[arrowbullet]

I bought a Mini-14 Ranch Rifle, which was made late last year, and I bought a 30 round stainless steel magazine to put into it. However, the magazine didn't fit, and my Mini tore a big gouge into it. Did Ruger decrease the width of the magazine well to prevent high capacity magazines? If they did, Ruger can take my gun and shove it up their A$$. Thanks.

 

[cajungeo]

Did Ruger decrease the width of the magazine well to prevent high capacity magazines?

Not to my knowledge. I would say you may have gotten a mag for a mini-30?

 

[quadfan]

What cajungeo said.
OR,you need to get your dremel out and work on the mag a littlle! As most mini-owners know, some aftermarket mags fit and function better than others!! But they all will work,eventually!

Your description is vague,and I'm not sure what you mean by "big gouge"!

 

[arrowbullet]

I was sure it was a Mini-14 magazine because it was labeled .223 and it fit the .223 cartridge. By big gouge, I mean a huge cut on the outside of the stainless steel mag caused by a small piece in the Mini-14's mag well. At least the Mini-14 tore up the magazine and not the other way around..... Anyway, I bet they dind't decrease the width, because there's no way they could tell the difference between a 10 and 20 or 30 round. Thanks.:ar15:

 

[quadfan]

Originally posted by arrowbullet
I was sure it was a Mini-14 magazine because it was labeled .223 and it fit the .223 cartridge. By big gouge, I mean a huge cut on the outside of the stainless steel mag caused by a small piece in the Mini-14's mag well. At least the Mini-14 tore up the magazine and not the other way around..... Anyway, I bet they dind't decrease the width, because there's no way they could tell the difference between a 10 and 20 or 30 round. Thanks.:ar15:

You just answered your original question. You are exactly right! There is no way a mini can tell the difference between all those mags. So about the gouge,I would still need more info-Such as: Where exactly on the mag is it? How long,wide,deep is it? Does it look like maybe a bent piece on the steel insert of the stock,or maybe casting flash? Can you feel somthing sharp with your fingers in the mag well? Does it do the same with your 5rd mag?Wait,NO it does'nt or you would say so! So it almost sounds like maybe the mag was a little distorted.

Ruger (and most gun mfgs.) never changed their magwells so preban mags will not fit. BUT in the case of some AK's, you can find some for under $200 that have had their magwells cut way out to fit the new single stack 10rd mags. There is almost no way to make them work with the normal preban AK mags (because they made the 10rd mags physically bigger,therefore material would have to be ADDED to the receiver in order to use the high-cap mags). That is about the only example I can even think of where a gun is engineered NOT to take a preban mag. All the ban says is no more (high-cap mags) can be manufactured, not used if you allready own them.

 

[Mengo]

When I was on vacation years ago, I went to a local shop and overheard a conversation about Ruger changing the mag well dimensions. As it turned out the guy was trying to put some sort of Mini30 mag in a 14.
But with the new Ranch I did notice there was a little wood overhanging the stock reinforcement and into the mag well. It made insertion quite tight til I removed the excess.

 

[Mengo]

As a follow-up check the stock reinforcemnet screws too. sometimes they extend into the mag well and may have to be trimmed a little or backed out some.

 

[cajungeo]

Mengo I hadn't thought of that. The screws could cause the mag well to be too narrow, if the screws were to long.

Arrowbullet, if thats the problem, and you do back them out, I'd take them out, and put loctite blue on the threads so they won't vibrate loose, to get lost somewhere. Or use a dremmel tool, and grind off the excess threads.

 

[djskit]

I personally think that this whole "ruger changed the mag well dimensions so hi-caps can't fit" is an urban legend.
I had a similar problem with my ranch with one type of stock, but with a different stock my 20 rounder fit OK.
IMHO, ruger's quality control is slipping and each rifle needs a little "tuning" to function well. I worked my mag well over with the Dremmel and all was well!

