Ruger’s
Mini-14 has been with us for decades now, and I have
owned a few of them. It has never been famous for its
match-grade accuracy, or lack thereof. It seems that most later
Minis are more accurate than earlier ones, but still, with the
exception of the new Target
Mini-14, they were never intended nor designed to be a
bench rest gun. The Mini-14 is a handy, reliable, and accurate
enough weapon. It is a rifle that is at home in the rack of a
pickup, beside the bed at night, or in the trunk of a patrol
car. It is a modern day equivalent of the old cowboy’s and
lawman’s lever action carbine in a saddle scabbard. It is a
working rifle. The Mini-14 will take abuse and rough handling
without any complaints. Now, if you want a bench gun with which
to sit at a concrete table and shoot tiny groups in paper at
extended ranges, the Mini-14 is not the best choice. However, if
you want a handy little carbine with which to stand on your hind
legs and shoot critters, or a weapon with which to defend the
homestead from the dregs of our society, the Mini-14 will fill
the bill. I find that the only shooters who are disappointed in
the Mini-14 are those who are expecting it to do that for which
it was not designed, and those who want more power from their
Mini-14. The first group I cannot help, but for those who want
more power, and for whatever reason do not want the 7.62x39mm
Mini-30, Ruger is now in production of the Mini-14 chambered for
the 6.8 SPC Remington cartridge.
The 6.8mm SPC was designed to be a military
cartridge as an improvement over the 5.56mm NATO round currently
employed by our nation’s military services. Whether or not
that goal will reach fruition, I do not know. For medium
range applications against human targets, it offers promise. For
long range work, the 6.5mm
Grendel is proving to be superior, but again, that is
asking the 6.8mm SPC to perform a task for which it was not
designed.
In the Mini-14, the 6.8 SPC promises to be a
good short to medium range cartridge for hunting medium-sized
game, such as whitetail deer, in addition to the Mini-14’s
traditional role as a varmint and predator hunting carbine. The
6.8 SPC uses a .277 caliber bullet with an optimal weight range
in the 115 grain area. The Remington factory load uses a 115
grain jacketed bullet that is specifically designed for the
cartridge, and makes the best use of the cartridge’s case
capacity. Heavier bullets protrude into the case farther, using
up valuable powder space. Seating the heavier bullets out
farther makes the cartridge too long to work in the magazines of
the weapon that it was designed to fit; the AR-15/M-16/M-4
family of rifles. The Remington factory load clocked an average
of 2462.7 feet-per-second (fps) from the Ruger’s 18.5 inch
barrel, with the chronograph eyes set at ten feet from the
muzzle. Handloads using the 110 grain Barnes Triple Shock
X (TSX) bullet exceeded that a bit, with my favorite load
running 2534 fps at ten feet from the muzzle. The load consisted
of 29 grains of H322 powder, a Federal 210 primer,
and the Barnes TSX loaded into Remington cases. This load
has not been pressure tested, but miking case heads and
observing primer marks and primer pocket size showed that this
load is safe in THIS rifle. Yours might be different, so start
with about 27.5 grains, and work up from there. This handload
was also very consistent, with an average deviation of just
eleven. I like the Barnes TSX bullets, or any of their X
bullets, and think that this will make a dandy load for
deer-sized game, based on my previous experience with X bullets.
I have confidence in them. They are of all-copper construction,
and will not disintegrate when hitting heavy bone.
For a few particulars on the rifle, it will be
familiar to those who know the Mini-14. It is of the Ranch
Rifle configuration, having a built-in scope base, and
is supplied with sturdy Ruger scope rings. The ejection pattern
of the Ranch Rifles is also flatter to the side, to avoid
hitting a scope with the fired cases. The barrel measures
eighteen and one-half inches in length, and is of a slim
profile, measuring just five-eighths of an inch for the last
approximately seven inches. It is heavier under the handguard,
which is ventilated to dissipate heat. The action is of a
gas-operated semi-automatic design, and the magazine holds five
cartridges. That cartridge capacity is fine for a deer rifle,
but a larger magazine would be nice if the rifle is to be used
for defensive purposes. I seriously doubt that Ruger will offer
larger magazines to the general public, as they do not for their
5.56mm and 7.62x39mm rifles. I wish that they would at least
offer a ten-shot magazine. There is no reason not to, and it
would likely help to sell a lot more rifles. A ten-shot mag
would still be handy, and would make the Mini-14 much better for
defensive work. Ruger sells 20 and 30 round magazines to law
enforcement, and should to other citizens as well. If trying to
defend one’s home from attackers, a lone homeowner needs every
bit as much, if not more, firepower than does an officer coming
to his aid….eventually.
