flyers, or did the rifle shoot consistantly at 1 MOA or less?

I'm not bashing anything, but I have to see it to believe it. In the past, this platform has proven to be an absolute dog as far as accuracy. As far as I know, it has always been dependable, but woefully poor for accuracy.

It should also be noted, I don't consider any rifle MOA unless you can get it out of the case, put it on the bench, and shoot a 5 shot group under an inch at 100 yards. If you can't do this on command, the rifle isn't MOA. It might be acceptable for its intended purpose, you may not shoot 5 shots when hunting, and any other qualifying comments might be true, but if it won't shoot 5 into an inch at 100 yards on command, it's not MOA.

The benchrest fraternity has made this the standard, not me.

Mark

[Peashooter]

Here is some accuracy testing of the "New and Improved" Ruger Mini-14 NRA Addition. This rifle has a 16 1/2 inch barrel and is supposed to be a bit more accurate than the standard new Mini-14. Very nice groups if you like em in the 3.5 inch PLUS category at 100 yards.

Nice job Ruger, You have embarrassed your self again.

http://www.nrapublications.org/tar/Rugermini14.asp

[Yooper]

Two things I will concede:

1. It may have been the guys pulling the trigger who were shooting well.

2. It was a writer's deal, meaning I will only say for 100% honesty that a rifle is awesome if I get one off the shelf.

If you've shot one and found it to be a POS, then it was a POS. My only thing was, don't dog it until you try it.

I used to bag on Remington's because the ones I had shot didn't suit me well. Of course, now I have tried some more and matured as a shooter and I'm loving Remingtons.

[skagway]

I have done extensive work on mini-14's and developed an inexpensive solution to their inherent accuracy problem. One of the test rifles I worked with would not hold all of it's shots onto an 8 x 11 sheet of paper at 100 yards. My Dad wanted the rifle to shoot under 2 MOA and challenged me with the task. By the time I completed the project the rifle would shoot 3 shots that could be covered with a dime. All I can say is that the "Potential" for accuracy with the mini-14 is there, but it will take a considerable amount of study and work to bring the best out of the rifle. I have accurized quite a few of these rifles now, all with great improvements. Unfortunately, my Dad passed away before I could complete the project for him, but I still have his rifle and I completed his task.

To those who have given up on the accuracy of the Mini-14, or are considering very expensive accurizing options, I would say 1) Don't give up, the answer will cost less than $100, and 2) if you have a lot of money to spend on accurizing yours, there are some very cool systems that will do that for you, but my sub MOA dime shooter does it all for very little money. Just knowing that it can be done might encourage some others who can't afford the "custom jobs" to keep on trying. There is at least one answer that will work.

Never give up.

[nectoxicdragon]

After reading this thread, I have come to one conclusion. Most shooters don't know crap about the Mini 14 design. The accuracy problem with the Mini 14 is caused by 3 very distinct problems and allo three MUST be addressed. Rugers refit did not accomplish this completely but helped. The new Target version of the mini 14 hasnt been fixed 100% either but is a 1 moa rifle out of tthe box, IF you take the time to adjust the harmonic balancer they hung on the barrel.

The three Problems in order are Stock bedding, Gas Port mounting and Barrel stiffness.

First the stock Must be reworked. Since the Mini 14 uses a gas port that also mounts the forend of the stock, you reallt cant freefloat the barrel and expect satisfactory results. The forend NEEDS to be stiffened and supported. Brownells Accra-glas and extra metal is your best bet there. Remove a good amount of wood wherever there is wood to metal contact anywhere on the stock and glass it in. Personally I would do this on an aftermarket synthetic stock... there is less flex in them not to mention that they are not as affected by humidity and barometric pressure (as the pressure rises it forces moisture into the wood, when it drops it allows the moisture to cause the wood to expand). Next the gas port needs to be properly fit o the barrel. This means that the screws that hold it in place must be torqued to the same level. This isnt a simple thing. The gas block itself may need to be reworked to ensure it's mating surfaces are perfectly square as you also have to ensure that the gap be tween the upper and lower pieces is equal front to back and side to side as well. Finally the barrel. The mini 14 was designed as a lightweight firearm, and this was accomplished by using a thin barrel. This causes some nasty barrel harmonics that can and does scatter the point of impact. Adding a muzzle break adds weigh and alters the barrel harmonics... hence the balancer on the new target version of the mini 14. There are also several barrel braces on the market that bolt onto the bottom of the barrel, butting tightly against the gas block lower unit that work nicely, and are less expensive than replacing the barrel and gasblock assembly with a bull barrel unit. Cryotreating the barrel will help reduce the walking off target as your barrel warms up, but that isnt an accuracy issue since if you are hunting with a mini you shouldn't be emptying your magazine on your prey to begin with. Just take your time when you are shooting targets.

