Back in the day(Mid 80s), I had a folding stock Mini-14 (ala the A-Team) while in college. It was neat little carbine for home defense. I put a few hundred rounds through it, but mainly sat in the closet for a few years until trading it for a 20" Colt Sporter.
My old departement used to field them as a patrol rifle and they worked fine in that application but with obvious limitations. When I was on patrol, I always took one with me.
In 1998, someone in our department got the idea to modify them for emergency response team (read containment team) use because we couldn’t convince our brass to buy an AR platform. They were fitted with Choate stocks, a rigged Surefire light mount, a specially designed tritium front sight and 3 point slings. They were kinda cool and fit the bill but obviously they were not as versatile as an AR.
I have shot them extensively as cop and In-service trainer and we had guns that must have been going onto 100 000 rounds. Only a few had issues but we noted that they typically don’t shoot better than 4" at 100. We issued 20 round Ruger mags and had a few 30’s but found them to be unreliable.
I own one but rarely shoot it however, I haven’t thought of selling it and for some weird reason, I don’t want to sell it.
Our guys are now issued C8 CQB’s (10.5" M4’s). A much better gun due to versatility, ergonomics, accuracy and available accessories.
May or may not be 5.56, just like many AR’s are not true 5.56 even though they claim to be.
As a teen, I fired bandolier after bandolier of Mil Surp Vietman era M193. Most was rapid fired (wasted :p) away. Never a malfunction. Luckily I only had 3 20rnd mags, which caused me to reload before melting the poor gun.
I then found that my Mini didn’t like the original Wolf with the laquered cases, which caused the first malfunctions I ever had with it.
Now, I reserve the weaker 223 stuff (like UMC) for plinking with the Mini. Mine loves the UMC 45grn JHP’s. The true M193/XM193 spec stuff does seem to be a little harsh on the old gun.
yes… i also had extraction problems with old skewl wolf and the mini14… broke my extractor, in fact. or bent it, i should say.
the mini is all cast parts… they just dont have a lot of tuff to them. i imagine this is why skin recommends not using NATO ammo- just beats the gun to shit unnecessarily.
It’s because they are so damned fun to shoot. I will never sell mine.
[QUOTE=Oscar 319;644459]May or may not be 5.56, just like many AR’s are not true 5.56 even though they claim to be.
According to Ruger customer service the Mini-14, (I asked about 580 & 581 series, nothing older), is 5.56.
bkb000 -
the mini is all cast parts… they just dont have a lot of tuff to them. i imagine this is why skin recommends not using NATO ammo- just beats the gun to shit unnecessarily.
Good point, I don’t want to prematurely wear out the gun, but my biggest concern was with safety, (i.e. overpressuring).
I picked up one of the newer ones (581) a couple months ago. Would I have rather had another good AR or AK over my Mini-14? Sure. But since I live in CA I gotta get an AR/AK with one of those bullet buttons (which are unusually popular here) or one of those CA “legal” modified grips and I just couldn’t do it. It shoots well enough out to 150 yards or so and as a civilian defense rifle I think it fits the bill. I have to admit I like shooting it a lot. It doesn’t have that “sproing” coming from the buffer tube like my AR and I enjoy the old school M1 Garand type action. It feels more substantial as a rifle though I’m not claiming it actually is. BTW, I don’t feel any difference in terms of harshness to the rifle whether shooting FMJ 55 .223 loads or 5.56 XM193’s.
Ruger supposedly re-tooled for the Mini about 3 years ago and even admits those earlier rifles they were churning out were not quite as good as they could be. All the same it’d be difficult for me to recommend one over an AK or a good AR for those of you living in States without similar restrictions. For those of us living in a restrictive State and want to be sure of staying legal I think its a rifle worth serious consideration.
What Oscar said. Ruger has offered that their chambers are SAAMI, “SAAMI max”, and 5.56mm NATO in different conversations with different employees. Guns in the field have shown obvious indication that they are not NATO chambers.
Manufacturers will tell you lots of things. Especially the CSR folks working the phones.
Next call to Ruger, ask them what their nominal chamber dimension standards are for Mini-14 production. Last time I asked, I got blank looks and a lot of stuttering.
