Mini 14 barrel life

[el gringo]

Can anyone tell me what the expected barrel life is on the new Mini 14's.....example: blued steel, normal fire without a lot of rapid firing. Have had heard maybe 5000 rds. I don't think any actual tests have been done to my knowledge.

 

[Skalkaho Slim]

I would venture to guess it's closer to 15,000 to 20,000. Might see a drop in accuracy after that. Mag dumps will kill a barrel quicker.

 

[miniman]

i agree with slim i have over 5000 rds through mine and it still shoots.i have shot over 20 coyotes this year with it.not bad for a 32 year old mini.

 

[blume357]

depends on if it is a pre 580 barrel.... 580 or later, I would agree with above.... pre 580.... about 20 rounds....

 

[mattsbox99]

The AC 556 has the same barrel as regular minis and it'll handle full auto just fine.

 

[Major T]

I had a GB-20 that was used as a test rifle for a large agency. It had somewhere close to 20,000 rounds through it and it still gave close to 2 inch groups (scoped) @ 100. Needless to say, the barrel throat was cooked after up to 1000 rounds in an afternoon. It might have done better with a better mount, but I always thought it shot better than it should have. By the way, it never needed a repair of any kind, just a good cleaning after use. We ended up buying a bunch of them. Those who neglected the piston/gas chamber cleaning, found that they had a single shot! jack