A Pair Of Ruger Mini 14 Tactical's

[billt]

I picked these 2 up a couple of days ago. Both are the newer Tactical Mini 14 Models, one in Stainless, and one in blue. Both are identical except for finish. The blued model has a slightly longer over all length.

I have a NRA Edition Mini 14 I got a couple years ago when they came out. It has the Hogue Overmolded stock with the gold NRA Medallion set in the pistol grip. Both of these have the standard synthetic stock. The Ruger Mini's are some of the most pure "fun guns" out there. The blued model came without scope rings and 2, 20 round magazines. The Stainless model came with rings and one 20 round magazine. I'm planning on not scoping them, and running them with iron sights. The sights supplied are adjustable, large aperture, front protected blade type.

These newer models have the thicker barrels, along with Ruger's improved method of attaching the gas block that is supposed to help eliminate tweaking and stress in the barrel itself. This caused a lot of the older models to walk all over the target as the barrel heated up from a lot of continuous rapid fire. The newer models are much more stable, and more accurate in that regard. The guns are typical Ruger and built like a tank, and the actions cycle nice and smooth.

I've handloaded a ton of .223 / 5.56 MM so I'm anxious to get them to the range next week. The weather is finally starting to break here. It was just 63 degrees this morning. It's time to get out and shoot after a long, hot Summer!

[Mannlicher]

Re: A Pair Of Ruger Mini 14 Tactical's

those sure look nice.

I was over in Birmingham recently, and had the opportunity to shoot my Brother in Law's new mini. He has a Vortex Strikefire Dot sight on it.

It was giving me very nice groups, consistent ones.

[billt]

Re: A Pair Of Ruger Mini 14 Tactical's

I like the pistol grip on that Mini. It really looks comfortable.

[paintballmagnet]

Re: A Pair Of Ruger Mini 14 Tactical's

Accuracy with the Mini has never been a problem for me, I cut the barrels to 16" and re-crowned, this always cut my groups size in half. Magazines have been my stumbling block in the past, now that Ruger has finally gotten some common sense concerning magazines, I've been thinking of buying another Mini. Deciding which to purchase might be a problem, all those ya'll shown here are really nice!

[billt]

Re: A Pair Of Ruger Mini 14 Tactical's



I had both of them out yesterday. This was shot at 100 yards, (both rifles) 16 rounds each with the factory iron sights and my 59 year old eyes. 2 different handloads were used. The first was a 55 Gr. WW FMJBT over 25.0 Gr. of AA 2230-C. The second load was a 55 Gr. Lake City FMJBT over 25.7 Gr. of H-335. I fired equal amounts of each load in both rifles, 33 rounds total. I think I loaded an extra round in the Stainless Model, I can't remember.

I never touched the sight adjustment on either gun. Both were shot as they came from the box. No adjustment was necessary. Both guns functioned flawlessly with not one single FTF or FTE. The 25.7 Gr. load of H-335 was substantially hotter. Brass was ejected about 20 feet to the right, and 5 feet to the rear. The 25.0 Gr. loading of AA 2230-C was slightly less, but functioned both rifles just as well. The wind was around 7 to 15 MPH and the temp was right around 70 to 75 degrees.

All in all I'm very pleased. With a good scope and mounts, and match grade ammunition, these guns could easily be capable of much better. I had no trouble ringing 12" steel plates at 200 yards with either gun with the factory sights. All total I put around 160 rounds downrange with each rifle. All the 20 round Ruger factory magazines supplied with both rifles performed flawlessly as well. The mags are a little trickier to remove than an AR-15 magazine, but once you get the hang of it they're not bad at all. You have to get in the habit of rocking them forward, then pull them back and out. They then come out very easily. Overall it was a good day, and there were no issues with either gun. After a good cleaning and lubrication these actions are really slick. If anyone is still hung up on the inaccuracy of the Ruger Mini 14, you might want to reconsider. These guns are quite a bit more accurate than the older models.