Ruger Mini 14 Accuracy Improvements

Ruger Mini 14, great little rifle, light, handy, reliable and easy to use; pity it could not shoot its way out of a wheelie bin from the inside! When Ruger fi nally agreed to make a straight-pull model for the UK a lot of us got excited. Pre the1988 SLR ban it proved a great little tool at the right price and proved popular at club level!

When they came back into the UK I got the Mini 14 GB version - flash hider, bayonet lug/foresight and the Rugerdesigned side-folding stock with pistol grip. I was set but the damn thing did not shoot worth a damn, like them all. Average groups were 4-5” @ 100-yards and it never got any better.

Nothing

I tried a lot of things, different weight ammo, smoothing up the operating rod, rubber Hogue stock, rubber buffer plate, steel tubes over the barrel to increase rigidity, re-crowning. I even got the gas block pinned to the barrel! Nothing made any difference and in the end I sold it to a guy who never shot beyond 50-yards and had no real aspirations of accuracy; lucky bugger! However, recently I have had a hankering for a hi-cap straight-pull. So once again my thoughts turned to a Mini. I knew what I was likely to be getting into, but thought I could maybe sort it this time.

Miss Whiplash

The real issue is the ultra-light barrel, which literally whipped on firing, so throwing the rounds everywhere. The latest versions show a heavier profi le and reports indicate they shoot much better. A call to Viking Arms showed that they had sold all their guns so that put the mockers on that. Then I asked the owner of my old gun if he would sell it back to me and he agreed. So I was once again the dubious owner of a Mini 14 GB.

Given nothing had worked to date, I planned to cut the barrel to 14 or 16”, which would if nothing else increase the rigidity as there was less metal to vibrate. I doubted if I would be shooting it much past 200-yards and shorties look cool. However, a friend of mine was after a Mini but got a Steyr AUG bullpup instead. This left him with in possession of a stabiliser rod that clamps under the barrel. Research shows there are two makes the Accu-Strut and the Mo-Rod, he had a copy!

Quick Fix?

I am dubious of so called, quick fix solutions, as I have tested enough to know that most don’t work, but what the hell! First job was to tear the rifle down and clean it, as by the looks of it its previous owner never had. I plugged the barrel at the chamber, poured in bore cleaner, plugged the muzzle and left it for a day. Then lots of scrubbing and patching followed by a good de-coppering got it back to bare metal.

So now to start again. I fitted a 3-9x40 scope and selected two loads - Prvi Partizan (PPU) 55-grain FMJ and Hornady TAP FPD, 60-grain A-MAX. Off a bench and bag the rifle shot as I remembered 4-5” groups with neither brand showing any advantage over the other. So I was back at square one.

With no real belief in the ersatz Mo-Rod I fitted it under the barrel. Well off to the left at 8 o’clock actually as my GB has the foresight with bayonet lug underneath halfway down the tube, which gets in the way. The unit consists of two alloy, fig-8 clamps and a plain, 6.25 x .5” steel bar, at the rear is a slotted section with a grub screw. On the standard gun this slides over the flange at the front of the gas block to further aid stability.

Quantum Leap

However the GB’s gas block is different as it does not have a flange. So all bolted up I repeated the test and much to my surprise the damn thing worked! The PPU was now shooting 1.5” and the TAP FPD 1.25”. OK not amazing when compared to my old SGC Speedmaster, which could manage ½” even on a bad day, but for a Mini 14; target quality!

Group shapes were odd with both showing flat/long triangles, with two rounds vertical about ¾” apart and the third off to the side making the point. Though not sure I put this down to hanging the strut off the left side. Since then I have cut the bayonet lug off and with a bit of modifi cation to the rear of the rod it now sits under the barrel and is secure. It occurred to me that rod length might be another factor worth investigating, as that too could have an effect.

Currently the rifle is wearing the Hogue rubber, over-moulded stock and feels a bit nose heavy due to the extra weight of the rod assembly. Which makes it a bit more stable and gives it an M14-ish look, which is no bad thing either!

I’ll get back to you on how things shape up, as my thoughts have now turned to bullet weight, which might shave a few more MMs off group size, who knows? But for all frustrated Mini 14 owners, who still have their rifles - there’s light at the end of the tunnel, I reckon! Now the bad news, both Accu-Strut and Mo-Rod currently say they do not export their products outside of the USA. My friend got his off E-Bay. However, doubtless some enterprising gunsmith could fabricate something similar, as neither is rocket science!