Capt. Park's experience with losing accuracy after 5 shots is not unusual for the Mini14. Face it, like any other gun with a sporter weight barrel, it becomes like a wet noodle when heated up. My Mini is good for about 5 shots, then I have to let it cool down if I want any accuracy. And like Capt. Park observed, with a HBAR, you can shoot a heckuva lot more before the gun is affected.
Ruger did try making some mid-weight barrel Mini14s which were built on the Mini30 barrel (bored out for .223). While they showed slight improvement, it was not enough to satisfy Bill Ruger and Ruger never released the few that were produced.
The Ruger Mini14 is a fun rifle for plinking. It can be used for home defense (none of us forsee a prolonged firefight, do we?). If you live on a ranch with acres and acres of land, I'd consider a scoped bolt action instead. Remember, if you're going to scope a Mini, get the Ranch model and not the regular Mini14. The regular Mini14 will pound the scope to pieces.
One word of advice on any Mini, Ruger attaches the buttplate before they spray on the urethane. This means that the endgrain on the stock is not protected against moisture. I suggest that the buttplate be removed and a heavy wax applied to protect the wood since most moisture absorbtion is through the end grain. After a couple coats of wax, reattach the buttplate.
By the way, after factory magazines, I also like Precision magazines and won't buy anything else.
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