I just picked one up with a folding stock for $350. Clean, I didn’t get hurt. But it’s my first. So is it true that only the Ruger brand mags are worth running?
Yes, and stick with the 20rd mags.
They can shoot decently, but they tend to heat up quickly and get POI shift. Cutting the barrel back to 16" and recrowning it actually tends to help in the accuracy department.
What generation is it?
I wouldn’t want one over an AR but I’d darned sure consider it for that price. Nice deal.
Great price.
Fun little guns, easy to strip.
Mag changes can be sticky, practice with them. Stay with Ruger branded mags.
meh… they’re lame. but i agree that the price you paid is good to go- even if you hate it as much as i hated mine, you could still make money on the deal. i sold my all-weather model for $550 a couple years ago, having paid $420 for it about 8-9 years ago.
Mini-14: Sporting/hobby/commercial grade gun. Reliable, but not durable. For best results, use OEM mags and SAAMI spec ammunition only. Shoot it enough and you will have certain parts issues at relatively predictable intervals. If you can get a spare firing pin. You’ll be needing it.
Newer generation (580+ series) are better than the older ones.
I had one that my father gave me for a high school graduation present. He had bought several back in the early 80’s has he could not afford an AR, Valmet, or a Galil back then. I sold it with his blessing back in '04 for $450 and bought my Arsenal SLR-105R with the money. I never looked back…
My dad bought one for me years ago when I graduated OSUT. I gave it to him, and it’s used as a casual plinker, nothing more.
I love my Mini-14. It is light, handy and reliable. There is nothing tactical about it. Rapid fire more than 40 rounds and you’ll melt the barrel 
It is like a big 10/22. It’s easy to carry and fun as hell to shoot. Mine is a 181 series, which makes it around 30 years old. The only problems I have experienced is with 30 round mags. It is not a high-round-count gun, though I have thousand of rounds through mine. I’ve only seriously cleaned it 4 times in almost 20 years.
Doing anything to make a Mini-14 “tactical” ruins the beauty of this gun, IMO.
In a pinch, a Mini-14 could be pressed into HD/SD service.
I also really like M1’s, M1 Carbines and M14’s…which could explain my affection for this gun.
Have fun with yours.
B.A. Baracus says only use 20rd. Ruger mags.
how do the 30s compare for accuracy and durability?
Mini-30’s?
I have the stainless ranch rifle with the wood stock and the barrel gets HOT quick. I like shooting the rifle but would take an AR over it any day. Definatly stick with the 20rnd ruger magazines. All the others we have tried done work. The low cap mags work fine in mine but they are ruger as well. The mag catch is a bad design i think and always had some issues with doing reloads.
With all that said it is a light and fun rifle to shoot. I would still rather have an AK or an AR though. We bought it to take with us offshore fishing. Knowing what i know now i think we should have been carrying more ammo than we did.
The rifle handles much better with the 20rnd magazine than the 30’s and i think we may have had some function issues with them too. Most of our magazines are stainless.
The Mini 14 fills the same role as the M1 Carbine… It is not a main battle rifle or lmg, although some will try to press it into that roll…
It is very handy and reliable 2.23 carbine with the Ruger factory 20 round magazines and iron sights… Realistically it has a 200 yard + / - range
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a mini 14 was my first gun, waaaaaaaay back two years ago, stainless 185 series it wasn’t very accurate but it was reliable if you use ruger mags and only ruger mags, which are expensive. heats up very fast. got it for 5 sold it for 6 to put towards my ar, which is a much better gun in my opinion. My friend has a mini 30 and it is much more accurate than my 14 but kinda sucks cause ruger only made 5 (at the time) round mags, i think they make 10s now too
The only first hand experience I have with a Mini-30 was a stainless model my Grandpa had for a while.
The accuracy was terrible. I never put it on paper, but I am willing to bet it was 5" groups at 50 yards. It was terrible.
It also was unreliable, failing to feed about 1 in 10 rounds. Maybe it was the ammo, the mags or just that gun. He traded it away.
I never put my Mini-14 on paper (that would ruin it), but I never seem to have a problem hitting what ever I point the irons at.
I also recall a gov agency (I can’t remember the details) who had adopted the Mini-30 for prison duty and had ditched them due to accuracy and reliability issues.
My opinion: They are junk.
My experience with 4 mini 14s, all in .223:
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Use ONLY Ruger 20 rd magazines. All of the mags from other makers jam.
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Expect 4 inch groups. When you get 2.5 inch groups, be delighted.
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Enjoy the fact that it is short, light, and not too pretty to scratch, because those are its best points.
My friend’s experience with 1 mini 14:
- Receiver cracked at 3500 rounds.
USA 20 rd mags and National 40 rd mags work as well in my Mini-14 as Ruger mags,i have some 30 rd mags but they’re so cheap there is no name on them but only one of the 4 30 rds mags don’t work.
I don’t like the magazine release or the magazine pin,and trying to do a quick mag change with that setup is a joke,and the point made about the rifle heating up is spot on,but it is a fun plinker,light,and has a good feel to it,and the price you paid for yours 
Can anyone comment on the bold type in the quote? Why SAMMI spec. ammo since the Mini-14 is 5.56 chambered?