Mini-14 accuracy

[Sourdough]

I have two Mini-14s, (I know your sorry). I really like these guns, but they are very inaccurate. Oh I can use them out to 100 yards but after that they are just throwing bullets everywhere. Is there a way to help these guns shoot straighter. Some people say new barrels will do it, others say the adjustable weight at the end of the barrel like the BOSS will do it. I really don't want a weight at the end of my barrel. I just want to be able to hit Coyotes or foxes out to 200 yards.

 

[junkpile]

How big is "something"?

You should be able to hit something at that range, but I don't know if you'll be able to shoot bottlecaps out there. That thing wasn't really designed for precision.

If you put it in a vise, and can't hold a 2" group, start problem solving from there.

What kind of groups are you getting?

 

[Sourdough]

Something is Coyotes and Foxes, maybe a Lynx.

At 100 yards both my son and I can only get 3 to 4 inch groups, with the newer one (built in the 90s. The older one from the 80s we can cut the groups down to 2 1/2 to 3 inch group at 100 yards.

 

[Displayed Name]

Take one of the rifles and try to get as much as you can for it. Take the other and send it to ASI for a build. Mine will shoot coyotes as far as I feel comfortable shooting a 223Rem.
Another tip is control the forearm of the rifle with your left hand. When I don't do this things are a little more unpredictable.

 

[chainsaw]

I put an adjustable gas block on my dad`s,cant remember the brand,and it went from 4""groups to 2" groups and it no longer flings the brass to the far end of the range.

 

[Greyfox]

I struggled with one years ago. Could never get it to shoot well. Sold it and bought a Colt HBar Ar15 that would hold sub MOA right of the box well past 200 yards, and never looked back. Newer Mini 14's are supposed to be better but based on seeing a couple at our range the improvement is not that great.

 

[green 788]

Handloads will help, and a light weight scope of 4x should also be a plus... that action can rock-hammer a scope (by vibrations) to some extent, not so unlike what the 10-22 does.

I found that 26.0 grains of W748 and a decent 55 grain bullet will hold well under 2 MOA from my older mini-14, more like 1.5 MOA last time I tried it.