[mwood]

Took the Mini back to the range to give it another try and sight it in. The first few mags of 5.56 went through with only a couple failure to ejects, and with the rear sight cranked all the way to the right it was shooting so/so groups at 50 yards. Then I laoded up some Winchester .223's and started having several failures, some wouldn't come out of the pipe at all and a few came almost all the way out but jammed. Then I saw something fall out of the chamber and discovered the extractor broke off and the firing pin fell out.
Needless to say I'm not very impressed with the quality of this piece (of ****).
I'll be contacting Ruger to find out how they are going to handle it, and I assume they'll make it right, but I don't know if I want to keep this gun if I can't trust it.

 

[jgodwin2]

From what I have heard on the forum Ruger CS is pretty top notch.

 

[grumpy_old_man]

Took the Mini back to the range to give it another try and sight it in. The first few mags of 5.56 went through with only a couple failure to ejects, and with the rear sight cranked all the way to the right it was shooting so/so groups at 50 yards. Then I laoded up some Winchester .223's and started having several failures, some wouldn't come out of the pipe at all and a few came almost all the way out but jammed. Then I saw something fall out of the chamber and discovered the extractor broke off and the firing pin fell out.
Needless to say I'm not very impressed with the quality of this piece (of ****).
I'll be contacting Ruger to find out how they are going to handle it, and I assume they'll make it right, but I don't know if I want to keep this gun if I can't trust it.

Really sorry to read that you're having such problems with a brand spankin' new piece!

Ruger CS has been good to me in the past. Since its going in for a repair, see if you can get them to fit a spare firing pin while you're at it. I enclosed a note in the packing with mine detailing the problems and asksing for a spare pin - and all I know is - it worked! That mini is a 100% keeper, since it was not only repaired right and shoots well (if I could get ammo...:angry but is now supported with a factory spare pin that is a guaranteed fit (I lucked out and checked pin protrusion with my other minis so that pin is 'universal' to my family of minis! ).

Let us know how it works out for you!
All the best,
Grumpy

 

[kkina]

Really sorry to read that you're having such problems with a brand spankin' new piece!

Ruger CS has been good to me in the past. Since its going in for a repair, see if you can get them to fit a spare firing pin while you're at it. I enclosed a note in the packing with mine detailing the problems and asksing for a spare pin - and all I know is - it worked! That mini is a 100% keeper, since it was not only repaired right and shoots well (if I could get ammo...:angry but is now supported with a factory spare pin that is a guaranteed fit (I lucked out and checked pin protrusion with my other minis so that pin is 'universal' to my family of minis! ).

Let us know how it works out for you!
All the best,
Grumpy

Perfect answer! Ruger will make your gun right, and this is really your chance to get a spare factory-fitted FP. I did this on one of my minis, very happy.

 

[mwood]

I guess I just got a lemon, it wasn't right from the start. I did talk to the guy at Big 5 where I got it and he sounds like he wants to help, he was talking about an exchange but they don't have any in the company. I doubt that would be possible anyway considering the BS you have to go through to get a gun in Ca. I'm not worried about it, I know Ruger has a very good reputation for customer service and their products do carry a life time warranty. I'd hate to have to pay freight to get it to them, but it can't be more than 20 bucks so it won't kill me, it's just the principal.
Here is the target I was sighting it in on, you can see the shots on the left gradually getting closer to center as I adjusted the rear sight. I ended up having to move it all the way to the right to get it on center.

The shot to the right in the 8 ring was one where I lined it up but then watched where the brass was ejecting. It was flying at least 15', there was a guy shooting 4 benchs to my right and they were flying over his head.
And here are the broken parts.

 

[DiN_BLiX]

WOW, yeah Ruger will make this right, maybe you'll luck out and get one with the new removable picittany rail...

 

[whofarted]

I guess I just got a lemon, it wasn't right from the start. I did talk to the guy at Big 5 where I got it and he sounds like he wants to help, he was talking about an exchange but they don't have any in the company. I doubt that would be possible anyway considering the BS you have to go through to get a gun in Ca. I'm not worried about it, I know Ruger has a very good reputation for customer service and their products do carry a life time warranty. I'd hate to have to pay freight to get it to them, but it can't be more than 20 bucks so it won't kill me, it's just the principal.
Here is the target I was sighting it in on, you can see the shots on the left gradually getting closer to center as I adjusted the rear sight. I ended up having to move it all the way to the right to get it on center.

The shot to the right in the 8 ring was one where I lined it up but then watched where the brass was ejecting. It was flying at least 15', there was a guy shooting 4 benchs to my right and they were flying over his head.
And here are the broken parts.

:lol::lol::lol: I actually bought my mini at big 5 too... it was prolly 3 years ago but still.. U found a semi auto firearm at big 5 recently?? I wonder if you got the display model??

 

[mwood]

:lol::lol::lol: I actually bought my mini at big 5 too... it was prolly 3 years ago but still.. U found a semi auto firearm at big 5 recently?? I wonder if you got the display model??

They said they haven't gotten another one since I got mine. There are no "display" models, you buy whatever they have on the shelf and they won't take orders. My local store had a 30 cal on the shelf yesterday that looked like a Mini 30 but is an Auto Ordinance (?). It was actually really light and had a very smooth action and a synthetic wood looking stock. I was surprised to see it there, it also had a 10 round mag.

 

[mwood]

This one but synthetic.

Auto-Ordnance M1 .30-Caliber Carbine Rifle Sporting Arms

 

[Mr. Snuffalupagus]

that sucks Mwood -

but please don't let it sour you on the mini - ruger WILL make it right.

when it comes back, it'll be tits... you just see

 

[whofarted]

This one but synthetic.

