[jkghome]

I recently purchased a ranch mini synthetic/stainless. I love it!!!
It is truly an excellent weapon. I was fortunate enough to acquire some factory mags also. I want to thank all the great people that make all this information possible. The info I have learned here has greatly enhanced my ownership of this fine weapon. I am in the process of making some modifications that I have read about in this forum. The wealth of experience and knowledg that has accumulated in this place goes to show that the spirit of community is not dead in this great land of ours!!!!

THANK YOU

 

[cajungeo]

jk, welcome to the forum. Just a suggestion if you have the time or inclination, before you mod, see how your mini shoots, it shure is satisfying to see how much your work paid off, in improving accuracy, recoil etc. using the same ammo, range, etc. So far my SS ranch has gone from 4 1/2" at 100 yd to 1 1/2". Some on this forum are even better. Am currently working on reloading to tighten things up a bit more. Good luck to ya, and keep us posted.

 

[jkghome]

Thanks cajungeo for the welcome! I have been doing some testing with my mini already. I have been pleasantly surprised by its performance. I can keep it at around 2in at 100 yds now. i did this before the muzzle break, and I have not had the chance to try it out with the break yet. I look forward to seeing how it will perform. I do not have the technical expertise to do some of this stuff I read about here. But it still good info to have. I did not feel that the recoil was all that bad with 55gr fmj, I can only imagine what changes a gas block would make. I recently some type of recoil buffer at a gun show, it looked like a small square piece of plastic. Does anyone have any info on this item?

Thanks for all the help jkg

 

[Tady45]

Welcome JKG Home,
I have the exact same Mini as yourself...I to, have a couple of factory mags. Pricy little Devils that they are. I have also found John Masen mags to perform well. As for ammo, I have shot it all. Get your self some M193 5.56 Federal White box. It's a military round that packs a good pop For some better penetration rounds, the SS109 are the ticket. They are made by various countries. Called "Green Tips" they are a 62 grain round with steel cores. My ranch recently had a broken firing pin. I am not sure the reason, but dry fire as little as possible. It's a great, fun, weapon, that will keep the bad guys away out to about 200 yards...Good to have you here. I have learned much from this forum, and I am sure that you will to.

Larry:usa:

 

[cajungeo]

jk, click here for recoil buffer http://www.buffertech.com/mini14.htm
Shop around I've seen em for 11.95 somewhere.
I also installed a way smaller gas bushing, and muzzle brake, now my mini has slightly more recoil than my 10-22.
Some minis had no problem with the buffers, and some had to fire about 500 rds to break them in, as they are a little thick.

 

[jkghome]

I appreciate the response to my question on the recoil buffer. The link was incredibly helpful. I can see that being a member of this forum is going to be a valuable tool in enhancing my mini 14 ownership. I took a lot of flak from my buds here at home for buying a mini. Theyt are all AR-15 nuts. Not that I am saying anything bad about the AR15, but I did spend a lot less money than they all did. I could have two mini 14s for what most of them payed for their ARs. Anyway.thanks again for all the great info!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

jkg

 

[Satan2655]

Originally posted by Tady45
My ranch recently had a broken firing pin. I am not sure the reason, but dry fire as little as possible.

Dude I was taught from day 1 to NEVER dry-fire a weapon. Broken firing pins is what happens. They make a "Snap cap" which is a plastic round designed specifically for dry-firing practice. It has a spring-loaded "Primer" that absorbs the impact of the pin, thus preserving its integrity.

They are also useful for improving your marksmanship. Have a friend load up a clip and sneak the snap-cap in the magazine somewhere. When you get to that round unknowingly, you will then find out if you have a flinch when you pull the trigger and there's no bang, watch where your point of aim went to...

 

[Tady45]

Satan, I agree.....I bought my rifle used and despite the fact that it looked bran new it apparently had been dry fired prior to my ownership? I know now that I will not dry fire ever.. I am still a bit curious however if the military surplus ammo is harder on my Mini than regular civilian rounds?


Larry

 

[cajungeo]

I wish I had a quarter for every time I've been a gun shop or gun show, and watch the store guy hand a dude a rifle or pistol, who grabs it by the blue steel barrel, puts it to his shoulder, works the action and dry fires it in the store. Usually this kind of dude will do this more than once with several guns. Sometimes the store owner will say something, sometimes he just cringes, I just cringe when I see it. Then the store guy has to wipe all the had prints, acids, salts, and whatever else off the blued barrel.

You asked for opinions if military ammo is harder on the mini than commercial. My opinion is not much difference if both have brass cases. I believe the steel cases are harder on the bolt face, extractor, and chamber, because steel is harder than brass. The steel core bullets are covered with some lead, and a copper jacket so the barrel wear should be the same. Still there are those in this forum that have fired thousands of rounds with steel case bullets, and they still are plinking away.

 

[joe2hewes]

Hey Satan,
I've done that snap cap flinch test many times with my 1911a1 and have video taped it. I found I had a bad habit of pushing the nose down to "compensate" for recoil. When I played the tape back in slowmo, I was amazed. I corrected my problem and tightened up groups considerably. I haven't tried it with rifles yet.
Joe