Ram prime trial .

[Walks]

I never saw or handled either a M-16/AR-15 or M14 until I went into the Service in 1971. Trained on the "16", hated it.
When I got out in 1975, My Dad asked me what I wanted for a belated 21st B-day.
I answered an AR-15, it was what I knew. Instead I got a Mini-14.
I liked it a lot better. And I NEVER had a problem with magazine insertion or removal.

Learned to really like the mag release on the Mini, instead of lifting my trigger finger to press a button on an AR and maybe drop a 20/30rd mag.
I just shifted it forward and pushed, the 5rd Mini mag just dropped out slicker then anything.

Had a Colt, now have a Armalite.
Still prefer the Mini-14. Do miss the M1A though.

I must have toted that Mini-14 A couple thousand miles chasing Jacks and Coyotes. Thru SoCal brush,
still have it and still love it.

 

[Glaciers]

Well I was not sure exactly what the RCBS Ram Prime system was, so I looked it up. Looks like a good unit, it is different than I pictured. Actually very similar to the bench mounted RCBS I use. I would think the feel would be about the same. But, the bench mounted system can feed up to 100 primers without touching, so much faster. The Ram prime is $25, where the bench mounted system is $90.

 

[CZ93X62]

My current Mini-14 is (IIRC) #4 so far. Evil children make off with 10/22s, Glocks, and Mini-14s with some frequency. I am so indulgent, and they are so spoiled. My lot in life.

This current ideation is a pretty accurate critter, actually. It can hold 2.0 MOA to 300 yards, with OEM aperture irons. Good bullets are required, though--Nosler BalTip 55s most of the time. 25.0 grains of WW-748, not max or even 5.56-level, but runs well at 2925-2950 FPS. This load runs under 1.0 MOA to 200 yards in a Ruger 77RC with whip barrel 16.5" long. It loses about 100 FPS in the shorter barrel, but rats and jacks can't tell the difference.

 

[L Ross]

Back in the last century I had a Mini-14. Great concept, lousy accuracy. Scoped with hand loads it was a 5 MOA gun. Got rid of it. A chinese sks shot better than that with barrel mounted irons.
When agencies started to get rid of shotguns cuz the girls wouldn't take them outa the squads even on a gun calls or bank alarms, the administrators decided to get carbines for the squads. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. The insurance carriers and the attorneys at the State bureau of training and standards scared the departments fecesless when they declared that the agency was responsible for all nine 00 buck released in every blast from a 870. Be damned if that was a good fight stopper and held an awesome psychological advantage. In their typical lily livered, quivering knees, loose boweled frame of mind ours bought Ruger something or other carbines in 40 S&W. Great, we were issued S&W 469 side arms in 9 m/m. Therefore neither the ammo or the mags would interchange.
Eventually agencies decided to go to the AR as they militarized. I was no longer doing regular patrol by then but needed to be competent with an AR. My previous experience with semi auto rifles left me less than excited. The only one I was impressed with were the M-14's our governor got us from the Feds outa an arsenal in Louisiana. They had fiberglass stocks and the keys to the selectors were locked in the Range Master's office where they belonged. As a patrol Sergeant, I carried one in my unmarked Vic, and rarely pulled it out. But when I did, potential miscreants sat up and took notice.
So I decided to get an AR of my own. Besides, Ol' Slickster had declared he knew what the American people should be allowed to have or not, and then I couldn't wait to get one. I found a deal on a Colt H-Bar and was amazed at how accurate it was, amazed! Even the Bushmaster carbines with aperture issue sights were excellent from 25 out to the 200 yards we trained to. How the heck this can be with a gun that disassembles with pins for God's sake I have no idea yet.
The little S&W M&P 15-22 makes a good simulator so you push the right buttons at the right time. An inexpensive red dot makes it an excellent, ("Oh honey, there's coon in the bird feeder.") gun. Where I live I can fire in 350 out of 360 degrees from the back door, and a coon running across the yard or down the driveway is not going to make it to cover. A quick brooming of the back porch slab for the brass and you're good to go.
The H-Bar is long and sadly gone, but handier brethren have taken its place. My good friend Charlie Milazzo made a trigger for AR's that make them a joy to shoot. He sold the trigger business but I believe they still might be called MK-II triggers.
I would have still would like a Mini-14 if they would shoot like an AR, but alas......

