Ruger Mini 14
 

I am looking for a predator control rifle. 4 legged predators I might add, anyways I was looking at the Ruger Ranch Rifles and the Mini 14' s. I especially like the laminate stocked heavy barrel versions. I see them in magazines with compensators and stuff but really don' t know much about them. I am looking for something reasonably accurate ( 1 inch @100 yds), .223 caliber that willl stand up to a lot of abuse. I anticipate coyotes at less than 300 yards as my intended use, I have a Ruger no 1 in .22-250 for anything at longer ranges but I need something that will fit on a horse, or ATV. If anybody has any experience with the 14 I would like to hear their comments, good or bad. Thanks.

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

Hi Jed:

You might get close to 1" with a mini-14 with about $700 of work from Clark Guns. I am sure there are others, but I only know of Clark. That brings your cost up to about $1200, which is money that could just be spent on a bushmaster or similar. The 14/30 just isn' t accurate at all. I get 6" at 100 yards. That being said, it is the preferred rifle out here for predator control. I don' t know anyone that doesn' t have one, just make sure you get some 30 round magazines.

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

Colorado Elk you are right about the cost. I checked the clark website and They will sell me a new one for 1345. That' s more than I can afford right now. Accuracy arms however guarantees that they can get the mini down to sub MOA. I also plan to handload. I wonder why you are not getting better accuracy. Do you have an older military version? Anyother problems with reliability, feeding anything?

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

Sounds like min' s aint what they used to be.
My first Mini-14 a 181 series would do 1" -2" with the iron sights that came with it.
Other Mini' s I' ve owned later shot larger groups, one terribly larger about 5" .
The one I own now, another 181 series, shoots just as well as my first.
I' ve heard talk that Ruger contracts out the production of the barrels for the Mini but have no reliable info on this. Could be the reason for varying accuracy though.

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

Most mini' s shoot minute of pieplate.

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

The first Mini I ever fired was in the 1970' s....it was about 21 pound triggerpull and hitting a pieplate from a benchrest was a challenge......and they haven' t changed much since then.

Their #1 single shot shoots just a little better but not much!!!

I' m not a ruger fan!!!!!

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

In all honesty I don' t think I have ever read a post of yours that was positive about anything. :D

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

STAY AWAY FROM THE MINI' S they are nothing but junk. i sold mine the other for 350 just to get it out of my way. if you want a cheap yote gun get a savage youth model bolt action. although there is another company makeing an ak variant in 223. what do they call that? saiga? anyone else know what it is called or how well it shoots?

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

I had also looked into the mini 14 a few years back and came across the same answers from everyone i checked with. A buddy of mine had one and we used to take it out plinking and it was great for that, but not for sub MIA.

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

the only thing i have ever heard about mini' s and accuracy is " never hits the same hole twice" but i also run dogs with lots of guys who use one. very rarely is there a " one shot drop" they all have atlest 20 round mags. go with a bushmaster, or colt AR-15 (bushmasters take colt parts) they are a little more$$ but worth it if you want an accurate gun. if you are calling them in, you don' t want to have to start spraying lead at a ' yote that isn' t on a dead run

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

I sold mine too, would only shoot about 5in groups at 100 yards. Alot of fun to shoot though!

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

I have had my mini for 11 years. Love it for varmints. I had no problem picking off prairie dogs at 150 yards.

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

Have had experience with these - all bad! Including the Mini-30! As was once said about the Walther P-38!, these rilfes shoot like lightning! They seldom strike twice in the same place. As was mentioned above, they can be made to shoot. The accurizing process starts with a new barrel, and goes UP from there!!

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

In all honesty I don' t think I have ever read a post of yours that was positive about anything did you see anyone disagree with me??

I' ve bought over 100 new guns in my lifetime and I believe in advertizing by word of mouth.....let Ruger hear it from me!!!!!

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

Haved owned a Ranch rifle for 5-6 years now. Have determined it to be very reliable. Will fire lead under ANY circumstances. Although great for advancing targets, plan on paper plate coverage at a hundred with open sights. Add a 6x scope and you are still firing on the plate. Add 3-4 c notes with of work on it and you are still shooting paper plate targets at 100. Just grab an Armalite and be content with your purchase.

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

And V-dog. I will dissagree! Ruger produces some very high quality guns. The mini 14 was developed for the war back in the mid sixties and turns out the troops begged for them but political junk didn' t let everybody have their weapon of choice. You ever see a mini in auto? It fires so fast that the brass comes out split because it fires even before it chambers. You ever shoot the M16 by colt? Piece of ****, have to clean it all the time.Browning has the machine guns down but our troops are at a disadvantage in the desert against even the AK 47' s when wielding an colt. If armalite and their hardware would team up with ruger on their 1/4 turn actions, there would be one sweet rifle to say the least. Ruger also has sweet total guns right out of the box. I own many of them. You get what you pay for I guess.

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

Yes Ruger makes some great guns, especially revolvers. My only complaint about the mini is lack of accuracy. I have no other complaints with Ruger whatsoever. I think you could mention any brand and Vapodog would have a complaint. Just a glass is half empty type. That' s ok though since it promotes discussion and thats what these boards are for.

