zdogk9
04-10-2009, 04:46 PM
Mini 14
Boat anchor
Structural concrete reinforcement
Tent peg?
The weapon in question is a 185 series Mini 14. Folks this is not and never will be, OK, not without a lot of extra money tossed its way, a precision rifle. It is a decent plinking piece. To this end I tossed it, 40 rounds of Wolfe ammo and 40 rounds of my handloads in the truck and took off for an abandoned quarry near where I live. Max range is about 50 yards at the quarry so I took the quintessential plinking target and set it up down range. I then slapped a 30 round magazine in and proceeded to blaze away, frightening the poop out of the pop can. I then decided that I needed about four clicks of elevation. The very next shot I center-punched the pop can and the bolt locked back.
Next up was my 10 round mag. Loaded that up and was hitting the can 30% of the time. I’m not sure what powder Wolfe uses but the stuff stinks.
Next I load the 10 rounder with my handloads, (Lake City ’07, Tac and Hornady 55gr fmj).
HOT DAMN! I’m now hitting 40%!
I now put a ½ gallon milk jug on the berm and load up another 10 rounder. My hit ratio is now 100% and stays at that for another two magazines.
I consider a pop can off-hand at 50 yards, or so, the standard for plinking. In my opinion the main reason the Mini did not do this is because the stock. I’m 6’2” with long arms and a long neck. The LOP of the stock is just too short. Add a curved metal butt plate, (think greased doorknob slick here) and it just does not enable me to lock myself into the weapon. A bit of skateboard tape is most likely in order.
During the 80 rounds fired I had one failure to extract with my handloads. The issue I do have is that at least 50% of the case mouths get dinged up to the point that I have to tinker with them before they will go into the re-sizing die. I spent way too much time with the Lake City brass getting it ready to re-load to feel good about this.
I like that it bears more than a passing resemblance to a M 14, I wish that it was as accurate as the one I carried.
At the time Ruger designed this weapon the simple fixes and mods to get accuracy from a platform of this nature were well known and in wide usage in target shooting circles. They weren’t used. In the same line of thought, M 16 magazines were widely available, it would have been easy enough to design the package to enable the use of these rather than lock the customer/client into a proprietary design.
I am sure that with a properly fitting stock the rifle would meet my “plinking standard” as it is it’s a truck gun, I’d not take a shot at a coyote over 50-60 yards, this would not be a problem for me with my AR 15 out to 100yds. (stock fit). When the zombies come through the wire, I’ll grab the AR and the SKS the Mini’ll stay in the safe. When it’s time to introduce a child to the joys of centerfire, I’ll grab the mini.
Z
Boat anchor
Structural concrete reinforcement
Tent peg?
The weapon in question is a 185 series Mini 14. Folks this is not and never will be, OK, not without a lot of extra money tossed its way, a precision rifle. It is a decent plinking piece. To this end I tossed it, 40 rounds of Wolfe ammo and 40 rounds of my handloads in the truck and took off for an abandoned quarry near where I live. Max range is about 50 yards at the quarry so I took the quintessential plinking target and set it up down range. I then slapped a 30 round magazine in and proceeded to blaze away, frightening the poop out of the pop can. I then decided that I needed about four clicks of elevation. The very next shot I center-punched the pop can and the bolt locked back.
Next up was my 10 round mag. Loaded that up and was hitting the can 30% of the time. I’m not sure what powder Wolfe uses but the stuff stinks.
Next I load the 10 rounder with my handloads, (Lake City ’07, Tac and Hornady 55gr fmj).
HOT DAMN! I’m now hitting 40%!
I now put a ½ gallon milk jug on the berm and load up another 10 rounder. My hit ratio is now 100% and stays at that for another two magazines.
I consider a pop can off-hand at 50 yards, or so, the standard for plinking. In my opinion the main reason the Mini did not do this is because the stock. I’m 6’2” with long arms and a long neck. The LOP of the stock is just too short. Add a curved metal butt plate, (think greased doorknob slick here) and it just does not enable me to lock myself into the weapon. A bit of skateboard tape is most likely in order.
During the 80 rounds fired I had one failure to extract with my handloads. The issue I do have is that at least 50% of the case mouths get dinged up to the point that I have to tinker with them before they will go into the re-sizing die. I spent way too much time with the Lake City brass getting it ready to re-load to feel good about this.
I like that it bears more than a passing resemblance to a M 14, I wish that it was as accurate as the one I carried.
At the time Ruger designed this weapon the simple fixes and mods to get accuracy from a platform of this nature were well known and in wide usage in target shooting circles. They weren’t used. In the same line of thought, M 16 magazines were widely available, it would have been easy enough to design the package to enable the use of these rather than lock the customer/client into a proprietary design.
I am sure that with a properly fitting stock the rifle would meet my “plinking standard” as it is it’s a truck gun, I’d not take a shot at a coyote over 50-60 yards, this would not be a problem for me with my AR 15 out to 100yds. (stock fit). When the zombies come through the wire, I’ll grab the AR and the SKS the Mini’ll stay in the safe. When it’s time to introduce a child to the joys of centerfire, I’ll grab the mini.
Z