Spring has sprung. Get out and shoot your Henry

Mini 14 disguised as an M1-A

Post Reply
User avatar
Hatchdog
Ranch Foreman
Posts: 5214
Joined: Mon Jan 06, 2020 5:04 pm
Location: Deer Park, WA
United States of America

Mini 14 disguised as an M1-A

Post by Hatchdog » Thu Jul 30, 2020 11:13 am

I was asked about this rifle in a post in the Henry General Discussion forum and as it’s not a Henry I brought the conversation to this location.

This is a 581 series Ruger Mini-14 I bought from a local guy who changed up it’s look to resemble it’s older relative the M1-A from Springfield Arms. I have the good fortune of owning an M1-A so I thought it would be fun to post pictures of them showing the resemblance. As you can see the previous owner changed the flash hider to the same as the M1-A and added an Accu-Strut to the Mini which resembles the gas system on the M1-A. Actually the Accu-Strut is intended to reduce barrel whip on Mini’s which was a real problem with earlier pencil barrel guns. Mine fortunately has the newer heavier barrel but the Accu-Strut can’t hurt. He also hand fitted an M1-A handguard to the Mini and found some square bottom straight not curved 20 round magazines that copy the M1-A mags perfectly.

I have the original Walnut stock and brown handguard for my M1-A and while for pictures it would have been nice to have them on the rifle it’s a pain in the backside to change out so I left the composite stock on.

I have only had the Mini to the range once and was pretty disappointed with the accuracy. However I was shooting my bulk loaded on my turret press 55 gr FMJ’s which are not intended to be accurate other than minute of bad guy. The Mini has a 1-9 twist which is on the very low limits of a 55 grain bullet. I have a 223 bolt gun that I have done extensive load development for and have both loaded factory match ammo and match bullets in 69, 75 and 77 grain left over. Once this heat wave passes I’m going to head back to the range to see if I can wring some accuracy out of that notorious inaccurate model of rifle using the match components.
EE101E58-71F7-4248-8A28-1070F8E14910.jpeg
EE101E58-71F7-4248-8A28-1070F8E14910.jpeg (178.11 KiB) Viewed 2759 times
C5C9E29D-8CE1-4B8E-827A-3DCC9FDEA3AF.jpeg
C5C9E29D-8CE1-4B8E-827A-3DCC9FDEA3AF.jpeg (160.08 KiB) Viewed 2761 times
F9B5A59C-EADF-4D7D-8D5F-12BB31553230.jpeg
F9B5A59C-EADF-4D7D-8D5F-12BB31553230.jpeg (148.99 KiB) Viewed 2761 times
41E363AB-8BC3-4041-BD80-8AD8E0CD413F.jpeg
41E363AB-8BC3-4041-BD80-8AD8E0CD413F.jpeg (179.84 KiB) Viewed 2761 times
E8892A73-DCA3-44A5-87B9-B1EA688FFE69.jpeg
E8892A73-DCA3-44A5-87B9-B1EA688FFE69.jpeg (201.89 KiB) Viewed 2761 times
3 x

User avatar
markiver54
Deputy Marshal
Posts: 10281
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2018 11:49 am
Location: Biue Ridge Mountains, NC
United States of America

Re: Mini 14 disguised as an M1-A

Post by markiver54 » Thu Jul 30, 2020 11:37 am

Very interesting.
On another note, may I ask where you got those LED shop lights and $$ ?
0 x
I'm your Huckleberry

User avatar
Hatchdog
Ranch Foreman
Posts: 5214
Joined: Mon Jan 06, 2020 5:04 pm
Location: Deer Park, WA
United States of America

Re: Mini 14 disguised as an M1-A

Post by Hatchdog » Thu Jul 30, 2020 11:45 am

markiver54 wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 11:37 am
Very interesting.
On another note, may I ask where you got those LED shop lights and $$ ?
Costco, on sale for around $18 as I recall. Bought one at full price and one on sale cuz that’s just the way I roll. :lol:

I have a couple more scattered around the place and they are very bright. Non-replaceable bulbs but they are supposed to last a long time. These two are going above my reloading bench.
0 x

User avatar
fortyshooter
Ranch Foreman
Posts: 6270
Joined: Sat Dec 09, 2017 10:37 am
Location: Va.
United States of America

Re: Mini 14 disguised as an M1-A

Post by fortyshooter » Thu Jul 30, 2020 11:53 am

Nice project with the Mini-14 ! I have one also with the better barrel and wood stock. It shoots very well for what I do with it.
Attachments
Mini 14 5.56.jpg
Mini 14 5.56.jpg (211.43 KiB) Viewed 2750 times
0 x

User avatar
markiver54
Deputy Marshal
Posts: 10281
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2018 11:49 am
Location: Biue Ridge Mountains, NC
United States of America

Re: Mini 14 disguised as an M1-A

Post by markiver54 » Thu Jul 30, 2020 12:04 pm

Hatchdog wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 11:45 am
markiver54 wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 11:37 am
Very interesting.
On another note, may I ask where you got those LED shop lights and $$ ?
Costco, on sale for around $18 as I recall. Bought one at full price and one on sale cuz that’s just the way I roll. :lol:

I have a couple more scattered around the place and they are very bright. Non-replaceable bulbs but they are supposed to last a long time. These two are going above my reloading bench.
Thanks dog!
Have been looking for some brighter lighting for my shop. A single fluorescent aint cuttn' it.
0 x
I'm your Huckleberry

User avatar
Hatchdog
Ranch Foreman
Posts: 5214
Joined: Mon Jan 06, 2020 5:04 pm
Location: Deer Park, WA
United States of America

Re: Mini 14 disguised as an M1-A

Post by Hatchdog » Tue Aug 04, 2020 8:21 pm

“I have only had the Mini to the range once and was pretty disappointed with the accuracy. However I was shooting my bulk loaded on my turret press 55 gr FMJ’s which are not intended to be accurate other than minute of bad guy. The Mini has a 1-9 twist which is on the very low limits of a 55 grain bullet. I have a 223 bolt gun that I have done extensive load development for and have both loaded factory match ammo and match bullets in 69, 75 and 77 grain left over. Once this heat wave passes I’m going to head back to the range to see if I can wring some accuracy out of that notorious inaccurate model of rifle using the match components.“



I took my Mini 14 to the range yesterday and shot the match ammo mentioned in my original post. (Quoted above) I am very pleased with the 77 grain results, both the Nosler and the Federal Gold Medal Match with Sierra 77 grain Match King HP’s. I use the Sierra 77 in my 223 bolt rifle and have a decent supply on hand. I’m now going to load some up using Varget which is what I use for my match rifle.

I started out with the bulk loaded 55 grain to make sure I was on paper (I removed my scope in between trips to the range). The 55’s shot about a 4” group and as you can see below all the match ammo did much better, the heavier the bullet the tighter the group. Pretty excited with the results. This is 100 yards from a bench.
B5C870C2-D7C3-4950-96B9-69A11D6D0DE1.jpeg
B5C870C2-D7C3-4950-96B9-69A11D6D0DE1.jpeg (167.29 KiB) Viewed 2676 times
1 x

Post Reply