What about the ruger mini 14 target ?

[Dad003]

hey guys im looking into maybe getting one of those but still have to decide between the ranch model or the target one , what kind of accuracy are people getting out of their target model ? many people will say that the mini is inaccurate the old one were not that good in that side , the new one are way better it seem like ,

i like the look of it , what is the general accuracy of the target model ? any reviews here by people that own them ? review online seem to be rare ,

thank

 

[Grouse River]

Hey Dad003,

I actually owned the ranch model for a few months and it was my fun bush gun. It was the newer model with the better barrel and with the ghost sight, I could hit approximately 10' targets at 50 yards free-handing it, but I never put it on rests and target shot. I can tell you that if you are looking for a gun to have fun with, that was one of the most enjoyable guns I've owned. If you are looking for accuracy, the Mini 14 Target is a good way to go in a semi-auto .223. A former coworker of mine has one, which he reloads for and he is able to get pretty consistent MOA groups at 100. I'm not sure how much of that can be attributed to the hand loads, but he is really happy with the accuracy of the gun. I think of accuracy is a bigger concern for you, go with the Target model (the target model also comes with rings, which is nice), but if you just want something to take in the bush and shoot around with, I loved my Ranch model and I think you would too. If you want to check them out, you can go to our website or give me a call at 1-877-547-6873 if you want to chat about the guns at all.

Best Regards,
Anthony Haines
Inside Sales Specialist

 

[Cleftwynd]

 

[Galt]

I just got mine..willll have it out on Saturday to sight in and test. Topped it with Nikoon P223 3-9 40.
Another member at our club has one and with premium ammo or hand loads is under an inch and half at 200 if he does his part. Not sure why people put down the harmonic damper, its basically the BOSS without a lock ring.
I will post some pics on the weekend.

 

[horseman2]

I think they would be a great little coyote rifle to be carried in the tractor for coyotes while feeding cows.
Funny how we read words . . . reference to previous post about a "co-worker" . . . WTF is a Cow-orker!

 

[Galt]

I think they would be a great little coyote rifle to be carried in the tractor for coyotes while feeding cows.
Funny how we read words . . . reference to previous post about a "co-worker" . . . WTF is a Cow-orker!

Thats exactly what this is going to be for me. I have landmarked all the distances from various spots where I will be hunting them this spring. it's a heavy beast but will be shooting from blinds so not really an issue.

 

[Galt]

Here are my final 200 yd groups from sighting in the scope and adjusting the dampener.
Alternated back and forth between 55 gr fmj and 62 gr CT till I found a happy median.

 

[jjohnwm]

My Target model is MOA with handloads, and almost-but-not-quite MOA with plenty of factory loads. I quickly tired of the weight, especially with the adjustable dampener thingie installed, and so I had it cut down to 19 inches and ditched the dampener. I find I get just as much flexibility and accuracy with a Limbsaver rubber accurizer on the barrel, which weighs almost nothing. Anybody need a spare Harmonic Dampener for their Target model?

Since buying the gun, I have also had a chance to shoot a couple of the newest-generation Ranch Rifles also. They shoot so well that if I were doing it again, I would probably just get one of them in lieu of the Target. Outstanding coyote guns.

 

[bfiles]

I'm very happy to hear this as I have a new ranch rifle on the way to me.
This will be my go to varmint rifle now (I hope)

 

[KePet]

I owned one of the old mini's that shot MOB (minute of barn) before the Ranch Rifle. The pencil barrel, and difficulty in mounting a scope were definite disadvantages. But I wasn't ready to give up on them. The concept is great. A light fast handling carbine that is dependable. And I knew they could be accurate-I grew up watching the A-Team hit a fly at 400 yards

So I picked up a Target model. Once you have the dampener dialled in they are moe than capable of MOA or very close. My problem was that for each type of ammo you use you pretty much have to reset the dampener. Sight with AE 55 gr. Change to Winchester 45 gr and you have to re-sight. PMC 62 gr is on sale but you have to re-sight again when you change to it. If you were only going to use one type of ammo forever it would be great, but I tend to feed my .223's whatever is plentiful and on sale. The other thing with the target model is that it negates pretty much all the advantages of the Mini-14. The longer barrel, target stock and increased weight make it a "target" rifle. It's accurate, but it's no longer a light, fast handling carbine. Also, the proprietary mags can be a pain

Personally I found the T-97 with FTU to be much more what I was looking for. It's not a target rifle, but it is short, convenient, takes AR/LAR mags, and has acceptable accuracy (1 1/2 at 100)

 

[Galt]

I am definitely not taking my Target model on hike. It will be for blind use calling in yotes.
I still have my eye on a ranch thatvis really cheap right now, but already having an M1 carbine means I really need to justify it to myself.

