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Wildly poor accuracy with Mini-14
- Thread starter marsh
- Start date
George Stringer
Staff Alumnus
Marsh, I'm assuming that you disassembled and cleaned before storing it. When you reassembled it, it was somehow put back in the stock diffently. That's about the only guess I can make for such a radical shift. George
Marsh, That would be right at a 60 moa shift. Have you fired your Mini 14 again since your last post? The only thougt that comes to mind "barring something really unfortunated happening to your barrel" is that the stock was really swollen with moisture and dried out in you safe. 60 moa is still worrying me! Scope and iron sights both = bent barrel to me. Do you have a bayonet that someone could have put on that rifle and used to open metal banded containers with?
Let us know and good shooting,
Hank
Let us know and good shooting,
Hank
marsh,
I just tried an experiment to see how far off the iron sights would have to be in order to shift the POI 4.5 feet at 100 yds. The front or the rear sight would have to shift roughly 3/8 inch, or any combination of front/rear shift that equals 3/8". That is a lot. You shouldn't be able to even adjust the rear sight this much to one side or the other. If the barrel was bent that much you would definitely notice it. I think we can rule out the shooter causing this, no one can have that much flerk (flinch/jerk).
Two questions come to mind, 1) Are you absolutely sure it was sighted in when you put it away? 2) You do mean 4 to 5 feet right? Not inches?
I just tried an experiment to see how far off the iron sights would have to be in order to shift the POI 4.5 feet at 100 yds. The front or the rear sight would have to shift roughly 3/8 inch, or any combination of front/rear shift that equals 3/8". That is a lot. You shouldn't be able to even adjust the rear sight this much to one side or the other. If the barrel was bent that much you would definitely notice it. I think we can rule out the shooter causing this, no one can have that much flerk (flinch/jerk).
Two questions come to mind, 1) Are you absolutely sure it was sighted in when you put it away? 2) You do mean 4 to 5 feet right? Not inches?
Maybe it wasn't quite 4 feet but was at least 1 foot as it was well off the cardboard backing. I noticed when I disassembled it for cleaning, the stock was extremely tight in the gas block. Same when it was re-assembled. Barrel does not appear bent. It has not been abused ever in fact, it still looks like new. I have ordered a synthetic stock from Choate and I'll see what happens when and if it comes. I had shot it last winter in the cold and next fired a couple of weeks ago when temp was in high 90's at Ft. Bliss, TX. This rifle is very ammo sensitive. Switching from 55 gr. to 50 gr. shifts impact about 5-6" due to differing harmonic vibrations. We don't want to get rid of it as it was a gift to my wife from a very dear friend who is now departed this mortal coil and has great sentimental value.
marsh
marsh
I'm resurrecting this thread to relate what happened yesterday at the range with my Mini-14. I shot several groups at 50 yds with my usual Win 55 gr FMJ factory rounds. I was getting 3 shot groups of around .6". Then I shot several groups with some reloads I made to try some med. loads (Speer 50 gr TNT, 23.0 gr AA2230) just to be sure the action would cycle with no problems. These 3 shot groups were around .4". Both groupings were very good for a Mini-14, IMHO. But, they were about 5 inches apart! The lighter loads were consistently 4" high and 3" to the right. The movement to the right is the major concern.
This emphasizes what marsh said in his last post. The Mini-14 barrel is extremely whippy. We should find a good load and stick with it after zeroing the sights. You certainly can't experiment very much with this rifle.
This emphasizes what marsh said in his last post. The Mini-14 barrel is extremely whippy. We should find a good load and stick with it after zeroing the sights. You certainly can't experiment very much with this rifle.
Ruger realized that the Mini needed a heavier barrel and for a very short production run, made some .223 barrel using their heavier Mini30 barrel blanks. Even this measure didn't deliver the results hoped for.
There are gunsmiths out there who do refit the Mini14 with a heavier barrel, but they're not giving it away.
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Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt
There are gunsmiths out there who do refit the Mini14 with a heavier barrel, but they're not giving it away.
------------------
Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt
I've heard that cryo treating the barrel can reduce the muzzle whip. I heard this from a European shooter that said most of their shooters got this done as a matter of coarse. What little I do know about cryo treatment (the theoretical idea) seems to back this up. Anyone know for sure? And where to have it done?
[This message has been edited by Gino (edited October 01, 1999).]
[This message has been edited by Gino (edited October 01, 1999).]