[Rmart30]

have a buddy of mine who purchased a new mini 14 in october and called me tonight asking about a problem he was having.
He has between 50 and 100 rounds thru it. Last week he had a FTE and the next couple of shots were ok. Now he calls and said almost every shot now fails to extract.
Anyone had this problem or know of anything to check before he ships it back to the factory ?

 

[grumpy_old_man]

have a buddy of mine who purchased a new mini 14 in october and called me tonight asking about a problem he was having.
He has between 50 and 100 rounds thru it. Last week he had a FTE and the next couple of shots were ok. Now he calls and said almost every shot now fails to extract.
Anyone had this problem or know of anything to check before he ships it back to the factory ?

Hi Rmart;

Gun's not even broken in yet, and its going to be hard to get enough ammo to really run it in properly for a while so I suspect part of it is just lack of normal break-in.

That said, how clean is the chamber? What kind of ammo was in use? If he was using a mix of steel case (doesn't obturate as well as brass so you get some blow-by into the chamber) and brass cased ammo that's a classic recipe for problems like you're describing.

To clean the chamber, take a short (cheap) pistol rod and put a bend in it. Then just scrub the bejeepers (that's a technical term) out of it.

Sorry to hear about your buddy's problems. Worst time to try to run in a new rifle with the ammo drought!

Best,
Grumpy

 

[Rmart30]

Running factory brass in it ..... and the first 50 or so ejected no problem.
Case is not sticky in chamber and cycling the action 2 or 3 times usually will pop it on out.

 

[chill1955]

have a buddy of mine who purchased a new mini 14 in october and called me tonight asking about a problem he was having.
He has between 50 and 100 rounds thru it. Last week he had a FTE and the next couple of shots were ok. Now he calls and said almost every shot now fails to extract.
Anyone had this problem or know of anything to check before he ships it back to the factory ?

One thing to try other than a good scrubbing, have him take out the magazine and single feed it. Then does he have another type of ammo to try? That's all I can think of without any further explanation.

 

[mwood]

I had the exact same problem with my new Mini....exactly. Then the extractor broke off and the firing pin fell out. It's back at Ruger right now hopfully being repaired. Tell him to send it back, cleaning won't fix it. I'm afraid Ruger just had a run of bad guns. I've also seen several people who have had a problem with the factory sights, as I have.

 

[chill1955]

Sounds Like Ruger..

I had the exact same problem with my new Mini....exactly. Then the extractor broke off and the firing pin fell out. It's back at Ruger right now hopfully being repaired. Tell him to send it back, cleaning won't fix it. I'm afraid Ruger just had a run of bad guns. I've also seen several people who have had a problem with the factory sights, as I have.

Sounds like Ruger has gone the way of American manufacturing.....everything made in China!:lol:
So assuming that is not the case, somebody with the last name of Ruger had better get in there and protect their brand. Fire the cheap a-hole bean counter... but it rooks good on paper boss...KICK.h34r:

 

[grumpy_old_man]

I had the exact same problem with my new Mini....exactly. Then the extractor broke off and the firing pin fell out. It's back at Ruger right now hopfully being repaired. Tell him to send it back, cleaning won't fix it. I'm afraid Ruger just had a run of bad guns. I've also seen several people who have had a problem with the factory sights, as I have.

You know you're probably right. I wasn't thinking of your situation when I posted but those were pretty much the symptoms weren't they? Still, clean the chamber is the first thing to check.

If he sends it back though he should make sure that he has checked out the factory sights (i.e. they will achieve zero), and see if he can get Ruger to fit a spare firing pin. It's the most desirable of the hard to get parts and it seems a shame to pass on an opportunity to score one.

No excuse for Ruger, but my guess is that they're producing flat out as fast as they can and the odd dud is getting through, moreso than in normal times.

All the best,
Grumpy

 

[mwood]

I just checked with Ruger on mine, they acknowledge receiving it and it's on the shop floor but no date for completion. The CSR said they are 7 to 10 days normally but with as busy as they are it may be longer.

 

[funtown]

I had this problem from the get-go and sent it back to Ruger. It sucks parting with a new toy, but it's totally worth it. Mine came back with a new bolt and a gorgeous polishing of all wear areas. Now it's smooooooth as butter and has had about 400 rounds through it without a hitch.

 

[mwood]

I had this problem from the get-go and sent it back to Ruger. It sucks parting with a new toy, but it's totally worth it. Mine came back with a new bolt and a gorgeous polishing of all wear areas. Now it's smooooooth as butter and has had about 400 rounds through it without a hitch.

