Mini 14 and Accuracy

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BearStopper

Blackhawk
Joined
May 16, 2008
Messages
787
Location
Oregon
I bought a 2010 production Mini 14 unfired by the original owner on impulse due to a low price and was surprised that it shoots just fine. It was hitting both 6" or so high and left but shot a tight group with the irons and American eagle ammo. I then mounted a cheap compact scope that I got for free with a single ring since all I had on hand were M77 rings as he misplaced the originals. With some 55 grain soft point handloads, it shoots about 1 1/2 moa which is just about where my Milspec FN AR15 shoots them without working out a better load. I don't see why anyone would expect any more than this from a rifle of this type. Must be all the sub MOA cheap bolt guns on the market scrambling peoples expectations. This will make a great addition to my collection of future banned assault weapons (Oregon) as it looks like a deer rifle and performs like an AR. It will not feed polymer coated steel cased ammo like my AR will but that is no big deal in 5.56 like it is in 7.62x39 since brass stuff is almost as inexpensive in this chambering plus I reload a lot anyway. Need to test laquered steel to see if it works any better. Very fun rifle that reminds me of growing up in the 70's and 80's. Retro fun!
 

PriseDeFer

Single-Sixer
Joined
Apr 22, 2014
Messages
450
Not a Mini 14 but a Saiga 308. Had a problem cycling some brass cased ammo. There were marks on the cases and when I smoothed out the rough bottom of the bolt carrier the problem disappeared.
Don't take any metal work on your gun lightly, all too easy to do what cannot be undone.
 

BearStopper

Blackhawk
Joined
May 16, 2008
Messages
787
Location
Oregon
I see. Pretty unusual for a Saiga to do that. I used to have the 7.62x39 version but the 2012 panic buy netted me $1k for it which was a $750 profit. Kind of wish I did not sell it as it was a fun rifle even though my current AK has a better trigger on it. The guy who bought it planned on converting it which I did not have the tools or knowledge to do.
 

BearStopper

Blackhawk
Joined
May 16, 2008
Messages
787
Location
Oregon
COSteve said:
The Mini is a great fun carbine and your 581 Series Mini-14 Ranch Rifle (first 3 numbers before your s/n) has a thicker barrel with a taper in front of the gas block that significantly reduces barrel whip the earlier, 'pencil barreled' designs suffered from giving them a rep for poor accuracy. I have a 583 Series Ranch Rifle as well as a couple of ARs and to tell the truth, the Mini is my favorite by a mile.

The ARs have that big, clunky receiver and plastic feel I just don't like while the Mini is compact and just feels better; much like my M1 Carbine but with a much better performing caliber. I've found that even though it has a 1:9 twist, it likes my 62grn Hornady handloads better than my 55grn ones and with some cheap tweaks that cost less than a decent trigger for an AR, I get an honest 1¼ MOA with it which is great for a M1 Garand style action.

It's hands down my favorite for plinking from near to out to about 300yds even though it's got iron sights. I did upgrade the rear sight with a Tech Sight's Mini200 with a target aperture and thinned the front sight blade down to .050" wide to give me National Match like sights for it. It's my favorite for shooting bowling pins at 200yds as it makes short work of them. While I do try them at 300yds as well, my eyes aren't that good to hit a bowling pin reliably at that range with iron sights.

Even though I had an M16 in RVN, I trained with the M14 in Basic Training back in the 60's and really fell in love with that rifle. So it's natural I have both a few M1 Garands and an M1A I love to shoot as well. In fact, I guess it was natural that I would eventually further tweak my Mini to mimic my M1A so now it's a 'Mini M14'.

39j2Tdw.jpg

I was in the Navy in the late 80's and early 90's and was onboard the USS Carl Vinson. I was a member of a rescue boat crew as a Signalman and in addition to morse code communications to the ship, I was manning an M14 rifle for the purpose of fending off sharks who may get after the rescue diver or those being rescued. We arrived in Subic Bay, Philippines in 1990 and I was sent to a jungle range to qualify on the M14 weapon. What a blast it was to shoot that thing with irons on that jungle range. It felt like being being back in the WWII era for me after hearing my Grandpa tell stories about partaking in the operations to retake the Philippines in WWII with a Garand rifle. I have an M1A National Match rifle and love it also. It shoots way better than the old M14 did by the way and it better for the $1700 I paid for it 4-5 years ago.
 