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

for the record, I have complimented Ruger on their single action revolvers.....I believe they are the very best and by a wide margin. When it comes to styling I believe Ruger is incredible....that #1 SS is beautiful.....but when you buy one with a varmint barrel on it and return it to Ruger three times with no improvement in accuracy.....you call ruger and ask what they' re shooting in the gun before they return it to me and I finally learn that their standard of accuracy for their varmint guns is::::: catch this::: 1.5 inch groups at 50 (yes fifty) yards. I think word of mouth advertizing works great.

I owned two M77 rifles, a 7MM rem mag, and a .243....great looking guns....The 7MM refused to feed shells up from the magazine....I had to slam the bolt open to create a " jar" to get the next round to feed up from the magazine. The stock had warped badly on the .243 and I cleared some wood from the barrel channel but the stock continued to warp until......catch this...there was half as much wood on the left side of the barrel channel as on the right side....

I mentioned my experience with a mini many years ago, and most have agreed their not accurate!!!

I' ve learned about Ruger and many here have tried their shotguns.....and traded them off!!!...You want to hear about my experience with Savage?....Weatherby? EMF?

So far every Remington I' ve bought has been fine..Model 700 that is...I' ve had good experience with Sako, Winchester, Browning, Smith and Wesson, and Mausers.

Every chance I get to advertize for these lack of quality control companies I' ll do so!!!....Sorry FRIZ....wrong....I also speak up for companies tha have good products.....you just don' t read positive replies!!

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

Well vapo, sounds like you just have bad luck. I have never had trouble with Ruger or Savage. Not much trouble with Remington 700s either but you couldn' t give me a Rem shotgun. Never had any luck with Winchester, Weatherby, or Browning. Just not happy with their accuracy. As far as Smith and Wesson, I have worked on too many to trust them.

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

I had a mini-14 ranch. Using Black Hills 55gr sp ammo it was deadly consistant on ground squirrels out to 200 yards box stock. As far as I' m concerned Ruger has the best factory support bar none. I bought a used Blackhawk combo 45 acp/lc that had two acp cylinders. I called to get the LC cyl. They told me to send them the gun. I did. They tuned the gun, replaced all worn parts and timed the new cyl. for the cost of shipping one way. They did the same thing when I burned out the barrel on my M-77V. It was totally my fault trying to break 4000fps with 40 gr bullets in the 22/250. Again I paid to ship the rifle to them. They rebarreled my rifle and checked and replaced any worn parts and shipped it back for free.
I have: M-77v 22/250
Vaquero 45lc
Blackhawk 45 acp/lc combo
Super Redhawk 454 casull
Sold the mini-14 for an ar-15 H-bar. Huge mistake Uncomfortable, spring slappin rattle trap.

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

I guess I must be lucky cuz all my rugers work and work well. The first ammo I tried in my ranch rifle was comercial reloads and I got three to six inch patterns. I did find that heavier bullets shoot better. In fact the best I have found are PMC 64 gr. soft points. They group around an inch and a half or two inches at a hundred yards with a 2.5x scope. I' ve read alot of ruger bashing and it seems to be by remington owners. Whats the connection?

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

I have a friend that bought a .223 mini stainless.....his shoots great groups....under 1.5 at 100 yards.....fabulous.....but go back and read all the testamonials about the " pie plate" groups.

If you' ve read a lot of Ruger bashing it' s just possible that it' s earned. It' s just possible that it' s not Remington fans.....as a mnatter of fact, I' m a Winchester fan....

When I smack Ruger it' s for just cause.....as is the case with Savage, EMF, Weatherby,....

Just for clarification I must say that I' ve bought no guns from any of these companies for many years.....at least 6 years.....but I doubt that a company changes that fast. I know what a company smells like when the top management has no back bone for quality. Accuracy don' t equal quality.......it must be accompanied with feeding, extraction, ejection, adjustable trigger, a safety that is positive.....in other words ...it must also work well and frequent.

If you buy a .22 semi auto and it' s fabulously accurate but will not fire five consecutive shells without a jam, is that a quality rifle??????ask Weatherby how many rifles they sold that way!!!!

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

Six years ago you couldn' t have given me a Ruger 77. I had one 10 years ago and it was crap. However I had a chance to shoot some of the later models and yes they have changed for the better. I now own one and it is a quality firearm. Had to tweak it a little but that' s half the fun. As far as Savage goes I have never had any problems with them. You can keep your Winchesters.

RE: Ruger Mini 14
 

I bought my mini years ago, it is a stainless ranch model. I don' t expect it to shoot MOA, and anyone that does has an unrealistic set of expectiations. Frankly, I had an M-8 4x and took it off because I shot better with the irons. We have " target" matches shooting skeet on racks at 100 yards. By the time you are done with a session, the forearm is smoking so badly you can' t see the front sight. We shoot dozens of sessions a day. I would guess I have shot 10,000 rounds, all out of Cabelas 40 rd magazines. I have never had a malfunction. The mini is perfect for this kind of shooting, but if you think you are going to bring it to a match and do well, you are mistaken. Ruger makes great guns, some owners don' t understand the limitations.