Need help with my Ruger Mini 14

[civilwar]

I recently purchased this Mini 14 at the 1500 over the weekend and decided to see what it could do last night. First shot told me the problem, bolt would eject the spent shell but not strip out another out of the magazine. Using factory 5 round magazine with Wolf Ammo 55gr.

Does anyone know of a remedy or has anyone else had a similar problem with their mini? Maybe I need to checkout a few Ruger sites for a possible explanation but figured I would try with my locals first.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Terry

 

[JcJ]

Have a good look at the scope mount.. I can't tell what style or type you have but I had a similar problem because the scope base mounting screw through the side cover interfered with the bolt.

 

[civilwar]

Thanks for the response. The scope mount is the single screw style that goes into the side. I had to disassemble the rifle to put in the new plate for my scope to mount to.
The scope is a NcStar.

Terry

 

[JcJ]

Thanks for the response. The scope mount is the single screw style that goes into the side. I had to disassemble the rifle to put in the new plate for my scope to mount to.
The scope is a NcStar.

Terry

I would bet that is your problem, take the screw out, leave the after market plate and test fire..

 

[civilwar]

I will definitely try that out. It could be possible that the mount screw is going through the sideplate too far putting pressure on the bolt.

Terry

 

[Lars]

another option is the Magazine spring.

try loading 2 fewer rounds and see if it's reliable that way. If so, search out a New, or replacement spring from Wolff

 

[civilwar]

I fired the whole magazine of 5 rounds through the gun, but it was acting like a single shot. It would fire and eject the chambered round but not strip the next out of the magazine. I repeated the process of pulling the bolt back and releasing it to pull up the next round out of the magazine on every shot.
I do have another magazine that I will try to see if the factory mag is the problem.

Terry

 

[Backwoods]

I fired the whole magazine of 5 rounds through the gun, but it was acting like a single shot. It would fire and eject the chambered round but not strip the next out of the magazine. I repeated the process of pulling the bolt back and releasing it to pull up the next round out of the magazine on every shot.
I do have another magazine that I will try to see if the factory mag is the problem.

Terry

I would try three things.
1. Try to cycle the gun by hand with a full mag.
2. Hold the mag up into the bottom of the gun with a free hand. You can rest it on the mag to do the same thing.
3. Oil the hell out of it.
The first one is to see if its a gas issue. The second, is to see if your mag is not seated all the way up. The third is because I was a Dumba$$ and had a new RRA ar15 and had a freind look at it.(did the same thing yours is) It just needed oil.

 

[NateIU10]

I don't think anyone's mentioned this yet, but maybe its underpowered ammo. Wolf has a tendency to be loaded a little on the light side and may not be cycling fully. You have other ammo to try?

 

[turnandshoot4]

+1

 

[civilwar]

Yes, I do have some Remington ammo to try.
Hopefully it is not the Wolf ammo because I purchased 240 rnds, guess I could sell it to some of my AR friends if need be.
I am doing a thorough cleaning of the action as I write.

Terry

 

[Foxtrot]

Check your manual bolt hold open button to see if that is the issue. There is a little spring under it behind the plate you replaced that if lost will lock the action open on every shot.

 

[civilwar]

The bolt is not staying open after every shot, it is ejecting the spent round then coming back forward. The bolt as far as I can tell is doing everything it is suppose to do just not pulling the next round out of the mag.
I have checked bolt thoroughly, cleaned and wiped down the whole gun. I am planning on taking it out on Friday or Monday, then running it through all the checks to see what exactly is causing the problem. I am hoping it is just something as simple as the mag or just it needing a little oil.
Thanks to all so far for the ideas of possible causes.

Terry

 

[Foxtrot]

Let me look at my Mini14 and see if I can duplicate the malfunction. I don't think its the ammo as my Mini eats Wolf quite well with no issues. Do you have a recoil buffer installed? If so and if it is to thick the action will not come back far enough to strip another round off the mag. The buffer will need to be made thiner. I have a buffer on mine and it acted just as you described until I shaved a little off.

 

[civilwar]

I don't believe it has a buffer on it, but I will check. I was actually thinking about getting one though. Next week I will have time to really investigate the problem with it, since I have 3 days off in a row.

Terry

 

[civilwar]

I took it out today and fired off a few rounds with the same results. Using the new magazine I purchased I loaded it to capacity then fired the first round. Just as before it ejected the casing but did not strip off the next round, tried it a few times. I then removed the scope and mount to try that, still the same. I manually ran the bolt through it paces, loading a shell from the mag and ejecting it, it worked flawlessly. I have came to a conclusion that the gas system for the bolt travel is worn out or something and not pushing the bolt all the way back far enough to strip a shell from the magazine.
The next step I am going to take is to thorough go through the bolt slide setup and how to get the gas system to seal better to help resolve the problem I am having.

Terry

 

[civilwar]

I figured out the problem with the loading issue over the weekend, conclusion gas system problem. I recieved my parts from Midway USA on Friday and installed them on Sunday and took a little trip to the range. Fired the first round and could already tell it was functioning properly, so I proceeded to empty the mag .
Not bad, I spent approx. $7 to fix a problem that I was worried I was going to have to take to a gunsmith.

Terry

 

[chrissmallwood]

What exactly was the problem?

 

[bwframe]

What exactly was the problem?

Yes, inquiring minds want to know! And what part did you order?

 

[civilwar]

Well with me trying to get the rifle to work properly I must have disassembled it at least five times. I started inspecting the gas system on it after the second time of shooting and still having the same problems. I took the gas block off of the barrel, I found the gas piston was severely corroded like no one had cleaned it up or lubricated it. I did some checking on the net and found Midway USA had the parts that I needed. I ordered a new gas piston pipe and gas block bushing. Total cost of the two parts without shipping was under $7.
Midway USA actually has a very good factory parts selection page as long as you know what it is you are looking for. I had to order a SS gas piston pipe because the blued ones are on a 60+days backorder. Luckily they are the same O.D. or I would have been waiting 2+months to make myself feel better about purchasing the gun.

Terry