Mini 14 - Ejected cartridge casing necks warped. WTF?

[T2C]

Ruger designed the Mini-14 to function with a wide variety of ammunition. Lower powered ammunition will not dent the case mouth nearly as much.

In my circle of friends there are a few well worn Mini-14's. The only magazines that work reliably in the Mini-14 are factory Ruger magazines. No one has complained about reliability issues with the Ruger 20 round magazines.

After shooting a few hundred rounds, you should see brass build up where the case mouth is striking your Mini-14 during the ejection cycle.

[neil0311]

I am only using the two 20 round mags that came with the rifle, plus I bought some 30 round mags from Ruger directly. So all the mags are factory mags. Had no failures to feed.

[utahjeepr]

Ruger designed the Mini-14 to function with a wide variety of ammunition. Lower powered ammunition will not dent the case mouth nearly as much.

In my circle of friends there are a few well worn Mini-14's. The only magazines that work reliably in the Mini-14 are factory Ruger magazines. No one has complained about reliability issues with the Ruger 20 round magazines.

After shooting a few hundred rounds, you should see brass build up where the case mouth is striking your Mini-14 during the ejection cycle.

My casual understanding is that the op rod design of the mini was based on .223 and that 5.56 of the time was a little hot for it but NBD. As 5.56 loads have gotten hotter and optionally come with heavier pills, the brass beating has become a thing. I also think they tweaked the ejector angle or something to keep brass from hitting optics, which can also lead to FTE malfs. All of the above comes from range/gun store/campfire talk. As such it likely bears only passing resemblance to actual facts.

My mini is early 80's (183- serial). My brass ejects 45 degrees or steeper up and almost a perfect 90 degrees to the side. Seems to throw between 50-100 ft to my right.
ETA: ^^^This is with 193^^^

Mags are definitely a thing for feeding. I have mostly Ruger branded, got a couple 5's and 10's, bunch of 20's some old NOS 30's and some of the new rereleased 30's. I also have a bunch from who knows where that JG was selling dirt cheap years ago. You literally had to go through a case test fitting them into a mini. Maybe a 50% failure rate. But if they fit they ran great, still do. They wouldn't sell em mail order, you had to go in and get em. I think they stripped the no go's for springs.


ETA: If it bothers you run steel or weak ammo maybe.

[ST911]

Over the years, Ruger has pretty consistently said that best reliability is OEM 20s with SAAMI spec .223. Any other variables, and stacks of variables, may not run as well.

[neil0311]

Over the years, Ruger has pretty consistently said that best reliability is OEM 20s with SAAMI spec .223. Any other variables, and stacks of variables, may not run as well.

Will try some .223 next range trip, but the receiver is stamped 5.56 NATO, so it shouldn’t be stretching the design parameters to use some M193. 🤔

The mags are also factory spec bought directly from the Ruger shop. So again…one would expect the rifle to work as designed using them.

We’ll see what the customer service folks in NH tell me. I’m sure I’m not the first buyer with this same question/concern.

[Ron3]

My 584 series Mini 14 dents 5.56 casings, too, though not that much.

I dont plan to reload .223/5.56 so I'm not worried about it.

Gun works fine. Ruger 20's and 30's.

I found an excellent light mount from Skinner sights. Check that out.

You'll also want a new Sampson folding stock! It's worth the $279.

[Bret]

You'll also want a new Sampson folding stock! It's worth the $279.

That looks just like the stock on my AC556F. I wonder why they don’t make a black version. I’d love to put one on my Mini 30.

BTW, my AC556F runs 5.56x45 and 223Rem. Even the weakest Russian steel cased ammunition cycles without issue.

[neil0311]

My 584 series Mini 14 dents 5.56 casings, too, though not that much.

I dont plan to reload .223/5.56 so I'm not worried about it.

Gun works fine. Ruger 20's and 30's.

I found an excellent light mount from Skinner sights. Check that out.

You'll also want a new Sampson folding stock! It's worth the $279.

Spoke to Ruger and I hadn’t even finished explaining the issue when the woman on the other end of the phone said…”completely normal.”

I asked about their policy on modifications like the gas bushings, etc. and she said they don’t have an opinion, but any changes are unsupported.

As far as the folding stock…not for me. I changed out the rear sight but that’s as far as I go. No more money is going into the rifle, which I got because I like the retro M1 Garand/M14 look/vibe. 🙂

[T2C]

If you decide to shoot M193 ammunition out of your Mini-14, you may have to accept the fact that brass will not be reloadable. I owned a HK-91 years ago and I was lucky to salvage 10 serviceable once fired brass out of 100. In most cases 100 out of 100 brass went into the scrap bin.

[neil0311]

If you decide to shoot M193 ammunition out of your Mini-14, you may have to accept the fact that brass will not be reloadable. I owned a HK-91 years ago and I was lucky to salvage 10 serviceable once fired brass out of 100. In most cases 100 out of 100 brass went into the scrap bin.

I don’t reload ammo, so not an issue for me. 🙂

My only concern was that the rifle was working correctly and didn’t have an issue.