 

[Jdiep]

I owned one of the old mini's that shot MOB (minute of barn) before the Ranch Rifle. The pencil barrel, and difficulty in mounting a scope were definite disadvantages. But I wasn't ready to give up on them. The concept is great. A light fast handling carbine that is dependable. And I knew they could be accurate-I grew up watching the A-Team hit a fly at 400 yards

So I picked up a Target model. Once you have the dampener dialled in they are moe than capable of MOA or very close. My problem was that for each type of ammo you use you pretty much have to reset the dampener. Sight with AE 55 gr. Change to Winchester 45 gr and you have to re-sight. PMC 62 gr is on sale but you have to re-sight again when you change to it. If you were only going to use one type of ammo forever it would be great, but I tend to feed my .223's whatever is plentiful and on sale. The other thing with the target model is that it negates pretty much all the advantages of the Mini-14. The longer barrel, target stock and increased weight make it a "target" rifle. It's accurate, but it's no longer a light, fast handling carbine. Also, the proprietary mags can be a pain

Personally I found the T-97 with FTU to be much more what I was looking for. It's not a target rifle, but it is short, convenient, takes AR/LAR mags, and has acceptable accuracy (1 1/2 at 100)

Could you tell me how you adjust the dampener? does it go by grain? is there a chart that gives you what would be a good place to start? thanks

 

[Hitzy]

Hey Dad003,

I actually owned the ranch model for a few months and it was my fun bush gun. It was the newer model with the better barrel and with the ghost sight, I could hit approximately 10' targets at 50 yards free-handing it, but I never put it on rests and target shot.
Best Regards,
Anthony Haines
Inside Sales Specialist

Wow....10 foot target at 50 yards is impressive!
Almost as good as a slingshot lol

 

[prairie lover]

i have one and it is moa. right at moa with 10 shot groups. sometimes better. great rabbit gun.

shot wholesale sports precision rifle match the last 2 years they had it. it was a great 2 person team match. me and a buddy shot it, I used my mini he used a bolt gun and shot all the paper targets while I shot the clays and plates. placed 3ed the first time. used only 4 mags so I had to fill them all numerous times while the timer was going unlike all the ars at the match with there stacks of 10 round mags. the last match they ever had I had 17 mags, borrowed a bunch. won it that year. something like 69-71 shots in 3 minutes 20 seconds and the last 2 targets were shot standing up so they are a lot slower and can take some time. no ar or any other semi auto ever beat my mini 14 target shooting that match. the first year bolt guns did. they had a ton of mags though. I found that most other guns and all other semi autos there were useless after 20 or 30 shots. zero moved and groups opened up. my mini when it heats up the poi drops one inch at 100 yards and groups do not open. maybe I got lucky idk. I tend not to abuse it like that now a days.

 

[prairie lover]

but I will say this, its a heavy sob

 

[FLHTCUI]

Oh man, I choked on my bean burrito when I saw this.
Good thing I learned how to do the Heimlich on the kitchen chair ...
It is amazing what you can learn from the internet !
GR, I hope you meant 10 inches and not ten feet in your review
What does the OP intend to use this for?
I know guys who have taken deer with these guns on a regular basis.
Buy it if you like it , fwiiw !
Rob

 

[Jdiep]

i have one and it is moa. right at moa with 10 shot groups. sometimes better. great rabbit gun.

shot wholesale sports precision rifle match the last 2 years they had it. it was a great 2 person team match. me and a buddy shot it, I used my mini he used a bolt gun and shot all the paper targets while I shot the clays and plates. placed 3ed the first time. used only 4 mags so I had to fill them all numerous times while the timer was going unlike all the ars at the match with there stacks of 10 round mags. the last match they ever had I had 17 mags, borrowed a bunch. won it that year. something like 69-71 shots in 3 minutes 20 seconds and the last 2 targets were shot standing up so they are a lot slower and can take some time. no ar or any other semi auto ever beat my mini 14 target shooting that match. the first year bolt guns did. they had a ton of mags though. I found that most other guns and all other semi autos there were useless after 20 or 30 shots. zero moved and groups opened up. my mini when it heats up the poi drops one inch at 100 yards and groups do not open. maybe I got lucky idk. I tend not to abuse it like that now a days.