How long ago was that? As busy as they are I'm not getting a warm fuzzy feeling about their quality or service. I've only dealt with the customer service dept and I have to say I'm not impressed. Others have raved about Ruger CS but my experience so far has not been very confidence inspiring. Is there someone maybe in engineering or assembly that I can deal with?

 

[Fackler Rebel]

I have owned three Mini-14's in my life, I'm 63, and the current one is a 186 series with about 150 rounds thru it. Never had a problem with any of mine. Hate to hear Ruger is doing like everybody else. I thought they test fired them at the factory.

Reb

 

[mwood]

I have owned three Mini-14's in my life, I'm 63, and the current one is a 186 series with about 150 rounds thru it. Never had a problem with any of mine. Hate to hear Ruger is doing like everybody else. I thought they test fired them at the factory.

Reb

Test firing one round won't catch this issue, they would need to run a few mags through each gun, which I don't see happening.

 

[Rmart30]

He let another buddy who's neighbor is a gunsmith take it and check it over... Gunsmith saw nothing out of the ordinary. They test fired about 100 rds thru it. A light oiling of the chamber after its first FTE which comes after about 40 rds. clears the FTE's for the next 40..... Sounds like the chamber is getting dirty or is a little tight maybe ?
Before they send it back to factory they are going to replace the ejector and see if that clears it up. If not it will be going back. I will post more when I find out anything new on it.

 

[subscriber]

Look for a sliver of brass jammed in between the extractor and bolt - does the extractor hold a round securely with the bolt out of the rifle?

Look for damage to the extractor claw. Look for weak tension, indicating a broken extractor spring or a jammed pivot or other interference. Does the firing pin move freely forward and back? The FP is retained by the extractor pivot.

 

[slazykz]

I had (still have?) the exact same problem with my new 582 series. Ruger sent me a new extractor, plunger, and spring but I haven't had any ammo to test it.

My thread; http://www.perfectunion.com/vb/ruger-mini-14-mini-30/93155-brand-new-mini-14-problem.html

I'm hearing more and more people having the same issue. A friend of mine was lucky to buy a barely used mini14 with 60rds and after the first 30 (all brass) it started jamming up every few rounds. Ruger told him the same thing that they told me... that there is NO break in period, something is wrong and that they are sending him a new extractor.

I will repost as to how mine is working whenever ammo drops below $25 a box.

 

[Rmart30]

Update --- they replaced the extractor and spring parts and put about 100 rounds thru it so far with no problems.
Hopefully this has taken care of it.

 

[mwood]

That's good news, I hope they get mine squared away. I'm supposed to have it Thursday and will take it out Friday. I'll post results.

 

[Devious]

PART 1-
Same problem, Brand new 582 model, failure to extract. Gun extracted fine manually using the slide assembly to cycle the next round. Tried three different magazines, stock and two aftermarket mags. Also changed ammo from MFS 62gr. sp's to PMC x-tac 55gr. fmjbt. Same results. This is my first mini14, I had fully disassembled it prior to range for clean and lube. After range, Disassembled and upon very close examination of the receiver and bolt assembly I noticed that all of the casting marks/lines had burrs which inhibited the smooth operation of the bolt.
That was yesterday. I am not sending my gun away to ruger, this gun never should have left the factory in this condition. I am currently deburring and polishing the interior of the receiver. I will repost with results asap. emails requesting further info will also be answered.

 

[tri70]

You might try polishing the oprod guide were spring sits to smooth up to.

 

[Devious]

PART 2-
Situation Corrected. Originally I posted in 'Failure to Extract' that was improper. The actual problem was 'Failure to Cycle'. To avoid confusion I'll explain.
The Mini 14 fed and extracted rounds fine. The issue was the action cycling. Due to improper mating of the underside of the receiver and the top of the bolt, the cycle was slowed due to drag from the casting marks and burrs.
To avoid damage to the steel, I took the long and timely method of using Wet/Dry sandpaper 320 then 600. (Be warned this took hours and many fitment of the parts) I gradually smoothed the casting burrs on the underside of the receiver and any areas that impeded the bolt from sliding freely. I have been told that running a few hundred rounds through the gun would have produced the same result. (Remember the gun was not operating properly and I refused to proceed firing a faulty gun) I'm no machinist but forcing a weapons bolt to mate against an uneven receiver surface made no sense to me.