Auto-Ordnance M1 .30-Caliber Carbine Rifle Sporting Arms

before this mess happened what was on the shelf wasnt what you actually bought. They would have rifles in the back and only sell you the displayed model if that was the last rifle they had. The rifles at big5 can be handled by a sh¡t ton of people who dont know what they are doing.. and.. half the time the folks working the counter arent any better. I actually had the manager who released my mosin nagant m38 tell me i was suppose to load the rifle from the bottom. Im glad I signed that release paperwork.

as for that m1 carbine. The new producton ones have mixed reviews. I personally would really dig on buying one but from what i read its a crap shoot on how its gonna work. If i had the cash..and didnt care about the inflation.. id prolly take that gamble though.

 

[grumpy_old_man]

Hi MWood;

Yes, that group is way below what a properly functioning mini will produce. It makes me wonder if the messed up extractor was doing something flaky with the bolt seating. How did the brass look?

On a good day at 50 yds mine does this, using a scope and bipod. I've seen others do better, so you can get a Ranch Rifle to print a nice tight group.

When you send it in to Ruger, also make sure to mention that you had trouble getting a zero with those sights and were having failure to eject/jams too. As busy as they are now you don't want 'em to just fix the obvious breakage and get it out the door.

+1 for Snuffy's post - definitely don't let it get you down on the Mini 14. I've owned 5 of the things over the last 30 years and my only regret is that I sold two of 'em when I needed to pay the rent....

All the best,
Grumpy

 

[whofarted]

Hi MWood;

+1 for Snuffy's post - definitely don't let it get you down on the Mini 14. I've owned 5 of the things over the last 30 years and my only regret is that I sold two of 'em when I needed to pay the rent....

All the best,
Grumpy

5 of the same rifles over the last 30 years??? You my friend need to spice it up a little bit.

 

[Mr. Snuffalupagus]

This one but synthetic.

Auto-Ordnance M1 .30-Caliber Carbine Rifle Sporting Arms

since your mention of it was followed with a question mark, not sure you are familiar with the M1 carbine -so a bit of history for you:
what you have there is a modern reproduction of a weapon that saw service primarily in WWII and Korea - it was created to fill a role similar to the "personal defense weapon" of today. A weapon for rear echelon troops, or certain jobs where a pistol wasn't adequate but a full power rifle would be inappropriate or too cumbersome to carry. it is NOT a particularly powerful weapon, when compared to a Intermediate caliber rifle round.

the M1 carbine is a good gun - but not in the same class (ballistic-ally speaking) as the mini 14 or mini 30 (both fire a FAR more powerful intermediate rifle round)
the M1 cabine fires what could be considered a "hot" (fast) pistol round - it's also kinda hard to find decent defensive ammo for it (expanding type)
(at least around my parts... YMMV) the easiest to find factory loading for it is a 110 grain FMJ that does around 1900 feet per second at the muzzle.

it would be a superior choice for a layman over a pistol (longer sight radius + fired from the shoulder = better inherent accuracy in the hands of the uninitiated.) it does pack (almost... but not quite) twice the muzzle energy of a .357 magnum as fired from a 4" pistol. so it WILL cause a hurting down range, when compared to a handgun... it is by no means a total "wuss" round.

 

[mwood]

Thanks for the feedback guys, I'll send it back with a full description of what the troubles were and ask them to run several mags through it to make sure it's right.

 

[grumpy_old_man]

5 of the same rifles over the last 30 years??? You my friend need to spice it up a little bit.

LOL!

Will this do?

I thought I was going for variety in my mini's! First one was plain jane blue, second was a blue with factory folder (you don't know how much I want that one back!!) then a GB 14/20 stainless, and a few years ago a pair of modern ranch rifles, one kitted as a sniper trainer and the other as a light carbine.

In all seriousness, I've lost count of the number of guns I've owned...big 'uns and small 'uns and everything in between. Never did get a belt fed though, and with the dumb a$$ laws they're proposing sounds like I never will get the semi auto only RPD or M1919 clone of my dreams.

Guess I'm one of those crusty old types where when I expire in my sleep they'll bring in the news crew and everyone'll get scared of all that firepower the old geezer had stashed away for terrorizing paper targets at the range....but durn its fun to light up the B27's with that RPK clone from full prone!

All the best,
Grumpy

 

[whofarted]

LOL!

Will this do?

I thought I was going for variety in my mini's! First one was plain jane blue, second was a blue with factory folder (you don't know how much I want that one back!!) then a GB 14/20 stainless, and a few years ago a pair of modern ranch rifles, one kitted as a sniper trainer and the other as a light carbine.

In all seriousness, I've lost count of the number of guns I've owned...big 'uns and small 'uns and everything in between. Never did get a belt fed though, and with the dumb a$$ laws they're proposing sounds like I never will get the semi auto only RPD or M1919 clone of my dreams.

Guess I'm one of those crusty old types where when I expire in my sleep they'll bring in the news crew and everyone'll get scared of all that firepower the old geezer had stashed away for terrorizing paper targets at the range....but durn its fun to light up the B27's with that RPK clone from full prone!

All the best,
Grumpy

Is the pic just to rub my nose in it?

 

[grumpy_old_man]

Is the pic just to rub my nose in it?

Oops. Profound apologies whofarted.

See, no one has ever told me I needed more guns before. Online sometimes I forget that you're not one of the guys at the range or the shop.

Grumpy

 

[whofarted]

Id rub your nose in it if I could

 

[Mr. Snuffalupagus]

Id rub your nose in it if I could

you know there is a entire country attached to California, much of which has reasonable gun laws...

Right?