store bought ammo

[bearridge]

Howdy boys,

I read a heap a threads, then run the "search" ta see where ya'll talked bout which store bought ammo yer Mini 14 likes 'n which ones it dont like. I didnt see much. I seen a heap a "load yer own" posts. I hope ya'll didnt beat this one ta death, cuz I sho would like ta know what yer rifles liked.

Good thing I found this cafe. http://users.pandora.be/eforum/emoticons4u/happy/540.gif

regards
bearridge

I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents. James Madison

[tri70]

Most of the people will get good groups with the Win 45 gr ammo that you can get a most stores. The heavier 55 and 62 gr kinds will vary with the gun, Wolf is good and cheap too. Its always good to experiment to see what your gun does and hopefully it likes a common make and bullet weight. I'm a handloader and love it, I have a 196 series that has never seen a store bought round.

-tri

[bearridge]

Friend tri,

I figgered everbody used the 55 gr. I'm readin' that aint so. I shoot at 100 yards with a Burris airgun scope. The fliers make it hard ta tell how bad the ammo iz. I jest read the Z-man's tale. It may be no point in testin' ammo til I do something bout the fliers.

Thanks fer the help
bearridge

Sooner or later in life, we all sit down to a banquet of consequences. Robert Louis Stevenson

[stevekaw]

Generally, if you shoot the Black Hills stuff, either new or remanufactured, you can't go wrong. Great ammo!

[quickblu]

mine likes mil. surplus just fine. SS109 :)

[DrMaxit]

mine likes mil. surplus just fine. SS109 :)

Where you gettin' your Ss109 from?

Thanks,
Chuck

[hylander]

Mine likes most of the shelf ammo, Especially Win. White Box
55 FMJ and 45 JHP
The one ammo I would never put in my Mini or any other .223, is Wolf.
I have experianced blown cases, seperated heads, stuck cases,
And this was in a Bolt gun and a Single shot.
I also would not use Steel cased ammo, it is hard on the chamber.

[timlt]

If you want inexpensive, clean-shooting, accurate ammo, get Federal American Eagle in any of these weights: 50gr, 55gr, 62gr. You can still get the 55gr for around $5 a box/20 equivalent if you shop around. If you find that price, and it shoots well for you, I'd suggest you buy a case of the stuff. Prices are going up.

[George S]

My Mini seems to like Remington/UMC 55gr FMJ. The Winchester Q3131 works fine, but the Winchester 45gr varmint stuff is all over the place.

When I bought my Mini, the guy at the gun shop gave me a box of Greek Olympic SS109 62gr FMG and that was probably the worst "factory" ammo I have ever seen regardless of caliber. The best I could do with that stuff was 6" groups at 50yds. Changed to WWB in the next mag and the groups shrunk to 3" at 50yds.

If you read through the accurizing tips, you will find that the Mini is capable of some excellent groupings even given the thin barrel. For about $75 you can get down to 1" groups or less at 50 yds with the factory iron sight.

[bearridge]

Fellas,

Thanks. My ranch rifle seemed ta like Remington Express & Sellier & Belloit best. UMC, Winchester, Wolf, PMC 'n American Eagle wuz okay. All 55 gr fmj. The only group with no flyer wuz Remington Express. 2.5" at 100 yds. edge ta edge measurin'. I didnt take off the .223.

The worst wuz something called American A-Merc. 6"-7" groups. I figgered it wuz made by Federal. I wuz wrong. Fed. XM193 wuz 5" edge ta edge.

The biggest thing I done ta shrink my groups wuz ta put on headphones.....the dang noise made me flinch a bit.

regards
bearridge

Now it is true that I believe this country is following a dangerous trend when it permits too great a degree of centralization of governmental functions. Dwight D. Eisenhower

[70_West]

I been mostly shooting the Wolf, but I'm also stocking up on the Rem UMC 55gr FMJ. Walmarts here has it for $5.30 / box of 20, thats bout as good as I've seen even on the web.


70

[pbrktrt]

my mini-30 definately prefers remington express. it shoots win,federal well but poi changes. tight groups but not where i have the crosshairs. cor-bon is another quality round you might want to try. not cheap, but very accurate. i realise this is a different rifle than yours but same platform.

[Rmitch223]

Anybody shoot hornady? how about black hills?

What is some other quality off the shelf ammunition?

