Mini 14's questions

[hawk_driver]

I have never had any interest in them until just recently. I have been looking at 2 of them, both Ranch Rifles, one an '87 model and the other a '03, both are new and have never been fired.

Any major issues with guns from these years? Would either one benefit from factory mods to make them more accurate or is that a recent attempt?

Any light you guys could shed would be great.

 

[gunman42782]

Buy a 580 or later series Mini. I have owned 5 over the years, and my new one will run circles over any of the older 4 I owned. But, none of them, to include the new ones, are benchrest rifles. As long as you don't buy one thinking you are gonna get a sniper rifle, you wont be disappointed. Not to advertise another website, but there are all kinds of suggestions on how to improve accuracy at perfectunion.com.

 

[wwb]

......... But, none of them, to include the new ones, are benchrest rifles.......

Agreed - it all depends on your definition of "accurate". If you're lookin' for dime-sized 5-shot groups, look elsewhere. For a knock-around rifle, a mini is just fine.

 

[hawk_driver]

Not looking for bolt gun accurate, just something to plink with. I just dont want to end up with something that shoots 12" groups either. Plinking is no fun if you cant hit anything. I know Ruger has made attempts over the years to increase the accuracy potential of them and just wanted to get an idea of what to look for. Will most likely check into something in the 580 series.

 

[blume357]

from your original choices I'd probably go with the '03 just because of the principle that the line of rifles should improve over time... but then I could be wrong. The key issue is you say neither have been fired which eliminates the possibility that some Rambo wannabe has cooked the barrel making things worse.

 

[rugerfreak]

Actually---the 03 might be worse because the tooling was worn out---that's why they re-tooled in 04.

 

[rugerfreak]

Delete---double post

 

[mattsbox99]

Ruger replaces tooling whenever it goes out of spec... besides thats shouldn't be a factor as if it does shoot anything worse than 3" groups, Ruger will take a look at the rifle and make any necessary repairs for free.