It has been thirty years since Ruger
first introduced their Mini-14. The year was 1974, and the
AR-15 was still hated by many shooters who preferred their
rifles made from blued steel and genuine wood. The Mini-14
was basically a scaled down US M-14 without the selective
fire option, which Ruger did offer on their military version
of the new weapon. Most shooters who liked the M-1 Garand
and M-14 really loved the new Mini-14. Ruger simplified the
Garand gas system, and the little .223 cartridge worked very
well in the Mini.
I was working construction at the Eddyville,
Kentucky State Prison when I first laid my eyes on the
Mini-14. The wall guards there carried them on patrol, and I
knew that I must have one. It took a few months of saving,
but I scraped up enough cash to purchase a brand new
Mini-14, along with a few of the factory twenty round
magazines. That was back before our Congress decided that
free citizens should not have a rifle that would hold in
excess of ten rounds in the magazine.
Over the years, I have owned a few Minis,
and each one has proven to be absolutely reliable under all
conditions. The design of the action is somewhat out
in the open. When the gun cycles, it just slings off any
dust, water, snow, ice, sand, mud, or other debris that
might fall upon it. The Mini is also not as ammo sensitive
as some other rifles. The gas system is very simple in
design, with the gas impinging directly upon the operating
rod. It is as reliable as a rock, unless allowed to
rust, which I will explain. One problem that can occur
with shooters who live in humid climates is that they will
shoot the gun, then put it away with no lube on the gas
system. If stored this way with the bolt fully closed, the
gas system can rust, thereby sticking itself shut. Stored
properly, it gives no trouble at all. In fact, I prefer to
store the Mini with the bolt slightly open, and to treat the
gas system with Militec lubricant.
One of the best improvements to the Mini-14
came along in 1982 in the form of the Ranch Rifle.
The Ranch Rifle is the Mini-14 adapted for the easy use of a
scope sight. I have tried various scope mount systems on the
original Mini-14, and none were satisfactory. On the Ranch
Rifle, the scope bases are cast into the receiver, and Ruger
ships the gun with its medium height scope rings. The
ejection pattern is also altered to assure that the fired
cases clear the scope when ejected, and a bolt buffer system
was added at the same time. The Mini-14 is one of the
easiest rifles available to strip down for cleaning.
Inserting a punch, screwdriver, or even a cartridge into the
hole at the rear of the trigger guard and prying it from its
catch allows the trigger assembly to be pulled from the
stock, and the stock to be separated from the barreled
action. The operating components lift easily from the
action. The trigger system is very simple and reliable, and
the safety is at the front of the trigger guard where it is
easily reached with the trigger finger.
In the past few years, I haven’t read much
about the Mini-14 in gun magazines. It seems that most press
is given to the latest and greatest in gun design, but the
Mini has been around for three decades, and is still one of
the better auto loading carbines available for a rugged,
reliable, everyday gun to keep along on the farm or ranch.
Its .223 Remington chambering is great on varmints and
predators, and, where the law allows, is adequate for most
whitetail deer with the proper bullet. In addition, it works
very well for social situations which require a
quick-handling carbine when fitted with an extended
magazine. I prefer the twenty round version. As a patrol
rifle for rural police, a Mini-14 in the trunk or rifle rack
is much better than a pistol or shotgun in many situations.
The Mini can provide plenty of accurate firepower with
minimal recoil.
For this article, I ordered a new Ranch
Rifle in the basic blued steel version with the wood stock.
The hardwood stock is steel reinforced for added strength,
has a smooth black plastic carbine style butt plate, and a
synthetic ventilated hand guard. It is also fitted with
sling swivels, and comes supplied with the above-mentioned
Ruger scope rings. I mounted a Simmons three to nine
power compact scope, which is proportioned well to the
little carbine. The trigger pull on the test rifle measured
just under four pounds, which is about half of the pressure
required to fire most AR-15 type weapons, and made the
little Ruger much easier to fire accurately. The accuracy of
the Ranch Rifle matched that of other Minis that I have
owned. It grouped regularly under one and one-half inches at
one hundred yards with good ammunition from a good rest. I
have never had a Mini-14 that would shoot as accurately as a
target rifle, but the Mini was never built to be a target
rifle. It is plenty accurate for its intended purpose, and
adding a heavier barrel to enhance accuracy would detract
from its excellent handling abilities. The Ranch Rifle did,
however, exhibit excellent accuracy with Winchester
Supreme 55 grain Ballistic Silvertip ammo, grouping between
three-quarters to just under one inch with each three-shot
group fired. The Ranch Rifle was also function tested with a
variety of commercial .223 and military 5.56mm ammunition.
Functioning was, as expected, perfect. The large extractor
and fixed ejector sends brass flying swiftly to the right of
the shooter. The Mini’s action locks open after the last
shot in the magazine, and can be manually locked open by
depressing a button atop the receiver. All of the major
action parts are robust, and the springs are sturdy coil
designs. The Mini-14 is built to last, and to work
reliably for a long time.
The ranch Rifle comes supplied with one
five-shot magazine. I also had on hand a few Ram-Line
thirty round magazines that fit both the Ruger and AR-15
rifles. The Ram-Line mags worked reliably in the Ranch Rifle
as well. In addition to the excellent scope mount system on
the Ranch Rifle, it is supplied with a fixed blade front
sight and a fold-down fully adjustable rear peep sight for
when the scope is removed. With the eighteen and
one-half inch barrel, the overall length is just over
thirty-seven inches, and the weight is six pounds and ten
ounces, making for a quick-handling and compact little
carbine.
The Mini-14 rifle series may not be as racy
as the latest carbon fiber and space-age alloy European
wonder weapons, but it is a strong, reliable, and handy
little carbine that has been around for thirty years, and
will be just as good of a rifle thirty years from now. It is
fun, accurate, and easy to shoot, and I highly recommend it.
