[nicktx1]

Hello All,
New to the forum (although I monitored it for some time now as a visitor). Just got a new mini-14 (tactical' yes it sounds "rediculus" but ... . Brought it home, loaded the magezine and racked several times the slide to the locked position (magazine empty). Two days later picked it up to clean for the range. And, what a surprise! On the slide assembly was a patch of blueing missing (I see the unprocessed metal underneath).
The bluing is missing at the curved area of the slide assembly exactly in front of the "channel opening" of the handguard assembly (when the slide is locked back). It is as wide as the slide and then becomes narrower. It seems that this was the result of direct contact o the slide to the handguard assembly channel.
- firearm is with its original preserving lub
- unfired

Is this a "common" occurance?
Would it mean that the cotnact of slide to hanguard is out of spec 9with obvious consequences to the operation of the rifle?)
what so I do? Is it a warranty issue?

On another note:
if it goes back to Ruger, will they aagree to fit a couple fo extra firing pins, OR even bold+firing pins? I see there is a lot of discussion on the forum on this issue, so i was wondering if there is any advise on how to ask/deal with Ruger for doing this

Thank you!!!!
Nick

 

[COBrien]

I wouldn't call it "normal," but I wouldn't say it's unusual, either. My stainless op rod shows obvious signs of rubbing against my handguard (i.e., shiny spots), but my rifle's got 1,000+ rounds through it.

IMO, if you're worried about the finish, get some cold blue and touch it up. That's one of those areas where cosmetic wear is likely to happen -- having the cold blue on hand will help you keep it covered.

Also take a look at your handguard and see if you can rotate it a bit to the left, away from the op rod. Just a few thousandths' clearance is all that's needed, really.

Will it affect function? I highly doubt it. These rifles are built to be dead-reliable, and no handguard rubbing is going to slow one down. :lol:

 

[nicktx1]

COBrien, thanks for the info! I assuem you sugegst I shouldn't contact ruger?

 

[COBrien]

COBrien, thanks for the info! I assuem you sugegst I shouldn't contact ruger?

You could, but IMHO it's not worth the hassle of shipping it back to them and waiting a couple of weeks.

I mean, it's your rifle, of course, but if it were me I'd just pick up some cold blue and call it good.

 

[nicktx1]

Thank you! (I just notice the statement Μολών Λαβέ ...

 

[glenwatkins]

Dump that ugly handguard! Choate Ventilated Handguard Ruger Mini-14 Mini-30 Synthetic Black

 

[COBrien]

Dump that ugly handguard! Choate Ventilated Handguard Ruger Mini-14 Mini-30 Synthetic Black

...not to mention the Choate cools so much better...

 

[nicktx1]

guys ... and the list of "things-to-get" grows

 

[COBrien]

That's what PU is all about for Mini owners... My rifle is never "done," I just take breaks to spend money on my motorcycle.

...my girlfriend accuses me of cheating on her with my guns and my bike... :lol:

 

[nicktx1]

... my wife says the same!

 

[SUBlime]

My op rod has similar wear from the hand guard (I've got the Choate one's too on both my Minis). I wouldn't sweat it, you're gonna get wear where parts touch and the op rod has a bit of slop in it so it's gonna move around a bit as it cycles. I think that the wide tolerances are one of the primary reasons for the Mini's legendary reliability - so it's really a double edged sword I suppose. On my Mini with the most wear on the op rod, the rod itself seems to be bent - visually so - I haven't sent it back because the rifle functions well as is so I just let it go, though I've got the aforementioned wear on the top of the rod.