[23 Blast]

Hi guys. I am currently in the process to trade for a 185- series Mini 14. I'm getting this rifle sight unseen, trading it for another rifle I own, because the other party and myself are separated by about 300 miles.

Anyway, this will be my first Mini 14, and my very first .223 gun of any kind. I came to this forum when I bought a Mini 30 last year (newer 581- series model), and don't know much about the older Minis. The guy I'm getting it from said he wasn't the original owner and has no idea how many rounds have gone through before he bought it and put about a thousand rounds through it himself. He's trading it to me because he just bought an AR and didn't see the need to have two .223 semis.

 

[kwg020]

A guy never has enough .223's. kwg

 

[Jeff F]

I have a 185 series. Mine has a 1-7 twist barrel, a Choate muzzle brake and is pretty accurate with the right ammo.

 

[23 Blast]

Is the 1:7 twist rate the standard for the 185- series Minis? If so, doesn't that usually mean it works better with heavier bullets than lighter ones?

 

[pacpiper]

A guy never has enough .223's. kwg

Can I get an Amen!

 

[Jeff F]

I don't know exactly when they changed to 1-9. I checked my mini with a cleaning rod and its defiantly a 1-7. And yes it does like heavy ammo, 62gr m855 shoots good 69gn shoots even better and I haven't shot enough 77gn to speak of it.

 

[old single shots]

I also own a 185 series mini 14.Other than an accustrut and m14 style flash hider it is pretty much stock.Mine is a 1in 10 twist.Sofar i have had no problems with it at all.With 55 gr. handloads it shoots about 1 1/2" 5 shot groups at 100.Personally,I wouldn't trade it for a brand new one.Thegun has only had about 400 rds. since new.In my opinion,the fit,finish,and overall quality of the older mini's is better than newer models.My .02.

 

[23 Blast]

How do I find out what rate of twist my rifle is? Is it stamped somewhere on the barrel? Or do I just need to use a cleaning rod and estimate?

 

[old single shots]

Nothing is marked on the barrel.With a tight fitting patch,measure the length of the rod in one complete revolution.It will be either 7" or 10".

 

[charcoalburner]

You can also check out the sticky post in this forum entitled "Manuals, Date of MFG, ....., TWIST RATE" stuck up near the top.

 

[old single shots]

Chart shows a 185 should be a 1in 7".Some are not.Mine was made in 1987 and is a 1 in 10"

 

[charcoalburner]

Somehow OSS that does not surprise me. Someone probably came across a crate of older barrels and sent them down the production line in '87. Ruger wouldn't be the first manufacturer to have used New "Old" stock for production purposes.

 

[23 Blast]

Question: is it safe to shoot 5.56x45 in a Mini? From what I know, ARs are almost universally 5.56x45, while Minis are .223. Does it harm a Mini to shoot the higher pressure NATO ammo in it? I recently bought a 500 pack from my LGS, in anticipation both of the Mini and what will be my first AR.

Is .223 to 5.56 like .38 special is to .357? Please enlighten me.

 

[Nobody]

The Mini-14 is actually chambered for the 5.56x45. It says so in the manual.

 

[23 Blast]

The Mini-14 is actually chambered for the 5.56x45. It says so in the manual.

Ah. Thank you. Wikipedia says Minis are .223 and only the AC556 and the GB models are 5.56NATO.

Guess I shouldn't have believed them when they said Obama was really a space alien from Gorkon 5....

 

[Ballistic]

Whackypedia says a lot of things, it's the sheeple's 'research' source, well it is for those that don't just absorb the spoon fed spoonge from mainstream media and want to 'think' that they are 'thinking for themselves'. :blink:

You have found the proper research source for the mini 14/30 range of rifles.

 

[23 Blast]

Wikipedia isn't all bad. It's a decent starting point for a lot of research projects - just so long as you don't rely on it as your ONLY reference source.

FWIW, when I downloaded the Mini 14 manual, it says "The RUGER MINI 14 rifles are chambered for the .223 Remington (5.56mm) cartridge. The Mini 14 rifle is designed to use either standardized U.S. Military, or factory loaded sporting .223 (5.56mm) cartridges manufactured in accordance with U.S. industry practice."

Basically, the Ruger manual would have you think that .223 and 5.56 are essentially identical.

Heck, for a long time I thought the only difference was the Imperial versus the metric nomenclature.