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I picked up a used Mini 14 Ranch Rifle recently, and got a chance to take it out for the first of a series of tests this week.
It's a 196 series, made in 2000, that should have a 1-9" twist, but I haven't checked with Ruger (they've changed twists a few times on Minis). It's been banged around a bit, and the stock has some dings, but the metal and bluing are good, and there's not much wear on the guts. It was not too expensive, and that's the way I like them!
It came with some slightly abused ranch rifle rings (one had about a half-tube of Loctite in it), but they're sturdy enough, so I used them to mount a Leupold Vari-X IIc 3-9x40 that's a pretty good workhorse - bright, solid, and reliable.
I have a couple of scout mounts for it - an Amega and an Ultimak - and these are supposed to help accuracy by stiffening up the barrel and changing the harmonics, so I figured I'd test out that theory.
First trip was as-is, with the scope and rings, to get some basic groups. Next, I'll install the Ultimak and see if it makes any difference, using the same scope and rings. After that, I'll try the Amega, and figure out which one to leave on. I've got a couple of ranch rifle receiver rails that I'll check out sometime in the future, on this and my PC9.
So, off to the range on a cool, calm day, with a pile of PMC 223 55 gr FMJ-BT and Federal Gold Medal 223 69 gr Sierra Matchking BTHP. I sighted it in at 25 yards with the PMC, and it was pretty close, only taking 10 rounds to get it pretty well centered in the black.
First set of groups was at 50 yards, then out to 100 yards. I used the NRA 50 yard smallbore rifle targets with about a 4" center. I always shoot 10 rounds per group, since that seems like a realistic indicator of just how well a rifle shoots. The scope was on 9x the whole time.
50 yards:
PMC 55 gr - 2.5"
Gold Medal 69 gr - 2.25", 7" high (!), 2" to the right relative to the first group.
100 yards:
PMC 55 gr - 5"
Gold Medal 69 gr - 4.5", 15" high (!!), 4.5" to the right relative to the first group.
Whoa! With the 69 gr, I was shooting at the bottom targets, and hitting the top ones! I was pretty surprised at how far off the POI was, especially high, for the 69 gr ammo shot compared to the 55 gr. It's pretty clear there's not much point in feeding this one the expensive stuff, but I'll keep it up as a reference. I should have brought a wider variety of ammo, but I'll try that for next time.
As a shooter, it was good. No reliability problems, but it bounced the brass off of the scope adjustment cover and left brass marks on the outside of the charging handle(see pics below). Some of the brass got pretty dinged up (and some looked fine), and it looks like it may have been bouncing off the scope and into the moving handle, but I'll have to watch next time. I've never seen a Mini do this, but I haven't shot them a whole lot, either. It also whacked me in the forehead with a few pieces of brass.
I used both a Ruger 5 round mag and a Masen 10 round mag, and both fed fine, though the Masen didn't lock back the bolt when empty on about 1 out of 5 loads.
All in all, it's a fun gun, but the accuracy is bad enough that it's not *too* much fun. I'm going to try a variety of inexpensive Mini accuracy tricks and see what helps, but I'm not planning on spending much on it. Overall, I have to say I like my SU16 a heck of a lot more so far.
max
It's a 196 series, made in 2000, that should have a 1-9" twist, but I haven't checked with Ruger (they've changed twists a few times on Minis). It's been banged around a bit, and the stock has some dings, but the metal and bluing are good, and there's not much wear on the guts. It was not too expensive, and that's the way I like them!
It came with some slightly abused ranch rifle rings (one had about a half-tube of Loctite in it), but they're sturdy enough, so I used them to mount a Leupold Vari-X IIc 3-9x40 that's a pretty good workhorse - bright, solid, and reliable.
I have a couple of scout mounts for it - an Amega and an Ultimak - and these are supposed to help accuracy by stiffening up the barrel and changing the harmonics, so I figured I'd test out that theory.
First trip was as-is, with the scope and rings, to get some basic groups. Next, I'll install the Ultimak and see if it makes any difference, using the same scope and rings. After that, I'll try the Amega, and figure out which one to leave on. I've got a couple of ranch rifle receiver rails that I'll check out sometime in the future, on this and my PC9.
So, off to the range on a cool, calm day, with a pile of PMC 223 55 gr FMJ-BT and Federal Gold Medal 223 69 gr Sierra Matchking BTHP. I sighted it in at 25 yards with the PMC, and it was pretty close, only taking 10 rounds to get it pretty well centered in the black.
First set of groups was at 50 yards, then out to 100 yards. I used the NRA 50 yard smallbore rifle targets with about a 4" center. I always shoot 10 rounds per group, since that seems like a realistic indicator of just how well a rifle shoots. The scope was on 9x the whole time.
50 yards:
PMC 55 gr - 2.5"
Gold Medal 69 gr - 2.25", 7" high (!), 2" to the right relative to the first group.
100 yards:
PMC 55 gr - 5"
Gold Medal 69 gr - 4.5", 15" high (!!), 4.5" to the right relative to the first group.
Whoa! With the 69 gr, I was shooting at the bottom targets, and hitting the top ones! I was pretty surprised at how far off the POI was, especially high, for the 69 gr ammo shot compared to the 55 gr. It's pretty clear there's not much point in feeding this one the expensive stuff, but I'll keep it up as a reference. I should have brought a wider variety of ammo, but I'll try that for next time.
As a shooter, it was good. No reliability problems, but it bounced the brass off of the scope adjustment cover and left brass marks on the outside of the charging handle(see pics below). Some of the brass got pretty dinged up (and some looked fine), and it looks like it may have been bouncing off the scope and into the moving handle, but I'll have to watch next time. I've never seen a Mini do this, but I haven't shot them a whole lot, either. It also whacked me in the forehead with a few pieces of brass.
I used both a Ruger 5 round mag and a Masen 10 round mag, and both fed fine, though the Masen didn't lock back the bolt when empty on about 1 out of 5 loads.
All in all, it's a fun gun, but the accuracy is bad enough that it's not *too* much fun. I'm going to try a variety of inexpensive Mini accuracy tricks and see what helps, but I'm not planning on spending much on it. Overall, I have to say I like my SU16 a heck of a lot more so far.
max
.
, and didn't have sights on the SU16. I'm not good enough with iron sights to compare to a scoped gun anyway.
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