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Does the mini 14 ranch rifle have decent accuracy?

20K views 35 replies 29 participants last post by  MM53 
#1 ·
MINI-14/20 is the model I'm looking at. I like the looks of it. But wondered if it did the .223 justice in terms of accuracy?

Thanks in advance for any information.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Accuracy in a Mini is a tricky thing..

The mini 14 isn't known as an accurate rifle to many. The extent of accuracy wanted has to be considered as well as the shooters skill. Any mini that has been tweaked with the right ammo. reloads, right add on parts and some research and development can make a good rifle better and the groups will shrink. What I mean is that a mini or AR-15 with Ironsights or any other comparable semiauto is equal in my opinon unless you are a match shooter and shoot thousends of rounds every year. The gun will only be as accurate as the shooters capabilities. Some may find the mini won't group as tight as they would like, this doesn't mean that its not accurate, just that it's not a 1 moa or less gun. In my opinion the mini is a very capable self defense/ hunting/ plinking rifle with an ultra reliable action that runs cleaner than the AR platform. But if you want to shoot pennies at 100 yards it will require the target version of the mini or a well tweaked standard mini 14 to accomplish it. Same as with an AR, trust me I have both.;)
 
#5 ·
I would agree that the mini 14 is not going to give you the accuracy of an AR-15 platform. My mini 14 will place two rounds very close together and then the third is a flyer.
 
#6 ·
#7 ·
My mini-14 will shoot 6moa @ 100 yards, with factory ammo:(

However. On a good day, I can shoot 1" groups at 100 yards with open sights, when shooting my own hand-loads (Hornaday Amax bullets)

The mini needs hand-loads to enjoy any sort of fine accuracy.

R65
 
#8 ·
There are too many myths about accuracy out there. Very few AR15s will shoot 1 moa out of the box. More AR15s are sold with match barrels to cover this than you can imagine.
Why is this relavent to the OPs question? It's simple. We all have an OPINION of what accuracy really is. To some, it's 1moa, to others, it's sub 3" groups at 100 meters, and others even judge it as man sized targets at 600 yards.

The simple fact is that standard accuracy is a matter of consistency. An accurate rifle is predictable. If you have a gun that shoots 3" routinely at 100 yards, you won't be afraid to shoot at a deer at that distance because you will be able to place your shot. THAT is an accurate rifle.
A match grade rifle will be that consistent at 300 yards. It may shoot 1 moa, or 3 moa, but it will reliably meet your objective. Target grade rifles are expected to routinely shoot sub-moa.
Now, what do YOU expect? The Mini-14 may or may not shoot to that level. I can shoot 1.5 moa from mine, but I do get fliers now and then. Is that a rifle issue, or an ammo issue? Without seeing the same behavior from premium handloads, I would have to lean toward inconsistent ammo. You get what you pay for....

I have a very good friend that was a Gulf War vet in the Marine Corps. He has a Colt Match grade AR15. HE agrees that my mini-14 is very nearly as accurate as that rifle, and much more accurate than his service M16 that he carried for 4 years. That would be the same rifle he qualified as Expert Marksman with, FOUR years in a row.

Before we can have an intelligent conversation about accuracy, we must agree on the exact meaning of the word.
 
#9 ·
I think a lot of folks overrate what they call "accuracy" these days. The mini is comparable to stock ARs in most cases but ask yourself "for what?" If you are using it for defense or pest control it is capable of the job. If it won't shoot a 1" group off the bench, I ask you if you can shoot a 1" group without the bench?" As a teen I told my Dad I needed a more accurate .22 to practice with. He asked "can you shoot it in 3 position as well as it shoots off the bench? when you can, we'll get you a more accurate rifle"
 
#11 ·
My 1984 model shot about 3" @ 100 yards.

I STILL haven't wrung out my 2007 model since I scoped it.:eek:

A lot of people who complain about Mini 14 accuracy use cheap FMJ ammo that wouldn't group well in anything.

