major mini-14 problem

T

tiresiustoldmeso

Inactive
Howdy all,

Well i just recently purchased my mini-14 and it is great, all those things that people say about it being inaccurate are completely false...its the things people didn't say which i am afflicted with. Though i am pretty sure that my case is an isolated one, maybe yall can help me out. I was shooting my mini, at first using wolf ammunition. It worked wonderfully, then i made the mistake of loading my rifle with some sort of military surplus/reloaded Sh*t-shot. Two shots were fired successfully and the third did not...in fact it didnt even chamber successfully. i gave the bolt a gentle push forward to see if it just didnt seat correctly, no luck, no movement. i then attempted to pull the bolt back...no luck either. I consulted with several gun aficionados, several of which own minis. They attempted to tap the cartridge out with a steel rod and a rubber mallet...again no luck. the father of one of my teachers is a gunsmith and i plan on taking the rifle to him should i find myself still unable to fix the problem...i love my mini and have not lost faith in it.

have any of you had this sort of problem, if so, any clue how to fix it?

thanks,
chris
 
Info I posted is incorrect, but I will leave it so that the other post will make sense.

What was posted by me (it is incorrect)
Did you use 5.56x45 in a mini-14?

If you did that could be the reason, I think the mini-14 is made for JUST the .223 round, 5.56x45 is not quite the same and should not be used in a gun made for .223. You can however use .223 in a rifle chambered in 5.56x45.

Any mini-14 guys out there?
Click to expand...
 
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All I can say is that your statement of Mini 14's being accurate conflicts with MANY posts that have been on here. I have owned a couple of them and a 4 inch goup at 100 yards seems to be about the standard for them, Heck my 10-22 will shoot better. Mine is for sale and I have owned my last mini.. I even have 2 Ruger 44 mag carbines that will shoot circles around a mini. I guess your accuracy standards are a lot less than mine or you got lucky and got the one in a thousend that shoots well. I suspect you WILL loose faith in it in time,, I did. along with many othrers
 
Sounds like it ripped off a case head and then shoved the next one into the severed front portion of the fired case. That'll be a fun one to dig out;)

Stick to commercial .223 in the mini. Fairly tight chambers.
 
Csspecs, i thought that may be the issue as well, however the manual that comes with the gun stated that i could shoot 5.56 x 45mm and stated that the two rounds are interchangeable

10 mickeymouse, my old physics teacher said the same thing, however we determined that it could not be the case because i loaded 5 shots in the magazine, fired two successfully, jamming on the third, leaving 2 in the magazine. i know israeli ammunition is notorious for what you described...i feel very naive for loading that poop shot into my rifle.

if you go to gunblast.com ( http://gunblast.com/Ruger_RanchRifle.htm ) and do a search on mini-14's jeff quinn, a very reputable marksman and equipment tester does a field test using the mini-14. he is documented shooting sub-moa groups at 100yards with 55gr ballistic silvertips. ruger has gone back and retooled their mini-14's, now only available in the ranch edition. it can be fitted with a scope as jeff quinn did and can shoot quite accurately. a friend of mine has a new mini-14 with a swift scope and consistently shoots 2" groups at 100yards. there are simple ways to improve one's accuracy without drastically modifying one's rifle such as selecting better quality ammunition. i have seen moa and sub moa groups and i believe that if a jam did not occur, i would easily shoot groups smaller than 4". unfortunately i never had the oppurtunity to mount my scope. I am aware that people claim the mini-14 is inaccurate however none of those people ever present empirical data to support their claim. one must also remember that a large factor in accuracy is the human factor and if one can not utilize their tool, they will not receive the results they desire. when i get my mini fixed i will mount it in a bench and try to replicate the conditions of quinn and post a scan, hopefully clarifying some of the accuracy discrepancies.
 
sorry about your troubles, but at least you know what

the cause was. Owning both a mini-14 & 30. I have to say they are as accurate as I need them to be. One day I will get into the 'AR' game and compair... (I also have an AK and SKS) Out of those 4 rifles I would pick the Rugers hands down if I needed a rifle. In my opinion it is better made and more rugged than even the AK.

I think you need a pro to dig that round out of the mini-14.
 
