Mini-14 Won't Shoot (Update w/photos 26AUG2010)

sounds like this fellas pretty sharp on mini's.

I have some old mini's around here, also one of the new Target Laminates. I'll spend a bit of time with if I get a chance this spring.

It did pretty decent with the few loads I'd try'd last year with a straight 6x Nikon Monarch on it.
 
Hate to dig up an old thread but it's been quite a while since we had an update. I'm curious if they got the accuracy to improve? If they did, what do you figure it cost you to get the improvement not counting any of the other attempts that didn't help?
 
Well its done.....Scott's wife from Savagegunsmithing said it would ship today so I should have it in a few days. Scott had a New Leupold 3x9x40 so I had him mount it and was told it would be bore sighted. Very very reasonable charge in terms of what all was done. Plan on sending the scope that I sent out there with the mini back to be replaced since it failed while out there. Its been a long road with this thing and glad to have something coming that actually shoot. Lots and lots of work done.....as always thankful.
In the end they said it shot .7 @100yds with a 5 shot group.

Plan is to load up several rounds using what John and Scott found it liked as a starting point then shoot various ranges both hot and cold shoots. A lot has changed since I first had the mini first worked on by the 1st smith, I now own several custom and good AR's but plan to use the mini as my primary coyote rig once I get it dialed in as I know the mini is completely reliable in feed and function. I plan to post lots of pics and info on once I get shooting next week.

The other thing is Scott agreed to build me a custom AR, probably in the 25 Souper, should be a great predator gun once its done. Have no doubt this is going to be a killer with great reliability and good component selection. Extremely pumped about this.


******A Link from one of the gunsmiths that worked on it with photos telling part of what was wrong with it and what they did to fix it. These guys went the extra mile on this rifle.*****Was told at times it was everything from my reloading to its just a mini-14 causing the problems.

http://www.perfectunion.com/vb/showthread.php?t=77724

 
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I had a couple Minis and the bolt slammed so hard the scope actually slid in the rings. I finally got the scope to stay put and after knocking out the cross hairs on two scopes, I sold the rifle.
 
some things not right, even a bone stock Mini shoul shoot better than that.My 580 series shoots under 2"with hand loads.2-2.5 with certain factory ammo.@ 100yds and 3-4" @200.
I guess I better hang on to mine,The only work done to mine was an action job.
 
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I think that mini's are really hard on scopes. The bolt slamming such as it does, and most folks scope them pretty cheap (Chinese stuff, mostly)... you get a shifting erector tube (wandering zero)...

And of course any scope mount on one of the older (non-ranch) rifles is an insufferable joke, so that adds to the notion that they won't group.

The ranch rifle rings are about as kind to your scope tube as a set of Millet angle-locks, and 999,999 out of a million scope mounting jobs done on these don't involve ring lapping in any way. Those mini 14 ranch rings don't seem to align all that well, and this takes a toll on the scope tube. A scope tube under extreme stress from a mis-aligned set of rings will be more prone to shifting under recoil...

I have been pretty pleased with the accuracy of the factory iron sights on my two mini's... one an older one, and the other a 580 series. I think irons are the way to go with these guns.

Dan
 
Your right minis are hard on scopes but with that being said there was much more to this than that as the above link explains.

It has a Leupold on it now and has a better recoil buffer in it and with the ASI adjustable gas block tuned it drops the cases next to you, not slinging them 20ft with the bolt slamming back, so that should help a lot with scope service longevity.

Of course the main component to making a mini shoot well is $$, I have not actually added it all up between the initial purchase, the first smith and then Scott and John's bill to fix it all but its healthy. I would not do it over but now that's done its a sweet rig and I know it done right.
 
Kag, I've got an ASI mini and had to take out the recoil buffer last winter as a result of action troubles in the cold. Probably a combination of a shortened bolt cycle and leaving the mag loaded in storage for long periods.

I'd think that with the gas block tuned down to barely throw the brass and a recoil buffer you may run into some of the same trouble in the winter.

Mine shoots very well but got scared this summer when it was shooting patterns. Turns out while reassembling the gas block I turned one of the four allen screws 1/5 to 1/4 further in than the others.
Loosening up that one screw to even the others left if loose so I had a lot of fun finding a solution but I gotter done and things are ok again.
Hope you get yours up and going soon.
 
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