Mini-14 break in period?

M

Morgan

New member
Shot a new Mini-14 this weekend. Neat gun. It did, about ten times, fail to go into battery. This seemed to get better the more we shot it (about 150 rounds of 55gr reloads from a reputable outfit). Are these like some pistols that need 200 rounds or so before they're reliable? The rounds we were firing weren't too hot - could this have contributed to the problem? Just looking for some insight before I take it out again for more fun.

I personally broke down, cleaned, and lightly lubed the carbine before the session, so I know it wasn't dirty, dry, or over-lubed.
 
I gotta say 10 failures out of 150 rounds is an extremely high failure rate for a mini-14. Are the reloads you used on the wimpy side? I have never had a single fail-to-feed or fail to go into battery with my mini-14. I shoot about equal amounts of Win 55 FMJ and my own reloads. To answer your main question, no, there is no breakin period for a mini-14 other than the usual barrel breakin procedure you should do for any new rifle. The mini-14 should work flawlessly from the first round 'til the barrel is a smooth bore, assuming you feed it and treat it right. That is, of course, if there isn't some mechanical flaw in the gun. That might be the case here. If the failures continue with some factory ammo, you might want to send it to Ruger for a checkup. If they suddenly stop, then you need to get your money back on the reloads.
 
Yeah, the reloads were probably a bit wimpy. I forgot to mention that all of the malfunctions occurred with 30rd Precision Magazines that seemed a bit stiff. After we got back and I cleaned the rifle, I shot a touch of dry silicone lube into the magazines, and they freed up considerably.

I'll reserve judgement until after another session, and post back.
 
After I posted, I noticed that you did say the rounds were not very hot. Another thing to check with the reloads is their size. You might want to mic them and see if they were sized sufficiently. This could certainly cause the problems you experienced.

I would think a tight or "lazy" magazine would cause a fail-to-feed not a battery problem. But, ya never know.
 
The more I think on it, it seemed as if the bolt/carrier was dragging on something, like the uneven pressure of the rounds in the magazine. No problems with the first (5rd) factory mag, several with the first fully charged 30 rounder, then a few with the next 30 rounder with 20 rounds in it, then no more problems. I'll mark the mags next time we go out, too, to see if it might me mag related.

Thanks for your advice, Mal! I'll post back after the next session (probably after my IDPA match on Saturday).
 
Well, we shot about 200 rounds through it this weekend without a hitch. I beleive the magazines were a bit dirty inside, and the soft reloads weren't helping any, though they didn't cause any trouble this weekend (shot about half S&B and half reload).
 
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