What rounds were you using? And how did you set your harmonic?

 

[KePet]

That's the problem with the dampener-no real instructions. It's held on/adjusted with set screws. You shoot at 100, and look at your group. If its 1" great-adjust your scope to POI. If it's 3", loosen the set screws, turn it 1/2 a turn, and shoot again. If the group is smaller you know you're going the right direction. If it's larger you're going the wrong direction. Loosen set screws and adjust. Keep doing this until you get to an acceptable group size, or the groups start getting bigger again, and you've reached maximum accuracy for your ammunition.

What I found was that for different weights of bullets you wound up adjusting the dampener, to get to the smallest group possible. But, once adjusted for 55gr, it would shoot all 55gr pretty close to the same size group. However: different manufacturers would give different points of impact. Get it dialled in with 55gr AE so it was shooting MOA, then wind up switching to 55gr UMC. The group would still be MOA, but 3" to the right, or 2" high

Truly a gun that needs to be sighted for one load, and only one load, and shot with that load forever

 

[prairie lover]

when I bought it I couldn't find brass so I bought a bunch of that cheap Winchester 45 gr hp stuff. started with the dampener flush with the muzzle and shot 3 shots, moved it half a turn back and shot 3 more till I found a spot tat grouped right at moa. when that ammo was done and I had brass to reload I loaded 55 gr sierra blitzkings in a stiff but just under book max load of h-4895, set the dampner flush with the front of the barrel again and did it all over. I ended up getting best groups with it about .75" back front the muzzle with this load, vs .125 with the 45 gr factory ammo. to this day the 55 gr bliztking shoots best, right at moa although the first shot about half the time will go about half inch low.

I have tried 55 gr nosler bt with almost as good groups, ive shot 10 shot groups at 200 yards with both loads side by side numerous times and both put 9 out of 10 into 2 inches, the first shot from a cold barrel likes to go low. I have shot some half moa 5 shot groups at 100 and 200 with it.

I also tried, 52 matchkings, 55 ge sierra varmiter sp both the med velocity and the "hard" one, they all shot about 1.25 moa with no tuning, leaving the dampener on the 55 gr blitzking sweet spot. I also tried 55 hr hornady sp they shot bad and 55 v-max. the v-max are strange. 1 inch 10 shot groups at 100 yards and 4 inches at 200. these days I only load blitzkings for rabbits and nosler bt for coyotes.

I find guns like my laminated mini 14 target, and ars that have a lot of vertical to the platform, more so than a bolt, scopes higher, your trigger hand is lower, harder to hold steady of a bench or how I usually do all my shooting prone off a sandbag and bipod. I am steadier with my bolt guns. and I find the bolt guns again having more of the shotgun style stock track a moving coyote way way better. for me anyway.

also I had a wandering zero people with my gun so I had it bedded and that solved it. It would be normal for 100 shots then suddenly start walking 2 up and then back down to normal. after seeing that I had it bedded, trigger job and a aftermarket adjustable gas block and also scope rail to keep the emptys from hitting the scope turrent. my only complaint is the weight.

 

[the spank]

I bought the stainless synthetic ranch rifle just before x-mas. I went with it for the weight savings. I mounted an Aimpoint PRO optic on it, boresighted it and headed to the range. I tried some Hornady Steel Match 55 gr jhp and American Eagle 55 gr fmj. My grouping sizes were identical. I had zero'd with the Hornadys. The American Eagles though shooting the same size group always shoot 2" left and 1.5" high of centre. With the Aimpoint PRO which is a 2 moa dot and the Rugers horrible 7 pound trigger pull with a hotrendous amount of creep I am able to produce 3" groups at 100 yards. I have sent my trigger to High Calibre Services to be lightened up and tuned and am hopeful that will help reduce my group sizing somewhat or at least provide improved accuracy when out plinking gophers etc. I know if I mounted a decent scope too that my groups would definitely improve and I had purchased a 2-10x40 Minox for the rifle but found the rifle too bulky for my intended use with the scope so never did shoot it with the scope in place but swapped it back to the Aimpoint instead right away. The rifle for my needs is a truck gun with a fast acquisition sight for shooting out to 200 yards for coyotes and varmints and for that this setup works fine.