[quickblu]

i bought the last batch at a local gun show........ UAE stuff. it would be no good for reloading but so far i havent had any toubles with misfires.

[kwg020]

Black Hills blue box 50 grain. I tried the 40 grain stuff and it shot good but not as good as the 50's. I am going to try the 52 grain target stuff next. kwg

[p35bhp55]

Winchester 45 gr. jhp in my RR, SS109 in my old GB. But I can't explain the last, the rifling can't be made for the heavier round, the gun is too old. The russian stuff I got keyholed at 75 yards, it's worthless.

[Rmitch223]

Isnt 50gr stuff to light for the new 580 mini with 1:9 twist?

[markw76]

Real borderline. 55gr to 64gr is theoretically the range it should like with a 1:9

[ryan_kalani]

Howdy boys,

I read a heap a threads, then run the "search" ta see where ya'll talked bout which store bought ammo yer Mini 14 likes 'n which ones it dont like. I didnt see much. I seen a heap a "load yer own" posts. I hope ya'll didnt beat this one ta death, cuz I sho would like ta know what yer rifles liked.

Good thing I found this cafe. http://users.pandora.be/eforum/emoticons4u/happy/540.gif

regards
bearridge

I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents. James Madison
How long is your barrel and what is the twist rate?

[bearridge]

How long is your barrel and what is the twist rate?
Friend ryan,

Mine is a SN-195 jest like it come outta the box. 1 in 9 twist. I dont know why I want it ta drive a tack. 2.5" @ 100 aint too shabby fer an outta the box rifle. I reckon its close enuff fer guviment work. http://users.pandora.be/eforum/emoticons4u/happy/045.gif

regards
bearridge

Opera is when a guy gets stabbed in the back and, instead of bleeding, he sings. Ed Gardner

[timlt]

Isnt 50gr stuff to light for the new 580 mini with 1:9 twist?

50gr ammo can work GREAT in a Mini-14, especially in the newer ones. Try 50gr American Eagle, a number of us have gotten great results with that. Others in this forum have had good luck with 45 or 50gr (I forget which) Remington HP ammo. Even 40gr will work, for example the 40gr Hornady ammo is really good; I've got some of that in my range bag right now, and it's incredibly accurate in my 580-series Mini, more so than standard 55gr ball ammo. The head engineer at the Mini-14 plant in NH, Roy Melcher, emailed me that the 40gr Hornady ammo could be used to make the Mini a "very accurate rifle" at 100 yards.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=129468

I'm not sure why some of the existing generalizations about twist rates, and what ammo weights work with them, are now being revised, but they definitely are because lots of Mini owners are getting great shooting results with 50 and even 40gr ammo. My guess is that it has something to do with the improvements in the ammunition technology.

[Rmitch223]

On Gundoc's website it says for the 1:9 twist 60gr and up.

[timlt]

On Gundoc's website it says for the 1:9 twist 60gr and up.

Yes it does, and I wouldn't try to suggest that this is not good "standard advice" when using "standard" types of ammo, for example, FMJ or "ball" ammo which is what people often shoot for plinking or target type applications. Gundoc is well aware that a lot--perhaps even most--Mini users load up on the less expensive kind of ball ammo and shoot that most of the time, and for that type of ammo that advice is totally sound.

But notice that Gundoc does NOT say, "Don't ever use any ammo less than 60gr, or it won't work well in your Mini....." I'll let him speak for himself, and hopefully he will chime in here and correct me if I'm misunderstanding anything, but I don't think that he would argue against the notion that the lighter loads can be VERY accurate in a Mini. At least I've never heard him say that before. The key point is, it depends on what type of ammo you're using. You have to try different ammo types and find out what works.

But what I'm trying to share here is, some of us have already been doing that (trying the lighter loads) for a long time, and we're already finding that it works with outstanding results, even in 1:9 twist rifles. I don't know if you picked up on what I mentioned above, but the head engineer of the Mini-14 himself said that certain types of lighter load ammo (he gave the Hornady specifically as an example) could be highly accurate in the NEW Mini's. Not that he knows everything about Mini's, but when he says something like that, I'm definitely going to at least consider what he says. And when I actually shoot that kind of ammo, I do get the kind of results he predicts.

