Mini-14 with new clothes

Went and bought a new stock for my Mini-14 a while back. A friend actually bought it for his, but he wasn't careful about what he got, and this one is made specifically for the older ranch rifle version, not his newer one, so his receiver didn't quite fit into place. Fit's mine nice and tight though. :thumbup:




Took it out firing a few weeks ago and it is a lot more comfortable shooting with the pistol grip compared to the regular stock. (my wrist will never be the same since they put it back together)

Anyway, while cleaning it afterward, I noticed something on the bolt that caught my eye. It has a freakin hole worn into it. So I get to putting it back in the receiver so I can find out just what the hell is going on, and turns out that, IMO, there is a flaw in Ruger's design of the Ranch Rifle. Two actually. First one being a cast bolt, instead a forged one.

Anyway, as the bolt slides back into the receiver to eject and feed the next round, the bolt rubs on the bolt stop. You can see the rub on the bolt, and I've noticed it before, but it was barely leaving a mark, so I didn't sweat it. Many bolts have distinguishing marks from where they ride back into the receiver.

As you can see in the pictures, I guess I've fed a few hundred rounds too many into it, and now at the thinnest point of the bolt, it has given way. After investigating, from all I can find, and using some judgement, I figure it'll still fire safe enough, but the firing pin will eventually break.






And of course, Ruger wants me to send them the whole rifle to install the bolt themselves, instead of me sending them the bolt and getting one sent back to me. Of course, I can always buy a bolt from Numrich, but thing is, Ruger makes two bolts with different extraction methods. I'll have to look into what version they have, and see if they are interchangeable. One has the little spring loaded post that pushes the cartridge out, and the other is pushed out by the bolt stop as it rides past.

Anyway, thanks for reading my gibberish! Time to do some research. :cheers1:

I love Mini One Fours.. I wear a burn from one from ten years back that always reminds how fine these ladies are!! Thanks for this!! Ruger's Rock!! I remember their factory here in Flagstaff; back in the day..

Ugh, barrel hot.

They're neat, fun and reliable. Not the most accurate things in the world though. Adding that strut in the front has helped immensely with that, but still shoots about just under 2 MOA.

Thanks for the reply.

She looks so cute-i-full in her new dress though!! Hahaha..

I actually like the wood stock better for looks. This was a practical decision. When they screwed my wrist back together a couple years ago, they messed up the alignment or something, so my wrist don't like certain angles anymore. The pistol grip remedies that problem. Now I can shoot comfortably again.