SKS vs. Mini-14 Accuracy?

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nw mb

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Back in the mid-80's a friend showed up with a Ruger Mini-14. We shot it...a lot. It was fun to shoot. But the accuracy was pretty bad...nowhere close to MOA. I now own 2 1953 Tula arsenal SKS's. One does 4" on a good day @ 100 yards with iron sights...the other an inch more. I understand that Ruger did several upgrades on the Mini-14 within the past 10 years. How does it do in accuracy compared to the SKS's?
 
nw mb said:
Back in the mid-80's a friend showed up with a Ruger Mini-14. We shot it...a lot. It was fun to shoot. But the accuracy was pretty bad...nowhere close to MOA. I now own 2 1953 Tula arsenal SKS's. One does 4" on a good day @ 100 yards with iron sights...the other an inch more. I understand that Ruger did several upgrades on the Mini-14 within the past 10 years. How does it do in accuracy compared to the SKS's?
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New Mini-14 is more accurate than the SKS. You're also comparing two calibres with different ballistics. .223 is going to do better at range than 7.62x39.
 
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bp2626 said:
New Mini-14 is more accurate than the SKS. You're also comparing two calibres with different ballistics. .223 is doing to do better at range than 7.62x39.
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I have to disagree. A 7.62x39 projectile has more mass then a 5.56 and when you remove variables in quality of ammo and weapons manufacturing, you find that assuming the two projectiles have been trained and stabilized the same before leaving the barrel the 7.62 should have a more constant slump all the way out to 900 meters where as the 5.56 is being blown by the wind all over the place past 300 meters. You need a real heavy barrel to get the same kind of range as a 7.62x39 with a 5.56 and at some point that 5.56 is going to be hitting with about the same energy as a .22 or less.
 
I've owned several Mini-14 's in different models and gad knows how many SKS's and the Rugers were more accurate on average . That being said , if I don't include two SKS's that were absolute dogs , the difference wasn't that much . Like anything else , some will perform better , or worse , than others . That's why I owned that many , if they didn't shoot that well after a bit of experimenting with loads etc. , I'd get rid of them and try another . To be honest , it's not really a fair comparison , the SKS is , in most cases , a 40 to 60 yr old surplus battle rifle while the Mini-14 is a recently manufactured commercial rifle . When you consider this , the SKS stands up pretty well IMHO
 
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You answered your own question.
Is nowhere near MOA better or worse than 4-5 MOA?
That was the comparison then and if the Mini-14s accuracy is better now then it was then and the SKS is still the same accuracy?
 
...thanks guys

100 yards would be a good comparative distance

i reload for my ski's and don't expect moa from them

i was hoping that mini-14's are more accurate today...'more' being a relative term...but it was truly awful when they first came out...don't want to spend a 5x the $ on something that's no better than my sks's...i'll start looking for one

good discussion...

later

craig
 
I want both, but I sold my sks to offset the cost of my m305. I miss it and will definitely at some point own another but my 581 mini is my favourite between the two. If I had unlimited money I would buy them all!
 
Sevensixtwo said:
I have to disagree. A 7.62x39 projectile has more mass then a 5.56 and when you remove variables in quality of ammo and weapons manufacturing, you find that assuming the two projectiles have been trained and stabilized the same before leaving the barrel the 7.62 should have a more constant slump all the way out to 900 meters where as the 5.56 is being blown by the wind all over the place past 300 meters. You need a real heavy barrel to get the same kind of range as a 7.62x39 with a 5.56 and at some point that 5.56 is going to be hitting with about the same energy as a .22 or less.
Click to expand...

7.62x39 does not have as good a ballistic coefficient as 5.56/.223.

7.62x39 begins to slump very quickly around the 100 meter mark.

7.62x39 has 2/3rds the velocity of 5.56/.223
 
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