This thread is about a mechanical problem with one particular Mini. It's not about anybody's opinion of Minis, whether good, bad or indifferent. Off-topic posts get deleted.

Art
 
Mini-14's and reloads are not a marraige made in heaven...I have seen empty brass stuck tight in the chamber and required sitting the buttplate on the ground while holding the muzzle away from you at an angle.....and doing a motion that would remind you of kick starting a Harley(putting a stomp on the cocking handle with ye old size 11) to free it. I believe at one time Ruger said right up front in the manual "no reloaded ammunition"

Dont feel too bad...put a Corbon +P in a MP5 Submachinegun and you will be getting the brass out by buttstroking the cocking handle as well .(fluted chambers and +P dont go together)
 
Just send it back to Ruger and tell them the truth ,they will fix it and probably not charge for the repair. as far as 5.56x45 I have (in the past don't own one anymore) shot 100's of rounds out of Mini's and it was no problem.:D
 
I too have shot untold numbers of Wolf 5.56 through my Mini 14 with very few problems. I believe you may need to have a pro take a look at this problem, then, get back out there and enjoy :)
 
+1 for the mouse, my mini ripped a case in half once but i was lucky and noticed right away and a few hard racks got it out.
 
the wolf ammo performed flawlessly out of two different rifles. after freezing the mechanism/barrel assembly i was able to get the bolt back however it just ripped the brass rim off. i am now in the process of trying to tap it out with a steel rod. i called ruger and they said that there is not a whole lot else they can do. if i sent it back i would have to soak the whole assembly in penetrating oil and "deaden" the round. the round is .223 remington so that eliminates the possibility of 5.56 x 45mm being the culprit. thanks for all the advice so far.
 
It's almost a given, that any thread on the Mini 14 will be full of mis information.
Every mini I have owned ate mil surp ammo like candy. The 188 series I have now has fired over 4K of Guat, Radway, Lake City, and Wolf with zero problems.
My mini holds two inches at 100 yards just fine, and often will shoot tighter than that with Winchester Q3131. Yes I have a scope, but my other mini 14 rifles had just iron sights, and they shot well also.
I know its chic to bash the Mini, but most of those mouthing off have never owned one. When I see a guy shooting at the range with his Mini 14, he is almost always pleased with it.
 
I wouldn't send a gun with a stuck (live) round back to Ruger. Methinks its a Federal violation and Ruger will report it. Now, Keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction and place a board on the handle. Whack it with a mallet. That should clear it.
 
i tried to shuck the cartridge out, however it just continued to break brass off. the ammunition is not mil-surplus as i once thought, it is actually reloaded ammunition that was placed on a stripper clip. upon removing the bolt and charging handle i was able to get a pair of dikes and pull on the cartridge, it moved ever so slightly but would not budge more than approximately 1/8th of an inch, however it did move. my physics teacher who is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to firearms, has been helping me through this. he (along with the folks at ruger) instructed me to pour a fair amount of liquid wrench down the barrel and let it soak over night, tomorrow we will attempt to tap it out with a rod and hammer. hopefully the penetrating oil will both loosen the cartridge and inert the round. if i can find my camera i'll take a picture of my poor mini.
 
Yes thats what I will suggest you to do, as your teacher has said. Soak it will solvent/ oil so it will loosen and lub it up, and try to tap it out again. I have had a similar problem. I have a Rem700 chambered in 25-06 and the idiot I bought it from stuffed a 30-30 in there, and told me there was nothing wrong with the gun. I looked down the barrel, I was at the point of cracking him over the head with the butt of the Rifle. I had to completey dissaemble the rifle, and had to tap it out, because he jammed it in there. Wish you luck buddy :) Nice rifle by the way, hope you get it up and running soon.
 
I am truly sorry for your dilemma. There is nothing that can be added here that has not been suggested already. You stated that out of five rounds two fired and on the third you got the jam. There was no chance of a squib, was there? I ask this because the cartridge seems to be completely frozen in place and this I believe to be highly unusual. If there is nothing in front of the unfired round, it should back out fairly easily by using a cleaning rod to push it out. Let us all know how you make out. There is not much worse, that can happen to ruin a good day at the range.
 
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