Archived Posts » 59,821,464
Anyone push the mini hard?
8/4/2011 6:11:48 PM
I'm wondering how much abuse the Mini-14 can take, anyone ever run one in a carbine course or have any with high round count.
8/4/2011 6:17:27 PM
I think there's a thread on perfectunion.com that has a guy that ran his through a course. There's also a reference on M14tfl.com, where one of the guys attended a class running his SOCOM and a mini was there also. He reported no issues with the mini.
8/4/2011 6:40:19 PM
Used to rent out one at the range, with 30 round mags, lots of mag dumps, early 80;s SS rifle, she still runs today with all original parts. 
8/5/2011 1:40:13 AM
I've run mine in several with zero issues. I had one with about 12k rounds down the pipe, run it in filthy conditions and had been plenty happy.
Run factory mags and you'll be fine... FACTORY MAGS. 99% of the problems out there are attributable to shit mags.
For a light carbine with 3 MOA accuracy or so there's nothing wrong with it. I know that in the late '70's and '80's a large metropolitan Southern California SWAT Team was being commanded by a hard-ass Vietnam Marine and they were running Mini's exclusively. Trained hard and abused the hell out of them and they held up. I think they had some of the wood stocks crack and went to the fixed Choate, but I'm not exactly sure.
Run the right mags and don't expect anything more than reasonable moderate range combat accuracy and you'll stay happy. I went to AR's across the board for training purposes and to be comparable with everyone else for mags and spares.
Run factory mags and you'll be fine... FACTORY MAGS. 99% of the problems out there are attributable to shit mags.
For a light carbine with 3 MOA accuracy or so there's nothing wrong with it. I know that in the late '70's and '80's a large metropolitan Southern California SWAT Team was being commanded by a hard-ass Vietnam Marine and they were running Mini's exclusively. Trained hard and abused the hell out of them and they held up. I think they had some of the wood stocks crack and went to the fixed Choate, but I'm not exactly sure.
Run the right mags and don't expect anything more than reasonable moderate range combat accuracy and you'll stay happy. I went to AR's across the board for training purposes and to be comparable with everyone else for mags and spares.
8/5/2011 11:13:22 AM
I don't necessarily know about hard, but my Mini's been on two range trips so far and had about 600 rounds through it.
Not as high a round count as some guys like to have for break-in, but eh. I'm on a college student budget.
I did get it hot enough, though, doing a 120-round rapid-fire string that there was black smoke coming out of the handguards. That's always a good sign.
I thought about getting a wood upper handguard for her, but I'd feel kind of bad if I scorched the crap out of it.
Mini with a dot sight is just so much fun though!
Not as high a round count as some guys like to have for break-in, but eh. I'm on a college student budget.
I did get it hot enough, though, doing a 120-round rapid-fire string that there was black smoke coming out of the handguards. That's always a good sign.
I thought about getting a wood upper handguard for her, but I'd feel kind of bad if I scorched the crap out of it.
Mini with a dot sight is just so much fun though!
8/5/2011 11:55:15 AM
I haven't ran mine real hard, however, a buddy of mine a few years ago had one, I was with him when he bought a case (1000 rounds) of Wolf from the gun show, and I was with him when he fired off about 700 or 800 rounds in a single range trip. (mostly 20 and 30 round mag dumps) No malfunctions. He used to do this all the time, I couldn't even begin to imagine his round count. No major malfunctions that I am aware of. If something would have broke, I would have heard about that. He eventually got arrested for something stupid, not sure what he did but it he got a felony out of it. All guns confiscated.
8/8/2011 7:26:29 PM
Have run my Mini Tactical and Colt AR in several Carbine classes. Both have been run hard where smoke was comming off the oil within the handguard from mag dumps. Use factory mags with the mini and you should not have any problems. This is my third Mini over the last 25 years. No problems with either of the rifles. Had some off brand mags that would not function in the SS mini, but would function in the Tactical. Go figure.
8/17/2011 11:33:59 PM
This was years ago, but my stepfather and I ran so many rounds in one sitting through his Mini 14 that the barrel was burning the wooden table we leaned the gun against. We were having so much fun we lost count of how many rounds we ran through it. I don't recall us having any jams with it, used only factory mags. I also don't recall ever cleaning it, at least not field stripping it ... and it was my job as the kid to clean the guns afterwards, but he never let me tear that one down. Still works fine today.
10/26/2011 5:22:42 PM
What about the problems with firing pins breaking?
10/26/2011 11:18:49 PM
Originally Posted By Blain:
What about the problems with firing pins breaking?
What about the problems with firing pins breaking?
