The Ruger Mini-14 has been a bit of a joke for a long time. It’s never been much in my opinion. For years I have been hearing how much they improved recently. I had people insist to me that they now could indeed hit the side of a barn if you were shooting from inside the barn.

A friend bought one and put one of the Samson stocks on it that are a copy of the classic side folding stock. I was impressed with that. I can say if you are a Mini-14 guy and want that stock, buy with complete confidence.

We took the Mini out and I started trying to test it for accuracy. Some informal shooting out to 300 yards showed that it would hit 20 inch sized steel pretty easy with M193 ball. Then something happened…

The rear sight came loose, The peep went to the left and would rotate 260 degrees in the sight assembly. Tightening it back down worked for about 3 shots.

Not only that but one of the screws decided to fall out of the end assembly.

That is when I decided to call and end to the testing. Can’t shoot if you cant hold zero and afraid more parts would decide to go flying off.

It’s very handy and light. And very nostalgic. Ruger has managed to improve accuracy but I can’t give you any groups on paper since the rear sight decided to just do whatever the hell it wanted.