[DiN_BLiX]

I was laying in bed this morning thinking about how ranch rifles launch brass so far right and not in a neat little pile right and slightly forward and I had a crazy thought. Could the distance and direction of ejection be tuned by changing the geometry of the ejector?

Another one I've been toying around with is what if any effect lightening the slide block(that big chunk of metal that moves everytime you fire) would have on accuracy and ejection distance. I dont really have the cash and the parts arent in stock everyplace I've checked but I think in the near future im going to answer these questions. Any thoughts?

 

[grumpy_old_man]

I was laying in bed this morning thinking about how ranch rifles launch brass so far right and not in a neat little pile right and slightly forward and I had a crazy thought. Could the distance and direction of ejection be tuned by changing the geometry of the ejector?

Another one I've been toying around with is what if any effect lightening the slide block(that big chunk of metal that moves everytime you fire) would have on accuracy and ejection distance. I dont really have the cash and the parts arent in stock everyplace I've checked but I think in the near future im going to answer these questions. Any thoughts?

I suspect that the culprit in the inconsistency of placement of the pile is the slop between the ejector and the bolt. My old gen Mini 14's with Garand style bolt faces (and permanently attached ejectors) all tended to make neat piles of brass - way the heck out there, but neat.

If you want to change your ejection pattern to one that is both more consistent and more forward than to the side, I suspect that a bit more gas in the action (under-gassed AR's eject to the rear, over-gassed to the front IIRC) combined with a better fitting ejector/bolt interface may be the ticket. Or I could be completely wrong.

Best,
Grumpy

 

[kwg020]

Different powders at different loads also throw brass different directions. 24 grains of 4895 throw brass forward while 24 grains of RL10 throw it out the sides and maybe back a little. 4895 is a slower powder than RL10.

Get a new gas bushing and stop chasing brass. I do suggest you get one that makes the Mini dependable even is you still have to chase brass. My own lessons are .045 is on the edge of too small while .050 is large enough to be dependable but you will still be chasing brass. Not as far as before but figure on 10 to 12 feet. Your mileage may vary, that's my observations. kwg

 

[tri70]

As a reloaded I have noticed the powders different burn rates shooting the same bullet weight will affect how the brass is thrown.
Making the op-rod lighter may affect the ability to strip rounds out of the mag and cause more internal wear on the trigger and bolt.

 

[Pet-Rock]

It would be an interesting process to see if you could tune the ejection to make neat little piles. Definitely a great "im bored" project!

Personally, a .048 bushing + a rear wilson combat buffer works fine for me

 

[DiN_BLiX]

It would be an interesting process to see if you could tune the ejection to make neat little piles. Definitely a great "im bored" project!

Personally, a .048 bushing + a rear wilson combat buffer works fine for me

Thats basicly what it is, an I'm bored project. Tri, I dont see why a lightened op rod would wear the trigger and bolt faster, I got the idea from a long gone company that did "raceing mods" to minis in the days before struts. Ejectors are cheap enough to experiment with, I'm not going to mess with the op rod inless I get a "orphaned" on pretty cheap. I'm pretty sure changed the mass of the op rod will require further tuning of the gas port and changing the spring weight.

 

[gundoc]

You can alter the ejector geometry slightly but be careful as the part does double duty as the bolt lock as well. It must be free to ride the recess in the bolt to ensure the bolt can operate properly and not wear a hole in the side of the bolt. the exact angle must also clear the hump on the op-rod or the brass won't eject properly and/or be more damaged if you reload. Altering the mass of the op-rod changes the timing of the action and would require changes to spring energy and gas volume to ensure lock up dwell time and sufficient energy to strip and chamber a new round. You may also have to work out the variables in the travel of the op-rod since it's basically an unsupported part and the reductions would need to take into account any integrity degradation and angular travel that may cause the op-run to jump out of the receiver track during cycling. If you had access to the proper program, I would rather run these simulations on a PC than live fire experimentation. Even after that it would still have the ammunition and environmental variables that would influence ejection to include other parts such as the extractor shape, sharpness, spring force and cleanliness, as well as the bolt face and chamber condition which can allow the brass to be deformed just enough or drag just enough to change the variables again as the empty tries to extract, ride the magazine feed lips until the neck clears and then get to leave the nest without impacting any obstructions.

So before you do anything to change the rifle profile be sure you study it in great detail to ascertain the intended and unintended consequences of each modification. Once you've done that and everything works properly, you can determine the viability of a universal mod that others could use and get the same results.

My post is not meant to discourage you, just to help you consider how all the parts work together. The Mini doesn't have any unnecessary parts except for maybe the sling points, so as you focus on the small picture be sure to step back and see the big one as well. That will make your project successful.

 

[DiN_BLiX]

You can alter the ejector geometry slightly but be careful as the part does double duty as the bolt lock as well. It must be free to ride the recess in the bolt to ensure the bolt can operate properly and not wear a hole in the side of the bolt. the exact angle must also clear the hump on the op-rod or the brass won't eject properly and/or be more damaged if you reload. Altering the mass of the op-rod changes the timing of the action and would require changes to spring energy and gas volume to ensure lock up dwell time and sufficient energy to strip and chamber a new round. You may also have to work out the variables in the travel of the op-rod since it's basically an unsupported part and the reductions would need to take into account any integrity degradation and angular travel that may cause the op-run to jump out of the receiver track during cycling. If you had access to the proper program, I would rather run these simulations on a PC than live fire experimentation. Even after that it would still have the ammunition and environmental variables that would influence ejection to include other parts such as the extractor shape, sharpness, spring force and cleanliness, as well as the bolt face and chamber condition which can allow the brass to be deformed just enough or drag just enough to change the variables again as the empty tries to extract, ride the magazine feed lips until the neck clears and then get to leave the nest without impacting any obstructions.

So before you do anything to change the rifle profile be sure you study it in great detail to ascertain the intended and unintended consequences of each modification. Once you've done that and everything works properly, you can determine the viability of a universal mod that others could use and get the same results.

My post is not meant to discourage you, just to help you consider how all the parts work together. The Mini doesn't have any unnecessary parts except for maybe the sling points, so as you focus on the small picture be sure to step back and see the big one as well. That will make your project successful.

Good advice Doc thanks.

 

[K1500]

Just put a smaller gas bushing in the gun.