T.D.W

I Have been looking at 2 semi-automatic rifle for varmint hunting, bobcat coyotes, etc.
I have been going back and fourth between the mini-14, and the remington 7400.
I need to know which would better suit my needs, i want to accurately shoot at about 200yds

Roskoe

The Mini 14 is designed for shooting at man-sized targets out to 150 yards. Very few are accurate enough for even 100 yard varmint hunting. The Remington in a .243 would be a good choice. Or an AR-15 - many of those will shoot MOA right out of the box.

HighDesertWolf

with my mini-14 the best I have grouped at 200 yards was around 8 inch groups. The best groups ive seen with a remington 7400 in 30-06 cal. were 4 inch groups. the 7400 would deffinately be better than the mini-14 at 200 yards. Id seriously look into ar-15's Ive seen guys shooting 1 inch groups at 200 yards with basically stock ar's with nothing more than a scope and trigger job.

KansasHunter5

I agree with HighDesert, you should look into a DPMS R-15. They are much cheaper than a bushmaster or a rock river and they shoot very well. Guns and ammo (or a similar magazine, not sure) did a test on the DPMS utlralight 16" which most would assume is their least accurate gun due to the short and very thin barrel. They averaged under 1.5 inch groups at 100yds. If you go with a stainless bull barrel you will be much under that.

Good thing now is you can go and have a barrel treated with gunKote or dutacoat and cheaplyturn a stainless into a matte black.

longrifle1000

The best I ever did with my Mini at 200 yards, with a scope, was 3 1/2". Not too bad, but no tack driver either. With my AR scoped, I averaged just under 1" at 200 yards. IMHO the Mini is a plinker, not a target/varmint rig.

T.D.W

Thanks guys, I think i'm gonna take your advice and invest a little more money and go for a dpms, which models do you think will suit my needs at a resonable price?

Rammer

Avoid the Mini 14 at all costs for a varminter like everyone else said. And if you decide you really need one I have a 1976 200th year of Liberty Mini14 thats 95% or better I'd be willing to sell! hehehe

I had a Rock River Arms 16" Varmint with the NM lower, and I could put a 20rd mag in of Black Hills 52gr HPs and from my Harris bipod I could put 20 shots (rapid fire) inside a baseball at 100 yards. If I slowed it down it would put 5 shots into a ragged hole.

Never owned a DPMS so I can't help ya out. I'm sure anything with a bull barrel anda good trigger will fit your bill nicely.

HighDesertWolf

I have used my mini-14 for varmint hunting before I got my 22-250, I just limited my shots to 100 yards or less. they do work pretty good for inclose work. heres a picture of my mini-14 with my latest addition of a red dot sight and a 150 yard target from this afternoon i was using some light loaded handloads using 25 grains H4895 and a 55 grain Hornady sxsp chronographed the velocity at an average of 2,960 fps. Ive noticed the mini-14 to be a little more consistant with loads loaded to around a 222's velocity. with the results of the target I'm thinking it might be an alright yote gun to 150 yards maybe 200 yards. But I do have my 22-250 and its shooting sub moa to 400 yards. I really dont need to use the mini for yotes unless i just feel like.

AmericanPioneer

I noticed Ruger changed the design of the mini 14. I wonder if they made the barrel thicker? This is a link to the pic.
http://www.ruger-firearms.com/Firearms/FAProdView?model=5805&return=Y

biscuit jake

I really have not noticed any thicker barrels on the Mini14 in .223. I know a few yote hunters (vets) that use one of the commercial M16 variants for varmints. They surprise me with their accuracy. For something that sounds and acts like a black mouse trap, it seems to be real good on coyotes.