Mini -14

AmbGun Mini 14 page https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/mini-14 Part 1 Canvas GI Sling - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/Zrg3MfUOlnM?feature=share Part 2 Length of Pull - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/EsI5tzRQQCs Part 3 Magazine Catch and Release - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/aiEuS_OJjag Part 4 Safety - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/7gyxZbWqV18 Part 5 Trigger - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/bo3FmZZAyjw Part 6 Piston Driven Action - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/6DaKLgpF_WE Part 7 Sights - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/7xJgxL-O4Do?feature=share Part 8 Social Credit Score - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/ZBlfMy61Cxs Part 9 Field Accuracy - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/kLAambINp68 Mini 14 Zeroed…Proceeded to do an AQT, squeaked in a Rifleman score of 211. Solid performance in the crucial slow fire prone stage was undermined by a slightly weak showing in stage 2, sitting. I usually do this squatting, but decided for some stupid nostalgic reason to do cross legged sitting. Nice groups, but a bit to the right. Sloppy NPOA. Clean up that stage for another 4-6 points, and I'm scoring the same as my iron sighted AR and only 10-12 points less than my ACOG equipped BCM. Scored a 48 out of 50 offhand…right up there with my best performances with the AR, irons or optic. While the Mini’s in the field accuracy was better than the Internet experts led me to believe, the hand guard got uncomfortably hot. If the AR shits where it eats, the Mini burns where it shits. Not suitable for attending a Project Appleseed Rifle Marksmanship Clinic, unless you were a glove on your support hand…or place a computer fan in the handguard. Still it has been a satisfying project..not the easy snap together of AR15 legos but a soulful hand crafting every step of the way. If you had told me that I’d be altering sling attachments, cutting down the stock, reshaping a thin butt plate, and filing down the front sight, I’d have steered clear. But now that it’s done, well it feels special in a way that AR “builds” do not.

AmbGun Mini 14 page https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/mini-14 Part 1 Canvas GI Sling - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/Zrg3MfUOlnM?feature=share Part 2 Length of Pull - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/EsI5tzRQQCs Part 3 Magazine Catch and Release - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/aiEuS_OJjag Part 4 Safety - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/7gyxZbWqV18 Part 5 Trigger - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/bo3FmZZAyjw Part 6 Piston Driven Action - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/6DaKLgpF_WE Part 7 Field Accuracy - Mini 14 Coming soon Part 8 Social Credit Score - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/ZBlfMy61Cxs Is the Mini 14 as accurate as an AR? Probably not. Is it as reliable? Maybe. But it is way more gray man. No pistol grip, so it's not a deadly, high powered assault rifle in the som-nam-bulant public’s NPC brain. Bare muzzle version…No flash hider or supressor so it's not a “weapon of war”. Flush 5 round mag isn't dangling menacingly beneath grandpa’s wood stock and if you run 20 rounders in an INVRT bandoleer the round count will most likely fly under their radar. Sometimes American forces deployed overseas like to run their M4’s with innocent looking 20 round mags and a shortened pistol grip for a less provocative posture. The Mini is the civilian civilized posture carbine. Preserve the grey man advantage of the Mini…steer clear of folding pistol grip stocks, run a bare muzzle, stick with peep sights, and deploy with a 5 round mag inserted. Don't try to make the Mini14 into an AR. If you want a pistol grip, muzzle device, and lots of 30 round mags, get an AR. If you want a folding backpack carbine, KelTec’s SU16c. The Ruger Mini 14, the subdued profile, low drag, gray man, carbine…the sleeper with AR-15 capabilities concealed in a civilized wood veneer. Elegantly hanging over your fireplace. And if that veneer is peeled back, I prefer the 18.5” barrel over the flash suppressed 16.5

