What ammo do you use in your mini 14?

223? 556? 55grain? 62grain? Fmj? Jhp? Sp? Federal? wolf? Blackhills? Pmc? Surplus?
What kind of ammo do use?what kind of ammo do you find works best? What kind of ammo do you feel doesnt work? Which ammo is the best bang
for the buck as far as price vs reliability?

So far just PMC 55 grain and that Lake City 855 that hit the market recently.

I'd like to experiment with a box or two of some other types, but I just don't have the money yet.

Think I might be better served with an accu-strut and maybe sending it off for a trip to GunDoc.

I've put factory 55 grain (I don't remember the brand, but I can assure you it was bought from Wally World) I reload my own also, 55 grain and 69 grain fmj, jhp, and soft point. I also shoot a lot of Wolf 62 grin fmj. I bought a case of it before I got enough brass to reload. It eats anything just fine.

I have a 187 series that has a 1 in 7 twist barrel. I have a case of Norinco ammo (from the late 80's early 90's, before it's importing was banned) that I reload with Hornady 68 gr BTHP or 75 gr A-Max bullets and Hodgdon Varget Powder (25.5 gr for 68gr bullet, 24.5 gr for the 75 gr bullets). A standard 55 gr round will work, but I get the best accuracy with the 68 gr bullets.


Disclaimer: I take no credit for any success you have using the loads I reffered to above. Likewise, I'm not responsible for damage that may be caused by using these loads. Obtain professional assistance in reloading ammunition if you are inexperienced, and do not load more than the recommended amount of powder for any size bullet.

EDIT: When I first got my Mini, I would occasionally get a 55 gr that would hit the target sideways aat 50 yds. I replaced the recoil spring and it solved the problem. The original recoil spring had compressed by about 3/4" and therefore didn't work sufficiently to keep the operating rod from smacking the receiver, which killed the accuracy. Afterwards I put a high power recoil spring, and a tunable gas block (both from accuracy systems inc.) and now my Mini is a tack driver (sub MOA at 100 yds, ~1.5 MOA at 200 yds)

Same here, mine prefers 55gr or heavier.

My Tactical loves Winchester 64gr Power Points.

MFS 55gr FMJ, AE Tactical 55gr FMJ

Can't really find anything else in bulk in my part of the world

i shoot PMC 55g FMJ for plinking (never had a problem, 100% reliable but very very dirty, way over 1,000 rounds of this stuff through the gun)

and i shoot HSM (Hunting Shack) V-max 55g for groups (also 100% without any problems and may boxes of ammo sent down range)
i shoot the Mini-Target Rfile... still haven't gotten the tactical model that i have been wanting.
i am craving one of those!!!

love the way my Target model shoots and its Garand based operating system
love the way it recoils and how it just feels overall...
keep in mind that i dont shoot this gun a whole lot because i dont want to wear out the barrel, had about 4,000 or so rounds through it since i got it in 07.

but with the Hunting Shack, i am able to get 1/2 inch groups with 4 rounds at 120 yards...
thats with the harmonic dampener adjusted 3/4 of an inch back

shot it last weekend, got it dialed back in and its ROCKING!
i used Fiocchi and Federal Tac. and did a lot of 100 yard + plinking shooting clays and beat the snot out of the center (well slightly right of the center) of a standard sized shoot-n-see target

as for ammo for general shooting the Mini... i havent had any problems except for Ultramax reloaded stuff from Cabelas..
i will never shoot that stuff again. failure to extract, broken cartridges, they would rip apart upon extraction, and they were not accurate.
had to use a wooden dowel to dislodge the case,
its just bad brass from my experience, it ejected as shrapnel out of my brothers 5.56 Kalashnikov
that stuff is just junk...

Hornity (new and factory reloaded), HSM (new and factory reloaded), PMC, Remington UMC (although i dont care for it and dont shoot it anymore), Fiocchi, and Federal Tactical (that eagle stuff) all functioned without a hitch firing hundreds of rounds of each.
but, my most accurate was the Hunting Shack, thats my go-to serious ammo.
for plinking, PMC is great for that...

i would avoid that UMC Remington ammo, i heard bad stories about it and my brother told me that it was doing the same thing as the Ultramax stuff that we shot.
out of 1000 rounds of that Ultramax ammo, i would say that the brass of at least 200 rounds came out in pieces and several got stuck in the chamber (removed with dowel and a broken shell extractor, thank goodness for those things)

i dont shoot 5.56 or steel cased in it...(not supposed to in that model)

i think that if it works in the Target Mini then it will work in the Ranch Rifle

EDIT: i forgot to mention, i used to shoot Black Hills for accuracy, 55.g v-max for my go-to ammo for groups, but have shifted to HSM as i stated above.. cheaper and its more accurate (at last for me)
Black Hills is 100% reliable as it should be for the price, just like any of the top tier ammo companies.

I started with Federal XM193 .556 since that's what I prefer for my RRA AR15. But, I've switched to Silver Bear .223 exclusively as my mini loves it and the price is right. Probably a couple thousand rounds now with no issues whatsoever. And surprisingly clean too. Just my experience.

