[voruzon]

1. In two gun stores I was told that Mini-14 regular and Mini-14 Ranch Rifle eject exactly the same way - to the side.

That conflicts with what I saw here and Ruger's site info "Ranch Rifle and Mini Thirty feature side ejection..."

How does regular Mini eject? Please describe. What makes Ranch eject to the side? I did not notice any difference comparing them side-by side. The parts are supposed to be the same, right? Is there a way to make Regular eject to the side? I saw "massaging" mentioned here to make Mini eject like a Ranch.


2. What's the difference between Weaver and Picatinny rails?

Voruzon

 

[lcm]

voruzon,
The following by Duncan Long

Two Types of Mini-14 Ejectors
I recently received a series of e-mail letters in which writers were debating about how violent the ejection of empty brass was from a Mini-14. One side contended the brass was about as dangerous as the bullets being fired while the other maintained the brass was propelled only a few feat and landed in a neat pile about a yard from the shooter.

As noted by another in the group, actually both sides were correct. As one owner of a Mini-14 noted, the Ranch models do throw the brass some distance while the standard Mini-14 ejects brass forward and to the right about 4 feet.

Why is this?

The standard Mini-14 and AC556 series have a spring-loaded ejector on their bolt (like most military rifles including the M16) while the Ranch series uses a bumper ejector more like the .45 Auto pistol. The spring-loaded ejector is pretty gentle when it kicks the empty out. On the other hand, the "bumper ejector" works like a hammer to kick the empty out with a lot of velocity. Both work well, but you don't want to stand to the side of a Ranch Rifle's ejection point. (Or the ejection port of any gun - but especially those with a bumper ejector.)

The Ranch series is easily distinguished from the others by its flip down rear sight atop the receiver while the standard Mini-14s have an adjustable rear sight enclosed in the rear of the receiver.

(For more information about the variants of the Mini-14, readers are directed to my book, The Mini-14: Plinker Hunter, Assault, and Everything Else Rifle, available from Paladin Press for $19.)
2. Check out this thread from AR15 forum
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&...3&f=18&t=143308

Hope this helps!

 

[cajungeo]

Hmmm, this is interesting. I have a mini ranch, the ejector is also the bolt stop. As the bolt travels rearward, the case being held by the extractor (on the right side of the bolt), the case hits on the bolt stop (on the left side of the receiver), and is ejected out the side. I have reduced the speed of the bolt by installing a smaller gas port bushing. Now I'm currious how the regular mini's ejector works. Can someone give a similar description for the reg. mini?