I've never seen one break.
10/27/2011 1:17:02 AM
Originally Posted By 45-Seventy:
Run factory mags and you'll be fine... FACTORY MAGS. 99% of the problems out there are attributable to shit mags.
Run the right mags and don't expect anything more than reasonable moderate range combat accuracy and you'll stay happy. I went to AR's across the board for training purposes and to be comparable with everyone else for mags and spares.
Run factory mags and you'll be fine... FACTORY MAGS. 99% of the problems out there are attributable to shit mags.
Run the right mags and don't expect anything more than reasonable moderate range combat accuracy and you'll stay happy. I went to AR's across the board for training purposes and to be comparable with everyone else for mags and spares.
+1. As far as accuracy goes, make sure you use the right bullet weight for your barrel, if you have a 1-7" twist you won't want to use much lighter than a 68 gr bullet.
I've done tons of mag dumps with a double tap staple mod, and the only issue i've had is that sometimes she doesn't like shooting that fast and won't eject the casing, she's never stove-piped on me, but sometimes i have to cycle the action to eject the spent casing. Other than that I've put around 4k rounds downrange with no issues, and only recently replaced the recoil spring (which after sitting in my uncles basement for about 20 years had compressed about 3/4" and was very noticable when firing.
NOTE: the 4k rounds have been fired by me, I have no idea how many my uncle put through her before I brought her home with me.
10/27/2011 9:54:50 AM
Originally Posted By Joenavy85:
+1. As far as accuracy goes, make sure you use the right bullet weight for your barrel, if you have a 1-7" twist you won't want to use much lighter than a 68 gr bullet.
I've done tons of mag dumps with a double tap staple mod, and the only issue i've had is that sometimes she doesn't like shooting that fast and won't eject the casing, she's never stove-piped on me, but sometimes i have to cycle the action to eject the spent casing. Other than that I've put around 4k rounds downrange with no issues, and only recently replaced the recoil spring (which after sitting in my uncles basement for about 20 years had compressed about 3/4" and was very noticable when firing.
NOTE: the 4k rounds have been fired by me, I have no idea how many my uncle put through her before I brought her home with me.
Originally Posted By 45-Seventy:
Run factory mags and you'll be fine... FACTORY MAGS. 99% of the problems out there are attributable to shit mags.
Run the right mags and don't expect anything more than reasonable moderate range combat accuracy and you'll stay happy. I went to AR's across the board for training purposes and to be comparable with everyone else for mags and spares.
Run factory mags and you'll be fine... FACTORY MAGS. 99% of the problems out there are attributable to shit mags.
Run the right mags and don't expect anything more than reasonable moderate range combat accuracy and you'll stay happy. I went to AR's across the board for training purposes and to be comparable with everyone else for mags and spares.
+1. As far as accuracy goes, make sure you use the right bullet weight for your barrel, if you have a 1-7" twist you won't want to use much lighter than a 68 gr bullet.
I've done tons of mag dumps with a double tap staple mod, and the only issue i've had is that sometimes she doesn't like shooting that fast and won't eject the casing, she's never stove-piped on me, but sometimes i have to cycle the action to eject the spent casing. Other than that I've put around 4k rounds downrange with no issues, and only recently replaced the recoil spring (which after sitting in my uncles basement for about 20 years had compressed about 3/4" and was very noticable when firing.
NOTE: the 4k rounds have been fired by me, I have no idea how many my uncle put through her before I brought her home with me.
Typically, springs don't fatigue from just sitting, "cycling" collapses them. If your recoil spring was compressed when you got it, your uncle likely put a good number of rounds through it as well. Minis are pretty robust and can take a lot more abuse than people give them credit for.
11/1/2011 8:45:04 PM
Well hopefully I'll be able to give an AAR a little later the month; I'm getting lined out to shoot a basic carbine course on the 19th.
Haven't decided if I'm gonna run the Mini with the PA red-dot or use the DMS-1. Probably the DMS-1, but I've got more trigger time with the red dot.
Need to get hooked up with Specter gear here in a couple days and get some 20-round pouches. Maybe one of those chest rigs.
Or thirty-round pouches & mags so I can rock the AR mags too when it comes to that. More mini mags never hurt.
Haven't decided if I'm gonna run the Mini with the PA red-dot or use the DMS-1. Probably the DMS-1, but I've got more trigger time with the red dot.
Need to get hooked up with Specter gear here in a couple days and get some 20-round pouches. Maybe one of those chest rigs.
Or thirty-round pouches & mags so I can rock the AR mags too when it comes to that. More mini mags never hurt.