The 6.8 SPC Ranch Rifle is primarily of
stainless steel construction, with a stock of injection molded
black plastic. The stock seems to be plenty rugged, and has
molded-in checkering on the forearm and pistol grip, and has a
synthetic rubber buttplate attached. Like all Minis, the new
rifle is very easy and quick to field strip for cleaning, and
the internal parts are robust and durable. The operating rod
cycles with the action, and the handle serves as a forward
assist to fully close the bolt on a stubborn cartridge, if
needed. The action locks open on an empty magazine, and can be
manually locked open by depressing a button atop the receiver.
The Ruger comes supplied with built-in sling attachments, as
should all hunting rifles. Thankfully, the safety is
ambidextrous, and is in the front of the trigger guard, just as
God and John Garand intended. The 6.8 Mini has
Ruger’s latest version of sights, which are rugged and easy to
see. The trigger pull measured just over four and one-half
pounds, but it is a simple design to improve by slightly stoning
the bearing surfaces. Any good gunsmith can do that job for you,
if needed. Most will like the trigger just fine as is. It
is certainly better than the trigger pull on most AR-15 rifles
available.
For informal shooting and hunting purposes, I
mounted a Mueller 2 to 7 power lighted reticle scope.
This is a dandy scope which will most likely ride atop an inline
muzzleloader this season, but it fits perfectly with both the
size and mission of the 6.8mm Ranch Rifle. For accuracy testing,
I mounted my "mule" scope; the Leupold 6.5 to
20 power Mark 4 Target model. I trust this scope to tell me how
good a rifle will shoot.
I started out with the Remington factory
ammunition, and I was disappointed in the performance of the
Ruger with this ammo, at first. I could get no better than four
to five inch groups at 100 yards. Admittedly, as discussed
earlier, this is not intended to be a target rifle, but dern it,
the gun should do better, and it later did. When the factory
ammo would not perform better than that, I was ready to give up,
but I needed the cases for handloading, so I kept shooting.
After about forty-five rounds were fired through the rifle, the
groups started getting better, and better, and still better,
shrinking in size with every new group fired. The last three
three-shot groups measured just three-quarters of an inch
across, center-to center. I couldn’t believe it, but was
pleasantly surprised, and also out of ammo. Sixty rounds was all
that I had available.
Handloading the Barnes TSX bullets, I could not
duplicate the groups fired with the Remington factory stuff, but
the Mini still delivered two-inch groups at 100 yards using the
load listed above, which is plenty good for hunting whitetail
out to about 175 yards or so. Playing with other
powder/bullet combinations might, or might not, result in
tighter groups, but I like the Barnes bullets, and will stick
with that load. Incidentally, this Ruger proved to be more
accurate than any 6.8 SPC AR-15 that I have fired to date. I
keep mentioning AR-15 rifles because they are the closest
competitor on the market to the Mini-14, but the ARs usually
cost more, and in 6.8 SPC, perform no better.
Functioning was perfect in the 6.8 Mini, as
expected. Weighing in at six pounds, twelve ounces with an
overall length of just thirty-seven and three-eighths inches,
the Mini is a handy, reliable, and rugged little carbine. This
particular one also proved to be very accurate, after the barrel
got seasoned and settled in. The 6.8mm SPC cartridge gives the
Ruger Ranch Rifle owner another choice of cartridge, and adds to
the versatility and power of the reliable little carbine.
Check out the full line of Ruger products
here.
For the location of a Ruger dealer near you,
click on the DEALER FINDER at www.lipseys.com.
For more information on Remington ammunition, go
to: www.remington.com.
To order the Barnes TSX bullets, go to: www.barnesbullets.com.
Jeff Quinn
NOTE: All load data posted on this
web site are for educational purposes only. Neither the author nor
GunBlast.com assume any responsibility for the use or misuse of this data.
The data indicated were arrived at using specialized equipment under
conditions not necessarily comparable to those encountered by the
potential user of this data. Always use data from respected loading
manuals and begin working up loads at least 10% below the loads indicated
in the source manual.
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