Mini 14 223 lovers

thatmikeguy

thatmikeguy

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Steinbach, Manitoba
Can i get some help learning about the mini14. Ive read good and bad about these rifles. I'm considering buying one and I want to know what to look for so I can get a good one.
 
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They're great little rifles. The newer 58X serial numbered ones have heavier barrels and therefore better long range accuracy than the older 18X series, but for the right price the older ones are still desirable in my opinion too.
 
Ive had four of the older series. Generally less accurate then other rifles although very handy to carry. Barrels whip heavily unless braced and point of aim screws off after a few shots as the barrel warms up. Stainless steel models are prone to firing tip and ejector breakage as I experienced with a new rifle with less than 200 rounds through. Apparently stainless steel can have hardening issues especially when investment casting like Ruger uses and due to the general garand/m14 downsized action these parts are tiny and weaker. Older models in the last series before changing production over to the newer series are generally considered some of the worst inaccurate models as the production tooling was worn out and the shutdown and new models are being made on all new tooling and with heavier barrels to address inaccuracy concerns. I had great success improving barrel accuracy by adding a barrel weight of 20-21 ounces machined from stainless steel and resembled a silencer and was mounted by removing the front sight and lightly press fitting on with red locktite and was copied from an old gun magazine article.
I switch from carrying minis on the farms for coyote to the AR180b because of the firing pin tip and ejector breakage issues I experienced as I didn’t want to spend a day with the dog hunting to pull the trigger and only hear a click. Hope this helps—-Dieseldog!
 
The 580 Series I believe are post-switch with the thicker barrels. Bench-Rested with good ammo you should be able to do decent groups out to 100 yards. I had one that was slightly modified with gas-reducer and 12x scope, and with hand-loads could do just under 2" bench-rested, 100 yards... But your mileage may vary.
 
I have an older one that is, from what I read, accurate for its vintage. I have also read stuff like what dieseldog said about weight on the end of the barrel helping with accuracy. Mine came with a flash suppressor, I shot groups with it, then removed the suppressor and it grouped the same. I’m sure each rifle is different.

As a platform I absolutely love mini’s, I blame the 10/22 I bought at 12 years old for ruining me for rifle size. I really like compact rifles, anything over 40” long is dead to me, anything under 38” is even better, mini’s fit the bill. Mine is deadly reliable and accurate enough for what I use it for.

Another difference between the older and newer ones is it is much easier to conventionally (over the receiver) mount a scope on the newer ones, options on the older ones are fairly limited.

As mentioned by others, the government thinks mini’s are evil, and they will almost definitely be banned when the hammer comes down.
 
Just bought a Mimi ranch about a month ago I absolutely love it planing on some upgrades to trigger as it's heavy but love how it looks and shoots, Price's seem to jump everytime I look I'm glad I got it when I did , as you said this maybe one the Lib's will want to save us from
 
thatmikeguy said:
Can i get some help learning about the mini14. Ive read good and bad about these rifles. I'm considering buying one and I want to know what to look for so I can get a good one.
Click to expand...

58 series with the fluted barrel stainless if you can find one if you really want one don't wait too long
 
I've been dabbling with cheap AR15's lately and I'm loving the compact semi auto rifle. Now I want something with more freedom. I will be getting a stainless target model this week. (It has the barrel weight) I'm really looking forward to it. I used to have a Norinco M305. I loved it but I just don't want to plink with 308 all the time. The mini 14 should be a lot of fun.
 
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