Yet another Mini 14 thread

[smle-man]

I bought a hardly used series 485 ranch rifle in 5.56 mm from a California refugee recently, put a 1.5-4x scope on it, a wood handguard, and installed a .040 gas bushing to tame the case ejection. The cases now eject to 7 feet instead of 20 or more feet.

With my handloads of A2520 and 68 gr BTHP it will shoot a 1.5" 3 round group at 100 yards and hit 10" steel plates at 400 yds with no problem at all. It doesn't like lighter bullets, and 55 gr stuff is only for plinking. I mention a 3 round group because that's what I shot today when getting the rifle resighted after the gas block disassembly.

The trigger pull is heavier than my 185 but a previous owner may have worked on the 185. I'd say that the 485's pull feels about the same as a GI M16 or mass market AR.

The only practical issue for me is the crazy recoil spring receiver mount with a receiver bushing and a headless cross pin that holds the receiver bushing in and acts as the recoil spring guide rod mount point. Tip the receiver while trying to put the recoil spring in place and the cross pin invariably falls out. Fortunately the gas system is so masive that frequent cleaning isn't needed. I'm thinking once a year is about all that assembly needs. Why that was changed from from my 185 is a mystery to me.

All of this is to say that the modern Mini is a viable carbine and a credible choice for a semiauto carbine. I own ARs along with other semiautos but Mini 14s have a place in my heart.

[bohoki]

neat

one thing i noticed is you need to be a bit more careful inserting the magazine in a "new" or "ranch" mini 14 vs a regular mini 14 that has a spring loaded front magazine nub that you can pretty much slam in at any angle

[Oneaudiopro]

I'll take my mini all day long vs my AR. NEVER had any malfunctions or feed problems, nor has it ever failed to go bang. Flame away.

[Tim padilla]

I always liked the mini?s .Never been without one or two in my stable. Only issues I ever had was with aftermarket 40 round mags from USA mags since I want my stainless mini to have stainless mags .I?d get a stove pipe or FTF almost twice every mag . Invested in a pile of factory 20?s n 30?s problem solved.

[sigstroker]

Sometimes I feel that people's hate for the mini-14 has more to do with their displeasure towards Bill Ruger than actually towards the rifle itself. Has absolutely been my favorite rifle for decades and will continue to be. Say what you want about it, it's a complete and total workhorse and as a casual shooter if I can ring steel all day long at several hundred yards I don't care what MOA it shoots

In my case, Bill Ruger hadn't turned weird yet. He was selling 20's and 30's to anyone with the money. I bought my mini circa 1978, and I'm only complaining about the old stuff. Ruger themselves recognized the crappiness because they improved the upper handguard and got rid of the wood, and quit selling the folder altogether. They improved the gun line, and that's good.

[DaveInOroValley]

I'll take my mini all day long vs my AR. NEVER had any malfunctions or feed problems, nor has it ever failed to go bang. Flame away.

I wish I could have my Dad's vintage mini-14. Not sure even what happened to it, but I remember that it was a great rifle and fun to shoot for me at the ripe old age of 11 or 12.

[smle-man]

My first Mini was around 1974, a series 180 that I traded a Colt pocket .38 auto for. It is long gone sadly.

[bohoki]

magazines have always been a bit of a bugaboo its hard to buy a good one mail order i bought all mine from gunshows because i need to feel them i can tell good ones they feel a bit more heavy and more resistance to squeezing the body and pushing the follwer down shouldn't make a groan sound

ramline made some that were ar-15and mini 14 they worked good for range mags but the spring could get weak there were also thermolds which were good but you had to be careful using them in a ranch because the front catch area could get torn up

pmi were the go to they sometimes had a kind of reddish blueing

i never had any 40 rounders

[Tim padilla]

magazines have always been a bit of a bugaboo its hard to buy a good one mail order i bought all mine from gunshows because i need to feel them i can tell good ones they feel a bit more heavy and more resistance to squeezing the body and pushing the follwer down shouldn't make a groan sound

ramline made some that were ar-15and mini 14 they worked good for range mags but the spring could get weak there were also thermolds which were good but you had to be careful using them in a ranch because the front catch area could get torn up

pmi were the go to they sometimes had a kind of reddish blueing

i never had any 40 rounders

From my memories of the 90?s the 40 rounders were made from USA Mag .They could be had at any gun show for cheap .In blue or stainless stacked high towards the sky like a game of Jenga on dealers tables.

Were the PMI magazines the ones with the red followers, rounded black synthetic base plates and almost straight non-curved metal bodies that held 20 -25 rounds?

I remember the thermolds and the stuff from Ramline .I still have a few 15 round magazines made by Ramline for the Sig Sauer 226.Never had any experience with those made for the Mini series. I do own some thermolds for the AR but I stopped relying on them since I had a feed lip break off one and another cracked down the spine. For a while I thought the only mags to trust were steel or aluminum GI type until PMAGs and even better Lancers showed up .