AmbGun Mini 14 page https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/mini-14 Part 1 Canvas GI Sling - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/Zrg3MfUOlnM?feature=share Part 2 Length of Pull - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/EsI5tzRQQCs Part 3 Magazine Catch and Release - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/aiEuS_OJjag Part 4 Safety - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/7gyxZbWqV18 Part 5 Trigger - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/bo3FmZZAyjw Part 6 Piston Driven Action - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/6DaKLgpF_WE Part 7 Sights - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/7xJgxL-O4Do?feature=share Part 8 Social Credit Score - Mini 14 https://youtube.com/shorts/ZBlfMy61Cxs Part 9 Field Accuracy - Mini 14 Coming soon Replaced the somewhat adequate Ruger rear sight with Tech Sights’ MINI200 . Better adjustments. Smaller aperture. About ½” more sight radius. (wish it added another inch and 1/) Shooting 10 MOA low with the peep at max elevation, contacted Ruger support. Spoke with an interesting technician who recommended that if it's grouping well to just\ file down the front sight…he offered to do it for me and check out everything else for a refresh if I wanted to send it in. I didn’t. So I did some BubbaSmithing. Measured where my sight was, where I wanted it to be, and knowing minute of angle change per ½ turn, I made a crude calculation as to how much I needed to remove from the front sight I hand Filed the front sight down by 50 thousandth of an inch ReSet the peep in the middle of its elevation adjustment. Went to zero…spot on. No changes needed. Three shots cleanly in a 1” square at 25 meters. Iron sights, in the field prone, 4MOA gets it done. The clueless keyboard warriors will cry “muh 1 moa”. Yeah, whatever. Next field accuracy…offhand, sitting/squatting, and prone.

AmbGun Mini 14 page https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/mini-14 Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 1 Canvas GI Sling https://youtube.com/shorts/Zrg3MfUOlnM?feature=share Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 2 Length of Pull coming soon Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 3 Magazine Catch and Release https://youtube.com/shorts/aiEuS_OJjag Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 4 Safety https://youtube.com/shorts/7gyxZbWqV18 Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 5 Trigger https://youtube.com/shorts/bo3FmZZAyjw Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 6 Piston Driven Action https://youtube.com/shorts/6DaKLgpF_WE The Mini 14 features a “self-cleaning”, fixed-piston gas system vs the AR’s “shits where it eats” direct impingement system. As for the AR being “dirty” or dumping heat onto its bolt carrier group, given my AR’s reliability I’m like “so what?” However when a cartridge fails to fully seat in a dirty chamber, I do prefer the Mini 14’s reciprocating charging handle over the AR’s forward assist. The AR’s forward assist obstructs and nullifies the AR’s otherwise very ambi charging handle. The REAL advantage of the Mini 14 action is the lack of a buffer tube inside the buttstock. This allows the Mini 14 to adopt a folding stock with ease (but don’t, see the full length review), the buttstock can be used like a club with minimal risk of wrecking it, and it allows the line of sight to be less than an inch above the bore…whereas the AR’s line of sight is about 2.5” high. So overall, I do prefer the Mini 14…if it can match the AR’s accuracy. Next in the AmbGun Mini 14 series…in the field accuracy

AmbGun Mini 14 page https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/mini-14 Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 1 Canvas GI Sling https://youtube.com/shorts/Zrg3MfUOlnM?feature=share Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 2 Length of Pull coming soon Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 3 Magazine Catch and Release https://youtube.com/shorts/aiEuS_OJjag Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 4 Safety https://youtube.com/shorts/7gyxZbWqV18 Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 5 Trigger https://youtube.com/shorts/bo3FmZZAyjw The Mini-14 stock is sandwiched between the receiver and the trigger group. I actually like THIS part of the field stripping process. Unlatch the trigger guard, pull straight out, and remove buttstock from the gas block flange. Great design. Easy to clean and maintain. The two stage trigger is very good…better than a mil-spec AR trigger but not as good as a Giselle. Good enough that I won’t fuck with it. At the most maybe a MCARBO spring kit to drop the pull weight down a bit. Otherwise, I’ll let it polish itself with live fire and just keep it clean and lubed with Sentry Tuf-Glide. As for manipulating the trigger with the standard straight stock, I recommend thumb to the side to create the exaggerated c-shaped trigger finger to prevent dragging wood…maybe to the point of fingertips to stock. I added some skateboard tape to keep my firing hand from slipping down the angled face of the grip. The mini’s trigger is definitely one of the components that boosts its practical, in the field, accuracy. Next in the AmbGun Mini 14 series…piston vs direct impingement. #mini14 #trigger