Barnes grenades

Reloads, with Varget and 69gn SMKs. If I want to shoot cheaply, then Varget and 55gn S&B is a decent combo out to 300m. Mine is 2003 manufacture from what I can tell, so probably 1:9 twist. I would be inclined to use high-quality bullets in the low 70gn range if looking for the best performance, although you can occasionally get 77gn performing well with a 1:9 twist.

If you want factory ammunition, they tend to shoot well with 62gn American Eagle FMJ. I was told this one does best with some of the nicer Remington ammunition, but I never really use factory ammo.

the cheapest ammo i can find.

UPDATE: I bought a couple boxes of Hornady Match 75 gr BTHP and shot a .75" 3-Shot group at 100 yards (benchrest), and a 2.25" 3-Shot group at 200 yards (standing)

Early Mini's had 1-10 twist barrels and from roughly '88 to '96-ish they had 1-7 twist 96-ish they switched to 1-9 and TTBOMK have been 1-9 since.

Choose your bullets accordingly.

I have an early model Ranch that I have owned about 30 years, it has never had any ammo it would not shoot. And rarely has it shot more than 2-3 MOA regardless of what's in it.

when I first took mine to the range I put a bunch of Norinco 55gr soft points through it and the only range I could get a decent sized group at was 25 yards (about a 3 inch group). Yours must be a 1-10 twist.

62 gr brown bear lacquered steel case. She eats it up

Ideal? I dunno. I run 62 grn wolf with good accuracy. I would say, run a couple boxes of each and see what runs best for yours. I know that one rifle will run what another identical rifle won't.

About 69gn is the best choice for the target range, although all my 1:9 barrels shoot 55gn very well, too. I would be inclined to try and get the rifle shooting something like 73gn Berger's, if you're reloading.

None of this makes any difference if you just put MY MINI SHOOTS 62 GR GOOD.

There are 3 different mini barrel twists. If you don't specify what you have, you might as well not post.

I have a 181 series with 1 in 10 twist that i recently acquired and it is eating 50 gr federal bulk ammo well. 1.5" at 100 yarde open sites off bench.

I have a new tactical, i believe is 1 in 9, that is running 62 gr winchester sp at around 1.25-1.75" at 100.

I have not gotten into reloading ammo for the mini's yet. I have a couple hundred bullet heads of 50gr winchester ballistic tip I want to try in the old rifle. Should get some decent results.

Bev

THIS! Know the rate-of-Twist of your Mini, and get the right bullet!

The early 1-10" were best for 55gn bullets, and also .22RF conversions. Entirely appropriate, as that what was commonly available then. 1-7" twist best for 62gn bullets, and the 1-9" is a compromise.

So, how do you know what you have? Listen up.

Put a lubed patch on the end of your cleaning rod whose patch tip is already in the open mag area of the rifle. Pull the rod out with light force until it stops. Now, wrap a ring of masking tape around the cleaning rod right down to the muzzle. Mark the place on the masking tape corresponding to the front sight base. If you don't have a front sight or other easy to find landmark, just magic marker some suitable index/reference point. Pull the rod up through the bore until the mark on the tape makes ONE revolution in relation to your reference point, and stop. The distance from the muzzle to the nearest point of the masking tape, to the muzzle, is your rate-of-twist It's that easy, and same for every rifle.

Let me say that if you own a Mini that was previously owned, you have zero assurance that the prior owner(s) ever used a coated cleaning rod, let alone a cleaning rod muzzle guide. It is entirely possible that the very end of the bore is messed-up due to the previous owner(s) NOT using a coated cleaning rod AND muzzle guide. EVERY MINI owner should have the muzzle/bore of their MINI inspected for wear due to improper cleaning technique/equipment, unless you are dead certain YOUR Mini has always been cleaned using a coated rod AND muzzle guide. EVERY MINI owner should clean their Mini from chamber to muzzle (Pull-through) using a coated cleaning rod and Muzzle guide. You would do the same for your M1 Garand and your M1A, which have the same cleaning technique/requirements.

Most bore-damaged Minis will be found to benefit from a cheap re-crowning, which means that your gunsmith will take down the inner surface of the bore/rifling to virgin territory. Accuracy will be GREATLY enhanced for very little money, and you will have a decent platform onto which to build. You can do this yourself, but don't attempt if you're not handy/savvy.

Have a KNOWLEDGEABLE person inspect the muzzle of your MINI! Your Gunsmith probably knows what to look for, whereas you probably don't.

I've always thought that Minis had a bad accuracy rep for 3 reasons

1) User firing a Mini with a messed-up barrel crown.
2) User firing the wrong bullet for the barrel.
3) Loose OEM stock to action fit.

My Mini has none of these problems. I shoot 55 gn out of my early Mini pencil bbl all day long within 2 MOA. Now, I have bedded the action, and cryo-treated the barreled action. So what? According to most folks, I'm starting so far behind that bedding and cryo-trreating should be OK just to make my Mini almost equal to $2K shorty ARs.

My Mini has paid for itself, and all mods. FWIW, my other semi-auto 5.56 carbines are a much-modified BM M-17, and a Colt AR.

In testing the 62.Gr. M855 ball round the Army found 1/9 twist was ideal but a1/7 twist was required to stabilize the ( ridiculously) longer M856 tracer bullet.

My old 1/10 twist stainless Series 180 shot the 63Gr. varmint bullets just fine back then.

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