And it's not just me: a LOT of people in this forum are finding that to be the case. Look at Kkina's website, for example (www.accustrut.com). He mentions, in his page that discusses ammunition, the idea of trying lighter loads. What I have found is that with the American Eagle 50gr HP, I can consistently achieve 1" groups of 3 and 4 shots at 100 yards (by consistently, I mean I can reproduce such groups 3 or 4 times--or more--every time I go to the range). With the Hornady 40gr, I get even tighter groups. Now if you talk about larger groups, 5 shots or even 10, without waiting huge amounts of time in between shots, then my Mini (like most others) begins to open up and has a hard time keeping the groups as tight. But I don't believe that's specifically caused by the ammo alone, because I see that pattern occur no matter what ammo is used.

I would really like to hear Gundoc's thoughts on this, because while I agree that his advice holds for traditional ball ammo (which most of his customers are probably buying and shooting when they load up on cheap Winchester or mil surplus ammo, for instance), I think that a combination of the recommendations by the Ruger head engineer, and the results that many of us have found in real shooting applications, suggest that there are certain types of ammo where you can shoot lighter loads and get outstanding accuracy from your Mini. My guess is that if you ask him, he'd agree with that, and with the general principle that always holds: you have to find what ammo your rifle likes, and use that.

It's really interesting to me, but all of this tends to illustrate the versatility and quality of the Mini-14 as an engineering achievement and an outstanding rifle. A lot of us--myself included--tend to complain about its shortcomings, of which there are many! And yet, here is one of its up-sides: the Mini can shoot a LOT of different types of ammo, and shoot them very well. I personally, when trying to squeeze maximum accuracy from my 1:9 twist 580-series Mini, have shot everything from 69gr Black Hills HP match ammo, to 62gr Black Hills, to 55gr Winchester ammo, to 50gr Federal American Eagle HP, 40gr Hornady HP ammo, and amazingly, ALL of these quality ammo types were able to produce at least 1" groups of 3 shots at 100 yards, while some (specifically, the 69gr Black Hills, and the 40gr Hornady) were able to produce slightly tighter groups! That right there suggests the range of loads that a Mini can handle with the modern ammunition technology. The Mini can shoot well with ammo ranging from 40gr all the way to AT LEAST 69gr!!!! Assuming of course, that you use proven types of ammo (I assume that not just any lighter load ammo would shoot well, but that applies to the heavier loads as well--not all ammo produces the same results).

Bottom line: you have to find what works in your Mini, but a LOT of people are finding that certain types of ammo in the lighter loads, all the way down to 40gr, can shoot as accurately as the best ammo in the heavier loads.

[ryan_kalani]

Friend ryan,

Mine is a SN-195 jest like it come outta the box. 1 in 9 twist. I dont know why I want it ta drive a tack. 2.5" @ 100 aint too shabby fer an outta the box rifle. I reckon its close enuff fer guviment work. http://users.pandora.be/eforum/emoticons4u/happy/045.gif

regards
bearridge

Opera is when a guy gets stabbed in the back and, instead of bleeding, he sings. Ed Gardner
The heaviest bullet i would fire through a 1:9 is 69 grains.

[Rmitch223]

Yeh, It would be nice if gundoc gave his opinion on this.

[Rmitch223]

Is 75gr to much for the 1:9 twist?

[markw76]

I believe 75gr would like something around 1:7

[tri70]

The lighter bullets usually create less bullet wip in the mini and most people get pretty good groups from them. Its best to shoot new ammo from a clean barrel also, fouling from a dirty barrel may affect the lighter loads more than the heavier bullets.

-tri

[p35bhp55]

the 45 gr hollowpoint seems to be a winner in several guns. My N.E.F. Survivor shoots them well, and it recommends 55 gr in the owners manual. The barrel on this puppy is anything but whippy, and 22 inches long. My experience with the single shots is that they just shoot, period.

[timlt]

the 45 gr hollowpoint seems to be a winner in several guns. My N.E.F. Survivor shoots them well, and it recommends 55 gr in the owners manual. The barrel on this puppy is anything but whippy, and 22 inches long. My experience with the single shots is that they just shoot, period.

Once again, the evidence even from this single thread demonstrates that people are getting good results with ammo loads ranging from 40 or 45gr all the way up to at least 69gr. There's some question about how well the Mini will do with ammo above 69; have not tried that myself. But I've gotten great groups with ammo of all loads from 40 to 69, so I would not hesitate to try this whole range, using the brands that have been suggested (if you don't handload), and just find what kind you like the best, what you can afford, etc. This is a great strength of the current Mini's!!!