We have to remember what the mini 14 was originally designed for... It wasnt meant to be a highly accurate rifle, it was meant to be reliable, capable of taking midszed targets (face it it was originally a security rifle that gained civillian popularity). Concidering what it does out of the box it is an exceptional firearm. Prior to my leaving the gunsmithing arena there weren't any of the accurizing accessories for the mini on the market, and we had do do all the work all by hand. And we did a lot of it. I have only one Mini14 left, as over the years I have been talked into selling 4 out of 5 of them to people I knew. I also have ARs. As much as I like my Rock River ARs The Mini is just so much more fun to shoot, to teach a new shooter with and less upsetting to others when carried in the field.

Oh yeah and those who complain about the mini 14's recoil, you shouldnt even own a gun if you cant handle the recoil of a .223/5.56, so stop whining!

[Mark]

nectoxicdragon, I read your post with interest, but there are some things you describe that I don't understand.
You explain relieving forearm contact with the barrel, and attempting to stiffen the forearm with accraglas and "extra metal". Is the extra metal mixed in the a-glas to add hardness, and reduce the effects of shrinkage, or are you talking about metal bars or dowels?
What exactly are you trying to accomplish with this?

As you mentioned, you can't free-float the barrel, nor can you exert any forearm pressure because of the design.

I do understand about the gas cylinder exerting uneven pressure on the barrel. Kinda like having the bullet hit a speed bump, right?

The Ruger barrel is a disaster. If cryo treating could help, I don't know if the help could be measured. It's a hammer forged barrel, and the structure is under so much stress from the forging, changing a little austenite isn't going to matter enough to be measured.

I was around when the mini-14 came out. The mini-14 was always intended for the civilian market. Originally, it was intended to be a light rifle resembling the M-14 in appearance, and chambered in .308 Win. Ruger couldn't get it to work reliably in .308, so he salvaged what he could of the project by making the rifles in 7.62 X 39. That's why the first 7.62 X 39 rifles have .308 groove diameter. It was then re-designed on the fly for .223 Remington.

The Ruger mini-14 is a neat little rifle, very handy to carry, and reliable. It just isn't accurate. It doesn't have the potential to be accurate, I suppose it could become an accurate rifle, but there is a point of diminishing return to consider. Skagway says he can make them shoot, but he doesn't give any details.

I'm not peeing in anyone's Wheaties, I just want to know and understand what can be done to make these shoot accurately. If there have been success stories, I've never heard, seen or read about them. The M1 Garand, M-1A, and AR-15 platforms have been successfully accurized, and there are volumes of reading about them. I don't know of anything that has been done with consistency to the mini-14 to make this a 5 shot MOA rifle.
Mark

[j870sm]

I purchased an "accurized" mini 14 from an individual that had all the paperwork from the company that did the work. Was it really accurized? NO, not in my opinion. I can take any of the 7 AR's that I have and they will all out shoot the so called accurized mini. I figure, why pay the price of a new mini then turn around and pay nearly as much to get it accurized and still have a gun that will only shoot 21/2 in groups at best and mostly worse. You could buy an AR from Rock River (the cheapest ones) and have a much more accurate gun right out of the box for less than the original mini cost you. Ruger just can't get it and can't fix it either.

I do like my mini in original configuration. I carry it in the truck with me more than any other rifle. I don't care if it gets banged up or if it gets dirty. It will shoot minute of coyote on the first couple of shots most of the time. That is all that I need it to do. The accurized mini left the house, it was way to heavy to carry around IMO.

[Perferator]

In this day and age of information on the internet (thanx, Al!!) I'm safely assuming there is a forum dedicated to this rifle and it's accuracy woes?

Maybe someone already posted.....sorry I didnt go through the other pages in this thread....but if not, would someone pass along the info for the others?

Thanx :)