AmbGun Mini 14 page https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/mini-14 Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 1 Canvas GI Sling https://youtube.com/shorts/Zrg3MfUOlnM?feature=share Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 2 Length of Pull coming soon Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 3 Magazine Catch and Release https://youtube.com/shorts/aiEuS_OJjag Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 4 Safety https://youtube.com/shorts/7gyxZbWqV18 The Ruger Mini 14’s inside the trigger guard, M1 Garand-like safety is simple and very ambidextrous friendly. One advantage over the AR thumb safety is that if you reach the Act part of the OODA loop and move your finger off index into the trigger guard to fire, you will get instant feedback if you forgot to take the rifle off safe. No such tactile feedback on the AR. Some bedwetters think this inside the trigger guard safety is dangerous. I think it is fine for bare handed shooting, but I might dampen the sheets a bit if wearing diaper thick winter gloves…like 8 months of the year here in Wyoming. I definitely could see a risk of an accidental discharge if wearing thick gloves. More room inside the trigger guard would be useful, but just be glove aware. I very much like that the Mini safety actually captures the hammer and locks up the sear. Too many safeties simply prevent trigger movement. But what if the sear fails…and there are plenty of ways that can happen…metallurgy failure, pins walking out, cracks in receiver or FCU. Kudos Ruger. One reason I do ergonomically prefer my AR’s thumb safety is that it is a very similar motion, muscle memory to running the manual thumb safety on my KelTec P17 handgun. But for the straight stocked Mini 14 Ranch rifle, the ambi trigger guard safety is excellent. Definitely safer than a cross bolt safety for the ambidextral gunfighter. See our video on the MC2c crossbolt safety as to why. #mini14 #safety

AmbGun Mini 14 page https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/mini-14 Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 1 Canvas GI Sling https://youtube.com/shorts/Zrg3MfUOlnM?feature=share Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 2 Length of Pull coming soon Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 3 Magazine Catch and Release https://youtube.com/shorts/aiEuS_OJjag Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 4 Safety https://youtube.com/shorts/7gyxZbWqV18 The Mini 14 features an AK like rock in magazine catch. Plenty fast once you're accustomed to it and I think it eliminates the need for a tap tug check that most of us perform on straight insert STANAG mags. Spending so much time on a 10/22, I like to operate the Mini14 mag release the same way as Ruger’s 22 rifle…pushing forward with the back of my trigger finger. Allowing you to simultaneously eject the empty mag while reaching for a fresh one. Mini 14 mags, even 20 rounders, can drop free if the rifle is horizontal otherwise the grip and strip method is going to be the most reliable way. And it will certainly be the least painful method since the mag release lever can bite the backside of your finger…or chew on your glove. Seems like this pinch hazard would have been eradicated after 6 decades. Nonetheless, the Mini 14 mag release is perfectly mirrored ambi for the ambidextral gunfighter. It also reduces the risk of an accidental mag disengagement compared to the AR…as long as you avoid those third party, extended mag release “upgrades”.

AmbGun Mini 14 page https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/mini-14 Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 1 Canvas GI Sling https://youtube.com/shorts/Zrg3MfUOlnM?feature=share Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 2 Length of Pull https://youtube.com/shorts/EsI5tzRQQCs Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 3 Magazine Catch and Release https://youtube.com/shorts/aiEuS_OJjag Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 4 Safety https://youtube.com/shorts/7gyxZbWqV18 Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 5 Trigger https://youtube.com/shorts/bo3FmZZAyjw Ruger Mini 14 Marksman - Part 6 Piston Driven Action https://youtube.com/shorts/6DaKLgpF_WE The original Mini-14 featured a 12 ½” length of pull, the current millennium production is 13 ½”. While I’m ok with trigger manipulation at the new longer length, I think it makes for an excessive eye to peep sight distance. To get the clarifying benefits of a peep, the eye should be about 2” or max 3” from it. Buttstock pad to peep is 14 1/2”..on the AR, with the same trigger LOP, it’s 11 ½”. Cut ⅝” off the wood stock. Replace the recoil pad for a thin butt plate to shave another ¼”. for a 12 5/8” LOP. Install Tech Sights to shift the peep back half inch. I wish it set all the way back to the end of the receiver. Aperture is nearly half that of the stock peep making for a crisper front sight. I need 10 MOA more elevation. Thought maybe the loop sling was throwing things off, but shooting without being slung up POI was the same. Groups are pretty good. File down the front sight? Need a good selection of shop tools to dial in the Mini. Coming Next in the AmbGun Mini 14 series…the magazine release.

AmbGun Mini 14 page https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/mini-14 My 583 series Ruger Mini-14 Ranch features 1” sling loops Not good enough for a 1 1/4” Canvas GI Sling Plus it is not easily detached for when the sling is looped up as a shooter’s aid So Peel the 1” front sling loop off the gas block But the hole in the front mount does not fit any production sling swivels…not even the one’s sold by Ruger So Drill out hole…not that big of a deal Now you learn that the mount is too wide Grind down width…this is kind of ridiculous for a rifle that’s been in production for 6 decades Install a new 1 ¼” sling swivel Unscrew rear sling loop Epoxy Install an Uncle Mikes wood screw sling stud Install a new 1 ¼” sling swivel Weave Canvas GI Sling into the sling loops. Almost ready for the range.. Coming Next for the Mini 14…Heel to Peep and LOP drama.