 

[gutpile]

guys i really hate to badmouth ruger, but djskit you are absolutely right about rugers quality control slipping, they are putting out some firearms that wont even function here lately. 2 years ago i bought a vaquero .45 and the danged thing would lock up tight every time you fired it, sometimes it would lock up even by just rotating the cylinder and releasing the hammer i had to send it back to the factory THREE times before they got it fixed, than after the third time it had to go back for a FOURTH time because the clown working on it boogered the grip frame screw heads, i was pissed with ruger by the time it finally was over,(by the way, the gun does shoot excellant, but thats beside the point). just last summer i bought a new mk.II .22, it jammed 3 or 4 times with every clip full. cleaning and changing ammo brands didnt work, it had a rough chamber from the factory, i took it back to the dealer and traded it for a another mk.II, this time a stainless one, same story, damned thing would jam just like the other one, rough chamber, i know all it would have taken was to smooth the chamber but the thought of me having to fix a brand new gun ticked me off, so i traded it back to the dealer for a flat-top single six that had just came in, it was made in 1957, back when quality control meant something, and it is a shooter. looking back im glad i was able to get a vintage single six for the same money as a standard mk.II, but the bottem line is, ruger needs to get on the ball and start paying attention to business.
oh in case you all are wondering, the problem with the vaquero turned out to be a faulty loading gate spring that didnt have the right tension, thats what it took to fix it., but, it should never have left the factory in a unusable condition, and even if they had missed it, should have been repaired right the first time instead of sending back to me unrepaired 3 times. thats all i got to say about that.

 

[AZSherman]

Yes-Ruger does suck lately. A guy I work with bought a new P-97 .45. It would ignite only about 1/2 of the rounds. It sucked!!! Sort of like the Mini-30-same problem. The biggest problem I have found with my Mini's is the Mag problem. you just have to get lucky. I have been very blessed with my Thermolds and PMI's. Some of my PMI's that were marginal,(The 40 Rounders) I put in Ruger followers, and now they work. But you just have to avoid those cheesy brands-KKK(Gee-I wouldn't want to own that anyway!) USA, etc. There are even these two ******** that go around to Gunshows (I have seen them in AZ and NV so far) and sell these cheesy POS mags they claim will work in a Mini, and claim they are pre-ban. They are both fat ******** and have ponytails. Their mags all have that satin nickel, almost a champagne finish to them. Well, I saw an old man arguing with them that the mags he had bought from them didn't work. He had his Mini and some red plastic bullets with springs in them, and these mags wouldn't feed at all. They sucked. Some of the mags wouldn't even go into the gun and stay there!!! So the old man started causing a scene!!! They finally gave him his money back. Watch out for these dudes. I questioned them on where they got the mags and who made them, because they look like they just rolled off of the steel former. No scratches, storage marks, no brand names, nothing. They wouldn't answer me.

 

[Swordslinger]

I have owned many rugers and still do. I ran out the year they started doing waiting periods on long guns and bought a 10/22 and It has failed every trip to the range. Then a year later I puchased a 22/45 with the bull barrel. It is super accurate but it too jambs every time out. My mini is 1987 model and it runs like a swiss watch. Never had a problem with the p-85 mk2 that I used to own either. Whats up? People just dont have the same work ethic anymore from the top of the companies right down to the production line. About every other sporting goods purchase I make at wally world ends up going back because its crap. This is a sign of the times and we as a people need to wake up fast. Ruger is not the only ones slipping the whole country has a lower set of standards. Have you ever noticed that a television never tears up or breaks? They dont call it "programing " fro nothin ya know.

My 2 cents.

 

[Wyatt]

Back to arowhead's problem...
Are you sure you don't have an AR-15 mag? I haven't seen a mini mag that says .223 on it but I think I have seen it stamped on AR-15 mags. This could be the reason it does not fit in the magwell, but still holds .223 bullets. Admittedly, I have never tried to fit one of these into a mini, but I know they don't usually fit. (I bet Ruger could have sold alot more minis had they designed them to use AR-15 mags. Part of the gun's appeal is that it can use cheap military surplus ammo. It is too bad that isn't the case for its magazines). Anyway, if that isn't the reason, you probably just bought a real peice of junk magazine.

 

[Swordslinger]

arrowbullet,

Try adjusting the stock reiforce that lines the mag well. When first bedded my wood stock, I got these fitted so perfectly that they would not fit back without force. Once I tightened the screws without noticing that it was not up all the way against the stock and the same thing happened to me. I have not heard that ruger changed the mag well but I wouldnt put it past them. They really jumped on the band wagon with the aw ban crowd in 1994, and supported the high cap magazine provision. Heck, they wouldnt even sell me a bayonet for my GB, said I had to be a officer and then I would need letter head from the police chief. All those drive by bayonet jobs in the big city.

 

[quadfan]

Originally posted by Swordslinger
Heck, they wouldnt even sell me a bayonet for my GB, said I had to be a officer and then I would need letter head from the police chief. All those drive by bayonet jobs in the big city.

Hey Swordslinger, Are you saying that RUGER ACTUALLY makes their own bayonet?!?! Have you actually Seen them with your own eyes? Really stamped RUGER on them?