Mini-14 or Ranch ?

T

Tony III

New member
I'm about to buy a rifle; and I don't know wether I should get a mini-14, or a ruger ranch. I don't plan on using a scope but I know that they eject cases diferently. I'm cross eye dominant & will be shooting left handed. Is one better than the other for leftys ?

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Hi Tony III,

I have the regular Mini14 and am a southpaw. No scope on mine and no problems with brass ejection. The Ranch tends to eject flatter (thanks to ejector being part of the bolt stop) and more to the right.

Suggest you go to the range and test fire somebody else's and see for yourself. That's the best way to find out which you're more comfortable with.

Gary



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Tony:

I would suggest you get yourself a regular Mini-14, instead of a ranch rifle. I owned a ranch rifle, it was nice for mounting a scope, but the rear sight is delicate and fragile! I dropped the rifle on my hard wood floor once, and the damn thing shattered! Besides, they have scope mount for the regular minis out there!

Johannes
 
That's a good point about Ranch rifles. Even the factory acknowledges that their folding leaf rear sight is fragile. I broke one once by folding it down. They haven't bothered to change the metalurgy yet.

On the other hand, do not scope a regular Mini unless you buy scopes which feature a lifetime warranty. The regular Mini will pound the daylights out of the scope, causing breakage. It happens even to Leupolds. While replacement will be free, you may have to pay for postage and have the hassle of sighting it in again. For 100 yard shooting, factory iron sights will serve you well on the Mini. Mine does for me.

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If you want to go for a ranch model (and all you other ranch rifle owners) Brownells now has a rear aperture site made by Ashley. It's $60, part number 006-103-014. Bought one for my Mini 30. Adjustable for windage and elevation and is pretty beefy. Mounts in place of the stock rear junk site. Improved my shooting 100%.
 
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