BearStopper

Blackhawk
Joined
May 16, 2008
Messages
787
Location
Oregon
blume357 said:
I finally got around to putting an accustrute on one of my mini-14s along with a M14 flash suppressor Now I need to find time to get to the range and see if it made a difference.

Let me know how it works out for you. I have every firearm known to man but sudenly I have taken a liking to these having no experience with them. I will probably have three or four within the year being a little obsessive, and I may end up with one of the older pencil barrel models.
 

rufrdr

Bearcat
Joined
Oct 25, 2014
Messages
52
bUVunOKl.jpg


Mine is a series 185 with an added strut and Tech sights. With 68gr Hornady bullets it will shoot to about 2" at 100 yards. It doesn't like 55 gr bullets at all.
 

dfletcher

Blackhawk
Joined
Sep 14, 2006
Messages
921
Location
Leaving California .....
PriseDeFer said:
Are your fired or just fed and ejected cases gouged or scratched?

The opening post is only about 3 weeks old. I doubt his empties have re-entered Earth's orbit by now ..... :wink:

Kidding aside, there are a few 2X4 supports at the gun range that have my ejected cases neck first driven into them.

I like my Mini 14 and dropped in an Accuracy System gas port. Bought the kit of 4, used the 2nd most restrictive. Works very well.
 

dfletcher

Blackhawk
Joined
Sep 14, 2006
Messages
921
Location
Leaving California .....
BearStopper said:
COSteve said:
The Mini is a great fun carbine and your 581 Series Mini-14 Ranch Rifle (first 3 numbers before your s/n) has a thicker barrel with a taper in front of the gas block that significantly reduces barrel whip the earlier, 'pencil barreled' designs suffered from giving them a rep for poor accuracy. I have a 583 Series Ranch Rifle as well as a couple of ARs and to tell the truth, the Mini is my favorite by a mile.

The ARs have that big, clunky receiver and plastic feel I just don't like while the Mini is compact and just feels better; much like my M1 Carbine but with a much better performing caliber. I've found that even though it has a 1:9 twist, it likes my 62grn Hornady handloads better than my 55grn ones and with some cheap tweaks that cost less than a decent trigger for an AR, I get an honest 1¼ MOA with it which is great for a M1 Garand style action.

It's hands down my favorite for plinking from near to out to about 300yds even though it's got iron sights. I did upgrade the rear sight with a Tech Sight's Mini200 with a target aperture and thinned the front sight blade down to .050" wide to give me National Match like sights for it. It's my favorite for shooting bowling pins at 200yds as it makes short work of them. While I do try them at 300yds as well, my eyes aren't that good to hit a bowling pin reliably at that range with iron sights.

Even though I had an M16 in RVN, I trained with the M14 in Basic Training back in the 60's and really fell in love with that rifle. So it's natural I have both a few M1 Garands and an M1A I love to shoot as well. In fact, I guess it was natural that I would eventually further tweak my Mini to mimic my M1A so now it's a 'Mini M14'.

39j2Tdw.jpg

I was in the Navy in the late 80's and early 90's and was onboard the USS Carl Vinson. I was a member of a rescue boat crew as a Signalman and in addition to morse code communications to the ship, I was manning an M14 rifle for the purpose of fending off sharks who may get after the rescue diver or those being rescued. We arrived in Subic Bay, Philippines in 1990 and I was sent to a jungle range to qualify on the M14 weapon. What a blast it was to shoot that thing with irons on that jungle range. It felt like being being back in the WWII era for me after hearing my Grandpa tell stories about partaking in the operations to retake the Philippines in WWII with a Garand rifle. I have an M1A National Match rifle and love it also. It shoots way better than the old M14 did by the way and it better for the $1700 I paid for it 4-5 years ago.

Great looking Mini. If you don't mind, where'd you get the handguard - never saw one like that before.
 
Joined
Dec 25, 2012
Messages
71
Location
SoCal
A few posts above BearStopper asked about the AccuStrut. I put one of those on my Mini-14 a few years ago.

Their website says group size will reduce by 50% or more for the straight profile barrel, which I have. Yep, group size went way down at 100 yards.
https://www.accu-strut.com/
.
 
Joined
Nov 15, 2005
Messages
10,430
Location
Greenville, SC: USA
Now that I am officially an invalid I'm thinking I might be able to get to my gun club more often and actually try out the AccuStrut I installed a few weeks back on one of my Mini-14s. If my wife does not load me down with too many chores... she's already make a list for the Summer.
 
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