Redleg

I was able to snag a new Mini 14 Ranch with wood stock at Turner's. (Now the sad, bad, California 10 day wait begins....)

Question. I have heard that Mini 14s can be hard on optics, although I am not sure why this would be so. Would an EOTech XPS2-0 or Ultradot Matchdot be suitable for the Mini? Cool that the new Mini 14s have a tactical rail of sorts. Comments please!

gwnorth

Congratulations! I brought home my second (tactical in the standard synthetic stock) today too.

Not sure what you mean about a rail? The only ones I know of with a rail are the tactical models with the ATI stock.

They all have Ruger integral scope ring mounts, and you should have a set of 1" rings in the box. As long as you do not use them, you can send them back to Ruger to swap out for a different sized set if need be - just decide what you need before you open up the ring packages and mess around with them.

I've put a Leupold VX2 3-9x40 on my all weather ranch rifle and seems to be fine. This new tactical is wearing a Burris Fastfire II red dot on a GG&G machined mount (GG&G Tactical Rifle Accessories - Military & Assault Rifle Parts For Sale) but I won't get to shoot it until next weekend (it looks good on there, and the GG&G mount fits perfectly - they also make a rail mount too).

tgwillard

There are several ways to mount optics on a Mini 14. The first is to use the built in scope mounting points that work with the rings that come with the rifle. Second is to purchase a side mount weaver rail. The third is to purchase a weaver rail that attaches to the built in mounting points. That's what I have and installed a red dot on it. No problems with it so far. Prior to that I had a Bushnell scope on it using the supplied mounting rings. Again no problem with the scope.

donjack100

Just picked up my new mini 14 tactical today, was on the range this afternoon. This is a very sweet shooting rifle, will be by new favorite go to weapon.

Redleg

Bad use of English by me. When I referred to the "tactical rail" I meant the integral scope mounts. Thank you for correcting me.

To mount an Ultradot Matchdot should be real easy -- just use the rings that come with the Ultradot in place of the Ruger rings, and it should mount right to the scope mounts? Is that right?

I was looking at the GG&G top rail mount. What do folks think of this? I believe that you cannot use the iron sights once this is installed? I am assuming that you can leave the GG&G rail on permanently, even when cleaning and stripping the rifle?

I see that there are two GG&G rails. One is a "Mil STD" and one is a "Mini Red Dot Model." I cannot tell the difference between these other than one being 5.8" and one being 5.7". Here is the link. http://www.gggaz.com/ruger-mini-14-r...pe-mounts.html Can anyone explain the difference between these two?

What would be involved in mounting an EOTech XPS2-0 sight? Would I need the GG&G rail?

Thanks to all for responding to this post.

gwnorth

The ruger integral scope mounts are a proprietary design so you need rings designed specifically for them. Doesn't have to be from Ruger just designed for ruger mounts (Leupold and others make ruger rings).

Pretty much anything you mount will block the iron sights unless you get rings designed to allow seeing through, which would mean a very high mounted optics.

The rail GG&G rail mount is a standard picatinny rail with screw clamps to mate into the ruger mount cutouts. The red-dot mount is designed specifically for Burris red-dot sights - predrilled mounting holes and the end sized and shaped to match the Burris sight base.

The only tricky thing with leaving it on for cleaning is getting the bolt in and out. But, it takes a few seconds to take it on and off and they seem to hold zero fine doing that. And with my all weather ranch I only fully strip and clean it every 3rd or 4th shooting trip as it just not get that dirty. My regular cleaning is just the barrel/bore and a wipe down/brush down of the chamber and bolt face/extractor.

Redleg

Great info, my friend. You answered just about all my questions. I am understanding that to remove the bolt you must remove the rail. If you use the Ruger rings, I am imagining that these can be left on all the time? My Ultradot takes 1" rings, so I will plan on using the included Ruger 1" rings to mount the Ultradot Matchdot.

gwnorth

I use the 1" rings (they are medium height, I think - the ones that come with the mini) for my Leupold scope and there is enough clearance there to clean with the scope on and get the bolt out. But the single screw attachment of the ruger rings makes it so easy to take the whole deal off and on, I remove the whole scope+mounts when field stripping the gun fully.

The rings have protrusions that fit into index notches on the top of the receiver, so it is pretty simple to put them back on and keep a zero on the scope (or very dang close to it). Also means I can shoot irons easily when I want to.

Redleg

More good info. Thank you very much! This forum is such a great resource.

P89Guy

i've tried a few picatinny rail mounts for the ruger proprietary mounts, and they've all raised the line of sight way high.

unless you get some sort of cheek riser you'll have a chin-weld at best.

I think a scout mount method would be best for view angle (although the mini is already front heavy, so it's a catch-22)

i'd suggest an ulitmak rail and maybe a low-profile red dot like this setup:

P89Guy

here's one more from perfectunion member



looks like the PA aimpoint 3 clone

and with a low-profile mount it's perfectly aligned with your line of sight......with a rail on top of the proprietary scope mounts you're looking at another two inches

if you get a low-enough profile RDS you might even get a lower 1/3 cw

gwnorth

For what it is worth, here are mine. Scope is mounted with the included ruger rings (5KHM) and is a Leupold VX2 3-9x40mm. The FastFire II is on the previously mentioned GG&G machined mount.





The GG&G red dot or rail is very nearly as low as anything mounted directly on the hand guard is going to be (and a replacement hand guard from Ruger with rails is $180 while the GG&G mounts are $50).

oldarmy

I hope you are as happy with your new Mini14 as I am with my Mini-14-NRA.
The new heavy barrels really made a difference, I wish Bill Ruger had done it
in the first place. If he had we would be saying an AR what?.

oldarmy

Buzzsaw46

I just bought my Mini yesterday. I tried the irons and decided to mount a scope last night. I went with a Bushnell Banner 1.5-4.5x32 and the included Ruger rings. My back yard range is only 50yrds if I had a longer range I would probably go for a 3-9x or maybe a bit more.

Fun gun for sure!

Redleg

Here is the setup that I ended up with:



Not quite a true "cheek weld" but not quite the chin either. This is the GG&G tactical rail which I evaluate on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3T3427...cm_cr_rdp_perm

The Red Dot Sight is the Aimpoint CompC3 which I review here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RNSUZAZ...cm_cr_rdp_perm

I also put a Tech Sight in place of the stock iron sight as a BUIS.