Scout Rails now available for 581 Series Mini's

[Rich Eichner]

Amega Ranges, http://www.amegaranges.com, has just turned on the order page for their Mini Scout Rail II that fits the latest flanged barrel Mini-14's in .223 Rem and Rem 6.8 SPC. For those of you hankering for a forward mounted Scout or Red Dot sighting system I think this is the best available hardware. In addition to the quality of the fabrication and finish the features I really like on this rail is the fact that the operating rod remains shrouded, plus the fact that they have a slick Picatinny/Weaver/Glock - your choice - light mount that screws to either side of the Scout Rail as an additional accessory mounting option. This is the best system I have seen since it doesn't clutter the gas block mounting screw area and thus leaves the option of mounting a bipod or other accessory at that location.

[Walkenbear]

Just a couple of things,
the 581 series denotes the mini 30 & 6.8 SPC.
The mini 14 is a 580 series.
I just spoke with doug at amega & yes they have the scout rails for the new heavier barreled mini's with the barrel flange 580 & 581 series.
They will fit on any new mini with the heavier barrel 14, 30 or 6.8SPC.
in addition to adding the ability for a scout scope or red dot or such, it will tighten up your groups.
According to Amega ranges they gave 2 of their prototype mounts to a couple of LEO's for testing and both officers reported accuracy improvements in their new model heavier barreled mini 14's.

[handirifle]

Just a couple of things,
the 581 series denotes the mini 30 & 6.8 SPC.
The mini 14 is a 580 series.


Thanks for clearing up what was starting to bother me. just got a new Target model and it's a 580 and THEN started seeing all this talk about the 581.

How does it attach to the rifle?

[Walkenbear]

Glad you asked that,
here is a link to their page (http://www.amegaranges.com/store/mini14_new.php)
It replaces the upper gas block & handguard. Attaches to where the upper gas block was using factory screws. It goes back over the barrel and attaches with a clamp under the barrel (to in front of the chamber area) into the scout mount. In addition to acting as a scout mount or tAC light holder, it helps improve accuracy, it does this by acting as a truss between the gas block to in front of the chamber area. On the target mini that is the thinnest part of the barrel, this mount would reinforce that area. In order for Ruger to have given a true full length heavy barreled mini Target rifle they would have had to do a redesign of the op rod and possibly gas system. That would be in conflict with the way they seem to be going with the simplification & interchangeability of their parts on all mini rifles.
The new target model has a beefed up front barrel & beefed up chamber area but the part between the chamber and gas block is .625" or just slightly larger than the older mini's at about .560".
Since you have a target model this could be the last link in the quest for consistent sub MOA groups. People have been posting reports of consistent groups of about 1 1/4" with the new mini Target, with occasional MOA & sub MOA groups. This is the one part that reinforces the thinnest part of the barrel on the mini & could very well be the missing link to the sub MOA mini.
In my above post I reported that the general manager Doug told me that there is an improvement in accuracy in testing with the NEW heavier barreled Ranch mini's. The NEW heavier barreled Ranch mini's have the same barrel profile and diameter and same profile chamber area under the hand guard as the Target model, so if it helped those it will most likely help the Target model also. It's mounted on top of the barrel where the pressure of the op/rod gas block forces stress the barrel, it's an upward force, since the gas system & recoil spring resistance impact a upward pushing force, which is the area that the mount reinforces.
On a normal old thin barreled mini it will usually cut groups by about 50%. If it did that on a target model you would be talking 5/8 to 3/4" groups, wouldn't that be something?

[handirifle]

Yea that would be nice. I'm not ready for a scout setup on the Target model yet, but am considering a second mini and it would be great with a red dot mounted in scout fashion.

[handirifle]

I got to thinking about this mount. Since it mounts at two points on the barrel, as described, I wonder how effective it would be if it were extended farther out the barrel and became the top half of the mounts for an accu strut.

Imagine the stiffness it would impart to the barrel?

[Walkenbear]

Good idea, taking it a bit further, how about a custom clamp that mounts to the TAC light screw holes, on the side rails on the amega mount (there are 5 screw holes on each side of the mini scout mount for mounting accessories), then the custom clamp goes out over the barrel a bit and becomes a double clamp for the barrel and the accu-strut/strut. Is that what you were thinking?
Might be you might not need your target mini after that.:D