Got my new Mini 14 ranch rifle today

[DaveShooter]

Picked up my new rifle. It is a Blued Steel Mini 14 Ranch Rifle.
The only thing I noticed is when you cock the rifle sometimes it
is as stiff as a bored. I think that is when the Bolt pushes back
the Hammer to cock the rifle. Haven't shot it yet but I will
Hopefully it will get smoother when cocking this rifle.
All I know is I really like this new toy.

 

[Captain America]

My Mini was coated in preservative when I got it, I could barely move the safety and the charging handle was very hard to cycle when the hammer was being cocked. I disassembled and cleaned the gun, put a couple of drops of oil in the trigger group, coated the bolt and all of the sliding parts in oil then wiped all the oiled parts leaving a sheen. Everything felt much better after that, then I shot the poo poo out of the gun and now it's smooth as silk. It's a really fun gun, enjoy your Mini!

 

[COSteve]

Deleted

 

[DaveShooter]

Thanks Gentlemen for all the info on the Mini14- I did take mine apart and cleaned esp the trigger group.
Need to get out and put some ammo through this puppy. It is getting much better than when I 1-st started playing with it.
Again Thanks for all your help and good shooting to ya both...

 

[gatling]

They will break in and become very reliable after a hundred rounds or so. Mine likes 55 gr Hornady JSPs with IMR 4320 near the upper end of the range (for accuracy). It is absolutely reliable now; I haven't had a FTF or FTE after the first 100 rounds I put through it years ago. It's not the most accurate rifle I've ever owned, but it is the one I shoot the most. I put the TechSites rear sight on mine and I found that to be a much better arrangement than the stock rear sight.

 

[DaveShooter]

Been working the bolt a lot and put a dab of rig gun grease on a few places wiped off the excess.
Worked the action a lot getting much smoother an better to work the Bolt on this rifle.
I can tell it will be a shooter if I can ever get out to the range-lol- Steve I like the looks of your mini.
One awesome setup ya have there...

 

[Major T]

CDNN usually has factory fresh magazines, also at reasonable prices. I have bought both Five and Twenty round Ruger mags from them. For day to day use, I like the fives better.

Jack

 

[btmonnat]

I bought my first one yesterday also. Hope to shoot it tomorrow. 767$ + tax at walmart. Cheapest I found.

 

[mpalm]

They are not smooth at all when you first buy one. It takes a few hundred rounds to smooth things out, metal on metal surfaces . just remember to clean and lube it .

 

[Sugar River]

Congratulations!
There are also some relatively cheap and very easy tweaks you can make yourself to your Mini-14 to enhance it but the single best way to get the best accuracy and reliability is to use good quality ammo. With tweaks that cost about what a decent precision trigger costs for an AR and using good quality ammo or in my case, my own handloads, I use my irons only Mini to shoot at bowling pins at 200yds with precision. That's a 2 MOA target with iron sights and my Mini is definitely up to the task.

I'm partial to my M1 Garands, M1 Carbines, and M14/M1As as I have examples of each so when I got my Mini, I tweaked it to be more of a 'Mini M14'. I think I did a decent job of it.

Would love to know what "tweaks" you added to that Mini.

 

[ifithitu]

Nice looking Mini 14,congrats!