[bohemond]

I recently bought a new late series stainless mini. I took it to the range and it worked flawlessly (fired about a hundred rounds). After a very thorough cleaning, I put it in a wood stock (per instructions found in this forum...not too complicated).

Today I took it back to the range and tried firing it again. The ammo was decent quality (brass cased), though different brand than the ammo I shot the first time out. Roughly half of the shots had a failure to extract. Three or four times the trigger assembly unlatched (during recoil vibration) and actually fell out the bottom. It seemed to be latched securely (no different from how it was in the synthetic stock).

Is it possible that I bent the trigger guard when I disassembled the rifle (so that it doesn't latch as securely as it should)? It doesn't look any different, but perhaps this happens sometimes(?) Could this somehow also be related to a failure to extract? If I end up sending it back to Ruger, do I need to put the original parts back on (the original stock and remove the choate handguard I also put on) ...or will they work on it as is? I appreciate any ideas or advice. Thanks.

 

[slazykz]

Oh boy...welcome to the club. I don't know anything about the trigger assembly but I will say send it back in for the FTE.

Ruger's mini 14 reputation of reliability is quickly going the way of 8track and beta.

 

[Texan]

That sounds odd. The rifle didn't fail until after you cleaned it? No offense, but are you sure you reassembled it correctly? There's a reassembly video on the Ruger site to double check. The trigger assembly falling out sounds really strange.

 

[bohemond]

No offense taken at all. I really appreciate the help.

I am pretty sure. I've been firing/cleaning weapons for 30+years...though this is my first mini-14. It is possible that its wrong somehow, but then it does still shoot right half the time. The trigger assembly seems to be coming unlatched and then falling out. Perhaps with the new stock, it is failing to completely latch. When it looks latched, I can pull hard on it and it seems secure, but unlatches on some recoils. It's really odd to have both this and the FTE problem start at the same time...perhaps they are related. I'll put it back in the original stock and try again next week. In the meantime though, I still appreciate any other thoughts from people with more mini 14 experience.

 

[whofarted]

Not that i think this is the problem but when you put it in the wood stock did you put the the metal reinforcement bracket on?

Now as for the trigger guard unlatching. You can tweak the trigger guard back into shape to get a more snug fit.

Finally. Before freaking out too much toss it back into the original stock and see how it performs in that. Its always easier to troubleshoot when you remove variables

 

[mwood]

When I spoke to CS on the FTE issue this AM the rep said she hadn't been getting many reports of the problem, just a few but there are 12 CS reps so multiply a few by 12 and you get a whole bunch.

 

[whofarted]

When I spoke to CS on the FTE issue this AM the rep said she hadn't been getting many reports of the problem, just a few but there are 12 CS reps so multiply a few by 12 and you get a whole bunch.

but then take into consideration of amount produced. That number gets really small again.

I also think that its a red flag that out of the box he was good to go but after he broke it down and swapped stocks he had failures

 

[bohemond]

The wood stock does have the reinforcement bracket.

I've got it back in the original stock now, just need to try shooting it again later this week to see if the problem is still there.

If I do end up sending it back to Ruger, will they accept it with the choate handguard on, or should I put on the factory one?

 

[whofarted]

Ive always been told to try to send it back as stock as possible.

 

[40nascar]

They will take it either way. If the handguard is determined by the tech to be part of the problem though, they will replace it with a stock handguard. Its always best to send it in as close to original as possible. That helps them in troubleshooting the problem. Changing stocks can sometimes be a problem. If a deminsion is off by as little as a few thousanth's of an inch it can cause the problem you describe. Good luck with your project.

 

[KingANuthin]

If your trigger group isn't in right, you will have fail to extracts. The hammer could be stopping the bolt short because its not secure. I've experienced this first hand when switch to an ATI stock.
The trigger group may not be able to go deep enough into the stock to lock into the receiver. Try the synthetic again.

 

[bohemond]

Well that sounds encouraging at least. Thanks. I'll give it a try and let you know what happened.

 

[bohemond]

Shot it today in synthetic stock...worked 4.0

Thanks for the help. Time to start shopping around for a better wood stock.

 

[Chilly]

A loose stock lets the action jump and shift, ejecting the trigger group. My 581 was reliable until I put it in a Boyd's stock. Then it started spotaneously dumping the trigger group. I bedded the action and trigger group but haven't been to the range with it since.

 

[46Slick]

I am also getting a problem with the trigger group dropping out. It follows a fail to fire. Original stock. Everything seems tight when assembled. Rifle has been apart for a buffer, and a Unimat top forend. It does seem easier to disassemble than originally. When it stops raining around her I will look into it further.

 

[kwg020]

How about making sure everything is re-assembled correctly before sending it back? I have had 3 Mini's with 2 different styles and if they are re-assembled correctly to work flawlessly. If not, it's a disaster. kwg

 

[bohemond]

I was going to let the thread die, but saw another with a similar issue posted.

I found another wood stock, this one with a wood hand guard too. It looks great. I took it to the range and it worked great on 99 of the 100 rounds I fired. The trigger group dropped out on one shot, though there was no failure to extract.

I've measured the synthetic fit and compared it to the wood...no noticeable differences (between the receiver and trigger groups) that I can tell. The wood is a lot tighter than the synthetic though. I'm not sure what to make of it. 99 out of a 100 is pretty close to perfect, but still unacceptable. I'll keep playing with it, and see if problem goes away.

I've had it disassembled and reassembled about 100 times now, and am confident it's being put together correctly (at least as far as possible, given the possibility of the different stock being a fraction of a millimeter too large/small/whatever). If anyone else has experience with this sort of thing, I'm all ears.

 

[tri70]

Is the trigger guard easy to unlatch the group out of the stock? It should fit tight and not be easy at all. My minis I use a screwdriver to assist in pulling the guard back to drop the group. You may need to bend slightly to improve fit.

 

[Dacotua]

I was going to let the thread die, but saw another with a similar issue posted.

I found another wood stock, this one with a wood hand guard too. It looks great. I took it to the range and it worked great on 99 of the 100 rounds I fired. The trigger group dropped out on one shot, though there was no failure to extract.

I've measured the synthetic fit and compared it to the wood...no noticeable differences (between the receiver and trigger groups) that I can tell. The wood is a lot tighter than the synthetic though. I'm not sure what to make of it. 99 out of a 100 is pretty close to perfect, but still unacceptable. I'll keep playing with it, and see if problem goes away.

I've had it disassembled and reassembled about 100 times now, and am confident it's being put together correctly (at least as far as possible, given the possibility of the different stock being a fraction of a millimeter too large/small/whatever). If anyone else has experience with this sort of thing, I'm all ears.

Does your wood stock have the oprod forend liner and proper trigger reinforcement bracket?

Sythetic guns dont come with them as the stock has these molded into them. Wood stocks dont so ruger puts these parts in the wood stocks.

 

[bohemond]

The wood stocks have had the reinforcement and liner.

I did some searches for "trigger falling out of mini 14" and got quite a few hits. Apparently, though it may not be common, it is known to Ruger as a possible failure mode. The fix to the problem is either sending it back to them for a quick fix, or bending the trigger guard a little yourself. A lot of threads talked about it, and this one in particular had some pictures:

http://www.perfectunion.com/vb/ruge...lem-my-mini-30-trigger-group-falling-out.html

I'm hoping that the failure to extract malfunctions with the previous stock caused my trigger guard to bend/loosen up a bit. I've made a minor adjustment to stiffen it up a little, and hope the problem will go away now. I'll post an update next time I shoot it.

Thanks for the advice, and I welcome more if anyone any suggestions/ideas.