Hey all - I know this is a rag on mini 14 thread, but I really did buy the mini 14 tactical 223 and mounted a Pentax 2.5-10X56 scope I bought to try out a while back. It's obviously not a tack driver, but it does as well as my off the shelf Bushmaster. At the range about a week before this thread I sited it using a Harris bipod. It started out with 4-5 inch 5 shot groups at 100 yds, but settled down after about 25-30 rounds to where I got 2 groups at about 1.5 & 2 inches using Hornady 55gr HP Steel Match ammo. This is out of the box. I suspect with some work (trigger, etc) I can get it down a little - maybe regular 1.5 groups or such.
Just for the fun of it, if I remember, I'll take some paper plates with me next time.
But I guess what I'm trying to say is - after all the negative press here about how poorly they shoot I was expecting worse results. I think it shoots as well as I would expect out of a short barrelled range rifle. And just fine for the 200 yd max shooting I'll be doing with it.
Oh yeah, and that day I shot it, I ran some 200+ rounds of about 7 or 8 different kinds of 223 and 556 thru it without a single hiccup.
It won't take the place of my Tikka 223 or my Savage 243, but it feels good, is reliable and shoots just fine for what I'll be using it for.
Just for the fun of it, if I remember, I'll take some paper plates with me next time.
But I guess what I'm trying to say is - after all the negative press here about how poorly they shoot I was expecting worse results. I think it shoots as well as I would expect out of a short barrelled range rifle. And just fine for the 200 yd max shooting I'll be doing with it.
Oh yeah, and that day I shot it, I ran some 200+ rounds of about 7 or 8 different kinds of 223 and 556 thru it without a single hiccup.
It won't take the place of my Tikka 223 or my Savage 243, but it feels good, is reliable and shoots just fine for what I'll be using it for.