 

[Petrol & Powder]

Nose in, rock back verses straight push.
I think some people are just not mechanically inclined and it has nothing to do with their intelligence. I have a friend that is extremely intelligent but he thinks a screwdriver is a drink made with Vodka and Orange Juice.

I can look at a magazine without even knowing what type of rifle it belongs to and know instantly what locking system it uses.

People are just wired differently.

 

[RBHarter]

Ross barrels have a lot to do with that kind of accuracy . I have had a few GI A2 barreled ARs and an ARP M4 heavy . Any given load shrank an inch and the 20" rifle gas over the 16" carbine gas gained 150 fps . It was a short handy house sweeper any more but a much better liked rifle suitable for the hunt . The reason they shoot so well is that the bolt locks square in to lugs squared on the barrel . The bolt face is only about .007 over nominal rims and the necks or the shoulder in the chambers are cut tight even if the rest is full figured . Several cartridges also utilize a Weatherbyish leade . Depending on who ordered the reamers the degree varies a lot . Nevermind that there are 5 standard 223/556 chambers ......

 

[CZ93X62]

ALL TRUE!

Not sure how I side-tracked the thread so thoroughly, some stuff just grows organically. Recent Mini-14 and ranch Rifle barrels are thicker in diameter and tend to be less random in their grouping ability. I haven't shot any of them enough with good bullets to know for myself. I had the use of a VERY NICE re-worked Ranch Rifle by Accuracy Systems in Texas some years back, put up in 222 Rem. 20" truck axle stainless steel barrel, 12x Leup glassware. Righteous 3/4" rifle at 100 yards, cold and clean or hot and dirty. Kind of a boon for Californians (where Mini-14s don't upset the Kommissars), but the same money spent building an AR-15 yields similar results--and the AR can be built by home hobbyists with mail-order parts.

Long arms get the attention of ne'er-do-wells. In a March 2007 back-country fire road drive in the local mountains I had cause to lift it out from behind my truck seat, evil 30-round mag inserted (Condition 4). Didn't even have to point it or shoulder it--Mr. Meth Rat departed forthwith. Strange circs, but he elected to shop elsewhere for victims.

 

[Rick H]

My Mini went to Accuracy Systems for their barrel, gas block work, and drilling for a proper scope mount. I asked that it be able to shoot 1 1/2 moa. It does and then some. 1-9 twist. The problem is it made a handy good handling reasonably light weight rifle into an awkward handling heavy beast. Accurate to be sure, but I am sorry I did it. Should have been able to live with the 2 1/2-3" groups at 100.

I have used it on a few coyotes and prairie dogs but mostly it sits in the safe.

I own two AR's and find them superior in every way to the Mini, every way but looks. I did basic training with an M-16 A1. I like and trust them. Ar's are easy to maintain, (no cleaning from the muzzle) easy to fire accurately and very effective as long as you don't use them as a club....ok, I concede the Mini makes a better club than an AR. There you have it.

 

[Ian]

DI gas sytem doesn't stress the barrel. Recoil is straight in line with everything. Bolt lugs equalize pressure all the way around the chamber. Accurate as frig.

Short-stroke piston system works well on the M-14/M1A, IF the action is bowed correctly in the stock so it bucks and whips the same way every shot. For some reason the Mini just doesn't have the right balance in the gas system and bedding to shoot accurately without a heavy barrel or bracing.

 

[Creeker]

I'm a user of the RCBS Ram Prime for many rifle cases. I work mine like Ian. Have a video somewhere.

 

[RBHarter]

Having run a few 100 more through this I still have no complaints .
Almost it is I'm sure more a cosmetic than a real issue . I wish the base for the shell holder were about 3 threads longer . It's now a permanent fixture in the little Partner press and full bottom cam is able to make perfect bottomed seated rifle primers at least in the current TW 54 and Lyman 6x shell holder . It's also right on with 45 ACP in same . I put a Lee die lock nut on it upside down so it stays set now . If someone gets a wild hair I have a second base available and would buy a few 7/8 bolts or a section of rod to tinker with .