Still, I'd say if you get less than 3" with good ammo in a stock Mini, you're doing pretty well.
 
#12 ·
My results...

I have shot consistent under 1 moa, more close to .500 with my mini 14 target, hand loaded 40 grain vmax with H335 around 3800fps. My standard 98 mini 30 with handloads of 110 vmax .308 bullets and IMR powder have produced under 1 moa as well at 100 yards. It is a stock barrel. Soon I will be working on my 88 mini 14 with handloads to see what the best grouping is possible. It is standard as well. All were shot from bags or benchrest. I originally thought that the mini wasn't capable of tight groups BUT have found out otherwise. I guess the attention to cleaning, care, and hours of reloading to find the best bullets and powder, along with more than several trips to the range, all that work has gotten me there.:cool:
 
#13 ·
if you dont have a Mini...buy one. paper accuracy and practical accuracy are two different things.... my Mini will not outshoot my DD AR-15 on paper, but in the field they both get the job done. just ask the coyotes :D

*add....and i dont care who says what, the Mini is a more reliable gun than an AR.
fill one of each with crud and see which one will run 100%.
 
#15 · (Edited)
I used to work the qualifications on this weapon. We used 5 of the "military" or "GB" versions with the 20 rnd. mag, "Garand" style adjustable peep sight, flash hider, bayonet lug, etc... Qualifications were 10 rounds of "American Eagle" 55 grn. FMJ, at 100 yds, off-hand, B-27 target. App. 300 officers in 3-4 days. 5 at a time, twice a year. Carbines were cleaned at the end of each shooting day. The officers who were decent shots would get nice 5"-7", 10 rnd. groups, dead center mass, twice a year. Year in and year out. The less gifted officers could still put all 10 rounds on the "torso" of the B-27. I also took the Ruger Armorers course for this weapon and found it to be a far higher quality weapon than many so-called "experts" would have you believe. I would take the synthetic stocked, 16 inch barrel, tactical grey law enforcement model of the Mini over any and all AK or AR carbines. The best off-hand group I have ever witnessed was 4 inches (10 rnds. @ 100 yds) in 10 years of qualifications.
 
#16 ·
Based on my needs they work well also. I started down the accuracy research path to determine myself what it was truly capable of. I will say My mini 14 Target will out group all my AR's except my DPMS LR308 which its equal to at 100 yards. But my 308 costed 3 or 4 times as much to build than the Target mini. They will both shoot .500. Put it this way I was out at the range with some friends when one suggested shooting pennies on a board held by a piece of tape at 100 yards the other day. The cross hairs cover up the penny at that range. I hit 3 outta 5 shots. Thats my idea of precision.
 
#17 ·
that is precision shooting Tacky...especially for an inherently unaccurate carbine ;)
 
#19 ·
Also remember that Ruger retooled their Ranch Rifle machinery in, IIRC, 2006. After that, Mini's started tightening up.

Of the two--AR vs. Mini-14--I'd take the Mini-14. Not because it's "more precise" than the AR (it's not), but rather because if the rifle gets dirty, the Mini will keep running where an AR might jam. The Mini is not fussy about what it will digest, even the cheap Eastern ComBloc rounds. For a workin' rifle, that would matter a lot to me.

Mind you, this is not a "Ruger bias" issue, even though this would be the forum for that. :) Ruger also makes the SR-556. But I've seen it be fussy about which ammo it likes and won't stovepipe with. Not so the Mini.

As others have said, it depends on the purpose. For *my* purpose, i. e. a workin' rifle, the Mini would certainly fill the bill.
 
#20 · (Edited)
mini's are accurate enough for my type of shooting, it depends on what you want it for, if your looking for a tac-driver target rifle then maybe not the best choice (but there are things you can do to improve it greatly). If you want it for plinking or defense then it is absolutely accurate enough to get the job done, i always laugh when i hear sombody say that they bought an AR because its "more accurate" and its a 1 MOA gun, then they throw a 4 MOA or larger red dot sight on it.

i look at it like this, military standard is 4MOA, and if 4 MOA is good enough for the army, its good enough for me. Thats good enough to shoot a 4 inch target or roughly the size of a soft ball or a mans hand at 100 meters.

