Mini 14 failing to go into battery

[maifire]

Any experience with this? It a 582 stainless in .223/5.56. Seems to only happen after releasing the bolt manually after a mag change. Semi cycling is fine. Thanks for input, advice or experience in advance!
stay safe and shoot straight.

 

[Stray03]

you bringing it right back when manually disengaging it or are you just unlocking and letting it go forward?
the second will cause that.

 

[hbean]

Are you riding the handle? or you let the bolt go so it slams forward?

 

[gmctech]

What kind of magazine are you using, and are you yanking all the way back and letting it fly, or are you riding the charging handle a bit?

 

[jjohnwm]

In addition to the common tendency for some people to baby the bolt, or "ride" it forward as stated above, I've also seen the same problem caused by the operating rod handle rubbing against the inside of the plastic handguard on the right side. Easy fix with a bit of sandpaper.

 

[maifire]

Thanks for that bit of input so far...
Yes, I bring the charging handle all the way back and let it go on its own.
They are factory ruger 5/20 mags.
No, the op rod arm(slide assembly) does not show of any rub.
Think there is a chance that the slide spring has lost its memory for some reason?

 

[gmctech]

Are you using surplus lacquered ammo by any chance?

 

[maifire]

no to the lacquered ammo, but it does seem to do it more with 5.56 than with .223.
before people start having a jammer, yes it is rated for 5.56 but the issue is not with the cycling, it is with the first charging.

 

[JetRanger]

Does it happen if you have less than 5 rounds in the mag (mag spring too new/stiff)?
Are you able to borrow a mag from someone else to compare?

 

[maifire]

I truthfully haven't tried it with less than 5 in the mags, though the rivet stops the follower at just under 6. Something to explore.

 

[maifire]

i will have to admit, it seems to happen less with only two rounds in the mag, but it still does...might have just been temps that day but the problem certainly is annoying and intriguing me.

 

[toomanyhobbies]

Think there is a chance that the slide spring has lost its memory for some reason?

Not a chance. Remotely possible that the spring is defective if the rifle is new, but far more likely that the chamber is sticky or something is rubbing. You might try running it wet like we do with AR-15's. Lots of lube. Break Free CLP works for me.

 

[maifire]

I wouldn't say wet, but my mini isn't run dry. I will go with a bit wet, on top of the little bit of grease on the bolt track. Hell, I don't need a reason to smell CLP! Great memories!

 

[JetRanger]

Have you examined the expended cases for any gouges or extraneous marks?

 

[maifire]

nothing other than the aggressive extraction marks. man, minis throw brass!

 

[Turkinator]

Probably a badly pinned mag. I have one mag that was pinned poorly that holds just barely 5 that this happens with. My other mags hold 5.5 and function flawlessly.

 

[djt]

Any experience with this? It a 582 stainless in .223/5.56. Seems to only happen after releasing the bolt manually after a mag change. Semi cycling is fine. Thanks for input, advice or experience in advance!
stay safe and shoot straight.

I had the same issue with 5/20 factory mags in my mini 30.
The rivet on the factory mag did not allow the first round in the mag enough movement to chamber.
Load the mags to four rounds and give it a try, you could tell if the mags are the problem this way

 

[Power Pill]

I had a similar issue with mine using a Ruger 5rd factory mag.
Mine would fail to go into full battery sometimes or just jam when trying to feed a round.
I ended up taking a file and removing a small amount from the right feed lip and this fixed my issue 100%
Mine is an old 180 series though..So not sure how this might relate to yours

 

[maifire]

I will have to take a look at the feed ramp. The problem occurs with all of my mags, but less when I do not have them fully loaded. It just seems like it doesn't have the umph to go into battery on its own.

 

[Stray03]

try pushing the rounds out of the mag manually, maybe it has an issue with sharp edges on the lips.