I have a couple older Mini-14GB rifles. They’re ex LE guns and a ton of fun to shoot. They’ve been totally reliable. Mine are the blued full stock type, with flash hider and bayo lugs. Not the most accurate things in the world, but they do well w/in 200M. These 2 guns caused me to ditch the M1 Carbine totally. They are much like the Carbine, but you get a more effective round. As others have mentioned, I use nothing but factory 20 rounders. The factory 30’s are probably ok but I find the 20’s to be more size efficent with this particular weapon.
Some may cringe…but I use nothing but NATO spec M193 and M855 in mine. No problem whatsoever. They were designed to take it. Ruger will tell you it’s fine. In fact, I do not think mine have ever seen a factory .223 round. I can safely say both were unfired when I aquired them, so a full diet of NATO is what these guns have known. Mine are later versions right before the AR switch, and were unissued/unfired due to that.
M855 seems to be their favorite load.
The russian Saigas (AK) are also a good CA alternative. They have been as low as 299. I had a .223 and it ran great. I may get a 7.62x39 down the road.
Yes. In fact I’d give the stock Saiga the edge over the Mini-14 as the best value/choice for us Californians. But my desire for an action similar to an M1A/M1 Carbine eventually won out.
Of course most Californians seem to look down on both of rifles in stock form and would rather have an AR with a bullet button (requiring a sharp tool to detach mags). The most popular rifles I see at the range are AR’s with those damn bullet buttons. To each his own.
If I lived in Cali I would choose a Mini-14 over a Cali legal AR, especially one of the GB models or the newer 16.5" models.
Sorry you Cal guys have to put up with that bullshit.
Well, you and me would be in the minority cause people here in CA overwhelmingly prefer CA legally modified AR’s to Mini’s and Saiga’s. The vast majority prefer rifles with bullet buttons. In fact they’d go out of their way to convert a Saiga by installing a bullet button/mag lock type device just to have a pistol grip. For most Californians it seems a pistol grip is more important than a standard mag release.
This is what a “bullet button” looks like. http://www.coldwarshooters.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=308
And this is one of the (cough) “creative” ways a Californian came up with in order to use his bullet button.
http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=187473
A CA legal AR with modified grip in order to legally have a standard mag release. These type of CA legal AR’s are seldom seen at the range.
Sorry you Cal guys have to put up with that bullshit.
Its insane the stuff we have to put with. The laws themselves don’t even make sense. Its made up by people ignorant and afraid of guns to make people who are ignorant and afraid of guns feel better. They resent their law abiding neighbors who own guns but pretty much accept criminals who own them as a fact of life. I wish gunowners would move into this State instead of moving out. But I know its not going to happen.
Well said.
Thanks for the pic, I hadn’t seen a bullet button before.
Skintop911 - Next call to Ruger, ask them what their nominal chamber dimension standards are for Mini-14 production. Last time I asked, I got blank looks and a lot of stuttering.
Please, maybe a brief education for me on the subject, or a link?
Nominal chamber dimension standards for NATO 5.56 vs. SAAMI .223?
Does it entail more than just the .223’s shorter lead and headspacing?
I thought some here might like to see this.
Late model Mini-14 GB (LEO) in a Troy MCS chassis, Millet DMS/Primary Arms mount, Magpul MBUS BUIS
It won’t replace my two ARs but it has it’s place in Zombie defense. 
When I went through the NRA’s LE patrol rifle instructor school, we had two guys using Mini-14s. Both guys had their rear sights break during the week. They were smart enough to bring back up guns though. Also, their aftermarket mags were the source of countless malf clearing opertunities for them.
My mags are either Ruger 20s or PMIs (no longer made) and function very well. Also, this chassis obviously eliminates any Ruger rear sight issues. Ruger has, since Bill’s demise, improved the Mini but I don’t suffer under any delusions about it’s limits. The MCS does, however, improve the Mini (IMO) and allows the use of many more accessories. Besides, there is always the tacticool factor. :dance3:
For $350, I still wouldnt.
I didn’t. It was less.