If you extend that out to 200 meters, 4 MOA is good enough to shoot at an 8inch target, or roughly the size of a mans head or balloon

now if you extend that out to 300 meters, 4 MOA is still good enough to hit targets the size of a mans chest or the broadside of a coyote

after 300 meters.....buy a dedicated long distance rifle

i guess my point is that for all practical purposes, where even 4 moa would be good , all the newer mini's that are 2-3 moa out of the box (sub 2 moa with minor tweaking/ammo selection) are definetly good rifles

with my experience while in the army, i have to emphasize that unless your shooting from a prone position or with the rifle supported in some way, you probably wont be able to shoot groups better than 3-4" anyways even if the rifle is capable of better, human hands simply arent that steady
 
#21 ·
"Justice" to the .223 cartridge is an interesting concept in, and of, itself. If you want to put a round in a groundsquirrels ear at 200 yards the mini may not be your gun, but then neither will a stock, off the rack, AR. If you have, say,a hostile 130-300 pound biped at the same distance, or a larger 4 legged canid in mind the mini gets the good out of the cartridge and "does it justice"
 
#23 ·
Mini14 ranch is my first rifle and I have no idea what I am doing. I can only shoot up to 100yds. Here are two efforts. I pull these out when I think about getting an expensive more accurate rifle. I shoot Federal American Eagle 223. I assume I will get better in time.
 
#24 ·
How accurate it is depends on what you define as accurate. Do you want very tight groups at 300 yards or something that can hit what you're aiming at with some level of constincey? I have been know to hit at 500 yards with my M-16without a scope. wasn't aiming to get tight groups just a good solid hit. THere's no reason the mini shouldn't provide a good enough accuracy for what it was intended. It you want a tack driver, like they said, get a target rifle.
 
#25 ·
imo, YES....the mini is definitely decently accurate. if you want more than decent accuracy, you have to put your work in with mods, ammo selection, and MARKSMANSHIP (this the same as any rifle though).

worked on mine a bit and the results are a 1.5-2" shooter. good enough for busting up cans/small fruits at 100 yards or so. good enough for almost every PRACTICAL shooting imo.

the mini is fun, can be tacticool or traditional, and offers the historic garand action. these are things an AR cannot accomplish. i recommend the mini 100%, it is a great gun. you will probably get a slight disadvantage to an AR in accuracy, but the mini does offer some things an AR does not. this is a personal choice and the decision must be made by the shooter for THEIR money.

best choice, if possible....own an AR AND mini....both are great guns worth having imo if you can afford them. if i had to choose, owning both, my preference would be my mini 14. :)
 
#26 ·
Deer and goat numbers used to be out of control, so "Cullers" were employed to sort them out.
I know an old culler who has owned a Mini 14 for decades.
He's gone through plenty of barrels, but apparently the action is pretty well original.
He is definitely not the type to embellish, so I believe him when he says his Mini 14 has clocked up well over 10,000 kills.
I think the Mini 14 is probably accurate enough. :)
 
#27 ·
Maybe I just got a good one, but my older 195 series is accurate. With decent factory ammo, it will do under 2 inches at 100 yards, and with Match bullet handloads, close to one inch. That is scoped, from a good rest with a good shooter behind the trigger. I had to "help" the pencil barrel out with an Accustrut, Ultimak rail and addition of a flashhider, all of which helped stiffen the barrel. A trigger job and stock bedding also helped. I did all of the work myself, and bought the SS Mini at a good price from a co-worker so still have less in it than a new one costs. I Cerakoted the metal parts tan and put it in a O.D. green Hogue stock, so I have a unique, accurate and reliable Mini.
 
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