HuntingNet.com Forums

HuntingNet.com Forums (https://www.huntingnet.com/forum/)

- Guns (https://www.huntingnet.com/forum/guns-10/)

- - mini 14/30 (https://www.huntingnet.com/forum/guns/82537-mini-14-30-a.html)

I was looking at guns the other day and saw ruger's "mini" guns. Does anybody have a mini 14 or a mini 30 they could tell me about? I was wondering if they were any good and which one in a nicer one to own and shoot, also what is the cost on one of those things. Thanks ya'll

The mini 14 is chambered in 223. The mini 30 is chambered for the 7.62x39. I used to have a mini 14. You can pick one up for $400-500. It is a fun gun to shoot. Not the most accurate though. You could spend a little more and get into an AR-15. Much more accurate. But the Ruger is a fine gun. They also have the "ranch" guns. They have the Ruger scope base milled into the action. Hope this helps.

You would be better off going for an AR-15. Much easier and less expensive to trick out than a Mini. Also Mini-14s and Mini-30s are notoriously inaccurate. Except this one:

or, this one:

But, a good conversion isn't cheap.

A SKS will do anything a mini-30 will do, for about 1/3 the cost or less.

Agree with all that is said. I have the Ranch Rifle in .223, nice little plinker but there is a lot to be desired in the accuracy department. You can purchase many aftermarket items for the Mini's but I think the best advice is from 1mile50 his mini's are very nice and are most likely as accurate as Ruger wishes their stock rifles were, but it is expensive. I say go with the AR also.

People keep saying they aer not accurate. Does anyone know why they arent accurate? Is it the sights or do the barrels not shoot consistently or something?

Hi DE:

The action was "machined" with a chisel and Ruger has $8 into each barrel which heats up so quickly accuracy disappears. If your particular mini shot straight, it wouldn't really matter because of the popsicle stick front sight. If you want to plink at short range, you have to cover your target with the sight (or file it down). If you want to shoot at longer ranges, well, that is why 40 round magazines are a necessity.

That being said, I love my mini and would never get rid of it.

By the way, I can't resist passing this along...

http://www.assaultweaponwatch.com/

Good luck.
CE

Would there be any way to improve accuracy, like scopes or new sights etc. also ive heard a few things about it heating up. couldn't you buy a barrel shroud for that. also you would probably have to shoot it like 20 times or more to heat it up wouldnt you?

Hi DE:

My mini is a ranch model and I originally had a 4x on it, but all the scope did was let me see my misses more closely. The minis can be "accurized" with various stock/barrel/sight modifications, but you would be spending more than you would for an out of the box AR, that would likely shoot better. See www.clarkcustomguns.com (I think) for info. The mini is alot of fun, but no tackdriver...

Good Luck
CE

Alright, Thanks yall.

I've heard that the easiest and cheapest accuracy modification is to have a gunsmith cut the barrel down to just a bit longer than minimum length.

The barrel is thin and whippy- remove some of the wippiness and it becomes more shootable.

Does anybody know what they aproximately shoot for MOA or groups out of the box/ after a little bit of sighting in? Thanks

i own a mini 14 and my uncle has a stainless steel one they both are semi auto ranch rifles with big scopes and i have great accuracy with them i never heard of them not being accurate i shot a deer 150 yards running one shot they work great and if you put a nice scope on it the gun can be great i love the gun and i think it is better then a AR and they are realy nice if you get a cheak rest and a stainless steel clip

good luck 14's rock thats all i'm saying

4 MOA and you got a shooter...

Dead_eye, a sighting in a rifle isn't going to change it's group size at all. You're not going to take a 2MOA rifle that shoots 4" low and 6" right at 100yrds, sight it in and suddenly have a 1MOA rifle that's on target, you'll just have a 2MOA rifle that shoots on target. Sighting in just changes where the group is centered, it has absolutely NO effect on how well the rifle groups.

I apologize if this seems...harsh...at all, but we've had a LOT of new guys join lately, and while I'm glad to see the new blood in the forum, a lot of these guys are making stupid errors like this that get on my nerves...From now on, I'm going to help these new guys by pointing out THINGS THAT ALL SHOOTERS SHOULD KNOW in order to make them better, more knowledgable sportsmen.

I think i was misunderstood, because i know that. I meant like if the sights are screwed up or something like its shooting left or right. Because i have bought guns out of the box that have shot groups way off like when i bought my .22 it was about 5 inches left and a bit low. i should have been more clear about that sorry. I guess when i think of MOA i think of that being around the center of the target, which isnt a fact.

I'll now introduce you to the real meanings of accuracy and precision.

Check out a dictionary sometime....When we say "accurate", we typically mean "precise"--> look it up.

Accuracy is how close you are to the bullseye. Basically, if the center of your group is centered on the target, you're shooting "accurately".

Precision is how close your shots are to eachother. If your groups are very small, your rifle has high repeatability and is very "precise".

Any gun, given the proper amount of sight adjustment can be made to shoot "accurately". Accuracy has nothing to do with group size in it's raw definition. If the group is centered on the bullseye, your gun is accurate...move your sights far enough and shoot a big enough target and you'll be able to center a 10ft group on the bullseye.

Precision shooting, on the other hand, is shooting small groups. I can make ANY gun accurate just with sight adjustments, I cannot, make a gun more precise by adjusting the sights (sighting in).

It's kind of a misnomer when people say they have an "accurate" rifle. Like I said, I can make any gun accurate, they have a "precise" rifle that they've sighted in, making it both accurate and precise.

When your rifle was off by a few inches, it was inaccurate, it deviated from the "true" value, it deviated from the bullseye...But, sighting it in only moved your point of aim. It changed nothing about where the bullet is headed after it leaves the muzzle.

Mini-14's can be made to shoot their big groups centered on the bullseye-any gun can be made accurate by sighting it in.

However, they're still going to shoot big "Imprecise" groups...fixing this takes a bit of money. Like others have mentioned, it's usually better to just buy an AR-15 than to try your luck with a Mini (and I'm one of the biggest Ruger fans you'll meet!)

If you're looking for a 30cal, then an SKS can be had for about 1/3 the cost of a mini-30, and like briman mentioned, it'll do everything the mini-30 can do just as "inaccurately".

Some SKS's are quite accurate though. I'd also venture that you could find a CETME .308win (7.62NATO) for cheaper than a Mini-30 that would have a lot more power and be more accurate...I bought my current CETME for $250, it shoots very well, I just wish I could find a good scope mount for it.