Mini 14,or 30, do the new models use hi cap. mags what is the effective range w/scop

stan_b8

Do new mini's use hi cap. mags.what is effective range w/ scope mini 14 & 30do they make a 308 mini 30do most hunter use something to cover s.s. to keep from giving position away.what would be a good alternative to a mini with a 400 yd. range around same price with hi cap. mag.thanks for your time

gap1916

I have owned and shot both the Mini 14 nad Mini 30. I would say the maximum effective range of these rifles with or with out a scope is about 300 yards. Assuming that the rifle has no modifications. The orininal Ruger Mini 14 was going to be a .308 NATO round. There were a few produced but it never went into mass production. Any of the AR type rifles will give you good accuracy to 400 yards. They cost a little more.I talked with Ruger Mfg. They said that a few proto types were produced. They could not work the bugs out and settled for the Mini 14 and then 30. Go to Rugers web page and ask them.[This message has been edited by gap1916 (edited 10-09-2001).]

leeblackman

Do some research on each individuals ballistics and trajectory. Expect maybe a 2-3MOA with the mini-14, I don't know about the mini-30.I believe the army qualify's with their M16's out to 500yds.The heavier the bullet generally the more efective it will be at longer ranges, it does not loose its energy as fast as a lighter bullet and it will not move off target as much do to wind.I personally would not get a Mini-14 or 30 for 400yd targets.I'd probably go with a M1A it sounds like more what your looking for.Yes the new Mini's accept hi-cap mags.GAP1916-I've never heard that Ruger made any Mini's in .308. Where did you hear that, if someone told you that, sounds like they fabricated that themselves.As far as I know the Mini-14 is supposed to be just that a Miniature M14. But was never made to fire the 7.62x51mm (.308win). The action is to short.

ED P

Be careful on the high cap mags- Ruger factory high cap mags cost almost $100 a piece now, and are hard to find.PMI (Precision Magazines) brand magazines function well, but you have to load an even number of bullets in order to insert it into the gun without the bolt open. It's a weird quirk, but a round on the right side will bind up when trying to stick it in the rifle. I've seen this on guns other than mine, so it's probably a common problem. PMI are great otherwise, and can be found at online auctions, new in bag post ban, for less than $50USA magazines- Very mixed, some people claim they work with modifications. I have 2, and find the last couple rounds will not feed properly, as the follower binds up and the bolt will mush the round up against the magazine and not load. Try finding PMI if you buy one.If you're even considering 7.62x39, I'd suggest a Romanian SAR-1, they are a reliable AK variant, cost around $350 at most, and you can get reliable, post ban 30 round magazines for $15-$25 a piece new. Plus the Wolf ammo is cheap, military quality stuff, at $90 for 1000 rounds.400 yd range, I'd go with something like a Bushmaster for $700, or M1A in .308 for 1K[This message has been edited by ED P (edited 10-09-2001).]

gruntled

Leeblackman: Original design was to be calledXGI & was to be in .308. Ruger has a habit of drumming up demand before they have the product & sometimes it backfires. I would still like to have a .22/.22 mag bearcat.

ref44

Ruger cataloged the .308 for two years. I know a guy who claimed to have seen one at a gun show; but I cannot document that. I heard the round was too long to feed properly (as noted above); so they opted for the 7.62x39 instead of the 7.62x51.My experience with both the 14 and 30 is that accuracy is mediocre, at best. At 400 yards, forget it.Ruger never made any hi-caps for the 30 (as noted).My USA story is too long to tell (again); but I would never buy ANY product from them. Try to get them to stand behind something and see what happens. Rather than replace two bad magazines, they elected to let me put an ad in a national publication about their lack of quality and poor customer focus.

JudgeColt

The XGI did not preceed the Mini-14. The Mini-14 was introduced in 1974 to law enforcement and in 1976 as a cataloged item. The XGI was a great idea because it was designed to use the M14 magazine format, but, as I recall the story, there were accuracy problems (I suspect something else as well) and the gun never went into production. Too bad. The Mini-30 followed in 1987 as a larger bore Mini-14. (The .223 and 7.62x39 are about the same overall length so the conversion was easy.)The brushed stainless on a Mini-14 is no more light-reflective than the blue on a Mini-14. Nothing special is required over what you would do with a blue Mini-14.After posting and then rereading the previous posts, it is important to understand that the XGI was not a version of the Mini-14. The action on a Mini-14 is far too short to handle the .308. The XGI was an entirely new design that resembled the Mini-14 only the way the M1A resembles the Mini-14. You could say the XGI was a scaled-up Mini-14. The Mini-30 is a rechambered and rebored Mini-14, not a different action. [This message has been edited by JudgeColt (edited 10-09-2001).]

JustC

dano, aftermarket hi caps available for mini-30 about 15-20 bucks. As for the original topic, the mini 14 uses a bullet which CAN BE very accurate, however, when shot from this rifle, don't expect a miracle. Accuracy is somewhat dissapointing.